The New 12.1-inch Samsung NP-NC20 Netbook
The 12.1-inch Samsung NP-NC20 netbook is one of the largest we’ve seen yet. That may be a down side, but it seems to add a few features to the mix that, while not quite world-turning, are nice to see in a cohesive package.
$549 will get you a machine with a 1280 x 800 pixel screen, good enough for HD video playback on the netbook. The display is glossy but usable, depending on your environment.
The new Samsung netbook won’t be winning any awards for its tinny speakers and weighs a full 4.1 pounds. However, it has a much more robust keyboard to fill up the extra space, and a single touchpad button that functions as both right- and left-click in the style of a MacBook.
The 6-cell battery is also fantastic, running for 5 hours and 50 minutes on a single charge. You get three USB ports, VGA, audio, and ethernet built in, as well as a Kensington lock slot and SD card slot. All in all the Samsung NP-NC20 seems to be a strangely configured but usable quasi-netbook with a nice set of features for those who just cant make up their minds.
Via PCWorld.
The 12″ ZeroShock III Laptop and Netbook Case
Want something to protect your netbook that’s sleeker than a hard shell? The 12″ ZeroShock III softcover case is an interesting take on netbook sleeves, and may be the right one for you.
ZeroShock promises “Wavin’ Ravin’ Protective Gear”, and it’s hard to argue with that claim. The outside of this case is made from water-repelling polyurethane, enough to defend against a rainy day or accidentally spilled drink. Even if you spill something like juice or soda, the ZeroShock III’s smooth exterior won’t suffer from a wipedown with a wet rag.
The exterior also has a long pocket for cables, memory cards, or whatever other accessories you’d like to tote around.
Inside the case, you’ll find low rebound polyurethane. The material has a wave design and will protect against most low-intensity shocks.
The netbook case is 29 x 24 x 4 cm – in other words, designed for 12-inch devices. However, anything between 11 and 12-inches will fit fine, and that includes such netbooks as the 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One, the Gateway LT3103u, the ASUS Seashell, and the upcoming Samsung N510.
It’s not a fortress of safety like the Cool Bananas Hard Case, but your netbook or laptop certainly won’t get scratched in the ZeroShock III. The device is sleek and usable, and is a clever solution for those with larger netbooks.
You can buy it at GearZap.com with a 12 month warranty for £16.95 (or around $27.93 USD).
Rumors: 12-Inch IdeaPad S20 Netbook
The latest new netbook release rumored for the market is supposedly by Lenovo – an Atom N280-based IdeaPad S20 netbook with a 12-inch display. Lenovo, the makers of the IdeaPad S10, has seen massive successes in the netbook market in the past.
The news group making the announcement is DigiTimes, who accused Intel of trying to crowd out NVIDIA chipsets last year. Unfortunately DigiTimes doesn’t actually cite itssources for the prognosis, which raises a few problems.
Firstly, they say the new Lenovo netbook will be a 12-inch machine running the Atom N280. Intel, however, has specific restrictions on products with displays larger than 10-inches, and breaking the restriction would cause Lenovo to “lose out on preferential pricinig for the N280 processor.” With a $10 bump on typical quotes for the processor, Lenovo’s costs for the new netbook could grow by millions. This hardly seems logical or feasible!
However, DigiTimes addresses this by imagining that Lenovo wants to avoid the 10-inch netbook segment’s fierce competition.
The IdeaPad S20 would run a GN40 chipset and Windows XP, and cost around $586 (though its primary release country would probably not be the US).
We’ll have to wait to judge the veracity of the rumor, because the clues seem a bit fishy. However, a 12-inch Lenovo netbook would definitely be a welcome sight.
Via DigiTimes.
ASUS S121 Pushes Boundary Between Netbooks And Notebooks
The release of the recent ASUS S121 has begun to inspire some interesting questions about the nature of netbooks. Where is the line between netbooks and their cousins the notebooks crossed?
As a 12-inch netbook it isn’t the first in its class – consider the Dell Mini 12 – but it’s certainly pushing the trend towards larger netbooks. 7- and 8-inch netbooks, while they were the first on the market, are hardly ever seen now (with 10 inches being the baseline).
Tiny netbooks were a cool idea but ended up just being too small for normal-sized people. with 10- and 12-inch netbooks people can actually use the keyboard and screen while still appreciating the portability of the machine.
The other thing pushing the ASUS S121 into the notebook category is the price. It’s certainly no budget netbook, as you can tell from the design. It has a solid build, sharp edges, leather palm-rests… the list goes on.
The ASUS S121 uses the Atom processor, another trademark of the netbook category. But if a conventional laptop CPU was thrown in there, I think ASUS could probably convince everyone this was just a small laptop.
Via HTLounge.
New 12-Inch ASUS S121 Netbook Spotted
A German Eee PC site recently found some images of a new ASUS netbook. Specs and cost are so far unknown but it looks like a sleek machine.
ASUS is a leader in the netbook category and any new netbook releases by the company will only increase the sway it has in the industry. The 12-inch category is small but growing as more and more consumers find they prefer a larger screen.
Check out more photos here.
Samsung NC20 Is Big And Beautiful
Samsung has been dropping hints about a new 12-inch, 3.3 pound netbook called the NC20.
According to its specs, this bigger sequel to the NC10 (a 10-inch netbook) seems like it will be set to compete with Dell’s Mini 12. It wil run some kind of VIA U225 processor, have a big 160 GB hard drive, 1 GB RAM, a 1.3MP webcam, and a price tag of $650. It sounds great except for that last part, but only the market will decide how successful the NC20 is.
It will be available in some parts of Europe around February, but the date of the US release is as of yet unknown.
Via Gizmodo.
