Electric Vagabond

Nvidia Ion in Netbooks is what I'm excited about

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:51:00 +0000

Long time no post guys but just thought I'd stop by and tell you what I'm excited about in the world of netbooks at the moment and what is set to be the next quantum leap for netbooks since Intel introduced the now ubiquitous Atom processor.

The Nvidia Ion. This Intel/Nvidia collaboration chip has been banded around for a while now at CES and other events but we are now at a stage where we are approaching potential netbook product releases with this chip featured centre stage.

So just what is the Ion?
Well it is designed around delivering something that is missing in Atom powered netbooks and nettops today... graphics performance. So why does my netbook suck when it comes to graphics you ask? Well... its because generally good graphics processors are;

1) expensive

2) power hungry (aka not netbook battery friendly) and

3) BIG (technically chips are small but the auxiliary cooling/circuitry can be large).

It is highly likely your netbook has an onboard Intel GMA graphics chip which is basically enough to 'just get by'.

However, Nvidia has now witnessed the insane growth of netbooks and is stepping in to the arena with the Ion - finally modern games, Full HD movies and OS effects will now operate with congruous fluidity!

An Ion is essentially an Intel Atom N230 central processing unit combined with a Nvidia GeForce 9400 graphics processing unit all in a super-small netbook friendly package!

The product page boasts:

DirectX 10 Graphics (capable of super modern effects, games and other cool stuff!) - they demo Call of Duty 4 on the site and I must say it looks pretty good.

1080p HD Video w/ 7.1 Sound!

CUDA technology to help with graphics processing in OS applications such as Video encoding or photoshop

Will integrate well with Windows 7/Windows Vista's flashy Aero interface (window transparency and special effects etc)

Below is a marketing-ey type video for the Ion from Nvidia that shows a snippet of what they claim you can do with Ion - not exactly technical stuff but hey I'm a sucker for pretty marketing material when it comes to shiny new products!

vid via [Acer Aspire Revo].

So when can we get our hands on an Ion powered machine you ask? Well... the first commercial machine is an Acer Aspire Revo - however this machine is a nettop rather than a netbook but excitingly Acer claims it will be priced well under USD500, features HDMI out, Wi-Fi N and SEVEN USB ports! Notably, Gizmodo managed to playback a Blu-Ray movie at great bitrates using a demo machine but pointed out that Flash and Silverlight - the technologies that power video sites like Hulu and YouTube - don't utilise GPU acceleration at all, so performance won't improve on this front.

The Acer Aspire Revo

[Update: I found this interesting article which heavily critiques the Aspire Revo - namely Acer's choice of a weak CPU such as an Atom in a machine where power drain isn't an issue. It suggests that the Celeron would have been a better choice for performance vs cost and I have to agree in this case it probably would be. Especially in a Vista scenario the article suggests that the Revo will be anologous to "... something that moves with the speed of a syphilitic water buffalo wearing leg irons.". However, I see the purpose of this machine as more of a collaborative PR tool for Nvidia and Acer rather than a top notch product in that it pushes the Ion and lets Acer have claim of 'first-to-market' while still producing a relatively cheap and effective computer.]

So who will be the first off the block with netbooks carrying an Ion? Well its anyone's guess but possibly Lenovo will be bringing out 11 and 12" ideapads before not too long - we'll just have to wait and see.

For now I am still using my MSI Wind U100 with Windows 7 Beta and I DO love the setup, however an Ion powered netbook would make me change machines faster than you can say "Open and clear".

Netbooks and Nettops For People Around the World

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:35:00 +0000

Wow - was just surfing the internets on my Wind and stumbled across this awesome ad from Intel's YouTube channel promoting the Atom and netbooks... Not sure if you guys have seen this before but seeing as I probably read more about netbooks than most I'm guessing not! How this video slipped under my radar since June '08 is beyond me!

Enjoy! Oh and does anyone know what song this is?

MSI Wind Bios Update 1.0B

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:16:00 +0000

Kia Ora from New Zealand and a very belated Happy New Year to you all!

Besides putting this blog on the backburner for a while I couldn't ignore all the request and internet noise over the new 1.0B bios from MSI for the U100 Wind Netbook. Truth be told there isn't any improvements worth noting, but take it from me - I highly recommend updating to the latest bios as it seems stable and there are minor improvements and fixes that are better to have than not have.

Overclocking has remained (added in bios 1.07) in this update - HOWEVER some people are reporting overclocking not functioning properly on their machines whereby it did using older bioses like 1.09. If this is the case and you REALLY need overclocking then just use my old guide to flash back to 1.09 here. Other people are experiencing a couple of other niggles but this hasn't changed from previous bioses. Please use the Troubleshooter at the end of this guide to... troubleshoot!

