Sony has entered the netbook segment with its new VAIO W series netbooks. Well, Sony itself is calling it a netbook, unlike its slim Sony VAIO P, the pocketable notebook. Intel Atom processor based VAIO W will be available in mid-August in U.S. markets. This mini netbook will be available in berry pink, cocoa brown and sugar white colors.
Sony VAIO W netbook features 10.1-inch wide-screen display supports 1366x768 pixel resolution. This netbook features 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 processor that has 2 Watts of Thermal Design Rating. With 1GB RAM and 160GB HDD for storage, this netbook will run Windows XP.
The chiclet keyboard comprises of 86 percent of regular notebook For wireless Internet, this netbook will offers support for 802.11 b/g/n wireless standards. Other features include VGA out, two USB port, Webcam and memory card reader. The three cell battery is expected to last three hours and an option for six cell battery is available.
Also, the bundled VAIO media plus software will enable content streaming across DLNA-enabled devices like the PC and PlayStation 3.
Will retail for Rs. 29,990
Promises battery life of up to eight hours and an option of ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 GPU
Last month, Acer had introduced slim Timeline series laptops in India based on Intel Ultra Low Voltage platform. Acer has now added Timeline 8000 series notebooks to the 3000, 4000 and 5000 series Timeline lineup. New Timeline 8000 series will feature slim laptops in 13-inch, 14-inch and 15-inch display sizes. No information on pricing or availability has been made available as yet.
Acer's Timeline series are powered with Intel's Ultra Low Power platform based processors. We reviewed Acer Timeline 3810T laptop and found it to be balanced with value, design and productivity. New Timeline 8000 series laptops are designed to meet the needs of both business and consumer segment users.
Timeline 8000 series notebooks will be offered in 13.3 inch, 14 inch and 15.6 inch displays that support 1366x768 resolutions. These notebooks will feature Intel Core 2 Duo or Intel Core 2 Solo Ultra Low Voltage Platform based processors. Up to 4GB or 8GB DDR3 RAM
would be packed according to the 32-bit or 64-bit operating system chosen. Storage features either 160GB or 500GB HDD or 80GB Intel X25-M SSD. Graphics would be taken care of by Intel 4500MHD integrated chip or users can choose discrete ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics card.
All Timeline 8000 series laptops will have a multi touch trackpad, which is becoming a norm these days and the WLAN will support Draft-N wireless standard for better wireless Internet connectivity. Acer Timeline 8000 series laptops claim to be offering a battery life of up to eight hours.
Dell Inspiron 13 gets better ATI Mobility Radeon graphics, HDMI out and HD display
Dell has updated its Inspiron 13 notebook by making it lighter and thinner and a perfect mix of Dell Studio and Dell Inspiron Mini. This new Inspiron 13 is different than the old Inspiron 1318 model. It was spotted by Engadget at the Dell Singapore website. The new 13-inch Dell Inspiron 13 is listed for price starting S$1199 (Rs. 40,259 approx.), assuming it to be priced in Singaporean currency.
Refreshed 13-inch Dell Inspiron features Intel Core 2 Duo processors as compared with the Intel Pentium Dual Core CPUs in old Inspiron 1318. Apart from that, it comes with a 2GB DDR2 667MHz RAM, up to 500GB 5400RPM HDD and has an option for upgrading Intel GMA X4500MHD to ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 with 512MB video memory.
Also, the 13-inch 16:9 WLED HD display supports 720p HD resolution content along with HDMI port and gives good sound with Intel's HD Audio 2.0. Wireless connectivity is taken care of with support for wireless
draft n including 802.11 b/g. This new Inspiron 13 model is available in Obsidian Black, Alpine White and New Cherry Red colors.
There's no official word on when this notebook will be available to rest of the world.
After Sony, Asus is jumping onto the 'LED backlighting for laptops' bandwagon. They expect the technology
to gain momentum and capture as much as 10% of the laptop market according the Digitimes.
Asus U1F Ultra-Portable Laptop
LED backlighting facilitates thinner and brighter screens, sharper color and reduced power requirements on laptops. The average power consumption is reduced by 1-2 watts when compared to traditional cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL). And according to Tony Chen from the Asus Laptop division, the reduction in the power requirement can add up to 45 minutes of battery time.
Asus plans to introduce LED-based screens with their ultraportable laptop, the U1F. It has a 11.1" WXGA+ screen (1360 x 768) that uses a mix of high grade plastic, steel accents and genuine leather to give it a professional appearance. This Vista complaint laptop features an Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) Core Duo processor and is very light at just under a kilo. Asus will be first featuring this laptop at CeBIT in March.
Sony has been using LED display for its smaller laptops
for some time now. Their VAIO TX2 and TX3 laptops both feature 11.1" LED-backlit displays.
