Been holding out on picking up a Lenovo ThinkPad x100e thin and light laptop until you could get one with 3G and GPS capabilities? It looks like the wait is over. Lenovo is selling a version of the X100e with a Gobi 2000 card which supports 3G and GPS for $649. That’s about $100 more than the exact same computer without the Gobi card.

The basic specs remain unchanged. The 11.6 inch laptop has an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 single core CPU, ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics, 2GB of RAM, a 250Gb hard drive, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and a 6 cell battery. A cheaper model with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB and no mobile broadband sells for $449.

Lenovo’s also expected to offer a dual core version of this laptop in the coming months. But there’s no word on the pricing for that model yet.

via Netbooked

Onkyo’s new 10 inch, dual-screen netbook isn’t the only new product the company is launching today. Onkyo Japan is also introducing a 7 inch netbook that has a touchscreen display that you can fold over the keyboard for use in tablet mode. The Onkyo NX707A4 also has built-in GPS, which means you can easily fold it into tablet mode, throw it in a car, and use it like a dedicated GPS system.

The mini-laptop isn’t exactly a speed demon. It sports a 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU and GMA 500 graphics. It supports 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0.

The Onkyo NX707A4’s 7 inch screen has a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution. The computer also has two webcams, one 3MP and the other 0.3MP. It has 1GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, multi-format card reader, and an ExpressCard/34 slot. Expected battery life is about 3 hours.

The computer runs Windows 7 Starter Edition, weighs about 1.6 pounds and measures 7.6″ x 5.2″ x 1.2″.

via CrunchGear

The Asus Eee PC T91 netbook I reviewed a few weeks ago was a loaner, so I didn’t want to go too far out of my way to open up the case and trying rearranging the hardware. But jkkmobile spent his own hard earned money on one, and a day or two after it arrived, he opened the case and started poking around on the insides to see what kind of hacks are possible. Here’s what he discovered:

• It looks like there should be room inside to add a 3G module
• There’s not a lot of room for a GPS receiver
• If you want to upgrade the SSD you’re going to need to either wait for a third party upgrade kit to come along or spend a little time carving out some of the plastic, because there are no third party SSDs designed to fit in this model. It uses a 50mm PCIe SATA SSD, while companies like RunCore currently have 70mm versions. He connected a few of those SSDs, but while they booted, the computer had trouble with standby and hibernation. And of course, he couldn’t close the computer case with the ill-fitting SSDs inside.

The SSD hack sounds like the most exciting one to watch, since the Eee PC T91 ships with a relatively slow 16GB SSD.

You can check out jkkmobile’s first look video after the break. If you look closely, you’ll also notice he’s slapped a carbon fiber cover on the netbook’s lid.

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Dell

After a false start a few weeks ago, Dell has finally rolled out a GPS option for the Inspiron Mini 10 netbook in the US. The upgrade doesn’t come cheap. You’ll have to pay $70 for the integrated GPS unit and software, plus another $35 to get the higher resolution 1366 x 768 pixel display option. The GPS option isn’t available for the standard 1024 x 600 pixel display.

On the one hand, $105 is kind of a lot of money for an add-on for a $349 netbook. On the other hand, good luck finding a standalone GPS unit with a high resolution display for that price.

In order to choose the GPS upgrade, visit Dell’s Mini 10 order page, and when you customize your netbook, make sure to check the GPS option in the Mobile Connectivity section.

GPS is only available on Mini 10 netbooks running Windows XP. You can’t get GPS on an Ubuntu version of the netbook or on the Inspiron Mini 10v.

via Portable Monkey

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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Dell has been teasing us with the promise of a GPS receiver for the Inspiron Mini 10 since first unveiling the netbook at CES in January. Next week the company will finally begin offering the netbook with an integrated GPS receiver that also uses WiFi locationing.

The technology will calculate a computer’s position using either GPS satellites or WiFi access points depending on whether you’re indoors or outdoors. The system is called the Dell Wireless 700 location solution.Dell will also use CoPilot navigation software. My guess is that this option will only be available on Windows versions of the netbook.

A few days ago Dell briefly and accidentally added a note to its website indicating that the Inspiron Mini 10 was already available with GPS. But that page was quickly pulled down, and there’s no official word on whether GPS will be included as a standard feature on all Mini 10 models or if it’ll be available for an additional charge. I’m guessing the latter.

via Netbook Choice

Just when you thought netbooks with 8.9 inch displays were a thing of the past, Mio comes along and shows a new mini-laptop with an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display at Computex. But the display’s not really the most interesting component of this netbook. Mio, which is best known for making GPS devices, is throwing a GPS receiver and Mio navigation software into the Mio N890 netbook.

The laptop also has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, an acclerometer, an SSD, and 3G wireless. It’s less than an inch thick and weighs less than 2 pounds.

Update: jkkmobile shot a short video overview, which you can check out after the break.

via Engadget
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You’ve seen the MSI Wind U120 unboxed, you’ve seen it lightly reviewed. Now it’s time to get a bit more intimate and see the netbook with its top off. Christophe of French netbook site Netbook 3G got his hands on a pre-release MSI Wind U120H, packed with goodies like a 3G modem and a GPS receiver. He’s posted a bunch of photos of MSI’s successor to the popular Wind U100 netbook, including the picture you can see abve of the computer’s motherboard.

In many ways, the MSI Wind U120 is a lot like the U100. It has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, a 10.2 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. The 3G modem is the main thing that sets this computer apart from its predecessor. but it also has a slightly modified chassis with a black and white color scheme.

MiTAC is probably best known for making GPS devices. But the company’s also got a computer division which is focused on high end and specialized machines. Now it looks like the company is branching into consumer oriented computers. Wired reports that MiTAC will release a low cost ultraportable laptop by the end of the year.

The MiTAC netbook will have an 8.9 inch display, and a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom CPU. A Bluetooth option will be available, and customers will be able to choose a model with a hard drive or a solid state disk. MiTAC will also offer a GPS option.

The netbook will run the gOS Linux distribution, which is based on Ubuntu. While gOS has been working hard to target netbook users, the only major netbook released so far with the operating system was the Everex Cloudbook which wasn’t received particularly well. At the time the operating system seemed like a poor fit for subnotebooks with tiny displays. Some system menus couldn’t even fit on the Cloudbook’s 7-inch screen.

But today netbooks like the upcoming MiTAC computer typically have larger, higher resolution displays. And gOS has been updated since the Cloudbook was released. Maybe the second time is the charm?

Considering how small the typical netbook is, it’s amazing how much room there seems to be on the inside of a computer like the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for adding extra components. It probably helps that consumer electronics components are shrinking even faster than laptops. A few days ago, we showed you how to upgrade the SSD on an Inspiron Mini 9. Today’s hack involves adding an internal GPS receiver.

A member of the My Dell Mini forum stuff picked up a USB GPS unit, took it apart, and found a spot next to the Bluetooh module where he could cram it inside the Dell Mini case.

He’s provided detailed instructions that should help you through all the tricky bits, like finding a 5v power source for the GPS module (by connecting to the power source for the trackpad, and plugging into the USB data line for the WWAN PCIe connector.

It looks like the whole hack should only cost about $30, which is how much the GPS dongle costs. But if you muck things up when you pop the lid off your computer, don’t expect your Dell Warranty to cover you. In that case, the price could actually be closer to $350 to $450 for a dead netbook.

via Engadget