11 Best Broadband Wireless Netbook Bundles

If you have been paying attention to the latest developments in the netbook market, you probably know that netbook manufacturers are coming up with subsidized wireless netbooks for folks who sign up for wireless contracts. It’s all very similar to what’s happening with iPhone. You get a couple of hundred dollars off in exchange for signing up for a wireless contract. These plans are not for everyone, but if you are looking for a subsidized Internet ready netbook, you are going to love these 11 wireless netbook bundles:

HP Mini 311-1037NR 11.6-Inch Mobile Broadband Netbook: a Windows 7 wireless netbook bundle that takes advantage of Verizon wireless network to provide you Internet access on the go.

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 2 GB RAM, NVIDIA ION, 11.6″ HD display

Samsung Go 10.1-Inch Mobile Broadband Netbook with Windows 7: you get one of the best netbooks around with Windows 7 and AT&T service. Here are the specs:

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 160 GB hard disk drive, 1 GB RAM, 54g Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g), integrated webcam

Acer Aspire One 10.1-Inch Mobile Broadband Netbook with Windows 7: not the best Windows 7 netbook out there, but it does come with a decent set of features to have you covered on the road.

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 160 GB hard disk drive, 1 GB RAM, 54g Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g), Bluetooth, integrated webcam

Compaq Mini 110c-1048NR Wireless Netbook: HP Compaq’s wireless netbook bundle. It’s a decent laptop that comes with the standard feature you see in typical netbooks these days. It comes with a spacious keyboard and only weighs 2.6 pounds.

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 80 GB hard disk drive, 1 GB RAM, 54g Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g), 3 USB Ports, standard VGA, split Headphone/Mic, 5-in-1

Lenovo Ideapad S10 Mobile Broadband 10-Inch Netbook: will cost you $99, but you get AT&T’s wireless network on the go. Lenovo Ideapad S10 is very solid and portable. It used to top the bestseller netbooks charts and is a good wireless netbook choice. Here are the specs:

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 160 GB hard disk drive, 1 GB RAM (1.5 GB max), 54g Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g)

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Best Netbooks – December 2009 Edition

2009 is finally close to being over. It’s been a tough year for a lot of industries but the computer industry has been going fairly strong even during the recession. A lot of that can be attributed to the rise of netbooks. We have seen a lot of new netbooks in 2009. We have rated the top netbooks in the past few months. Here is the last edition of our netbook rankings for the year 2009. Whether you are picking up a netbook for your business or as a gift, there is no better time to pick up a netbook these days. With that said, here are the best netbooks for the month of December:

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA-PU17: ASUS has dominated the netbook market for the past year. Its netbooks have ranked very high in our (and many other) ratings around the web. This laptop comes with Windows 7, a more speedy CPU, and more storage for the go.

Acer AOD250-1633 Netbook: Acer is truly an innovator in the netbook market. It’s the first company that introduced an Android netbook. This one comes with Windows 7, long battery life, and much more.

HP Mini 311-1025NR Netbook: HP has finally got “it” when it comes to netbooks. The early HP netbooks where not so good in power management department. This netbook comes with a 11.6″ screen, 2GB RAM, and 6.25 hrs of battery life. Decent choice if you are looking for a larger screen netbook.

Here is how these 3 netbooks stack up against each other: (more…)

JoJo: Crunchpad is Not Dead After All

A few days ago, we heard from TechCrunch’s very own Michael Arrington that the Crunchpad project was dead. Crunchpad was supposed to be an affordable Internet tablet for those who didn’t need something too fancy to surf the web. Crunchpad was expected to fill that void. We didn’t know too much about the details of this project but what was revealed, the device was yet another gadget that could do without. After all, there are so many similar products on the market that accomplish the very same tasks and more. And let’s not forget about Apple iPad which will be a fully-fledged tablet computer.

It turns out Crunchpad is not dead after all. It’s just not being sold with that name and doesn’t seem to have the backing of the people at TechCrunch behind it. The device will be called The Joo Joo, and while it may be doomed from the beginning, it’s still worth reporting that you can get your hands on one soon (December 11th).