Well enough time wasting the guide and package download are below, enjoy.

EV's Guide to Flashing the 1.0B Bios for the MSI Wind in Windows XP and Vista

CAUTION: Although this method is proven to be the most successfully consistent, its not a surefire method and those not willing to take the technical risk of temporarily or permanently screwing up their machine should not proceed. Any issues at any step of the guide please refer Troubleshooting at the bottom. I have endeavoured to keep this up to date with the latest fixes to any problems so please go through the troubleshooting section before reporting errors.

However, this is an official MSI release available on their website and therefore they legally must support any issues you have with the upgrade. Thanks MSI!

Pre-update) Before proceeding ensure that you have the latest System Control Manager (SCM) from the MSI support page here. Many users have reported issues such as speedstep not working properly or the unavailability of Eco mode - all fixed by the latest SCM.

Step 1) As flashing the bios is an inherently risky procedure it is important that you are running on AC power and that your MSI Wind battery is removed to prevent any potential power issues during the update. Shut Down your Wind, remove the battery, and boot to Windows on wall power only.

Step 2) Download this package which contains the 1.0B official bios, and a modified version of the winflash utility for flashing your bios in Windows.

Step 3) To be safe turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and disconnect all peripherals from your Wind. Close any virus scanners or 3rd party firewalls that might inadvertently interrupt or cause errors during the bios flashing process. Program your power button to shut down the machine (rather than standby or hibernate).

Step 4) Unzip the package and create a folder in your C Drive called FLASH. Paste the files from the downloaded package into the FLASH folder.

Step 5) Click the Start button, click Run... and type CMD and press OK. This will launch a DOS-like command prompt in a window. Type CD\ at the prompt to return to the core directory and then type CD FLASH to change to the C:\FLASH directory. Type RUNFLASH to execute the batch file that will update your Bios. Wait patiently for the flash to complete. Once done you will be back at the command prompt in C:\FLASH. Type EXIT. If your keyboard is not working at this stage don't panic, just shut down your computer using your mouse or press your power button.

Step 6) Shut Down your machine and remove the wallpower for 20 seconds.

Step 7) Reinstall the battery and boot your machine to Windows ensuring USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Keyboard and Mouse are all functioning. Refer Troubleshooting at the end of this guide if you experience issues during this step. If your computer doesn't boot at all (won't display bios flash screen) and you have additional RAM see the troubleshooting section.

Step 8) Reboot your Wind and enter your bios (Press DEL when you see the MSI splash screen) - navigate to the Advanced tab and where it says DOC you can select between an 8%, 15% and 24% overclock. Also make sure Speedstep is set to Enabled as this will allow your Atom to run at a lower clock when idling.

I advise starting DOC with 8% to make sure that your Wind can handle this overclock and work your way up to 24% (1984MHz c.f. 1600MHz stock) if you wish. Users with upgraded good quality RAM (such as Corsair) will be able to achieve a higher overclock setting with stable results.

Press F10 to save and exit the bios.

Once in Windows, and running on AC Power, pressing Fn+F10 should display 'Turbo On' and your Power LED should turn Orange. You are now running an overclocked Wind!

Note: As an added bonus when running on Battery Power and pressing Fn+F10 for Eco Mode you power LED will turn green. So now you can tell whether you are in Eco, Normal or Turbo modes just by looking the power LED color!

Troubleshooting:

- Did you install the MSI SCM as I said above step 1? Download it here and install it - you may have to uninstall your previous SCM first.

- If your Wind doesn't boot try disconnecting all power sources (battery, wallpower) for 20 seconds (preferably more - like 10 minutes) or holding down the Power button for 10 seconds with AC Power connected.

- If you have additional RAM and your Wind won't boot, you probably need to disable Onboard Memory in the bios. You can display the bios splash screen by holding down Esc and pressing the power on button. You will still need to press Del once you see the MSI splash screen. Alternatively try removing the additional RAM module and booting into the bios (press DEL when the MSI splash screen appears). In the Advanced tab ensure that Onboard Memory is disabled then reinstall your additional RAM and reboot.

- Try enabling/disabling AHCI in bios.

- Try pressing F9 in Bios to restore optimized default settings.

- If you don't see the 'Turbo On' icon (as per the pic in this post, except without a fast looking mouse) then you probably need to install the System Control Manager from MSI's support site here.

