Emtec is planning to launch a tiny desktop computer powered by NVIDIA’s ION platform which bundles an Intel Atom processor with NVIDIA graphics. Emtec is the company behind the innovative (if a bit behind schedule) Gdium netbook with a Loongson CPU, Mandriva Linux, and a removable USB flash drive that functions as the computer’s main storage device.

The upcoming “G Box” nettop, spotted at a recent event by Pocket Lint, looks a bit more standard.It will have a 160GB hard drive, and run Windows XP, which probably means it will have 1GB of RAM. It has 6 USB ports, 4 on the back and 2 on th efront, an Ethernet adapter, mic and headphone jacks, and an Ethernet port. There’s no word on integrated WiFi, but that does seem to be all the rage on nettops these days, so I wouldn’t be surprised if his computer had 802.11b/g capabilities at the very least.

The netbook will sell for about £179 or $293 US. This model won’t have HDMI, but Pocket Lint reports that a pricier, HDMI-enabled version will be available as well.

MSI X340

The surge in popularity of netbooks has led computer makers to change the way they think about PCs. A few years ago, you’d pay a premium for thin and light laptops, while larger and heavier machines inevitably cost more. Today, we’re starting to see companies put out thin, light, and cheap machines. Of course, like netbooks, these low cost thin and light computers tend to have relatively slow processors and other cheap components including cheap plastic cases.

According to a CNET article, analysts are starting to notice something rather surprising obvious: These cheap computers aren’t as durable as pricier models. But you know what? They weren’t meant to be. If you purchased a $400 laptop under the impression that it was just as good as a $1200 machine you either made a big mistake or had a really inept salesperson.

That said, there’s cheap and then there’s cheap. CNET quotes an analyst who says that the plastic cases on some of these cheap notebooks are cracking. In order to build a sturdier thin and light machine, PC makers are going to want to use metal cases — which would drive up the price.

It’s not clear from the article if the cracking is a widespread problem; if there’s a way to deal with it without using metal cases; or if the cracks occur on their own or only after users, say, drop the laptops on concrete. So I’m going to reserve judgment about the severity of the problem for now. But in general, you get what you pay for. If you want a powerful, portable, and problem-free machine, you’ll wind up paying a premium price.

via Gizmodo

Asus has been shipping a program called the Super Hybrid Engine with all of its Intel Atom powered netbooks since day one. The utility lets users overclock or underclock their machines to provide better battery life or a performance boost depending on their needs. The 11.6 inch Eee PC 1101HA is the first one that lets you customize the overclock values.

A few weeks ago, we spotted a setting in the user manual that made it clear that users would be able to adjust a BIOS setting to modify the values used by the Super Hybrid Engine. Now Notebook Italia has had a chance to test a working Eee PC 1101HA unit, and reports on the details of this BIOS setting.

Apparently you can choose from 5 settings: 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 32%. At the highest setting, the notebook is a bit unstable. But you can adjust the setting to overclock the Atom Z520 CPU by about 30%. At that setting, the Intel Atom Z520 processor, which  normally runs at 1.33GHz will run at 1.73GHz.

Of course, you’ll reduce your battery life and your computer will get a lot hotter if you run it at 1.73GHz. But that may be a small price to pay to squeeze a tiny bit of extra performance out of the CPU, in some situations, anyway.

via Portable Monkey

Asus Eee PC 901 and 1000 series netbooks have nice wide, multi-touch trackpads with two distinct buttons. But if you’re not a fan of multitouch gestures or touchpads in general, one ambitious hacker has shown that there is another way. If you’re willing to void your warranty and poke holes in your netbook’s chassis, you can add a trackball.

In this case, the trackball is actually an Apple Mighty Mouse that’s been dissected, flipped upside down, and slotted into the netbook case. I’m always amazed at how much room there is to work with in these tiny computers.

You can see modified Eee PC 901 with a trackball in action after the break.

via Engadget

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Netbooks

• Asus Eee PC 1000HE w/10 inch screen, 6 cell battery (Blue) for $374.95 + free shipping – Amazon
• Asus Eee PC 1005HA w/10 inch display, 6 cell battery, WiFi, Bluetooth for $389.99 – Amazon
• Asus Eee PC 1005HA-B (w/3 cell battery, no Bluetooth) for $299.99 – Best Buy
• HP Mini 110 w/10 inch screen, 3 cell battery for $300 – Office Depot (via Little Laptop Deals)

Accessories

• Unlocked Sierra Wireless 885 3G USB Laptop Modem for $60 + $5 s&h – 1saleaday
• Thermaltake BlacX eSATA/USB HDD Docking Station for $25 after rebate + free shipping – ZipZoomfly
• Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1.5TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive for $120 + free shipping – Dell Small Business (with coupon code 7XBH1T9BJ4H9B3)
• PQI 4GB Intelligent Drive i810plus USB 2.0 Flash Drive for $10 + free shipping – Shop4Tech

You can find more deals on netbooks, gadgets, and accessories in the Liliputing Deals section.

Microsoft has a history of giving out free software licenses to techies that attend the company’s conferences. Now the company is upping its game by not only giving TechEd Australia participants a pre-release copy of Windows 7… but it’ll be installed on a complimentary HP Mini 2140 netbook.

Of course, you’ll have to pay a pretty hefty fee to get in the door in the first place. Registration for the conference will set you back $1,999 Australian, although you can save $300 by registering before July 14th.

The conference runs September 8th through 11th, which means the netbooks will probably be running Windows 7 RC or possibly RTM. But the full version of Windows 7 won’t be available to the public until October 22nd. Attendees will be able to use the netbooks throughout the conference to keep notes and communicate with one another and the outside world. At the end of the conference, participants will have the option of keeping the netbook or returning it.

via i started something

Archos is a company that has made a name for itself by delivering portable media players. But once the company started adding WiFi and web browsers to its PMPs, maybe the writing was on the wall: the lines between dedicated devices like media players and full fledged computers are getting thinner and thinner.

