Netbooks, Notebooks

• Lenovo IdeaPad S10e Atom 1.6GHz 10″ LED Netbook for $197 + $12 s&h – Best Buy
• Samsung N310 “Go” w/Win XP, 6 cell, 9 hour battery for $389.99 + $10.61 s&h – Amazon
• Refurbished Asus Eee PC 701SD 7 inch Netbook w/Celeron processor for $139.99 – Mwave
• Samsung N130-13B 10″ netbook with 1.6GHz Atom N270, 6 cell battery, Win XP for $279.99 – TigerDirect
• ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook w/WIn XP, 10.5 hour battery $329.95 – Amazon
• Toshiba Satellite T115 1.16″ laptop w/1.3GHz Celeron 743, Win 7 HP, 8 hour battery for $439.95 + free shipping – Amazon
• Refurbished Asus Eee PC 1005HAB Intel Atom N270 10.1″ Netbook for $269.99 – Mwave

Nettops and All-in-One PCs

• Lenovo IdeaCentre Q100 Atom 1.6GHz Compact desktop PC from $195 + free shipping – TigerDirect
• Shuttle SD50XB Touch Screen Barebone with Atom 330 Dual Core processor for $399.99 +$8.79 s&h – TigerDirect (via Amazon)

Accessories

• $10 cash back with $100 or more via PayPal – TigerDirect
• IOMEGA 1TB USB hard drive for $79.99 – TigerDirect

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

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook may have a starting price of $349, but you can pick up an IdeaPad S10e from Buy.com for just under $300. The two computers are pretty much the same. They sport a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, a 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth.

The netbook comes with a 3 cell battery and Windows XP Home Edition. While it may not have the largest hard drive, the fastest wireless connection, or the highest battery capacity, the price drop makes the Lenovo IdeaPad S10e one of the cheapest netbooks available with a 10 inch display.

Update: As Gordon points out in the comments, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10e typically has a 0.1 inch, 1024 x 576 pixel display. But the Buy.com product listing says this model has a 1024 x 600 pixel screen. It’s possible that the product page is wrong, so if you really want those extra pixels, you may want to contact Buy.com before placing an order.

Best Buy has slashed the price on the Eee PC 900A yet again, this time all the way down to $230. The netbook comes with an 8.9 inch display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 4GB solid state disk. This particular model runs Xandros Linux, but you can easily install Ubuntu, Windows XP, or Windows 7 if you like.

With around a dozen new Eee PC models ready to hit the shelves soon, it’s likely that Best Buy (and possibly Asus) are hoping to clear out some invententory here, so I’m not sure how long this deal will last.

You can read more about the Asus Eee PC 900A in the Liliputing Product Database.

via ChrunchGear

Sure, it’s a bit late to be doing your Christmas shopping today. But many of you might be waking up to a shiny new gift card tomorrow. Or perhaps you’ve got birthdays, anniversary’s or other gift-giving occasions coming up soon. And while there have been a lot of gift guides written over the last few months offering suggestions for anyone shopping for a netbook, I just had another thought: A lot of you already have netbooks and aren’t planning on trading them in for newer models just yet. So here’s a brief gift guide focusing on mini-laptop accessories.

Cases

Some netbook makers include a slip cover with the laptop. Some don’t. Either way, if you want some serious protection for your little laptop, you’re probably going to want to pick up a third party case. One of the best looking cases I’ve seen so far is the Solo Tech Netbook Messenger bag, which is available for $35 from Amazon. This case should be roomy enough for any notebook with an 11″ or smaller screen. Plus it’s TSA-approved, which could come in handy if you’re a frequent flyer.

You can also find an assortment of other cases designed for netbooks including the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 to the MSI Wind U100 and several different Asus Eee PC netbooks in the Liliputing Shop.

Travel Mice

Most netbooks have some sort of touchpad. But they tend to be small, and while it might seem silly to carry around an extra accessory like a mouse with an ultraportable laptop that weighs less than 3 pounds, I have to say that my Eee PC 1000H feels like an entirely different machine when I plug in my travel mouse. I’m just far more productive with a mouse than a touchpad.

Travel mice tend to be smaller and lighter than a mouse designed for use with a desktop or larger laptop computer. Many wired USB mice come with retractable cords. Or if you’d rather avoid the wires altogether you can look for a wireless mouse. And you can generally pick up a wireless travel mouse for under $30. Some wired mice are even as cheap as $5.99.

USB microphones or headsets

While many netbooks come with webcams and built in microphones for making voice and video calls using Skype and other VoIP services, the microphones have a tendency to stink. Like seriously, seriously stink. If you actually want people on the other end of the call to hear you talking you might want to think about picking up a plugin microphone or headset. I’m partial to USB peripherals, which bypass the relatively cheap mic inputs on most notebooks, but even a headset that plugs into the mic jack is likely going to sound ten times better than the built in mic.

The Snowflake Mic is a sturdy little mic from Blue Microphones, the makers of the popular Snowball USB Mic. The Snowflake is both smaller and cheaper than the Snowball, selling for about $50.

You can also find a number of USB headsets that provide decent voice quality at a cheaper price. Plantronics and Logitech both offer a number of headsets for $30 or less.

Touchscreen Kits

If you’re buying a present for someone who doesn’t plan to just use a netbook, but plans to hack the heck out of it until it does absolutely everything they want, you might want to think about picking up a touchscreen kit.