- Got Vista? Disable UAC (User Account Control) to solve the driver not found issue.

- Bluetooth not going? Try rebooting several times, this reportedly makes it come right in many circumstances.

- Refer MSI Wind Forums if these methods don't work.

Tidings!!

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:38:00 +0000

A big Merry Christmas (a tad early I know) and Happy New Year to all you readers and subscribers alike!

Mucho apologies for the big gap in posts, the reason for which you might have read about here... Unfortunately this has been compounded by my travelling and temporary relocation to another country, Christmas rush and present buying and other serious financial issues around my personal solvency due to the dead job market in the financial sector (my specialisation)!

So, the long and the short of it is I'm not going to be able to provide ongoing cutting edge netbook news and analysis due to my personal situation, at least in the short term.

I did find this cool chart though (you may have already seen) which shows which netbooks run various elements of OS X. This is essential for anyone considering creating a mini macbook for Christmas getaways. Click below for full size!

Apple is missing out on netbooks says MacWorld editor

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:50:00 +0000

MacWorld editor, Peter Cohen, wrote that Apple is "missing an opportunity" on netbooks and now after playing with an Eee PC he says that the Eee is a "good second car". We love the pic above - the Eee PC is dwarfed by the 17" MacBook Pro, it gives a great sense of scale for portability's sake.

The 1000HA he tested was found to give a "remarkably good user experience" that gets you around town "economically and conveniently". This Apple pundit thinks that now more than ever Apple is still missing out on a popular and important market segment by refraining from netbooks for whatever reason.

Peter puts in best when he says " I’d love to see something in the form-factor of an Eee PC that’s descended from the DNA of the iPhone.". So would we Peter, c'mon Steve, give us what we want!

MacWorld via Netbook Tech

New Eee PC 1002HA Reviewed

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:37:00 +0000

Our favourite and most trusted review site at EV is Laptop Mag. They are a publication that truly understand netbooks and what makes them good (or bad), so make sure you check their review of your chosen machine before you fork out the dosh. Accordingly, they have just released their official take on the new Eee PC 1002HA.

Those not familiar with this machine just need to know that this is Asus' supposed replacement for the aging smash hit Eee PC 1000H. The machine is basically the same inside but with a revamped shell reminiscent of the flagship S101 product but with a significantly cheaper price tag due to the inclusion of an HDD rather than the S101's high-end SSD.

Read the review here or get my analysis of the review below;

As stated above its essentially a 1000H in an S101's clothing
Biggest drawback is the non-extendable 2-cell battery - about 3 1/2 hrs life
Looks damn good and doesn't pick up fingerprints
Very thin (only just thicker than HP Mini 1000)
Suitably light (only 0.2lbs heavier than S101 and Mini 1000)
Nice Multi-Touch touchpad
Poorly placed right shift key
Speedy 160GB HDD
Snappy performance and cool operating temperature
Super Hybrid Engine for over/underclocking works well
3DMark03 - 678 Marks - pretty good!
Laptop Mag recommend the Samsung NC10 over the 1002HA for the better battery life and slightly better keyboard at the same price but the 1002HA is definitely one of the best looking netbooks out there if you value looks (*ahem* macfans *ahem*)

HP Mini 1000 ships with 3G, Viv Tam edition hits

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:21:00 +0000

The Mini 1000 from HP is still very much a hot ticket, and despite existing HP Mini's featuring the 'easiest 3G mod in the world' HP has now officially released out-of-the-box 3G capable Mini 1000s. Joy.

Before you nonchalantly say 'cool.' you may want to know that HP execs have been doing drugs again. So many drugs in fact that you are expected to pay an additional $200 for this 'added extra' to fund their coke habit (in conglomeration with AT&T or Verizon). Don't want to contribute to the deviated septums of some of the better paid tech bosses out there? Get a non 3G version - they have the same simcard slots and with some software installations you can get 3G working fine apparently.

Oh and the pretty but wildly priced Vivienne Tam edition HP Mini 1000 (pictured above), dubbed the 'digital clutch' is now available, pre-Christmas as promised. there is no doubt about it, the HP Mini 1000 kicks ass, and this cool designer [design] is sure to appeal to the Femmes among us. And at $699 retail it sure won't be popular amongst their husbands.

At this stage the 3-Cell battery is still the worst thing about these machines - expect 6-cell in January. Also, the VGA-Output port needs an additional adaptor so if you are planning to connect to a bigger screen or projector bear this extra cost and inconvenience in mind before you purchase.

