netbooks

With the back-to-school shopping season drawing to a close and the holiday shopping season not quite begun, life in the world of laptops is relatively quiet.

Relatively, but not completely: there were a handful of new products for notebook enthusiasts this week. Lenovo unveiled the wide-screen X200 Tablet and a sporty X200s at an event in New York. Dell announced two new business ultraportables, the Latitude E4200 and Latitude E4300. And Averatec launched the Buddy, which promptly won the Crave Best Netbook Name Ever™ award.

Meanwhile, we spent some time with the Asus N10, a Netbook that's not quite … Read more

This week's Netbook entrant? The Averatec Buddy.

Announced today, the 10.2-inch laptop costs $449 and features the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and Windows XP. It's not yet listed on the Averatec Web site, but upon first glance, it looks like the MSI Wind with a VAIO-like round hinge. While the press release is light on product details (size of battery? Screen resolution? Draft N Wi-Fi? Solid-state-drive options? Bluetooth? ExpressCard slot?), the Averatec Buddy on the surface serves up a larger hard drive than the MSI Wind for less. … Read more

We previously noted that, "Samsung has made laptops for pretty much every market except the U.S., and generally, we've been pretty fine with that arrangement," but that doesn't mean we can't get behind a potentially cool new Netbook, as seen on whatlaptop.co.uk and pocketables.net.

The specs on this still-unnamed system are fairly standard Netbook fare: a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 10-inch screen, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP, and a choice of 80GB/120GB/160GB hard drives (no SSD options as far as we can tell).

It's also got two things … Read more

Hewlett-Packard and world-renowned Asian fashion designer Vivienne Tam have been working together to create the HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition notebook. However, anyone attending Tam's fashion show during New York's Fashion Week at Bryant Park Tuesday has probably already seen it.

The special-edition notebook--which looks to be an HP mini-note, except it's sporting a 10-inch screen--debuted with the usual fanfare a fashion show receives at Fashion Week, but with a high-tech twist.

Models sashayed onto the catwalk workin' the designer notebook as a clutch purse, while looking fierce in Tam's clothing.

The notebook is gleaming red and bursting with peony flowers--a signature staple of Tam's collection--on the lid. The peony design is then meticulously carried inside the notebook, under the keypad. The laptop also features a extra special enter key that bears the Chinese symbol for double happiness. The design was inspired by Tam's "China Chic" style, which is recognized from the runways in Milan to the Olympics in Beijing and represents her personal mantra to live well and be beautiful. The notebook also features a complimentary embroidered storage sleeve that helps keep the exterior protected while being carried as a clutch.

The "digital clutch" represents the first time a computer company has partnered with a fashion designer to create a notebook PC as well as have it debut at a fashion show. In addition to the design of the notebook, Tam worked with HP to design its accessories and packaging. … Read more

Turns out, the sky isn't falling on the PC industry.

That's according to an update from IDC, an analyst firm that tracks the global PC market. Despite economic sluggishness in the U.S., PC shipments have actually increased worldwide more than expected.

Worldwide PC shipments are expected to grow by 15.7 percent this year to reach 311 million units, according to a report released Wednesday by IDC. Growth will slow slightly, but remain above 9 percent through 2012. IDC says that amounts to annual PC shipments reaching more than 482 million in 2012.

This growth is to … Read more

At what point does a Netbook become a regular old laptop? The upcoming Asus N10 has all the features we'd expect to see in a low-cost, low-power Netbook-style system, including a 10-inch screen and power-saving Intel Atom CPU.

The only catch is that electronics retailers are now listing the system as "coming soon," for a whopping $849. For that you get 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, Windows Vista, and even a GeForce 9300M graphics chip, which is a pretty nice setup, but that's a far cry from the predicted $486 to $630 range we heard about … Read more

A year after Asus kicked off the low-cost notebook craze with its Eee PC, Dell, the second-biggest PC maker in the world, is ready with an answer: the Inspiron Mini 9. CNET News reporter Erica Ogg is here to talk about Dell's move into the world of Netbooks.

Also, Spore is finally hitting North America, and GameSpot has an in-depth review.

Today's stories:

I thought I made up a word, but upon further review, slaver turns out to mean to smear as if with saliva. Ew. But we also talked further about listening to media in the shower and even got to some tech news. That involved the release of Spore, the recall of Sony laptops, and Amazon launching a new video streaming service. Listen now: Download today's podcast

Spore (PC) game reviews http://reviews.cnet.com/pc-games/spore-pc/4505-9696_7-31484467.html

Microsoft cuts Xbox 360 to $199 in throw down with Sony http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080903-microsoft-makes-play-for-second-place-360-price-cut-to-199.html… Read more

Today, Dell launched the much-anticipated Inspiron Mini 9 netbook (a.k.a. mini-note, ultra-note, or whatever we're calling this category). Tomorrow, you'll be able to score one for just $99 with the purchase of a Studio 15, XPS M1530, or XPS M1330 notebook. This according to Dell's own blog.

The Mini joins teeny portables like the Asus Eee PC and Acer Aspire One in offering basic computing in an ultra-light, ultra-compact package. It's available exclusively with Windows XP or Ubuntu Linux and solid-state storage (up to 16GB). CNET hasn't done a full review yet, but … Read more