Netbook with HD Video (HDMI and HDTV) - Dell Mini 10 (Inspiron 1010)

As far as I know the Dell Mini 10 (Inspiron 1010) the only 10-inch "HD/HDTV capable" netbook: the Mini 10 got an HDMI interface (instead of VGA) and an integrated HDTV digital TV receiver.
The best is that now the price of the Mini 10 dropped to $329.99 (down from $399.99)

Complete feature set of the
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 10.1-Inch Obsidian Black Netbook with Integrated TV Tuner - Up to 6 Hours 20 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter)

• Processor: Atom 1.6GHz Intel Z530 (512K Cache, yes it isn't a typo! It isn't the N270.
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM Memory
• 160GB Hard Drive
• HDTV internal Digital TV Receiver (ATS), Mini TV Antenna
• HDMI digital display out insteady of VGA (analog)!
  
• 10.1-inch display, 1024x600
• Integrated Intel 500 Media Accelerator
• 1.3M Pixel Webcam
• 6 Cell Battery
  
• Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card (802.11g)
• No Bluetooth, you can easy find a cheap Bluetooth dongle
  
• Windows 7 Starter

The main reason for the significant price drop is the introduction of the new Atom N450 (1.66GHz Pineview) netbooks, for this reason OEMs and shops are trying to sell all remaining Atom N270/N280 netbooks.

All major netbook brands are already shipping or at least announced new models with the just released Intel Atom N450 (1,66GHz Pineview).
As far as I know only a couple of netbooks are really shipping with the new Atom N450

• Asus EEE PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BK for about $370
• MSI Wind U135-206US for $324.99

Windows 7 Discount Sale - Screaming Deal - Netbook Operating System

Unbelievable: you can grab up to 3 Windows 7 licences with over 50% discount, no joke!!!

Dear friends, no matter whether you own a netbook, a laptop or a normal deskop/tower pc. You got the chance to get a Windows 7 Home Premium licence for just $50 (USD) at Amazon or a Windows 7 Professional for just $100 (USD) hurry up since the offer is valid only until July 11th (2009) ”or while supplies last” for U.S., Canada and Japan (start on July 5th).
No joke! Today Microsoft started the so called "screaming deal", you can preorder a copy of Windows 7 update for less than half of the price, unbelievable!

Just to let you understand how much you can save with the pre-order, this is the regular price starting October 2009:

Windows 7 Edition	Upgrade	Full license
Home Premium	$120	$200
Professional	$200	$300
Ultimate	$220	$320

Again: for a Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade you save over 50%, you pay just $50!!

A similar offer will be available in the next few weeks in Europe (United Kingdom, France, Germany), starting July 15th.

I already installed a copy of Windows 7 RC1, it is fantastic. My feeling is that Windows 7 is much more responsive and quick than Vista. The net is full of videos of netbook (EEE PC, MSI Wind and Samsung NC10) running the Windows 7 beta, the performance level is about the same that you get with Windows XP.

When looking at the Windows 7 offer, I just saw that Office 2007 Home and Student got to really cheap level, below $80 USD.

Netbook on the Beach/Outdoor: Display Glare vs Matt

UPDATE: I created an updated list of best netbooks with matte display
Do you want to use your netbook outdoor? On the beach? Do you wear white shirts?

Be careful with the display type you got: there are basically two types of displays out there.
The "traditional" matte displays and glossy (also called glare) displays.
Glossy displays are said to provide better color intensity and contrast ratios than those with a matte finish. The primary disadvantage of these displays is their tendency to reflect any external light, often resulting in an undesirable glare.
Effect that you don't have with matte displays: while matte displays distribute the reflected light across a large area, glare displays tend to reflect the light source as is.

My rule of thumb: if you use a netbook primarily outdoor, get a netbook with a matte display with a brightness exceeding 160 cd/m2, better if 200 cd/m2 or more. Glare displays are still ok if they have a very good brigthness (200 cd/m2 or more).

It means that the best netbook for the beach (IMHO) are currently:
All MSI Wind, Akoya E1210 and E1211, Samsung NC10, HP Mininote.
Unfortunately the EEE PC tend to have a very dark display, so you won't have much fun outdoor/on the beach.