The device is not cheap. It will cost you $500, the price of a brand new netbook plus some accessories. Let’s not forget that tablets of this kind are overrated. I get the point of buying a Nook or Kindle to read e-books. But buying a tablet to surf the Internet from your couch? Just another one trick pony device that we don’t need. The Joo Joo is not likely to survive for too long, but if it does, I don’t expect it to make a real splash. The device looks slick, but you can’t expect people to pay $500 for such one dimensional gadgets. I do believe that the device would have been doomed even with TechCrunch behind it.

Why by a Joo Joo when you can pick up a decent Netbook or CULV for the same price?

ASUS Eee PC 1201N-PU17 Available for Pre-Order

It seems we finally have a shipping date for the latest ASUS netbook (ASUS Eee 1201N-PU17), which just happens to be more like a laptop than a netbook. ASUS’ Nvidia ION netbook has created a lot of buzz since it was announced a while back. It comes with a dual core ATOM processor to make it possible for its owners to work on more complicated tasks on their netbook. You also get a larger screen with Eee 1201N. Add 2GB of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium, and you have a decent netbook on your hands.

Here is a look at what you get on this netbook:

Acer To Jump On Chrome Wagon

Acer was one of the first companies to jump on the Android bandwagon and offer it on its netbook. Acer AOD250-1613 is not only capable of using Android but it comes with a dual boot system that makes it easy to switch back to XP just in case. It seems Acer is not going to stop with Android. In a recent interview with DigiTimes, Acer officials have indicated that they plan to add Chrome OS to their netbooks in late 2010:

Acer chairman JT Wang also expressed his confidence that the company will be the first vendor to launch Chrome-based netbook in the market during a recent interview with Digitimes.

Let’s keep in mind that we are a few months or maybe a year away from Chrome OS being released to the public. So it’s tough to say whether there will be more demand for Chrome OS by then. It’s a risky move by Acer as it’s unclear whether Chrome OS can go mainstream enough in a matter of few months. But I suspect Acer’s Chrome netbooks will be using a dual boot system as well. So it should be no problem for people to pick them up and give them a try. Will it be a best seller for Acer? That’s another story.

Are Netbook Apps the Future?

Apple has had a lot of success with its iPhone app store. Not only it has given developers another avenue to make money and get famous, it has enhanced the functionality of its devices through all those apps. Apple is not the only company interested in expanding its market through apps. Intel hopes to achieve just that with its netbooks. The company has been working towards introducing its own App store for a while now, and we may see it go live in early 2010. Here is Scott Apeland, director of Intel’s Developer Network, had to say about Intel’s app store:

We have a lot of developers right now jumping all over this and writing apps and getting them ready… We’re working with OEM partners (PC makers) now to get this ready and preinstalled on systems. So, when a user purchases it, he just runs the app store.

Netbook apps give developers yet another chance to make money and earn a better living from their skills. But can netbook apps be as effective as iPhone apps when it comes to enhancing their platform? Let’s face it. Netbooks are not iPhone, so the nature of these apps will be a bit different. At the same time, there are a lot of ways for developers to help netbook users get more done on the road in a more productive fashion. So if I had to guess, social networking, chat, and productivity apps will be a hit on netbooks. It’s tough to say whether Intel can succeed with this ambitious strategy, but it’s certainly worth trying.

Dell Netbooks To Run Chrome OS?

Michael Dell may not be a big fan of netbooks, but his company is certainly not going to abandon the market and allow others to reap the benefits of being involved in this market. In fact, Dell seems to be a bit ambitious with its netbook plans as well. After all, how do you explain them trying every new technology on their netbooks. Chrome is the latest piece of software that you can try on your Dell netbook thanks to a special build that has been released by the folks at Dell:

Me and some other Dell folks noticed that Engadget recently got the Chrome OS running on a Vostro A860 netbook. I’ve been doing some tinkering over the lat few days working to get our Dell Mini 10v up and running with ChromiumOS. As of late yesterday, I can report success… I have released an USB key image file to: http://linux.dell.com/files/cto.

Chrome is not a heavyweight OS. It’s ultimate goal is to take your OS to the web. It’s based on Linux and these builds are not official. In fact, the official release won’t be here until 2010. But if you have been trying to install Chrome OS on your netbook, here is your chance. Just don’t expect anything dramatic as the software is in an early stage.

Have you installed Chrome on your netbook yet?