Although I would not say that the lack of an optical drive that is necessarily a defining characteristic of a Netbook, the truth is that most 10-inch and smaller laptops lack disk drives, because there just is not much room for them.

This also helps the prices down, and cuts back on the number of moving parts to break, so all in all, I am quite satisfied with the current state of things. But sometimes you have a DVD drive to install software, data, media or seen.

There are a number of USB DVD drives, but the new Lite-On eTAU108 is a rather plain looking for would be that a large majority Netbook apart. The slim DVD burner is top-loading, which means there is no slide-out tray. It may be a USB port, meaning less cable to carry. And it weighs less than 0.8 pounds.

The Nvidia-based ion-N510 Samsung 11.6-inch Netbook will be shipping in the U.S. in September, Liliputing reports.

Together with an Intel Atom CPU N-series and the GeForce 9400M integrated graphics, the 3-pound Samsung N510 has a 160 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM, a 6-cell battery and Windows XP Home operating system. The Netbook sports an HDMI output and is capable of HD video playback.

Its display has a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels and LED backlight is used.

The N510 includes a 1.3MP web camera, stereo speakers and microphone, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth and Ethernet LAN. Besides the HDMI port, there is a VGA output, three USB ports and a 3-in-1 Media Card Reader.

via liliputing

Portable hard drives are not the most sexy type of mobile technology, although it is one of the most important. Typical messages with greater capacity and a new selection of colors, but Verbatim provides some flair with the fresh insight, Portable Hard Drive.

With a 128 x 32-pixel “Always On” display, the Palm-sized Insight Portable Hard Drive is automatically calculated and continuously displays the name of the drive (which you can customize), the amount of available space, and if the drive is connected to from a Mac or PC. Nero BackItUp Essentials, together with the drive for automatic backup of valuable data, and the drive spins at 5,400-rpm.

The Insight Portable Hard Drive also a piano in black with the goal of a premium on the aesthetic process of the backup copy. If this gets you all tingly, you’ll be happy to know that the drive is now available in capacities 320 GB and 500 GB.

via slashgear

MSI X-Slim-Series of laptops are thin and light devices that are more than a few design from the over-expensive Macbook Air But unlike the air, the X-Slim laptops are usually quite affordable. Of course, in order to keep prices down, MSI uses cheaper parts such as processors slower. And now it looks like MSI brings things a bit more by using the information a bit.

Take the MSI-X-slim X610, for example. It is almost identical to the pricier X600 on the outside. But on the inside, the X600 has an Intel Core Solo processor SU3500, while the X610 has a 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon processor MV-50. Unfortunately, while the AMD chip will help the prices, the X600 gets better battery life and performance than the X600.

Meanwhile, MSI is also a bit like a spec bump to the X340 notebook, with a new 8 cells, which is twice as high as the battery life to almost 9 hours. The machine is still the same 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 ULV processor. If you already have an X340 with a 4-cell battery, you have a higher capacity battery.

Sprint today announced two of its newest WiMAX (Sprint 4G) devices, the Sprint Personal Hotspot PHS300S and Cradlepoint MBR-1000. Like a MiFi (but with WiMAX support), these devices, the existing broadband connections, be it a 3G or 4G, and create a Wi-Fi hotspot for each unit.

The larger 7 x 5.6 x 1.2 cm Cradlepoint MBR-1000 is particularly attractive because it supports up to 32 devices at once, so you can literally a hot spot for your work group with only one 4G connectivity. On the basis of our Hands-on with the CLEAR-speed WiMAX recently in Las Vegas (4.36Mbps down, 571Kbps up), even though the downlink data is not everything you want to want to share, if all plans for streaming video or bouncing around in World of Warcraft. The smaller 4.7 x 2.8 x, 8 Customs personnel PHS300S Hotspot allows up to four people to connect at once.

Both are on Sprint’s website or in select Sprint stores, if a 3G network is available. Currently, this means you have to live in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas Ft. Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle.

Oddly enough, Sprint 4G is clearly in Las Vegas and is still WiMAX XOHM in Baltimore. The units for these two networks have provisioning rate between the two, a problem CLEAR and Sprint 4G will have to soon. Think Customers are confused enough yet?

This is the new Compaq Presario it has a 15.6 inch display, 2.2 GHz Intel Celeron 900 processor and a 3GB RAM DDR2 800 MHz, this can be improved up to 8 GB. This is a chic notebook users with a large load of features and design.

