Netbook Buying Guide: January 2010

Another month, another edition of our monthly netbook ratings. The month of January has been very busy for the netbook market. Many new netbooks have made it to the market and more are on the way. We have finally seen N450 netbooks released to the market. Dual core netbooks are also on their way, so you can expect even more powerful netbooks in the near future. But if you are in a hurry to buy a netbook, here are the top 3 netbooks in our book:

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17 Netbook: the latest ASUS netbook is not only more powerful but can give you up to 14 hours of battery life per charge. That’s pretty impressive.

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1201N-PU17: our favorite new netbook that comes with a dual core CPU and comes with Windows 7 Home edition (instead of the starter edition). The battery life is short at only 5 hours per charge but you get more power. (more…)

Netbook Deal of the Week (1/25)

This is a new section that we have launched to help you find the best netbook deals on a daily basis. While the price fluctuations are not significant on a daily basis, you can find decent netbook deals week in and week out as long as you are monitoring prices. That’s what we plan to do to help you pick up netbook gears for less money. With that in mind, here is the netbook deal for this week:

ASUS Eee PC T91MT-PU17-BK 8.9″ Netbook Tablet: this is a netbook tablet hybrid that gives you the best of both worlds. It comes with Windows 7 too. For a limited time, you can get it for $465.95 with a 4GB USB drive included with your purchase for free.

The iPad is a Killer but not a Netbook Killer

So Apple has finally introduced the device many experts have been waiting to see for months. Apple has always been interested in coming up with a response to netbooks. The company has been dismissive of netbooks in the past, talking about how it can’t produce a decent laptop for $500 or so. Well, as it turned out, the iPad is going to cost us all at least $500, and that’s not counting the cost of 3G on this device .

The iPad is a great device. It can act as a portable Internet tablet, a mobile video player, and an e-book reader. It will also support lots of apps that Apple already has available in its app store. But it won’t be a netbook killer. Let’s face it. Apple iPad is not a fully-fledged computer. It can certainly be used for blogging and other tasks, but it’s not going to beat your Macbook Air or netbook on the go. Besides, the device doesn’t support multi-processing, so that will always be an issue. (more…)

6 Colorful Sleeve Cases for Your Netbook

In the past few months, I have gone over a lot of netbook cases that can help protect netbooks on the go against scratches, bumps, and so on. There are a lot of slick netbook cases on the market, but sometimes you just want to adopt something more flashy or express yourself in a unique fashion. If that is you, then you should know that are plenty of cool netbook cases that let you do just that. Whether you are looking for something fun or artistic to dress up your netbook, you’ve got options. In fact, here are 6 colorful cases you should try for your netbook:

Tribal Red Dragon Netbook Case: a very attractive case for your netbook. Comes with the image of a tribal red dragon on the front.

Vincent van Gogh’s Painting of Starry Night Case: what can be said about this case? It’s gorgeous, out of this world, and a heck of a case to own.

Chemistry Periodic Table Case: may sound a bit geeky but having the periodic table on your netbook’s case could come in handy. (more…)

Apple Tablet To Challenge Netbooks

We are only a day away from Apple’s supposed big announcement about its latest “creation.” Apple has been teasing us with the idea of a netbook and then a tablet for the past few months. We all know that Apple wouldn’t take a chance with the netbook brand, so it all comes down to how powerful Apple’s tablet is and whether it’s capable of challenging netbooks and slim laptops on the market. From the rumors going around, Apple tablet is going to be a large iPod Touch capable of taking advantage of Apple’s apps. It’s also expected to be a device capable of handling e-books as well. (more…)

ULVs vs. Netbooks: Is An End In Sight?

Netbooks have been quite popular in the past few months. They are popular for not only being portable but also quite energy efficient. Getting more than 10 hours of battery life on a regular laptop used to be a dream. But there are plenty of netbooks out there that get you close to that mark. Netbooks are also very compact, which makes them a great companion for business people and those who spend a lot of time traveling all around the globe. But can they survive the onslaught of ULVs?

ULV laptops have not been getting the press coverage that netbooks have been getting, but they are not only powerful and energy-efficient but quite portable as well. They also have a more laptop-like feel. These machines come with single and dual core processors and can handle more sophisticated apps much better than netbooks. (more…)

ASUS Partners Up with Boingo?

AsusTek’s march towards netbook market leadership seems to be ongoing. The company has announced a few powerful next generation ASUS netbooks in the past couple of weeks and more is expected to come in the near future. ASUS netbooks are not only solid all around, but they often come with the best set of specifications you can get on a netbook. But Asus is not stopping there. The company is forming partnerships and striking deals to help its customers get the most out of their netbook (e.g. Eee Storage).

In another move that should make ASUS fans happy, ASUS has partnered up with Boingo to provide wireless service to netbook owners on the go. If you have bought a new ASUS netbook recently, you may have seen Boingo’s software on your computer. That would allow you to connect to Boingo’s hotspots on the go (though it will cost you $9.95 a month in the U.S.). (more…)

Make Your Netbook Waterproof with Welded Seam Sleeve

Electronics such as computers and laptops don’t respond too well to being exposed to water and other liquids. It doesn’t matter if you do it by accident or on purpose. You can easily brick your netbook if you expose it to water. That’s where DRI Welded Seam Waterproof NetBook Case comes in. It’s designed to handle the worst type of liquid accidents as long as you don’t submerse your netbook.

DRI Welded Seam case doesn’t come with any stitches. So water won’t make it through the stitches and onto your netbook. The case is rugged and can handle a bit of abuse. It can even handle mistakes (just in case you decide to take your netbook underwater) as long as you don’t go below 3 feet of water. (more…)

Asus Eee PC 1008P To Debut

Asus’ next great netbook seems to be on the horizon. Asus is known for having some of the best, most energy efficient netbooks on the market. ASUS 1008P is no different but with one catch. The manufacturer seems to have paid extra attention to style with this product line. We already know about Asus 1005PE and other new Asus netbooks that pack a punch. This unit does that but is looks much more tempting.

Asus Eee PC 1008P’s specifications are pretty standard. You get the new N450 CPU, lots of hard drive, and great connectivity on the device. Here is a summary of what you can expect to get from this netbook (ASN108PKR17):

• CPU: Intel Atom N450 Processor (512K Cache, 1.66GHz, 667MHz FSB)
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
• Storage: 320GB 2.5 inch SATA II 5400RPM HDD
• Screen: 10.1 inch LED Backlight WSVGA Screen (1024×600) with Color-Shine (Glare-type)
• OS: Windows 7 Starter

All in all, looks like another solid choice for netbook fans.

HP Mini 210: Better, More Energy Efficient Netbook?

Everyday that passes by, we get to check out a new netbook as next generation netbooks are being released and shipped by retailers left and right. We knew about HP Mini 210 since a few months ago. The HP netbooks have been somewhat disappointing so far, so it was not too hard to imagine that the company was going to address some of the issues that older HP netbooks were suffering from in HP Mini 210. HP Mini 210 not only takes advantage of N450 Intel processor, which is faster than its predecessor, it also provides with you up to 9.75 of battery life on the go. Battery life has been a big issue for HP netbooks, but that’s about to change with HP Mini 210.

HP Mini 210 comes in many flavors. Depending on you sub-model, you may get more hard drive, but you won’t get more RAM or features. Not at this point anyway. It’s disappointing to see HP use Windows 7 Starter on these machines as it’s truly an awful operating system, but you can always add an additional 1 GB RAM and put Windows Home Premium on your machine.

In case you are wondering, here is how HP Mini 210 stacks up against other top HP netbooks: (more…)