Remember the days when we thought 499 Euros was a great price for a mobile PC with 1.2 Ghz, 1024MB RAM, BT, Wifi and a 30GB drive? Three months later and the Packard Bell Easynote XS20 is now going for 349 Euro which is even better value but the amazing thing is that its probably not low enough for consumers. The Acer Aspire One with a better screen, 80GB drive, far better design and the new Atom processor with better video and graphics capability, is the same price! As a […]

While speaking with our friends at Mobilx this morning I managed to get hold of detailed information on the full M912 range of devices that are launching in Europe. Just a few minutes ago, they also finalised their pricing. It’s good! But first the details. There are 4 versions, two of which will be available in July. One will be a barebones version which will be left to the reseller to configure with their own memory, storage and OS options. The other will be the high-end M912X. Model name – […]

In straight words, here’s my thoughts on the netbooks available at the moment. I’m not in the market for one but here’s what I’d consider if I was. Remember, these are personal opinions! Bluetooth, Windows XP, best-in-class size, weight and battery life would be at the top of my list. I also want something that looks nice, not just functional. Eee PC 701. Screen res too small. Doesn’t look good enough. Feels outdated now! Eee PC 900. Wouldn’t choose any of the versions with split flash. 16G version is a […]

One of the stories appearing last week that deserves a little bit of attention  is the news via Engadget (unknown source) that the Dell E will come in both 8.9 and 12" configurations. The 8.9" device is marked up as as a Mobile Internet Device due to it fitting into  Dell’s 30-minute Web experience pigeonhole. We love multiple definitions of the same term here. It really helps the customers…not! It will be Atom Diamondville based, come with a fairly standard-set of netbook features (multiple SSD options, colors, Linux and XP […]

D.F.J – Direct From Japan, an exporter of mobile solutions direct from the Akihabara district have a Willcom D4, one of the neatest ultra mobile PC solutions we’ve seen yet. I’ve been in touch with DJF today and they’ve been kind enough to send over some first-opinions about the device. Before you read through them though, let me highlight one very important figure. Last week it was reported that the D4 was returning just 1.5 hours on the standard battery (7wh) DFJ report that this is under WWAN conditions. Running […]

Jumping on the jolly 3G Bandwagon (the more the merrier) along with ECS and Asus are Acer. A positive review at Chip.de mentions the following. Im dritten Quartal folgen weitere Modelle mit UMTS/3G-Modul und den Farben Pink und Braun. My translation: In the third quarter follow further models with UMTS/3G and Pink and Brown colours. This is excellent news because, apart from a lack of Bluetooth and touchscreen, the device is shaping up nicely as an Ultra Mobile solution. With the 6-cell battery you’ll reach 6 hours battery life (possibly […]

I’m finally back at my desk after 11 days away and it’s time to clear out all those starred items that built up in my mailbox last week. In no particular order, here’s a text-only run-down of some items I wanted to comment on last week. I’m waiting for final EU prices and specs on the touchscreen netbook, the Gigabyte M912. A demo device should be with us soon. Some pricing was leaked from Gigabyte (in dollars but its normal for a reseller to buy in dollars. Or at least […]

So it seems as though the Atom based Gigabyte M912 8.9″ mini-tablet/netbook is supposedly going to be released some time in late July with a $699 price tag. We actually got this info a few days ago (thanks Johan), however I hesitated to post as the two key points of information that formed the news had been removed from the source. Apparently Gigabyte put up information on the news page of their website giving a price ($699) and rough release date (sometime in July) a few days ago, but suddenly […]