Giz & Giz

Intel loving their Atom, Backing Moblin for MIDs

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:59:00 +0000

jkOnTheRun has info on a 'briefing' stating that Intel is expecting netbooks to be hot sellers throughout 2009. The 'explosion' in sales that has come from their ubiquitous (and homogenous) Intel Atom processors has really helped Intel through the hard times that have been the 2009 credit crunch.

Netbooks continuing to boom is a bit of a 'no-brainer' but what does Intel see happening in the future? It appears they think the MID (Mobile Internet Device) category taking off in a big way in the zero nine, with their Moblin . Supposedly, CES will be the expo where we see MIDs really starting to hit the mainstream in droves and Intel is predicting that these will come in the flavours of highly specialized devices - i.e. Gaming MIDs, Entertainment MIDs, Navigation MIDs.

I find this to be an interesting model, although good for sales (corporates can sell you 3 devices instead of one), I think consumers really only want one do-it-all device rather than differing devices for each thing. But then again, digital cameras are still super-popular despite the majority of phones out there touting built-in picture takers, so perhaps Intel is right?

The next-gen of Atoms - due out next year, dubbed Moorestown, offers a 10x reduction in idle power consumption. Something sure to boost netbook (and MID) battery life substantially. Intel also continue to back the Moblin Linux distro and hope that this platform will help in a big way with the success of MIDs.

hot sauce: jkOnTheRun

Alchemy: Swap your Eee's Celeron for a Pentium M

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:33:00 +0000

Gury Hwa has posted on his blog showing owners of Celeron-enabled (or disabled :P) Asus Eee PCs that you can swap out your shoddy CPU for a better model.

For a mere $30 Gury grabbed a 1.2GHz ULV Pentium M 753 processor to replace his 900MHz Celeron 353. The CPU was deemed suitable by using MMTool to figure out what CPUs the bios could support - the faster processor uses only an additional 0.5W in power, making it a near perfect upgrade.

As predicted the bios picked up on the new CPU straight away and identified it correctly. However, the CPU only ran at 840MHz, no surprise as the stock Celeron is even underclocked by default to reduce power drain and heat output. Using one of the many overclocking utilities available for the Eee you can clock up to full speed @ 1.2GHz.

Unfortunately the post isn't exactly a how-to guide with Gury only stating that the soldering is 'complicated'. I think this mod is reserved for those who know WTH they are doing, but full credit to Gury all the same!

via eeehacks [guide]

Netbook Reviews Collated

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:11:00 +0000

Those of you familiar with the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes can clearly see the factors that lead to its success. By collating reviews of movies across the board, potential moviegoers and DVD renting patrons could, using the law of averages, assume whether they would be likely to enjoy a particular movie based on its universal reviews. Imagine if the same applied to netbooks?

Well, now it does. Some of you might know the website TestFreaks.com, who have now launched a specific section of their site solely covering netbook reviews. Although some of the same problems from RT plague TF (the thumbs-up, thumbs-down approach which can lead to exaggerated or understated scores) invariably you are able to check out a broad range of user and 'expert' opinions on pretty much every netbook on the market.

For example, the MSI Wind with a Freak Score of 9.5/10 features 45 expert reviews from CNet, Laptop Mag and the like and breaks down each review into a summary with Pros and Cons as well as links to the full review. Pretty handy for netbook buyers looking to get some feedback outside of the polarized mainstream channels.

Check it out...

MSI Wind Touchpad Mods - Sentelic becomes Synaptics like magic and Single Bar Mouse Button gets split

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:22:00 +0000

Dammit, my inertia to post due to my slow internet has meant that Engadget and Wired has got the better of me on a story that I had spotted on my stomping grounds, the MSI Wind Forums.

MSI Wind users saddled with the terribly sub-par Sentelic (not Sentilic Engadge!) touchpads instead of the more commonly used and clearly better Synaptics touchpads are now in for a fix. Many users have wondered whether a software update would solve their woes but as the old saying goes unfortunately you can't polish a turd, and Sentelic touchpads are of the turdiest hardware variety.

Along comes cptskippy from the MSI Wind Forums who took the initiative of checking out an MSI Wind parts sheet and spotted that the trackpad item had the same SKU as the Synaptics model rather than the Sentelic. The long and the short of it is he was able to order the part (from Asus surprisingly) for only USD8 plus USD5 shipping - hardly the huge cost saver for MSI that people thought was the motive behind this OEM part switch. Find out how to do the mod after the break, and also how to turn your single bar mouse button... into two. Who said they don't believe in magic this Christmas season?

