We don’t hear a lot about netbooks these days, and yet the category is arguably what set the whole consumer electronics industry on the fast track to delivering smaller, more powerful, and longer lasting devices for mobile computing. The guys over at Notebook Check recently put one of the latest netbooks from Asus’s stable through a full review, and here’s what they’ve found. The Asus Eee PC 1011CX netbook may pack rather mediocre, yet standard netbook specs these days: 10.1-inch 1024×600 resolution LCD screen, 1.6GHz Intel Atom N2600 processor, 1GB of RAM (not upgradeable), and 320GB of HDD storage, but it’s still worth taking a look at because of the nearly 12-hour battery life. That thing about the RAM being soldered and not upgradeable may be a major drawback for some, but for most casual netbook users, this is actually quite adequate. At the same time, the Asus Eee PC 1011CX sits at a very attractive price point. Certainly much more attractive than most tablets and smartphones out in the market right now. Read the full Asus Eee PC 1011CX review via the link below.

Via NotebookCheck

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When the first batch of Windows 8-powered devices arrives in the market, you’ll have the option to choose something that runs on either Intel or ARM. As you may already know, this is in part due to the two different flavors of Windows 8 that will be coming out. First, there is a standard, kind of desktop-like Windows 8 version that is effectively the next level of the x86 platform, and then there’s the ARM-flavored Windows 8 version (called Windows RT) for mobile devices with an emphasis on maximum computing power with the lowest TDP and longest battery life. Today, during during a meeting with investors at their headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Intel CEO Paul Otellini took the time to mention something that’s going to set Intel-powered Windows 8 devices apart from those that are running on ARM: legacy mode.

Legacy mode allows users to switch out of Windows 8′s standard Metro style option and use legacy programs, particularly enterprise apps that have been around for a very long time. “We have the advantage of the incumbency, advantage of the legacy support. Not just in terms of applications but devices,” said Otellini to Intel investors during the meeting. ARM’s lack of support for legacy mode leaves Otellini confident. The Intel CEO was quoted as saying, “I think they have a big uphill fight.”

Currently, there seems to be a lot of interest in upcoming Windows 8 devices, regardless of whether they are running on chips from either Intel or ARM. It would be interesting to see how the market adapts to the availability of two different types of devices which effectively open the door to two separate universes.

Intel via CNET

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The upcoming Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A Ivy Bridge notebook is now available for pre-order on the Czech site Heureka, and in its standard high-end configuration with a 256GB SSD and 1.9GHz Intel Core i7 chip, the asking price is a cool 31,000 CZK or about $1,625 USD.

For that much money, you can expect to get a full HD IPS 13.3-inch display, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, HDMI and VGA output, a 10-hour battery, built-in card reading capabilities, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0. And of course, it has a backlit keyboard. Keep in mind, though, that even if you can pre-order this particular model right now, you may have to wait until June to actually get your hands on it since that’s when the second-generation Ultrabooks such as this one are supposed to get released in the market.

Also, if you can somehow wait until June actually arrives, you’ll get to see other configurations of this same notebook, including one that sports an 11-inch screen and somewhat lower-level specs (that still pack an Ivy Bridge punch). More details on that are going to be posted here as soon as they become available.

Heureka (CZ) via Laptoping

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Although Dell’s plans of upgrading their Alienware offerings to Ivy Bridge does not include the widely popular M11x gaming notebook, it looks like there may still be hope to see an updated version of it come out soon after all.

Information received by the guys over at Maximum PC indicate that Dell is working on possibly rebranding the Alienware M11x and putting it under either the XPS or Inspiron product line. When that happens, putting out an updated M11x with Ivy Bridge just might be in the cards.

At the same time, Dell is reportedly also looking to launch Alienware Ultrabooks some time later this year, a move that could really put Ultrabooks on the road to mass market adoption.

All of this information is essentially speculation at this point, and the identity of the unnamed source being cited in Maximum PC‘s report is unknown. Perhaps we’ll all here more about this in the coming weeks or months, if and when information becomes available directly from Dell itself.

Via Maximum PC

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There is no doubt in most people’s minds that the Apple iPad is a good device. However, there are some who think that even the new Apple iPad is simply not good enough, despite what most reviewers say. That is when it comes to content creation and providing overall value for money. This is the opinion held by Intel product manager Anand Kajshmanan and Intel media relations representative Alison Wesley, who recently shared their thoughts with PCWorld on how the current and oncoming wave of Ultrabooks can best the iPad and even the Apple MacBook Air. Basically, it all boils down to the consumers’ want of choice and the ability to use a built-in keyboard, which are the primary drivers for Ultrabook sales nowadays.

If you look at an Ultrabook like the Asus UX31 Zenbook which is pictured above, you’ll see that it’s pretty much a complete MacBook Air alternatives with the added bonus of being able to run Windows and all of your legacy apps excellently. And the best thing about Ultrabooks is that they are still a work in progress–expect to see a lot of improvements with the iterations that are going to become available in the coming months. These include the addition of touchscreen displays, the use of other novel form factors, and the inclusion of sensors like accelerometers and other such things. Hit the link below for more from Intel’s interview with PCWorld.

Via PCWorld

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A few days ago when we first bumped into Lenovo’s IdeaPad U300e at CES, it was fetching something close to $800 price tag; however contrary to that announcement, Lenovo’s has just decided to shove things up a little bit. The 13.3-inch Ultrabook would now take you back at $959 according to what’s currently listed on its site. That close to-a grand price will afford you Intel’s Core i5-2476m processor, HD3000 graphics, 4GB of memory, 500GB HDD mixed with 32GB SSD and a Premium copy of Windows 7. Besides, the machine wouldn’t charmingly fall under the “Ultra” grouping if it wasn’t displaying a fairly slim form aspect that it tightly presses through the 0.7-inches standards in thickness. It’s also weighs in around half a pound much bulkier compared to its expensive, superior spec sibling.

