French retailer fnac has posted a product page for a new Asus netbook model called the Eee PC 1005PE-H. Basically, the laptop is identical to the Asus Eee PC 1005PE in most respects. It has the same design, keyboard, and processor. But the Eee PC 1005PE-H comes with more RAM and storage space than its cheaper sibling, and ships with Windows 7 Home Premium instead of Windows 7 Starter Edition.

There’s no word on whether this model will be available in the US anytime soon. But I’d be surprised if it’s only available in France. Typically netbooks that pop up in that country are made available throughout much of Europe.

Here’s a rundown of the specs:

• CPU: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450
• Display: 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixels
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 320GB hard drive
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet
• I/O: 3x USB, SD card reader, mic, headphone
• Battery: 6 cell, 4400mAh
• Dimensions: 10.3″ x 7″ x 1.4″

Fnac is charging 349 Euros for the Eee PC 1005PE-H, whichi s the equivalent of $476 US, although European prices tend to be higher than prices in the US.

via Blogeee

The Samsung NB30 is a semi-rugged laptop with a scratch and fingerprint-resistant case and a water-tight seal to prevent damage even if the laptop is dipped briefly in water. But in France, it looks like the Samsung NB30 may have another defining characteristic: A touchscreen display.

French store Pixmania has a product listing for the NB30 with a touchscreen as well as an Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and Windows 7 Starter Edition. The model is available for pre-order for about 399 Euros or roughly $560 US.

It’s not clear whether the NB30 will be available with a touchscreen in the US. I’m waiting to hear back from Samsung, but I’m guessing someone would have let us know by now if there were plans to sell this netbook with a touchscreen here. Pixmania could also have the wrong information. The retailer doesn’t expect the laptop to ship until March. It’s possible the company may not actually have received all of the correct information about the product yet.

The Samsung NB30 without a touchscreen is already available for order in the US for about $370.

If you want to pick up a Dell Inspiron 11z laptop in the US, here’s the configuration you’ll get for your $449: 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel, 1.2GHz Intel Celeron 723 CULV processor, 2GB of RAM a 250GB hard drive, and a 3 cell, 28Whr battery. It comes with Windows Vista Home Premium and a free upgrade offer for Windows 7. There are pretty much zero customization options.

In France, it’s a different story. There you can pick up the Inspiron Mini 11z with the following options:

• CPU: 1.3GHz Intel Celeron ULV 743 single core / 1.3GHz Intel Pentium ULV SU4100 dual core
• RAM: 2GB / 4GB
• HDD: 160GB / 250GB / 320GB / 500GB (all 5400rpm)
• Battery: 3 cell, 28Whr / 6 cell, 56Whr
• WiFi: Dell Wireless 1397 (802.11b/g) / Dell Wireless 1510 (802.11n)
• Bluetooth: Optional
• OS: Windows Vista Basic / Windows Vista Home Premium
• Colors: black / white / red / green / blue / pink / purple

You’re still stuck with only one display option, an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel screen. The base model runs 379 Euros, or about $556 US. But if you play with the configuration options it’s not hard to jack the price up to over a thousand Euros or closer to $1500 US.

No word on if or when we’ll start to see these options show up on Inspiron Mini 11z models in the US.

via Blogeee

The Asus Eee PC 1005H Go is basically the same computer as an Eee PC 1005HA with one key difference — it has an integrated 3G modem for connecting to wireless broadband networks. Netbook 3G reports that the 1005H Go is now available in France, where telecom Orange is selling it for 399 Euros (about $571 US). That’s the price for the netbook without a subscription. If you sign up for a service plan you might be able to shave the up-front price a bit.

The netbook has a HSUPA modem capable of data transfers up to 7.2MB/s. It also packs 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. It also has a 10.2 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display. Orange says the netbook should run for up to 7 hours with 3G enabled, and 10 hours with 3G turned off.

The Asus Eee PC 1008HA is a thin and light 10 inch netbook that comes in wide selection of colors in the US, as long as you like black and white. The slightly thicker Eee PC 1005HA has a better battery, but comes in the same two colors in the US.