Fidohub sells a series of solderless touchscreen kits on eBay for netbooks including the Asus Eee PC 1000H, MSI Wind U100 and Samsung NC10. Prices range from around $5o to around $100.

If you dig around, you can find other touchscreen kits for 7 inch netbooks like the Asus Eee PC 701 for even less.

Newegg, Dell, HP, and other netbook makers and sellers are offering a bunch of deals on mini-laptops this week. While I seriously doubt anything you order today will show up in time for Christmas, here’s a list of deals that might interest folks who have been putting of their holiday shopping until (after) the last minute:

• Mwave is offering the Samsung NC10 for $464, which is about $36 off the list price of $499. The netbook is available in blue and white.
• Dell is offering $50 off the price of the Windows XP version of the Inspiron Mini 12, which brings the total down to $449. (Expires 12/27)
• Newegg has slashed the price of the Asus Eee PC 1000 by $100, bringing the price of this netbook with a 40GB SSD to $399.
• Newegg is selling the Eee PC 4G (with a 7 inch display, 512MB of RAM and a 4GB SSD) for just $219.99.
• Newegg is also offering a $40 mail-in rebate for the Eee PC 1000HA, bringing the rpice down to $389.99. Available in black and white.
• You can save $10 on an HP Mini 1000 and pick one up for $349.99 with a coupon code. (Expires 12/27)
• Best Buy is offering an Acer Aspire One with an 8GB SSD and Windows XP Home for $299.99. (via Eee PC.net)

You can find more bargain netbooks in our roundup of 13 netbooks for $399 or less.

There are a few of things that set netbooks apart from full sized laptops. They have to be small, light, and relatively inexpensive. You can’t just lower the price on a 15 inch notebook and call it a netbook. But HP is offering a promotion that lets you pick up a thing, light, and powerful tablet PC for just $600. And while HP is likely running this promotion to clear the warehouse and make room for the newer tablet PCs that are set to replace the tx2500z, I’m still pretty happy to see a $600 tablet.

In order to get the special pricing, make sure to follow all the steps listed at LogicBuy. You won’t be able to apply the coupon code until you get to the last step in the checkout process, so it’ll look like the computer costs $800 until you get to the end.

If you follow the steps, you’ll end up with a 1.21 inch touchscreen Tablet PC with a 2.0GHz AMD Turion X2 dual core CPU, a 250GB HDD, 3GB of RAM, 802.11b/g WiFi, a 1.3MP webcam, and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.  You can also get a free printer if you happen to need a printer.

I’d probably recommend choosing the 8 cell battery, which adds an extra $39 to the price. HP’s web site says both the 6 cell and 8 cell batteries will provide 2 hours and 15 minutes of battery life, but I’m going to go out on a limb and assume the 8 cell battery will actually provide a bit more power unless HP has done something really weird with these batteries.

Sure, the tx2500z is a bit larger and heavier than your typical netbook. But not much. And it’s got a heck of a lot more power and a price tag that’s no higher than the Asus Eee PC S101. If we’re lucky, we’ll see more deals like this in the future. But this particular sale ends Wednesday.

via Engadget

Lenovo is offering an across the board price cut of $50 on IdeaPad S10 netbooks. Prices now range from $349 for the basic model to $409 for a netbook with extra memory, a larger hard drive, and a fancier paint job.

The new prices are listed as sale prices, so it’s possible that Lenovo could jack the price back up at some point. But competition is tough in the netbook market and if Lenovo can afford to sell these computers for a lower price, they’ll probably move more units at this price.

via Engadget

You’ve been able to get an Acer Aspire One netbook running Linux for under $300 for a while now. But the Windows XP model typically runs you an extra $50. Unless you buy it today, that is.

Best Buy is offering an Aspire One with Windows XP, a 3 cell battery, 1GB of RAM and a 120Gb hard drive for $299.99. The netbook is listed as a Deal of the Day, which means the price could go back up tomorrow.

For more netbook bargains, make sure to check out my list of 13 netbooks for $399 or less. I’ve recently updated the list to include the latest prices and one new machine: the HP Mini 1000.

via jkOnTheRun

It’s probably too early to call this a permanent price drop, but it looks like $300 is the new $350 for the MSI Wind U100. Computer store Micro Center offered the netbook for $299 the weekend before Thanksgiving, and again on Black Friday weekend. And now online retailer Buy.com is selling the MSI Wind U100 for $299.95 after a $50 mail-in rebate.

This particular model comes wiht a 10.2 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 120GB hard drive. It runs Windows XP and supports 802.11b/g wireless connections. If you want a 6 cell battery or Bluetooth support you’ll have to pay extra.

HP has lowered the base price for the HP Mini 1000 netbook by $40. For $359 you can now pick up the mini-laptop with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 8.9 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display, 512MB of RAM, and an 8GB solid state disk. If you want a larger screen, more RAM, or additional storage capacity you can pay extra for thos features.

I’ve been playing with an HP Mini 1000 for the last few days, and it’s a nice little netbook. It’s significantly smaller and lighter than the Asus Eee PC 1000H I’ve been carrying around for the last few months. But the battery doesn’t last as long and while the keyboard is excellent by netbook standards, I find it still has a few quirks that take getting used to. I’ll post a more detailed review in the next day or two, but suffice it to say that $359 is an excellent price for this machine, although you might want to invest in a RAM upgrade.

via Engadget