One very important note: the netbooks that I mentioned above aren't ruggered, it means that they aren't build to be protected from water, dust, sand, dirt, snow and extreme temperatures. For this reason I would never bring my netbook on the beach, it would dramatically reduce its lifetime!!!
Bottom line: handle your netbook with care.

UPDATE: I created an updated list of best netbooks with matte display

Bluetooth for Aspire One A150, Samsung NC10, Medion Akoya Mini E1210 netbooks

UPDATE: Netbook and Bluetooth - Integrated vs USB Dongle

Please go directly to the newest post, since the Bluetooth dongle suggested in this post may have major software problems!

You want to buy the netbook that best fits you (e.g. using the netbook features database),
you are close to buy a top class netbook/mini laptop, such as the Samsung NC10, the Acer Aspire A150 or the Medion Akoya Mini E1210 when you see that it is missing a Bluetooth interface. What to do? You really need Bluetooth in the netbook to synchronize the mobile phone calendar or just to listen to music!
My suggestion: Bluetooth support in the netbook shouldn't be a go/not go criteria, you can simply add Bluetooth support using a Bluetooth USB dongle, there are many starting just below $10 (USD) and some of them are so tiny that you even won't see it.
This micro USB Bluetooth adapter simply disappears in the USB port of your netbook, so you can plug it once and forget it. You won't notice it! No damage to break it!
The Samsung NC10 or the Acer Aspire A150 got 3 USB ports so you'll have "just" two USB ports left, however it is far enough for 99% of us!

(At the time of writing) Beside the mentioned one, many other netbooks aren't equipped with a Bluetooth port: the HP MiniNote 2133, Acer Aspire A110, Fukato Jupiter, Lenovo Ideapad S9/S10, Fujitsu Amilo Mini Ui3520, Gigabyte M912, EEE PC 700/701/900/901. So if you really like the netbook however you miss Bluetooth, just buy an USB dongle/adapter!

Important! Installing a Bluetooth USB dongle/adapter is matter of minutes with Windows XP, for a Linux netbook the installation is a bit more complex and you need a minimal linux experience, look here for instructions on EEE PC (mostly similar for other netbooks).

UPDATE: Netbook and Bluetooth - Integrated vs USB Dongle

Please go directly to the newest post, since the Bluetooth dongle suggested in this post may have major software problems!


Remember that using the EEE Journal Netbook database helps find your dream netbook, with or without Bluetooth and refining the search with many other paramenters (operating system, size, battery, etc...)
http://www.eeejournal.com/2008/12/netbook-feature-database.html

MSI Wind U115: Can Hybrid Storage boost Netbook Performance?

MSI announced the Wind U115 as the first netbook with hybrid storage. According to MSI, the hybrid storage should significantly boost netbook performace and extend battery time.
Hybrid storage isn't new to the laptop world, the major news is that so far "hybrid storage" was mainly pointing to hard disks that included a flash memory as well. The hybrid hard disks that I saw so far show (if at all) a very small (less than 5%) performance and battery boost. This is probably due to the fact that the included flash memory aren't big and fast enough, if I well remember current hybrid drives include less than 1GB flash. This is far too less to see major improvements.
MSI Wind U115 is equipped with 8GB flash (SDD) and a 120GB "traditional" hard disk. I think that this solution has really potential, the only questions I have are:

1) how fast is the included SDD? A slow SDD will kill performance
2) how smart is the device driver? Microsoft ReadyDrive shows only disappointing results so far. the drivers seem to be very rudimental. However microsoft isn't alone: a russian company is working at a solution (eBoostr) working on Windows XP as well.

Relevant posts

• Netbook performance
  

Reduced Sale Price for MSI Wind U100 Netbook

See also

• All MSI Wind related posts

MSI reduced the price of the MSI Wind U100, one of the best netbooks currently for sale, I found some online stores selling the MSI Wind U100 with Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, Windows XP and 120GB hard disk for $350 USD. For a few days even Best Buy sold it for the same price. Of course for $350 you'll get only a 3-cells battery.

Also in Germany you can currently buy the MSI Wind U100, 120GB hard disk and Windows XP for only 328 Euros at Amazon.de see link below.

The main price for the price reduction is the immanent market launch of the new MSI Wind netbooks: models U110, U115 and U120. Still using the Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, the major differences are in interfaces and storage. I'll post more details very soon...