Using the MSI Wind parts guide (download PDF) and referencing part #TM61PUZG336 (The Synaptics Pad), consumers can order a replacement pad from wherever they can find, but the user cptskippy found the part through Asus. The link to Asus Europe is here, and Asus USA here, and the prices vary between the two sites. Those who have had the misfortune of using the Sentelic touchpad however, will tell you price is no object! Unfortunately, I think that availability might be weaning given the popularity of this mod but keep your eyes peeled.

Once procurement is complete you need to open the MSI Wind up, and pry loose the old touchpad to replace with the new one. This from the forums:

"The tricky part is removing the sentelic pad as they are glued to the case. Gently work it loose with a plastic knife ( and maybe a tiny bit of hot air / drop of isopropyl alcohol ) instead of trying to pry it off by hand. You may also need a piece of vinyl tape to replicate the one on the sentelic when you put on the foil grounding tape. The foil tape should only make contact with one square spot on the PCB. Also remember to remove the keyboard from the top before opening up the bottom."

Below is a pic comparing the two touchpads - kiss goodbye to your Blue piece of junk - may I suggest a new bullseye for your dartboard? Oh and if anyone can find it in their heart to donate a Synaptics Touchpad to EV for Christmas we'll be sure to put them on our nice list! Apparently the US Asus site won't ship to Australia!

Mouse Button Split

Another related and recent mod splits the single button mousebar into two separate buttons for distinct left/right click zones. The original forum thread is here but I have posted the guide below for your reference with pics.

1) Take apart button and cut it in half ( I used an exacto blade, then used a small saw)

2) Find a spring that will fit in the hole where the center peg will work

3) Cut spring in half. I used a spring from a click BIC pen. You want one end to have an 2-3 exposed springs, while the other end has the flat end.

4) Using an exacto blade CAREFULLY start removing plastic on the center peg so that you can push the spring on. This is the hardest step. You need to cut enough plastic so that the spring + peg will be able to go through the hole, but at the same time not enough material so that the spring falls off.

5) Once you have the spring on the central peg test it out. IF it works you are almost there

6) Using an exacto blade cut the soft foam in half, and install one half on each side of the central spring.

EV's Broadband Woes

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:27:00 +0000

Apologies to my readership for the inconsistency of the posts at the moment but EV is going through a bit of a broadband slump (temporary til mid-December when I move). We were running a decently fast ADSL2+ connection that was awesome for any rich web content but unforeseen circumstances lead to me getting kicked out of my place and at very short notice!

My new place has painfully slow "broadband". For you North Americans and Europeans you may not fully understand what slow broadband actually means in Australia/New Zealand. I'm talking slower than 56K downspeeds, streaming a YouTube video without buffering for an hour is out of the question, rendering web 2.0 almost impossible to use. I'm guessing my flatmate is on a 64kbps plan because its cheap but the phone line signal degradation and connection sharing mean that the actual speed is even slower. And to make things worse the ADSL modem is patched to a separate Wireless Router - extra links in the chain are never good. Lost packets anyone?

3G + dongle is almost out of the question seeing as I don't want to sign up to a 24month ridiculously priced plan - the only feasible options in this country.

So I ventured out to the nearest university armed with my girflriend's wireless login details and voila I found a (just) usable speed that could almost stream a standard def YouTube video. Not exactly convenient internet but it would do. Alas the signal dropped every 2nd minute and because of a hokey software authentication method it would take up to 10 minutes to reconnect. And then the unthinkable - my girlfriend graduated just days after I had found this university connection and her access was simultaneously and permanently revoked!

So now I sit in the state library, again with a horribly inconsistent and slow "broadband" connection, about 40 minutes public transport from home, struggling against my blogging platform which only succeeds in uploading photos ~~1 in 5 tries~~ ~~make that never (do you see a pic above that I was trying to upload?)~~ (i found a new hotspot - public Federation Square) and a WiFi signal that drops constantly.

On the upside I'm sitting at a table with my Wind with two girls, one using an Acer Aspire One and the other an Asus Eee PC 901! A sign not to give up perhaps?

Samsung NC11 spotted on Korean Sammy site

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:59:00 +0000

Hot on the heels of the extremely popular netbook from Samsung, the NC10, is the natural named successor the NC11. However, you might suspect that with such an incremental jump in model number you'd be looking at a rather minor incremental jump in specs. You'd be right - the NC11 appears to be basically the same as the NC10 except with Windows Vista - which we all know runs terribly on netbook specs.