Earlier this year Archos release its first netbook, a remarkably ordinary looking machine called the Archos 10. Recently things got a bit more exciting when the company started selling a version of the Archos 10 with Ubuntu Linux that wasn’t constrained by some of the usual Windows netbook limitations. It ships with 2GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

Now Archos has unveiled the Archos 9 tablet PC that features a 9 inch touchscreen, a 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z515 CPU, and runs Windows 7. The Archos 9 looks a lot like the company’s earlier portable media players thanks to the lack of a keyboard. But it’ll have the guts of a netbook, and the ability to run a full desktop operating system and connect to WiFi or 3G networks (with an optional 3G modem). The Archos 9 will have an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, and either a 60Gb or 120G hard drive. It should be available this fall. No word on pricing yet.

Update: CNET UK has posted some hands-on photos and first impressions of the Archos 9.

via CNET

Looking for an easy way to install a 3G module in a Samsung NC10 netbook? If you find that you need 3G access more often than WiFi, BassoPT has posted instructions on replacing the built in WiFi adapter with a 3G modem. When you actually need WiFi, you can always plug in a USB WiFi 802.11b/g/n adapter.

In order to perform this hack you’ll need to find a modem that comes in the shape of a PCI Express Mini card. Once you open up your computer, you should be pretty much able to pop out the WiFi adapter and replace it with the 3G card. If you’re looking to add an internal modem while keeping the WiFi module in place, you’re going to need to perform much more intensive surgery.

via jkkmobile

The Asus Eee PC 1005HA is currently available in the US in black, white, and blue. But several Italian web sites are reporting that Asus plans to add red and pink to the lineup by the time the netbook is available in Italy, bringing the number of color options to five.

There’s no word on whether the new colors will affect the netbook’s price, or if you’ll be able to snag a red, pink, or blue model in the US anytime soon. But I’d be surprised if these color options are only made available in Itay.

Thinking about picking up one of those newfangled Dell Inspiron Min 10 netbooks with integrated GPS? Better get out the wallet, because Notebooks.com is reporting that the feature will set you back an extra $69.

Dell is also working with Skyhook to make sure you can track your location through wireless networks even when you can’t receive a GPS signal. You can check out two videos from Notebooks.com giving more details after the break.

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PC makers are pushing netbooks as secondary computers, which is all well and good until you realize that you have some of your files stored on your netbook and other files stored on your primary computer which is stuck back at the house. HP’s solution is to include Syncables software which comes preloaded with the HP Mini 110 netbook.

The software lets you perform automated or manual 2-way synchronization between your netbook and another PC. It includes options for pictures, videos, bookmarks, music, documents, email, or all the files on your system.

Of course, Syncables is hardly the only synchronization software available. But it’s free for HP users, and seems to be fairly easy to use.

MediaBlab’s Jake Luddington has put together a video demonstrating the software, which you can check out below.

via Portable Monkey

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Netbooks and mini-notebooks

• Lenovo IdeaPad S12 VIA Nano 1.3GHz 12″ Widescreen Laptop for $395 + free shipping – Lenovo w/coupon code
• 2.8-lb. Samsung Intel Atom 1.6GHz 10″ Netbook for $369 + free shipping – BuyDig
• Lenovo IdeaPad S10e Atom 1.6GHz 10″ Netbook for $288 + $10 s&h – CostCentral
• 2.2-lb. MSI Wind  U123 Atom 1.6GHz 10″ Netbook for $344 + free shipping – B&H Photo

You can find more deals on netbooks, gadgets, and accessories in the Liliputing Deals section.

The Asus Eee PC 1000HE was the first Asus netbook to feature a chiclet-style keyboard with fairly large spaces between the keys. If the Eee PC Seashell series (including the 1008HA and 1005HA) are anything to go by, it looks like it may also be one of the last. But if you happen to have an Eee PC with a chiclet keyboard and want to dress it up a bit, EeeUser Forum member Cms has posted instructions for making  a printable keyboard skin.

The idea is based on the metal Eee PC 1000HE skins another member of the forum created a few months ago. Of course, a paper skin isn’t going to be as durable, but it’s much more flexible (both literally and figuratively). You can use any color you like or print a design. And if you decide you want something a bit sturdier, you can order a custom metal screen from eBay for $20 to $35.

via GottaBeMobile

Japanese company Marshal has announced a netbook dock that includes a DVD super multi drive, a USB hub, and room for a 2.5 inch SATA hard drive or SSD.

The dock should hit Japan later this month for about $95. I’d be surprised to see it outside of Japan unless a western company decides to rebrand it under their own names. Of course, there’s a cottage industry of online retailers that purchase gadgets like this that are only available in Japan and resell them in other parts of the world.

via CrunchGear

NEC has introduced yet another netbook, the LaVie Light Lui. Based on the fact that I have yet to see a single NEC netbook hit US shores to date, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that this one might hit Asia and/or Europe, but probably not US shores.

But it’s too bad. Because this looks like the best NEC netbok to date. It sports a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB hard drive, as you’d expect from a netbook running Windows XP Home. It also has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 1.3MP webcam. But it also has a battery which NEC claims is good for 8.5 hours. If the battery lives up to the hype, that would certainly make it one of the longest lasting NEC netbooks, and it would rank up there with the Toshiba Mini NB205 and Asus Eee PC 1000HE or 1005HA for having on of the best batteries around.

NEC designed the netbook to work with its Lui remote desktop system, which means you can login to a Lui home server with the LaVie Light Lui.

via Akihabara News