Features:

• 2.2GHz Intel Celeron Processor 900
• 3GB Memory, DDR2 800 MHz
• Hard Drive 160 GB 5400 RPM
• Chipset Mobile Intel GM45
• Graphics Intel GMA 4500MHD
• OS Windows Vista Home Premium SP1
• Dimensions (WD) 14.9 9.9 cm
• 1.4-1.7 cm
• Screen size (diagonal) 15.6 inch
• System weight Weight with AC adapter 6.3 7.1

via techfresh

Asus may draw its experimental Google Android-powered Netbook from sight after journalists pleasantry with him at Computex in June. But that does not mean that the company is for Windows and Linux Xandros. Sascha said on NetbookNews a reliable source told him that an Asus Netbook with Moblin Linux in October.

Moblin is a Linux distribution for Netbook. The OS started as a pet for Intel, and it is good to work with Netbook always associated with small screens and Intel Atom processors. The Linux Foundation now runs the project, and a number of other Linux distributions have on the implementation of some of the Moblin technology for their own operating systems Netbook optimized.

I will call these messages with a grain of salt for now that Asus has a tendency to experiment with products that never arrive at the market. But Sasha is in Taiwan at the moment, where I know he was with officials from the company. He reported that Asus is working with Google to develop products that will run that business, the forthcoming Chrome OS.

The economic downturn caused a few cafes, including Naidre in Brooklyn, NY, to limit when users can surf the Internet on their laptops, says WSJ report Thursday. The local neighborhood shop offers free Wi-Fi, but a sign since the spring of 2008 warned that laptops are not allowed in certain mid-day, unless the customer is the food as well as surfing or elsewhere with their notebooks. Store owners say they find it difficult to get a client that uses the space and electricity for hours on end in order not to be nothing else.

Transactions which are not even plugged Naidre their markets to the surfer, and save electricity. In San Francisco, some stores are having a similar but less confrontational approach, with signs that ask laptop users to tables, where cafes are filled.

Others have different rules. Cocoa Bar outlets in Brooklyn and on Manhattan’s Lower East Side put up a rule for more than five months, it is not possible for notebook usage after 8PM on Friday and Saturday. Espresso 77 in Queens, has blocked three of the five outlets to the customer six months ago. Two of the three grumpy caf business in the city have also specifically banned laptops in general.

Larger coffee or bookstore chains such as Starbucks or Borders, often or always for Wi-Fi hotspot access, are not such restrictions. Another book chain Barnes & Noble, the free Wi-Fi, but no restrictions for notebook computers and their users.

A concerted effort to restrict or ban the notebook is probably an effect on Netbook and other small ultra-portable design their own they are used in cafes and other public areas.

Toshiba in the mid-day said it was shipping its first solid-state drives based on a smaller, denser 43-nanometer manufacturing process. These early examples are right on your computer and builders should be two additional capacity and speed. The 2.5-inch form, drives up to 512GB capacity and move data at speeds of up to 230MB per second read and writes up to 180MB per second, 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB capacity are also available.

Several 1.8-inch drives for ultra-portables are also shipping and are available in capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB in full enclosure, for a common system, as well as in raw, unprotected modules as an integral part of the notebook. Even with the crushing, to the same speed as the physically larger drives.

All drives connect to a SATA or SATA II interface. Toshiba has not the name of the company, the drives or so, whether the SSDs will be available separately.

The Asus Eee PC 1101HA was in parts of Europe for a few weeks, but it appeared only a few American stores. The 11.6-inch laptop has a 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU, a 1366 x 768 pixel glossy display. 1 GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP. It has a 1.3MP webcam, 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 6 cell, 62Whr battery.

The Eee PC 1101HA looks like a larger version of the 10-inch Eee PC 1008HA. It has the same “shell”-style case, with a structured and touchpad similar coloring. I am a little disappointed to see the Atom Z520 processor and Intel GMA 500 graphics in this device. The Eee PC T91, with its 1024 x600 pixel display noticeably slow with this information. I can not imagine they are better at a higher resolution.

On the other hand, we have already seen evidence that the Eee PC 1101HA is overclocked to up to 32% of its normal clock frequency. And this could be the difference.

via netbooked