The NC11 was spotted on the Korean Samsung page here.

via Liliputing

Windows 7 Official Beta coming soon

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:44:00 +0000

Remember the Windows 7 hype of recent? It seems that Vista's successor is going to kick some serious a** on the netbook scene with SSD optimizations, tons of speed tweaks, a new GUI and a shiny new feature set. However, some people are still calling it Vista with a few tweaks, but we'll reserve judgment until we get our hands on a copy.

Fortunately, it sounds like that will be sooner rather than later with the MSDN Developer Conference (MDC) site announcing that all future attendees of upcoming MDC events will receive the Win7 Beta 'in the mail' once available. When's available you ask? Well pundits in the know are picking early to mid January '09 - not a bad new year's prezzie? If you don't have plans to go and hear Ballmer chant 'Developers, Developers, Developers' you can probably expect the Beta to show up on torrent websites for leeches like yourself.

via PCWorld

Sony Vaio Netbook Rumoured

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:56:00 +0000

There are only two major notebook manufacturers left to launch their own branded netbook - Sony and Apple. Notably, these two companies have extremely powerful brands that they must consider before launching into a market that may just be a fad, but with the netbook market still growing as fast as ever it seems increasingly likely that they will take the first step towards grabbing a piece of the proverbial netbook pie.

In September Sony made a relatively explicit comment that they would be joining the market sooner or later.

An Engadget tip through an FCC leak has lead to a piece on the upcoming rumoured Sony netbook, and we have the picture above. Although tiny in depth this netbook is to have Wireless b/g/n, Bluetooth and WWAN courtesy of the Qualcomm Gobi chipset.

The dimensions are smaller than the HP Mini 1000 at 9.5" x 4.5" making it pretty small, and possibly without a trackpad (nipple anyone?). Hopefully this model will have a 10" display as we think that 9" is just that 1" too small.

Not surpisingly the machine will run Microsoft Windows (hopefully not Vista).

Free Dell Netbook on Vodafone 3G plan downunder

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:34:00 +0000

Well it looks like carriers down-under may finally be starting to get serious about 3G. Mobile giant Vodafone is offering a free Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with one of its $70/5GB 3G plans. Sound like a steep plan to you Europeans and Americans? Its actually a bit of a godsend with incumbent Aussie telco Telstra offering a $100/1GB plan earlier this year with a minimum 36month term!

Vodafone executives have littered this release with all kinds of BS sound bites showing how out of touch they are such as;

"This really is going to open up freedom to consumers to get out there and roam, be anywhere and be connected with a relatively large screen ... and do all those things they like doing on the internet."

All those things on that there internets eh... crazy, crazy internet and kids. And the Dell's 9" screen isn't relatively large, but I think they are comparing to phones rather than to other laptops. Bad comparison.

Check out the article here in the Sydney Morning Herald

Anti-netbook sentiment

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:53:00 +0000

A couple of articles have been doing the rounds recently that demean the overall use of netbooks and their application to real world computing.

One of these articles is from Pat Arrington of TechCrunch, and is clearly ill-researched and has other motivations other than expressing his opinion. The article suggests that most netbooks have 7" screens (I haven't seen one for a lOOOOng time) and that they run VIA Nano processors (there hasn't been a netbook released to date with this processor). TechCrunch are releasing an MID type device soon and so I think this article is clearly trying to steer consumers away from the netbook craze and towards their upcoming device. Weak. Read article "Three Reasons Why Netbooks Just Aren't Good Enough" here, and reactions here and here.

Surprisingly, the second article (or quote) causing a stir actually came from Intel, the father of the ubiquitous Atom chip and without whom we would not have computers like the MSI Wind, Eee PC 1000H, Samsung NC10 and tons of other popular netbooks. Stu Pann, VP of Marketing and Sales is quoted saying netbooks are just "fine for an hour", but suggests they have no application outside of casual computing. Funny, I've been using my Wind and Eee since early '08 every single day. In fact I sit in a library right now typing this post on my Wind keyboard using my 10" Wind screen and I take comfort that this fulfills all my computing needs and I can up and go in just moments.

Read about this here, or reactions here and here!

I'm thinking that executives these days are scared that because of the popularity of low cost netbooks they are going to make less money! Selling netbooks mean sales volumes increase but margins are irrefutably lower and I think this may lead to lower overall revenue for companies (i.e. in economic terms it reaches a price elastic part of the D curve).

New netbook screens slash power usage by 90%

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:15:00 +0000

Reading the title of this post you may be thinking "What!? EV has messed up" but fortunately, you would be incorrect. The ex-Chief Tech Officer of OLPC, Mary Lou Jepsen, is working on developing an ultra-low power usage screen, targeted at netbooks and e-book readers through her new start-up company Pixel Qi.