See also

• All MSI Wind related posts

Amazon USA

Amazon Germany

Medion Akoya E1211 vs E1210 vs MSI Wind netbooks

The scene around the 10-inch netbooks is always more busy, the netbooks are getting very similar and all at about the same price level, the models equipped with Windows XP are all about 400 Euros.
Medion announced availability for the Akoya E1211 for October for 400 Euros. This is very interesting: after all, the Akoya E1210 was basically a MSI Wind without Bluetooth.
Now the Akoya E1211 will include Bluetooth, draft n wireless LAN (wifi) and even 160GByte hard disk!
Conclusion: the Akoya E1211 seem to be even better than the MSI Wind U100!

• MSI Wind U100 vs Akoya E1210: MSI Wind wins for the additional Bluetooth support.
• MSI Wind U100 vs Akoya E1211: Akoya wins, thank to the bigger hard disk (160GByts vs 80GBytes) and draft n wireless lan (MSI Wind got simple 11g wireless)
  
• Akoya E1210 vs E1211: E1211 wins. Bigger hard disk, better wireless and additional Bluetooth!
  

Table with the Akoya E1211 features (from the german magazine Chip)

Other posts about MSI Wind and Medion Akoya

Medion Akoya E1210 for Sale in UK

The Medion Akoya Mini E1210 is currently sold in UK (distributed by Aldi, Sainsury's and Argos) for prices between £280 and £300.
Remember that the Akoya Mini E1210 is basically an MSI Wind U100.

Before buying the E1210 remember that in about a month the Akoya Mini E1211 will be available with a huge 160GBytes hard disk! See post compare E1210 vs E1211 vs MSI Wind U100.

Other posts about Medion Akoya and MSI Wind

Dual Core Atom CPU for EEE PC or MSI Wind Netbooks?

Intel announced the Atom 330, a dual core CPU clocked at 1,83 GHz dedicated to nettops (low cost desktop pcs) not to be confused with netbooks (such as EEE PC or MSI Wind).
In any case it won't last long until we'll see dual core Atom for MSI Wind of EEE PC.

Related posts about dual core Atom processor and Intel Atom processor

MSI Wind is the Best Netbook to Buy

MSI Wind U100 is the clear winner of the netbook race: the MSI Wind U100 has the best mix of performance and features at a very competitive price: fairly big display (10-inch) and keys, hard disk, a powerful CPU, Bluetooth and Windows XP. Only the battery could last a bit more.
Not to forget that the MSI Wind coming in september will be equipped with a more juicy battery. More information about MSI Wind battery and articles on MSI Wind

See also EEE Journal

Apple Netbook? - MSI Wind / Medion Akoya with Mac OS Leopard

The first Apple Netbook... german Press showed pictures of a Medion Akoya mini (E1210) with Mac OS X (Leopard). As you know the Akoya mini E1210 is basically a MSI Wind U100, it means that the same job to port Apple Mac OS X can be done on a Wind U100.
It wasn't a quick job... according to magazine computerbild, it was required to replacet the original WLAN minipci card (Gigabyte GN-WI01GT) , install Apple Mac OS X with some special drivers. Here the video!
See all news about

• Apple Netbook
• Medion Akoya E1210 and E1211
• MSI Wind

EEE PC Competition: MSI Wind on Sale with 3 cell battery instead of 6-cell battery!

The MSI Wind is finally on sale in USA and, big surprise, the cool subnotebook has a 3 cells battery instead of the announced 6 cells.
That's a pity: the 3 cells battery lasts up to 3-3,5 hours.

The Medion Akoya Mini E1210 (currently shipped in Germany) is a kind of MSI Wind clone and also uses a 3 cells battery.

According to unofficial sources the MSI Wind will be shipped with a 6 cells battery starting from Septeber!

More on EEE Journal

EEE PC News - EEE PC 903, 904 and 905 vs MSI Wind U90?

I've heard of some new EEE PC models: 903, 904 and 905. Pricing unknown.
The main feature seems to be a bigger keyword (very welcome) and a 8.9-inch display. This would make them comparable to the MSI Wind U90.

