Is The New Lowcost Tablet PC Market Heating Up?

Could this be the face of the next low cost PC generation? This, according to Gizmodo's site, is the latest low cost tablet PC from NEC.

The low cost term comes solely from the specs, which rival anything in the low cost laptop market (Asus Eee, Acer, Intel, etc.)

For those in this market searching for a good deal, would this perk your interest, or make you drown your sorrows with a hackintosh?

802.11r Standards Completed Before 802.11n

According to an article on Gizmodo, the new standard for 802.11r, for wireless roaming, has been finalized before 802.11n. This is pretty sad considering n has been in the market for at least 2 years now.

MID vs. UMPC vs. Lowcost Laptops

My current search to find the difference between Mobile Internet Devices (MID's), Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) and Low cost Laptops has lead me to one simple conclusion:

They are all the same, depending on how much you want to spend.

For those out there wondering how this is, given the wide variances in the acronyms, allow me to justify my claim.

What do all 3 of these competitors have in common?

• They can get you to the Internet, typically via Wi-Fi.
• They are fairly low cost, low end hardware.
• They tend to be smaller form factors.

While some run a variant of Linux, typically Ubuntu, most can be purchased or upgraded to run Windows XP. The hardware is designed to run at lower voltages to increase battery performance. The packaging is designed to be small, easily transported yet usable.

What makes them different from one another, however, is the marketing plunge that can spell success or failure.

• MID's tend to look more like over sized Blackberry's - photo.
• UMPC's can look like a cross between a PDA Phone and a Tablet PC.
• Lowcost laptops, or subnotebooks, look like smaller, lighter laptops.

In the end, to me anyways, the classification of the device you are purchasing has less to do with the abilities and capabilities it has as much as it does whether or not it will fit into a coat pocket or does it need a notebook bag.

Acer - Aspire One Laptop on Sale At Best Buy

I saw this add in the weekend Best Buy adds. It is the Acer Aspire One Notebook, a competitor with the Asus Eee and such. The price tag alone had me very interested as it runs around $100 to $150 less than the comparable Eee.

The specs are very nice for the price, if you would desire an Intel Atom over a Centrino or C& processor.

Product Features
Intel® Atom™ processor N270Features a 533MHz frontside bus, 512KB cache and 1.6GHz processor speed.
1GB PC5300 DDR2 memory For multitasking power, expandable to 2GB.
Note: Optical drive not included Optional external DVD-ROM drive available (not included).
8.9" WSVGA widescreen display with Acer CrystalBrite technology and 1024 x 600 resolution Showcases movies, games and other images.
160GB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm)Offers spacious storage options and fast read/write times.
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950for lush images. High-definition audio support with 2 built-in stereo speakers.
Built-in 0.3-megapixel Acer Crystal Eye webcam Makes it easy to chat with and send video mail to family and friends.
Digital media reader Supports Secure Digital, reduced size Multi Media Card, Multi Media Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card.
3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports For fast digital video, audio and data transfer.
Built-in high-speed InviLink 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity Lets you wirelessly connect to the Internet.
Weighs 2.2 lbs. and measures 1.1" thinFor lightweight portability.
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system preinstalled With Acer eRecovery Management, Acer Launch Manager and Adobe Reader software.

Here is the link I found on the website.

Apple Fails To Convert Windows Guy...Due To iPhone

For any would be iPhone buyers out there, this one guys review may change your mind about your decision. I know several people who are less than hyped about the performance of the oh so hyped iPhone, especially the 3G version.

One quote from this guys review is very interesting: "As for when all of these bugs will be fixed, the guy on the phone said 'Sooner or later it'll be working to its full potential.' "

This is in relation to various issues he encountered with the iPhones abilities. This is fairly humerous considering all of the badgering Windows gets for it's bugs, which can be many, and it's lack of customer service, which is deplorable at best.

Now this guy is a devoted Windows user and, like so many Windows peeps, is very warry of switching.



Here is the link to his pseudo review.

Everun: The Latest UMPC Challenger

This little UMPC is causing quite a stir on the low cost, low performing laptop market. Although the price is not yet out for this laptop, if it can stay in the low $300 to $400 range, I think we will see a change in direction from the current trends, including small scale, low energy processors.

