Netbooks Wednesday: The Booklet Gets Subsidized, Acer Shows Android Love

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Here we are again, Otaku Gadget’s weekly round up of everything important that is netbook. This is the round up that tells you all about those nifty little portables that are getting stronger, faster and better everyday. They grow up so fast and they will always be small for us (quite literally small).

Family news on the other side.

Mobinnova Élan Is Now Beam Is To Go To Unknown Carrier

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Mobinnova’s Élan has been around for quite some time now. But now it has changed its name to Beam and is headed towards an unknown (probably undecided) carrier in 2010. This 8.9inch ultraportable is not being seen as a true netbook because it actually will not run Windows 7 but Windows CE as an embedded OS.

The talking point however is the powerful graphics support and battery. Running on NVIDIA’s Tegra, this device packs in HD video (720p) and promises a battery life of 5-10 hours during HD video playback and around 24hours during audio playback. The powerful graphics also makes for a pretty smooth 3D UI. It will be launched at CES 2010.

Nokia Booklet 3G on AT&T for $299 (With Contract)

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The first netbook to include things like 3G and GPS onboard, the Nokia Booklet 3G, has finally received a subsidized rate of $299 from the carrier AT&T. When Best Buy had announced that they had snagged the sole retail selling rights to this device, there was a lot of concern about it being too expensive to afford. That perception is likely to change now.

However, AT&T needs you to tie yourself to a two-year contract at $60 per month if you want this netbook for $299. So in the end you have to calculate what is worth more to you.

Acer Aspire One D250 Android-Windows Dual Boot Is On Pre-Order

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The dual booting netbook from Acer has finally been officially announced. It will dual boot the Android OS and Windows 7. The Android OS will give you lightning fast booting and shut down times. So when you just want to surf the net, chat up friends and check you mail, you can use Android.

Then you can switch over to Windows 7 for doing more grown up things like crunching spreadsheets and creating large documents.

This is a 10.1 inch device and can have up to 2GB RAM and 160GB HDD. Acer claims that any Internet connections made on the Android OS will remain active through reboots and suspended sessions. We have to wait till we get more details as to how this curious feature works. It’s currently on pre-order at online stores.

New Dynabook Netbooks From Toshiba

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Toshiba has added two new models to their Dynabook line – the MX/43K and the MX/33K. The MX/43K is a 13.3inch netbook that is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor, while the MX/33K is a smaller, 11.6inch model that is powered by an Intel Celeron single core processor. They will run on Windows 7.

The MX/43 is available only in white, whilst the MX/33 is available in three colors – black, red and white. They will be launched in Japan on October 22^nd. [read]

Asus Launches Eee PC 1000HT Value Netbook In Japan

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Japan has just received a new low cost netbook model from Asus. It is called the Eee PC 1000HT. It closely resembles the 1000H model that was released last year but it does not have the 802.11n WiFi or Bluetooth.

It has a slightly better battery life at an estimated 6.5 hours. It is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor (N270) and comes with 1GB RAM and 160GB HDD. It runs on Windows XP Home and has WiFi (b/g) and Ethernet for networking along with audio i/o, an SDHC card reader, a VGA out and 3 USB 2.0 ports.

It will hit the markets this weekend for a price of about $421 ( ¥37,800), which is similar to the $300 price bracket in the US.

China Gets $73 Netbook

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No, this is not a barebones version that you will have to build into a real netbook. This is a fully functional device that is powered by a 300MHz ARM-based VIA processor and has 128MB RAM and 1GB storage. So it basically pushes you back a decade but manages to remain small. It is actually half as powerful in terms of processing power as the iPhone 3GS. It is running on Windows CE, which is an embedded OS. It has a 1800mAh battery to make it portable.

It has shown up in Shenzhen, China and is unlikely become wildly popular. But this $73 7inch device with an 800×480 display surely beats the others who are trying to make a $100 computer. [read]

HP Mini 311 All Set To be Updated

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Here we have one more launch that might coincide with the October 22^nd launch of Windows 7. The HP Mini 311 is about to be updated with full NVIDIA ION and it looks like it will also get an 80GB SSD.

All the information has been gleaned from the existing HP support forum, where the model and its variations have shown up, displaying all the details about the various configurations. Since there is mention of HDDs, it looks like the SSD is meant for the OS and applications to make them work faster.

Windows 7 Running Vaio P ‘Mark 2’ Announced

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The Vaio P has been criticized for being an overpriced netbook that charges twice as much as normal netbooks while being slower than some netbooks that come at half the price. However, buyers do get much better build quality, display and aesthetics.

Sony UK has now announced that they are making a new Vaio P called the ‘Mark 2’, that will feature a faster 2.0GHz processor and will run on Windows 7. Expected release is around the same time as the Widows 7 launch and pricing will likely be known around that time.

NVIDIA ION 2 Is Coming

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NVIDIA has recently confirmed that the ION 2 platform is still on for development after its recent declaration that development of newer Intel and AMD chipsets are being halted.

ION 2 is to have a faster graphics chip and will support Via’s answer to Atom – Nano. Looks like the netbook industry is about to heat up again.

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This article was posted as Netbooks Wednesday: The Booklet Gets Subsidized, Acer Shows Android Love at Otaku Gadgets.