If you’re looking to upgrade from XP or Vista on your netbook, or perhaps you already have, then here’s some great news for you. Some netbook makers have already updated the driver download pages to include Windows 7 drivers which should work better than Vista drivers you may be using instead. Most Asus netbooks now have drivers for Windows 7 from their support page.

Other companies have updated their support pages but, not all companies support many netbook models. There is support from Toshiba for the NB205, while Acer are providing Windows 7 drivers for the Aspire One 751 and AOP531h with AOD250 to follow. Dell are listing drivers for the Mini 10v and Mini 10 but not the Inspiron Mini 9 or 12. HP on the other hand have support for discontinued netbooks, such as the HP Mini 2140. They’ve also got support for the 110, 5101 and other models. Lenovo have also updated their support page to include manuals but, no drivers yet. This could change soon though.

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A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Windows 7 drivers added for netbooks

While Dell have proved very popular among the netbook world and bringing a high level of customizations to netbooks, it seems CEO Michael Dell doesn’t actually like the portable devices. He claims that users aren’t very happy with them. He also said that it may be cute and light but, after a day or two, users will want to revert back to a regular 15 inch netbook. He describes netbooks as being good for specific markets, such as schools.

Dell have released several different netbook models, with the Dell Mini 9 proving the most popular, especially amongst hackers and modders. Liliputing comment that it’s “kind of funny” considering that while Michael Dell isn’t impressed with netbooks, the company is creating innovative and top class designs to their netbooks.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Dell CEO disses netbooks

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A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Dell Mini 9 modded into tablet

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A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Dell Release Inspiron 11z in Europe

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A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Dell goes all out

Netbooks have struggled to take off in India, despite the population. It’s estimated that this year will see 300,000 netbooks sold compared to last year’s 40,000, which is an improvement but, based on the population, of around one billion, Liliputing describe this number as being “peanuts”. To change this trend, India will be the next country to bundle netbooks with 3G data plans. Asus and Dell are currently working with wireless carriers to make this possible in India.

Over the course of the contract, the netbook can end up costing more than buying it up front but, you also get the data usage and some consider it a way to pay for netbooks in instalments.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

India to get 3G netbook deals

My Digital Discount are offering up an 8 cell battery giving up to 10 hours of battery life for the Dell Mini 9 and Vostro A90. As standard, the Dell Mini 9 features a 4 cell battery, so this battery from My Digital Discount should give you up to twice as much battery life. One thing the company has noted on the battery, is that the BIOS needs to be A04 or earlier, other wise there may be problems recognising or charging the battery. However if that isn’t a problem for you and your BIOS is an earlier version, the great news is the extended life 8 cell battery will only set you back $65.

The battery is available via MyDigitalDiscount of through their eBay store.

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A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Third party produce 8 cell battery for Dell Mini 9 and Vostro A90

It wasn’t long ago, that we reported on MSI discontinuing the hybrid netbook, the MSI Wind U115. Using both an SSD and HDD, Microsoft requested that the company cease production of the netbook, most probably due to Microsoft Windows XP operating limitations. The Dell Inspiron Mini 12 is another example, mysteriously removed from the Dell website . When Windows 7 is released, only netbooks with a display of up to 10.2 inches, will be given the cheaper version of Windows 7, while anything above that, while still a netbook, notebook licensing will be charged.

There’s also other netbooks, which due to the licensing limitations from Microsoft are going down and not as successful as they could be. Archos 10 features a 500GB HDD and 2GB, which is above the maximum of 160GB HDD and 1GB of RAM, so the higher spec model is only available with Ubuntu. This is also the case with the Dell Mini 9 with 2GB of RAM, Windows XP can not be run on it, only the 1GB model.

The final netbook which broke Microsoft’s rule, is the Everun Note. From the outside, looks like a typical netbook, 7 inch display. But inside it packs a dual core processor, where as Microsoft view netbooks as having single core CPUs. The netbook is available for $599 but it doesn’t include any operating system, which is where the netbook gets even pricier.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Microsoft crush netbooks with XP limitations

SSD producers, Active Media, have a range of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB SSDs that fit many netbook models. The company have created a video guides on how users can upgrade their SSD. The company has focused on showing how to do the procedure on the Asus Eee PC 901 and the Dell Inspirion Mini 9.

In the videos, the company shows how to open the netbooks to get to the SSD card and replace it. Unfortunately, instructions aren’t included for how to backup your data on to the new SSD and so you may need to re-install the OS along with backing up your files before hand and then moving them onto the new SSD.


Asus Eee PC 901

Dell Inspiron Mini 9

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A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Video guide to upgrading your netbook SSD

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A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Ubuntu listed as Microsoft product