Source: Lenovo

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Update ‘em all! That was last year Toshiba’s motto at CES. Toshiba released an upgrade on its Qosmio X505 with Intel’s Core Core i5-2410M and i7-2630QM processors. This year, Toshiba gives a facelift of its netbooks with Intel’s Cedar Trail Atom N2800 processor, but for folks in Japan only. Although leaving out HDMI output, an important aspect of the latest Atom models. Apparently, Japanese folks will have to be familiar with the new branded Dynabook N301 and shortly other parts of world as well.

In addition to the processor upgrade, not much has changed on the old model, but with the latest CPU comes better graphcis and a 4GB memory support. Like Acer’s latest Aspire One D270, Toshiba’s Dynabook N301 also houses a 320GB hard drive. More internals include the netbook usual 10.1-inch (1024×600 screen resolution display), 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, 10/100Mbit Ethernet, 3USB 2.0 ports, a pair of audio jacks, a D-sub connector, and a memory card reader.

In lieu of the lacking HDMI port, Toshiba added Intel’s WiDi wireless display technology which necessarily doesn’t need a receiver. And like the earlier models, the N301 sports Harman/Kardon speakers; the battery is said last you up to 8 hours of usage, No official word on pricing as of yet, but we see the N301 ending up at a similar price point as Toshiba’s present netbooks.

Source: Toshiba

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It’s for sure not very Zen, although kudos to us we’ve pried hands-on the 11.6-inch UX21E-DH521 Zenbook to see closely what makes it tick. It’s machined from a piece of aluminum, with up and down brushed outline on the base and palmrest and to some extent darker circular blueprint on the lid. And it even gets exciting; Asus has tossed in a booby trap: it has the power button included in the usual keyboard, at the top right angle where you’d expect your fingers to find the equally Delete key. When you press Delete key, you’ll be prompted with a menu requesting whether you want the PC to shut down, hibernate, sleep, or do nothing at all.

Zenbook’s innards are all firmly packed together inside the oh-so-lean casing, with the UX21′s slender-line cooler casing Intel Core i5-2467M dual-core possessors. On the left side you’ll find mini-VGA including USB 2.0 ports and a microphone /headphone jack. The right side is home to USB 3.0 ports and micro-HDMI. Asus also did offer a dongle adapter for the VGA to supply USB to Ethernet (about 100Mbps, and not Gigabit) for users who would want to link to wired office LANs. As expected, 802.11n Wi-Fi is built in; you just need to make a wireless connection for surfing the Web and downloading software.

Source: Pcmag

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AMD is manufacturing chipsets for lean laptops that would slash the prices up to $200 less compared to an Intel-powered Ultrabook, in a report by Digitimes. AMD is optimistic to bring down Intel’s Ultrabooks on cost and June is where AMD will take advantage to launch, a platform for slim and light laptops (Ultrathin), actually the company mentioned this during CES 2012.

The present production of Intel Ultrabooks retails at $900 up, including some models, like the HP Envy 14, shipping at $1,400. Intel anticipates about seventy fresh Ultrabooks models this year in addition to its next-generation Ivy Bridge platform is also anticipated, it should ship by April; and this will bring down the price of Ultrabooks somewhere between $700 and $900, actually – introducing lightweight and skinny laptops into the mainstream.

AMD’s thin laptops (Ultrabooks phrase is trademarked by Intel) will make use of the company’s Trinity chips, sporting in dual- and quad-core alternatives. AMD’s chips lean to be valued lower compared to Intel’s, with ultrathin laptops appears to be no exception. Asking price for Trinity laptops is roughly from $500, up to $200 less costly than the estimated standard price of an Intel Ultrabook.

As of performance, AMD alleges its Trinity chips pencil in roughly 17 watts of power, more or less the same compared to the upcoming Ultrabook chips found on Intel’s Ivy Bridge microarchitecture. Expect Trinity chips to deliver similar performance AMD’s A-series chips presently used in standard laptops, although eats half the power.

According to Digitimes, we won’t see many models emerging as AMD-powered ultrathin laptops compared to Intel’s Ultrabooks. Just around twenty ultrathin pieces are likely for 2012, with Acer, HP and Asus showing signs of first producers of such laptops.

Source: Digitimes

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Right, expect a few new twists (ahem, Dell), Intel’s education-focused Classmate PC has learned a few new tricks this year at CES 2012.

Intel has unveiled a renovated Classmate PC line that runs on Atom Cedar Trail CPU and is allegedly to give long-lasting battery life (about 10 hours from a single charge), a six-cell lithium-ion energy source ” where students can be able to carry out their entire activities on single charge” and thanks to its latest 45nm Intel Atom CPU (of course that means pure Pine Trail, right?). Additionally, there’s more austerity in the form factor, giving it added protection on the edges, increased water opposition of at least 100cc of liquid, plus an antimicrobial veneer for a cleaner environment.

Intel has also upgraded its Learning Series Software Suite, including additional shared classroom and IT-allied features. Intel also acknowledges that for every classroom there is a special need, hence they included various configurable options on the Classmate PCs. The netbooks can be packaged with Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit and Intel’s Learning Series software suite on board.

Source: PCMag

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