More soon on EEE Journal

EEE PC Competition : Medion Akoya Mini (MSI Wind U100) for sale at Aldi (Germany)

UPDATE: about the battery!

I've already reported that Medion is going to bring to the market an ultra portable laptop built on MSI Wind basis.
My personal opinion is that MSI Wind is most promising/best ultra portable laptop announced so far: the best feature-set + very good price level.

Some more details about the Medion Akoya Mini E1210: it will be sold/available starting from July 3rd in Germany (Deutschland) for 399 Euros with Windows XP Home, 10-inch display, 80GB hard disk and a 3-cell battery!
To be noted that the Medion Akoya won't include Bluetooth!

See also EEE Journal

EEE PC Competition - Medion Akoya Mini E1210 a MSI Wind Clone

Medion presented a new netbook / subnotebook, the Akoya Mini E1210. It should be equivalent to an MSI Wind U100. Actually it is a MSI Wind with a different case.
Price EUR 399 in Germany.

See also EEE Journal

Feature Set Summary Table: Compare EEE PC vs MSI Wind vs Acer Aspire One vs Gigaset M912 vs other competitors

The subnotebooks market is growing rapidly, that's why now is time to make some order...

I've prepared a table to compare feature set of EEE PC, MSI Wind, Acer Aspire One, Gigaset M912 and other subnotebooks

I'll try to update the table with the latest information I have: price, weight, LCD size, HDD/SDD size, processor, interfaces and so on!

See this table

See also EEE Journal

EEE PC Competition - MSI Wind pre-order

The ultra portable laptop MSI Wind, a serious alternative to the EEE PC, showed up again at Expansys. At Amazon there is only a placeholder, no possibility to pre-order it.

>>>UPDATE: it is possible to pre-order the MSI Wind at Amazon, at incredibly low prices.

According to the information given on the Expansys sales pages, the MSI Wind (10-inch display, 80GB hard disk, Atom 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM) will be available starting from July 19th in Europe, July 22nd in USA and Canada and July 25th in Japan.

Respectively for the Linux and Windows XP variants

• USA (USD): about 563 and 612
• Canada (CDN): about 601 and 654
• Japan (Yen): about 60000 and 65000
• UK (Pounds) : about 318 and 346
• Germany (Euros) : about 403 and 440
  
• France, Finland (Euros) : about 461 and 501
• Italy (Euros) : about 462 and 502

Please double check prices and availability at Expansys!

I've already announced pre-order availability for the MSI Wind at Expansys, however the product disappeared for a while and is not back.

See also EEE Journal Home Page

EEE PC, MSI Wind, Acer Aspire One, HP Compaq Mininote, Gigabyte M912 for sale: is it the right moment to buy an ultra portable laptop / subnotebook ?

The answer is definitely not! Don't buy an EEE PC, MSI Wind or similar in the next couple of months!
If you want to buy an ultra portable laptop / subnotebook / netbook you'd better wait at until August-September this year.
Last announcement is of Acer, the Aspire One and many new models are coming, also something from Sony. It means healthy competition, the EEE PC is not alone and now we are getting more and more choice at lower prices due to the availability of many ultra portable laptops and also from the announced price reduction for Windows XP licences for netbooks .

For all posts about EEE PC competitions see
http://www.eeejournal.com/search/label/EEE%20PC%20Competition

or see also EEE Journal Home Page.

EEE PC Competition - MSI Wind pre-order availability

I announced not long ago the possibility to pre-order the ultra portable laptop MSI Wind at expansys.
Mistery: the MSI Wind disappeared from the website, the expansys guys probably got too many pre-orders for the subnotebook...

EEE Journal Home Page

EEE PC Competition - Details on MSI Wind

I already gave initial details about the MSI Wind: 1,6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB RAM (on board), 80GB 2.5 inch hard disk and a webcam (1.3 megapixel), 8.9 or 10 inch display with LED backlighting.
got additional information: the MSI Wind integrated Bluetooth and a 3-cell battery.

The chipset should be Intel 945GMS with ICH7-M. This is an interesting news, in fact this chipset supports 533 MHz front-side bus while the EEE PC chipset (Intel 910GML chipset) supports only 400 MHz front-side bus.
The higher frequency can result in higher performance, especially due to the bigger DDR2 throughput.

EEE Journal Home Page