But in France, it looks like two new color options are starting to show up. La Fnac is taking orders for the 1008HA in red, and the 1005HA is available in pink. No word on if or when we’ll start to see these colors show up in the US and other parts of the globe.

via Blogeee

Pixmania

The Samsung N510 laptop is the first 11.6 inch notebook from Samsung to sport NVIDIA ION graphics. The laptop features a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, and an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display. And it’s available for pre-order from French retailer Pixmania today for 499 Euros, or about $718. Bear in mind, it will likely carry a lower price tag if and when it’s released in the US. Most computers do.

According to the Pixmania website, the N510 will ship on August 21st.

Lenovo also plans to offer a small laptop with NVIDIA ION inside. But the version of the 12 inch, Lenovo IdeaPad S12 with NVIDIA graphics hasn’t hit the streets yet, which means that Samsung could be the first to market with an ION-powered mini-laptop. Now if only they would make it available outside of France.

via Blogeee

It looks like the Samsung N510 won’t be hitting the streets of France by the end of July after all. But according to Blogeee, it could be available in August.

The French netbook blog says the launch date has been pushed back a bit, but that the N510 is due out in about 3 weeks. The N510 will be the first notebook from Samsung to feature the NVIDIA ION chipset, which bundles a low power Intel Atom CPU with an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor to get better graphics performance for video games and video playback, among other things, than you’d find with a vanilla Atom-based computer.

The Samsung N510 has an 11.6 inch screen, which means that I’m going to hold off on calling it a “netbook” for now, but with each passing day, I get a little closer to dropping that distinction. I prefer to think of netbooks as small, cheap laptops. And for the most part, a computer with an 11 or 12 inch display is smaller than a traditional laptop. It’s just not as much smaller as, say, a 9 or 10 inch mini-laptop.

Samsung still hasn’t officially introduced its N510 laptop in the US yet, but it looks like this notebook with an 11.6 inch display and NVIDIA ION power could be available in France before the end of the month. French site Blogeee has a source that’s suggesting the Samsung N510 could be ready to go sometime in July.

The Samsung N510 features a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, and an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display. The laptop will initially ship with Windows XP, but will likely be available later this year with Windows 7. The only other laptop sporting the NVIDIA ION platform that’s been officially announced is the Lenovo IdeaPad S12, and the ION version of that notebook won’t be available until this fall, most likely after Windows 7 is released.

A few days ago an Asus official announce that the company would be phasing out all of its existing netbook models in the UK and focusing on three new machines: The Eee PC 1008HA, Eee PC 1005HA, and another Eee PC 1000-series netbook that hasn’t been launched yet. Now Blogeee reports that Asus France is following suit.

In other words, you can say goodbye to the popular Asus Eee PC 1000HE and all of the company’s 8.9 inch netbooks in those countries. Asus will still introduce a few other models including the Eee PC T91 touchscreen tablet style netbook. But that machine will be targeted at specialty markets such as education.

When I reached out to my contact with Asus in the US, he told me that the company’s decisions in one country don’t necessarily reflect its global strategy. In other words, there are no official announcements concerning the fate of the Eee PC 1000HE in the United States yet. But it is possible that you might have to do your Asus netbook shopping by country in the future. If you want an Asus Eee PC 1004DN with an optical disc drive, you’ll have to pick one up in Japan. The Eee PC 1000HE with its 7 to 9 hour battery may still be available in the US for a while. And in Europe (or at least the UK and France for now), you’ll have to settle for the Eee PC 1008HA, 1005HA, or whatever new models Asus plans to introduce.

The MSI Wind U115 is available for order from a handful of stores in France, including Topachat, where you can pick it up for 549.90 € and Rue du Commerce, where it’s selling for 554 €. Material.net is asking 559 €.

The MSI Wind U115 is one of the newest netbooks from MSI. Like the company’s earlier netbooks it sports a 10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display and Intel Atom processor. But there are a few things that set it apart. First, it uses the Intel Atom Z530 CPU which consumes less power than the Atom N270 CPU found in most netbooks. Second, it uses a hybrid storage system consisting of a hard drive and solid state disk. The operating system and some programs can be installed on the SSD, allowing the computer to shut down the hard drive when it’s not in use, thus saving even more power.

The result? Ridiculously long battery life. With a standard 6 cell battery, the Wind U115 can run for as long as 13 hours on a charge. Slap a higher capacity 9 cell battery in there, and you’ve potentially got as much as 25 hours of run time. 

No word on a US release date yet.

via Netbook 3G