At the moment most netbook screens are pretty decent when it comes to color, brightness and moving images, but as we reported recently they were originally designed for use in digital picture frames which means that power drain wasn't a huge concern of the original designers. Hence, it turns out that netbook screens are the chief power hogs in your machine, to the point where adjusting the brightness can greatly affect battery life.

The new screens will be able to be read in direct sunlight and have full HDTV-quality color, all while draining only 10% of the power and costing only 1/3 of the cost of current-gen screens. Couple this with a low power drain chipset and CPU (like we saw just recently in the new MSI Winds) and you are talking a quantum leap in battery life (at least 20+ hours). This tech is expected in 2H09. Pixel Qi is also developing entire systems around the new tech to optimize battery life. The future is coming!

via Asus Eee News, Mods, and Hacks

MSI Wind U110, U115 coming January 2009

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:16:00 +0000

I'm excited. I love my MSI Wind U100, in fact, I'm using it right now over wireless broadband in a library to type this post. The Wind U110 and U115 from MSI is now official and getting released in or around January 2009. Get to the specs already, I hear you say?

1024x600 10" screen
Intel Atom Z530 processor (N270 is the Atom that's everywhere at the moment). This drains only 2W vs the 2.5W of the N270. Not a huge difference but definitely a step in the right direction, and its sure to improve battery life.
Poulsbro chipset (US15W vs the existing Intel 945 that's everywhere at the moment). This chipset decodes video onchip rather than draining the CPU, and also draws less power. How much less? Get ready for it... 2.3W versus 22.2W on the 945.
6-Cell battery, combined with the huge power savings above should give a serious (near or over double digits in hours) battery life aka longest battery life of a stock netbook yet
SATA HDDs in various sizes up to 250GB for the U110
Various sizes of dual HDD/SSD combinations for the U115 - this allows for cheap high volume storage with the advantages of running an OS installed on Solid State (silent, quick boot). Up to 160GB HDD with 32GB SSD
Up to 2.0MP webcam
Speakers (that we pray are better than the U100's tincans)
Touchpad (that we pray, oh how we pray, isn't a Sentelic touchpad)
3xUSB2.0 ports
Bluetooth, Wireless N
Linux or Windows Vista OEM options (why do you foresake me MSI?)

Not revolutionary but we could see an unprecedented battery life, hopefully UMPCPortal will do one of their approximate TPD analyses so we can figure out just how long this thing will actually go for. Good stuff.

via BlogEee.net (translated)

MTV branded Eee PC

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:05:00 +0000

Here we have an MTV Mobile branded Asus Eee PC 901Go. Purchase the netbook for EUR399 and for an additional EUR99 you get 100hrs of 3G/month for 12 months. Not bad, but you get stung at EUR2 per 15minutes in excess of your allocated timeband. Still, 3 hours a day of almost free 3G broadband ain't bad! Check out the links below for details. 'nuff said.

MTV Mobile via EeePC Italia

Touchcharge for Netbooks

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:48:00 +0000

Touchcharge. A technology that lets gadgets charge by er... touch. Sounds simple enough and it is. Instead of fiddling around with pesky cables and connectors, you can now just throw your gadgets onto a docking platform and without the need for any cables you can have your shinies completely charged up. Late for work? Swipe your fully loaded electronics up and run out the door.

At the moment this tech is in early stage in terms of manufacture and widespread application although at EV we can see a screamingly obvious opportunity. NETBOOKS!!

Giz recently checked out a PS3 touchcharge kit and loved it (pic above). There was a snap on connector to enable touchcharge capability, but it was small and light enough to leave connected at all times. Awesome. A netbook manufacturer could easily implement this into the design of their upcoming nettys I'm sure!

C'mon Asus and MSI, hire me for more great money making ideas, I have a Marketing degree dammit... or you could just subscribe to EV and get them for free I suppose.

Feast Your Eyes on Luxury Asus Netbooks: S101, 1002HA

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:43:00 +0000

At EV we loved the Eee PC 1000H, it was easy to get hold of, it had a good keyboard and trackpad, Wireless N, Bluetooth - all the goodies - and it came out aaageess ago and revolutionized the market... The more recent S101 we also thought was cool but the premium price for essentially the same hardware just didn't make sense. Then came the Eee PC 1002HA - almost identical to the S101 in looks but $200 cheaper due to the HDD rather than the S101's included sizable SSD. Its an S101 but a '1000H' at heart. An astute move by Asus.

