Nothing But Netbooks! Acer Aspire One, Dell E, Eee PC, HP Mini-Note, MSI Wind, and Other Netbook News, Reviews, Coverage

UK’s Mobile Computer reviewed the Acer Aspire One. They liked the touchpad more than the similarly laid out one on the HP Mini-Note: “the narrow buttons have a far more positive feel and the sensitivity is properly set to match the horizontal and vertical dimensions”. Lots of really nice pictures in the review, including a good one of the battery slot area.

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Posted under Acer Aspire One

Testing done by the folks at HP2133guide.com has shown improved benchmark scores for the HP Mini-Note with Vista Service Pack 1 and the updated video drivers recently released by VIA. There are also results for Windows XP with Service Pack 3 and the new drivers, although for some reason on XP the 3DMark03 score was a tad lower after the upgrades.

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Posted under HP Mini-Note

According to an announcement on MSI UK’s web site, the first model available on July 1 will be, not surprisingly, the Windows XP version with 3-cell battery and 1GB memory, in white. The official model number is U100-015UK. Black is slated to be available near the end of July (no word on pink model, other than that it “will be launched in the near future”). Price is £329.99 with VAT. Four UK stores offering the Wind were also announced.

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Posted under MSI Wind

From Down Under, a quick review of the Wind by GadgetZone:

• It works with Vista: “Performance in Vista was smooth and encountered no lagging or long load times”
• With the 6-cell battery, the Wind tips backwards if the screen is tilted too far.
• The screen “wobbles”

Price: $699 AUD (no word on which configuration). They gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5.

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Posted under MSI Wind

User hamshu on the MSIWind.net forums posts the tale of how he got a hands-on with the MSI Wind at a mall in Shanghai, although he had to push his way past an elderly man and a small child to get at it! (Hopefully he was just kidding.) Anyways, he also got to play Warcraft III on the Wind against the store clerk. Some of his observations:

• It’s really glossy, so will attract fingerprints.
• Noticeably warm but not uncomfortably so.
• Was able to view YouTube video in Firefox with WC3 running in the background.
• Box comes with 3 CDs: System Restore, BIOS, Drivers/Manual.

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Posted under Eee PC 900, MSI Wind

A nifty chart from PC Magazine that compares Acer Aspire One, HP Mini-Note, and two Eee PC models.

Posted under Acer Aspire One, Eee PC 900, HP Mini-Note

An MSIWind.net email interview with MSI’s US office answers some burning questions about the first release:

• $499 price confirmed for 36-cell, Windows XP, 1GB memory (3-cells temporarily offered for $479 until 6-cells are in supply)
• 1-year warranty, no extended warranty at this time (could be offered later)
• Linux version will only come in 3-cell version, in “early August”
• They do not anticipate supply issues with Atom processors, but batteries will be a limiting factor to supply

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Posted under MSI Wind

CNet UK has posted their official review of the Acer Aspire One. They give it an 8.8 out of 10. Major points:

• They like the keyboard- were able to touch type with it.
• Different pricing from what has previously been reported: £220 for the basic Linux version, “around” £320 for the Windows version.
• One year warranty- additional year extended warranty available for £49.99.
• 4800mAh battery for £79.99.

Review summary

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Posted under Acer Aspire One

UK’s Register Hardware posted its review of the MSI Wind. Major points:

• SDHC cards did not work with their review unit, which contradicts earlier reviews that stated the Wind supported SDHC. Could of course be just an issue with their particular unit.
• 6-cell battery life at 60% brightness, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth both turned off: 6 hours, 23 minutes.
• 3-cell battery at full brightness, Wi-Fi turned on, and playing a looped video: “around three hours”

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Posted under MSI Wind

Apparently there was an issue with using Skype with video calls on the HP Mini-Note with Vista (the default OS) which was fixable only by “upgrading” it to Windows XP (heh).  According to jkOnTheRun, Skype 4.0 Beta works much better:

I am happy to report that the quality of the video Skype chat with Kevin was acceptable and I found the video to be higher quality than the old version of Skype.  There was a little bit of choppiness at the beginning of the call but Skype quickly settled down and there were no issues with the video and the audio quality was excellent.

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Posted under HP Mini-Note