Laptops - Page 54

Following on from our extreme close up look at the MSI WIND notebook, now we check out the WIND PC desktop in as much detail or more. MSI wants you to "Ride with the Wind!" Shall we?

During the MSI ECOlution press conference in Taipei this afternoon, MSI let press get up close and personal with its full line of upcoming products.

You've seen MSI's WIND notebooks pictures online before now but not in this sort of detail.

We over heard someone from MSI being asked when the WIND notebook will begin selling. Someone suggested one month but the MSI representative said that would not be quite enough time. So, I guess it is still going to be a month or so until you'll be able to buy one. MSI did give away two of these small new notebooks to a couple local Taiwanese press members and took their details for delivery later, so they couldn't be too far off.

Exact specifications on the model we saw were not disclosed but we can tell you they are the U100 model and come in a whole bunch of different colors (we saw pink, red, black and white but we are told there will be more) 10-inch models fitted with an Intel Atom CPU, DDR2-667 memory with Windows XP installed.

Anyway, we'll let the pictures do the talking and there are a whole stack of them. Go!

In the lead up to Computex Taipei next month we are seeing things really starting to spice up from our Taiwanese computer company buddies.

Just yesterday news leaked out about MSI's ASUS Eee Box competitor featuring an Intel Atom processor as well as full pricing details for MSI's Wind PC and now today we see reports that ASUS is preparing yet another Eee PC sub-notebook with model name 901.

Attempting to cash in on the success of the ASUS Eee PC, A-DATA has announced a range of new themed flash memory devices for the highly popular Taiwanese made low-cost notebook PC.

ASUS Eee PC, ASUS Eee PC, ASUS Eee PC... it's all we seem to hear these days.

That is all about to change and the consumer is about to get a lot more choice in this lower cost ultra mobile notebook segment. MSI is one of many companies (Acer, GIGABYTE, ECS and GeCube are the others who will have models out in around June - July) who are busily working on Eee competitors.

Kingston Technology, the world's largest memory manufacturer, has today taken the covers off an interesting new memory product for notebook users.

Say hello to Kingston's DDR2-667 SO-DIMM notebook memory. You can pick it up in 2GB or 4GB kits with timings of 4-4-4-12 at 1.8 volts. The memory company claims it is the perfect solution for notebook users wanting to upgrade from a slower 1GB or 2GB kit.

They also claim these speeds are programmed into SPD, so there are no BIOS adjustments or overclocking needed.

During Computex in early June this year, Intel's low power consuming and tiny Atom processor will get a chance to shine with ASUS' hugely successful Eee PC low cost computer device.

PC World managed to get the word from the CEO himself during a launch event for the Eee PC 900 during a launch event in Taiwan recently. Don't expect ASUS to suck up all the attention though as ECS, GIGABYTE, MSI, Acer, GeCube are all working on new low cost computers to try and take away market share from the ever-popular Eee.

Over the weekend a guide has surfaced on the Net from a newish tutorial website called Cyb3rGlitch, which details quite well, how to overclock the first generation of ASUS cheapy and increasing popular Eee PC computers.

The guide suggests which programs to use and which work on various Eee models and eitheer Windows XP or Linux variants of the operating system. After offering a quick CPU overclocking theory lesson, they move onto the fun part, overclocking the Eee! Cutting through all the useful information, Vito Cassisi managed to increase the Intel Celeron M processor clock speed from 900MHz to 1GHz.

We find ourselves back at Register Hardware who managed to take some happy snaps of some Eee PC-like clone small notebook computers that use Intel's upcoming low power consuming Atom processor.

A new and relatively unknown brand called Thinno was showing notebooks fitted with 1.6GHz Atom processors and 512MB of memory with either Linux or Windows XP.

A user on Flickr by the name of "mgminthu" has uploaded pictures of what looks like Intel's upcoming low-cost Netbook, or Eco PC, as it is being called by the photo uploader.

Acer, the Taiwanese computer maker has launched some new notebooks in the "Gemstone Blue" line.

The top model was designed to give users a high-definition home theater experience. With this in mind, the laptop hosts a screen resolution the same as HDTV, at 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels, and also features six speakers, including a subwoofer, for genuine 5.1 HD surround sound.

ASUS, the world's most prolific PC manufacturer has been in the spotlight recently over its branded PC's, in this case UMPC's, which have set in motion an entirely new genre of affordable, easy to use laptops.

"Eee" as it became known is now set to sell the next phase of production (5 million units), with two of every three units sold being loaded with a Microsoft Windows operating system. The other one third of those units will contain the Linux operating system that has been sold in earlier units of this small, highly useful mobile laptop.

There has been plenty of talk of MSI's upcoming potential Eee PC killer and finally some details are starting to emerge through the cracks.

There has been plenty of exciting news come out of the CeBIT trade show in Germany on the VGA front but one subject which we didn't see getting as much attention as it has is competitors to the almighty ASUS Eee PC.

ASUS has just announced it will begin shipping its Eee PC with Windows XP pre-installed.

This news has been floating around for a while and many users were able to install XP themselves as the Eee PC is capable of running the Microsoft operating system. ASUS didn't mention any pricing details in its press release or if they will still ship the Eee PC with Linux but we assume they will as by pre-installing XP, it will add a price premium.

According to Engadget, the ASUS Eee PC is set to get an upgrade.

If it has anything to do with the ASUS Eee PC, it is big news!

Today ASUS issued a statement in regards to its "Warranty Void If Removed" seal over the single SODIMM slot on some models of the their hugely popular super ultra portable and affordable notebook.

The press release states: ASUS Computer International ("ASUS") recently received feedback from one of its valued customers with questions concerning the purpose of a seal stating, "Warranty Void If Removed" over the access door to the single SODIMM slot on some models of the ASUS Eee PC. ASUS wishes to assure its customers that merely breaking or removing this kind of seal will not void the ASUS Limited Warranty. Although ASUS recommends that customers use ASUS-approved service facilities and components, ASUS is committed to honoring the terms of its Limited Warranty and making sure that its customers are free to make appropriate hardware and software modifications and upgrades, regardless of whether the service is performed by an approved facility, a non-approved service provider, or by the customers themselves. ASUS will replace the warranty label with a label to warn users that ASUS will not be responsible for the damage caused by improper hardware change.

ASUS is taking steps to make sure that the seals in question are no longer used in its products that are intended to be sold in any country where these stickers are not permitted.

The press release is up on the ASUS USA website here.

Dell has finally launched its XPS M1530 notebook which is the latest addition to its thin and light XPS models, which got popularized by the M1330. We're not sure if a 15.4-inch widescreen notebook can ever be classified as thin and light, but Dell has done its best to compact it together as much as possible. You're looking at a notebook measuring 357x263x35.1mm (WxDxH) although the height varies from 23.7 to 35.1mm. It weighs in at 2.62kg, which isn't too bad considering that many budget 14.1-inch models aren't far off this kind of weight.

There's a wide range of customizable options and the CPU range includes either a T5250 or a T5450 for the cost conscious buyer or anything from a T7250 to a T7800 for those looking for some extra performance. The XPS M1530 can be configured with up to 4GB of DDR2 667MHz memory and up to 320GB hard drive space depending on the kind of drive you want and SSD is also an option. It comes with a slim-line slot-loading DVD writer as standard and this can be traded in for a Blu-ray drive for an additional US$500.