The specs below are from Gizmodo:

• CPU: AMD Turion 64x2 Dual Core 1.2GHz, 1MB L2 Cache

• Graphic: ATI RS690E +64MB DDR2 Side port Memory, Full DirectX 9.0 support

• Memory: 1GB DDR2

• OS: Microsoft Window XP Home

• Display: 7-inch

• Dual monitor: supporting external display up to 1920x1200

• Storage: 60GB 1.8 inch HDD/UDMA100

• Wireless Connectivity: 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR

• Camera: 1.3M pixel CMOS

• Media Card: SD/MMC Slot

• Audio: ALC262 HD Audio

• Expansion Slot: 2xUSB host, 1 x USB mini, 1x mini PCIExpress Slot, USIM card slot

• Battery life: 2.5 Hours for web-surfing

• Size: 7.87 x 4.65 x 1.08 inches

Intel Nehalem Chip Moniker Begets "Core i7" Branding

A goog clip from Gizmodo giving some more information concerning the new "Nehalem" Quad Core chip from Intel.

P.I.C.N.I.C

PICNIC (Problem In Chair Not In Computer)

Enough said...

Lenovo's Ideapad S10 Ultra-Portable Notebook PC Gets Official, Due in September

Looks like Lenovo is fully getting into the UMPC low cost laptop market.

The specs on this forthcoming machine are on par with what we have seen before: "...Windows XP pre-installed, measure 9.8 x 7.2 inches, weigh just 2.4-pounds in its lightest configuration, and pack in a LED back-lit 10-inch screen. Powered by Intel Atom N270 and 945 GSE express chipset..." [Gizmodo]

It's nice to see all the competition and such for Asus, but when will someone be able to compete price wise with them (i.e., a model that is decent, yet under $250.) Around $300 is still the bench mark. That, I believe, is still too high for most PC users. Again, I can add $100 to it and get a real PC or low end laptop.

Google vs. Cuil

I am not sure how many of you out there have tried, or heard of Cuil, pronounced "cool", the Google challenger for search engines. I have tried it and I have to tell you, it might be pretty, but it doesn't always find what you're looking for.

Example, I searched for the upcoming Sylvania MESO. Here are the links to the results pages for Google and Cuil.

Google results

Cuil results

I am not sure how else to compare the two result sets: 23,200 matches vs. 0.

I know Cuil does look impressive and has a cool (no pun intended) feel to it, but I am thinking that with over 121 BILLION pages indexed, it should have found something! Maybe it's just me!

What do you think about Cuil?

Cuil is Google Rival From Ex-Google employees

The new search engine site Cuil opened today. As the pic shows, it has over 121 BILLION pages at your disposal. I searched Google and got several thousand results.

According to Giz, this site was created by former Google employees. The site is pure black and blue loveliness. Simple, yet effective. Just like...Googles'!

Time will tell how well this venture will fly. It can't be any worse than MSN Search!

Microsofts' Pro Vista Campaign Gets Users' To Love Vista

According to a post on Gizmodo, it seems Microsoft has gone to a strange form of "Gotcha!" to prove to users that Vista isn't all that bad.

Microsoft had a focus group test drive a "new" OS called Mojave. The users seemed to love it. The punch line? The "new" OS was Vista.

My favorite part of this article is the quote "how much of the Vista hate is really just sheeple bleating what everyone else is?" This is a quote from the Giz article.

I have been beating that drum for weeks. Maybe now some people will actually try the brussel sprouts before judging them.

Spyware Fail

Because sometimes you know it's true!

Microsoft's Vista "Doesn't Suck" Campaign

Although I think this picture is not a good choice for an analogy, it still makes a direct and good point: Not everyone who told you Vista sucks knows #@*! about Vista.

Gizmodo has put this article on their site and has filled it with a lot of small snide remarks like "I can think of a lot of other future installments, like "At one point, everyone thought witches walked among us" or "At one point, people thought they could turn lead into gold," or "At one point, people thought that it was a good idea to shit into ditches alongside the city streets." " [Gizmodo.com]

I have believed for many months that Vista is a good, solid OS. I know at least one person who has had his rear saved by Vista Ultimate's Shadow Copy feature. Of course, their are bound to be some bugs and issues with an OS that can span over 17GB of disk space. To believe any Mac OS release is bug free, is arrogant and ignorant (see Mac Time Machine Bugs.)

In the end, the user's, not the press or bloggers (including myself), need to decide how well Vista meets their needs. If I had the $$$ to buy a Mac, I probably would give it heavy consideration. But I don't, so I can't buy one. Of course my opinion is one sided.

Hopefully Microsoft will work hard to separate real issues and performance bugs from rumors and mere speculation in the coming weeks.

BTW, does anyone know what this means: "The campaign basically writes itself—why don't you guys give is a whirl." [Gizmodo]

Asus Eee 1000H On Sale!

We knew it would eventually happen. The inevitable fall of Asus prices for their over priced laptops.

According to Gizmodo, Newegg has dropped the price of the Eee 1000H by $100. That's not too bad, but still not as good as a brand new Compaq or Dell.