So why the hell would you buy an S101 you may ask? There must be some other major difference? Well, those frog's leg eating guys over at French supersite BlogEee.net got a close up with the two machines, and by the looks of the pics they managed to keep the drool off the keyboards thank goodness.

More pics below after ze break... the slimmer battery is the S101, that's probably the key diff. Also the 1002HA doesn't have the Swarovski-like crystal in the hinge like the S101. probably a good thing!

S101 4-cell 4900mAh battery
1002HA 2-cell 4200mAh

PSP2 concept shot stirs imagination

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:28:00 +0000

The PSP (Sony's Playstation Portable gaming device), in a way, is a UMPC (Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer). The machine easily fits in your pocket, it can browse the web, play music and movies, play games (obviously) and can run 3rd party apps like emulators. Released initially in late 2004, it actually is pretty good value for money given the feature set and possible applications combined with a pretty nice screen, small form factor and other upsides.

The PSP was pretty successful (not DS successful but c'mon) and so naturally Sony is and has been working on a sequel - presumably named the PSP2. There is no argument about it - the above concept shot looks super awesome, and whether its come indirectly from Sony or not the final PSP may not look anything like it ala the PS3's boomerang controller that got tossed.

Think of the practical applications of the above concept PSP2, here's EV's take;

Excellent video conferencing capability (hopefully incl. webcam)
Excellent Mobile Internet Device use (pray for included 3G+ but WiFi is a given)
Connect a Bluetooth Keyboard with the above feature for an awesome email and work device
Obviously mobile gaming would be a delight
Connect a Bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse for PC style FPS gaming
HD videos will look great, hope for an integrated kickstand
Dare I blaspheme and suggest that the screen may be of the touchy feely variety?

If the screen really is that huge Sony might be a little shafted keeping the battery life reasonable. However, there has been some cutting edge developments in battery technology going on recently that, if anyone, Sony may have access to. We know that Imagination Technologies from the UK, the guys responsible for the iPhone's graphics engine, have likely inked a GPU deal with

Sony for the PSP2. We also know that a new Sony patent hints at a 'PSPphone'.

Two things are for sure - its a while off yet and I want one.

[Kotaku]

Dual-Core Nettop coming soon from HP

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:49:00 +0000

HP has hit a home run with its Mini 1000 (that we love at EV) and now its looking to take on Asus in another emerging market segment, nettops. Under the Compaq Presario brand HP is launching the Mini-Q 2020 and 2030 models as spec'd below.

2020 model: Single Core Atom 1.6GHz, 2030 model: Dual Core Atom 1.6GHz
1GB DDR2 vs 2GB DDR2 respectively
Windows XP Home vs Windows Vista Home Basic respectively
7,200RPM 160GB SATA HDD
Dual Layer DVD Burner
6-in-1 Card Reader
1.5-2kg weight
1 Year warranty
VGA-out but no DVI
Priced around USD300-400+ upon launch in Taiwan - no word on US, EUR or Oceania launch yet

While the machines are obviously going to compete with the Asus Eee Top, they lack the all-in-one appeal and style of the Eee Top as you can see above. It appears that the screen is distinct and separate from the working parts just like a typical desktop computer, and arguably it can't be called a nettop because of this fact. Although low cost I wonder how this traditional PC model of screen + tower combo will go for HP. People are moving towards portability even in desktop computing and this might be a little too old school for some although the price is definitely right!

via EeePC.net and Engadget Chinese

Indamixx Specialized Audio Netbook

info@electricvagabond.com (Electric Feel) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:19:00 +0000

'Indamixx' is the name of a new netbook which has been launched catering especially for music production. The computer is exciting because its not often we see a specialized netbook such as this, and it weighs in at USD499. What does 5 big slides get you at this expensive, credit crunchy time of year?

Intel powered netbook
Linux Transmission 2.1 OS (customized for audio use)
ArdourXchange and energy XT
Over 2,900 drum sounds, 350 samples, 260 plugins and effects
Can host Windows based VSTs
Included gig broadcasting console
Carrying Case
1GB SD card
T-Shirt
Free Fedex shipping in the US

As an ex-audio producer this strikes me as something pretty cool, and I think the pricepoint isn't too bad. You are clearly paying for the specialized niche nature of the netbook, and given that the manufacturer is likely buying parts in small quantities this is a reasonable price. However, if you were determined you could probably build a similar machine for less of an Aspire One platform or similar.

Order before Dec 15th and get yours in time for Christmas!

via SlashGear, IndaMixx site here

Two more pics after the break...