New Dell Vostro A90 Netbook Released
The Dell Vostro A90 netbook has recently been released. It has many of the same technical specifications as the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and the only noticeable difference is that the speakers of the Vostro A90 are located just below the screen of the netbook.
In general, the Vostro netbook also boasts a higher price tag, with the basic model (512 MB of RAM, wi-fi, Bluetooth 2.1, 0.3 megapixel webcam, 4-cell battery) price starting at $349 and the higher-end models selling at $424.
Via Fudzilla.
Netbook Deals For Black Friday: Get Pumped
Thanksgiving is here, though given the amount of crazy deals to be offered tomorrow, it might more properly be named ‘Black Friday’s Eve.’
Netbooks are going to be flying off the shelves this year, with some amazingly cheap offers on classic netbooks, as well as some new ones. With the slew of recent new netbook releases on everyone’s mind, tonight and tomorrow will be big for the industry. With no further ado, check out these amazing Black Friday netbook deals, coming to a retailer near you.
The Asus Eee PC 900a will be offered at Best Buy for $299, the cheapest it’s been since its original release. In case you’ve forgotten, the 8.9″ XP-running netbook hit stores at $550 back in the day. Though unconfirmed, some analysts (such as one on ComputerWorld Blogs) suspect the Asus Eee PC 1000 may also be going for about $399.
Coming This January: New Packard Bell Dot Netbook
Packard Bell is joining the frenzy of new netbooks this season, coming to the fore with its new Dot to be released this January.
As in the case of the Epson Endeavor, which we covered in our November 19th article, the new Packard Bell netbook seems aimed at competing in terms of cost and nothing else.
The Dot netbook will feature – as if we need to tell you – the 1.6GHz Intel Atom chip, 160 GB of storage, 1 GB RAM, Windows XP, and Wi-Fi. Mildly notable is its five-in-one card reader, and the fact that a 3G version should be forthcoming in the near future.
Packard Bell is not particularly well-known for avant-garde ideas but is certainly a competitor in nearly every market it joins. However, that hasn’t stopped netbook review sites from criticizing the Dot’s almost completely standard hardware and capabilities. Gizmodo, mocking the trend that netbooks have taken towards the mainstream, joked that in the future we should “look for netbooks to be fashioned from straw, beads, puff paints and other craft materials as they are hand-manufactured to raise money for local soccer teams.”
We can’t really say they’re wrong – at one point, netbooks only ran Linux, which is notoriously unfriendly to the consumer of average technological competence. Now XP is standard, with toys such as webcams and touchscreens becoming the norm. When the ASUS netbook, Wind netbook, and Mini-9 came to the market with similar statistics as the new Dot they were carving out a new market – however, by technological standards, Packard Bell is late in the game. We should be expecting better things at this point.
Regardless, there remains the possibility that the Dot will be very cheap, a factor that may be its only boon when it hits the market. We’ve got no complaints about that!
Check out Gizmodo’s review here.
Toshiba NB100 Netbook
The new Toshiba NB100 netbook has hit the market, boasting a few enticing features to differentiate it from the competition.
The Toshiba features the same Atom processor used by the Eee PC, MSI Wind, and Mini-9. At a standard 1.6 GHz with Wi-Fi, bluetooth, Ethernet, USB ports and a memory card slot, the NB100 seems somewhat basic in most areas. There is one aspect to the netbook, however, that I think is something to be excited about.
The most fascinating thing is that the USB connectors on Toshiba’s first netbook are designated ’sleep-and-charge’. What this means is your USB-connected devices (cell phones, MP3 players, etc.) can be charged through the netbook without you needing to even turn on the machine. This step seems to be part of a new wave of efforts (that we noted in yesterday’s article) towards improving the efficiency of these devices. With business travelers and college kids not needing to carry around as many power adapters, this feature will definitely make the NB100 all the more attractive to the netbook market.
The flip side here is that the keyboard of the Toshiba NB100 is sadly somewhat imperfect. While it may not be an issue for the more enduring among us, typing for long periods may become uncomfortable and difficult. Instead of being appropriate for the 8.9-inch size of the thing, the keyboard seems as though it were built for a 7-inch netbook. While netbooks like the Dell Mini-12 (which we covered a few days ago) have shown a trend towards improved keyboard usability on smaller devices, the Toshiba NB100 is somewhat substandard in this respect.
Personally, the sleep-and-charge feature sounds interesting and intelligent, but not worth the small keyboard. However, with its first netbook certainly up to par in other areas, Toshiba looks to be willing to experiment with the netbook market. We should expect some promising things in the future.
Dell Releases New Mini 12 Netbook In US
It’s turning out to be quite the week for new netbook releases! The Dell Inspiron Mini 12, which has been available in Japan for some time now, has become available in the USA.
The Mini 12 sports a massive 12 inch display, one of the largest screens seen in netbooks so far. It starts at a moderately pricey $549.
This new release is yet another example of Dell’s willingness to gamble on the new netbook market and take hold early. This attitude is a stark contrast to those of companies such as Apple, whose conservatism may save them a lot of money or lose them just as much.
Dell had previously taken strides into the netbook market with its Mini 9 last September, which was a cheap $349 but had only 4 GB of disk storage and lacked bluetooth. The Mini 9 also only came with Linux’s Ubuntu, charging an extra $50 for XP. Its 9 inch screen was a more standard size for netbooks.
The new Mini 12, to contrast, has bluetooth and will run Vista Home Edition. Its operating system has been criticized as a poor choice for netbooks, with detractors citing its resource demand and lack of features to compensate. There is unfortunately no option to get the Mini 12 loaded with XP, which puts the new netbook in some danger. Otherwise, it is exceptional for its laptop-like screen size and good looks and its netbook features.
It will come in both white and black.
Some specs:
- Intel Atom 1.33 GHz, 533 MHz bus, 512k cache
- Windows Vista Home Basic
- 12.1 inch screen @ 1280×800
- 1GB RAM @ 533MHz
- 40GB hard drive @ 4200 RPM
- No optical drive
- Wireless 802.11g
- Integrated webcam
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 3 USB 2.0 ports
- VGA video connector
- Audio in/out
- 3-in-1 media card reader
- Megabit Ethernet
- 0.92″ thick
- 2.72 lbs
