Behind other flaps are mic, headphone, Ethernet and mini VGA ports. That last one means Asus has had to 'do an Apple' and use a mini VGA to VGA adaptor. Rather than leaving the user to carry the dongle around in a pocket or bag, however, Asus has rather thoughtfully provided a dedicated slot underneath the chassis, via which the dongle is magnetically secured. That reduces the chances of it going missing.Asus has done an Apple in other ways, too. The Seashell doesn't have a user-replaceable battery. It uses a lithium-polymer battery pack, which has the advantage of being cheaper to manufacture and more resilient to physical damage. Crucially, such a battery pack can also be moulded into just about any shape. That last fact plays a big part in the Seashell's thinness.Asus has plenty of experience in creating netbook keyboards, and it shows. The Seashell has one of the best keyboards we've tested on any device of this size. It's 92 per cent the size of a full-sized keyboard, but the travel and spring are perfectly implemented, so it's actually more comfortable and accurate to use than many full-sized laptop keyboards. The dimpled mouse trackpad is also a joy to use, as are the rocker-style selector buttons.
The main component inside the Seashell is an Intel Atom N280 CPU clocked at 1.67GHz. This is theoretically quicker than the Atom N270 seen in most netbooks, thanks to its faster front-side bus (667MHz compared to 533MHz).While others manufacturers wasted no time in jumping on the netbook bandwagon, Toshiba has taken an absolute age to get its own Intel Atom-powered machine on the market. But, with the NB100, has Toshiba learned from the mistakes of others or simply repeated the sins of the past?Four versions of the NB100 are available. The low-end NB100-11R costs around ¡ê220, while the highest-specced NB100-139 costs around ¡ê350. Here we review the ¡ê285 NB100-128.Instead of opting for the playful, toy-like styling of the Asus Eee PC range, Toshiba has given the NB100 a much more professional-looking design. Our model sported a stylish, glossy, champagne-coloured lid, combined with a more sober matte black finish on the screen bezel and keyboard.
The 8.9-inch display is also a departure from the netbook norm, as it uses Toshiba's TruBrite technology. This means the screen is lit by an LED backlight and has a glossier finish on the front. Both help the display to produce richer and more vivid colours, making it ideal for watching video clips or viewing photos.
The NB100 follows the usual netbook specification quite closely, with a 1.6GHz Atom processor backed up by 1GB of RAM -- enough to comfortably run Windows XP -- and a fairly roomy 120GB hard drive.
The NB100 comes in silver, black and champagne versions, all of which have an attractive, glossy lid
Unfortunately, the netbook refused to complete our PCMark05 tests, but, in terms of day-to-day use, it performed pretty much in line with the other 1.6GHz Atom-equipped netbooks that we've used recently. This means it's fine for emailing and Web surfing, but hasn't really got the grunt for more taxing tasks, like playing back 720p high-definition video files. It's exceptionally quiet during use, with very little fan noise audible.An inexpensive 13-inch laptop will always get our attention, and HP's Pavilion dv3z fits the bill starting at less than $700; it is also highly customizable (our configuration was $893). We're fond of saying that 13-inch laptops are the smallest we could fathom working on for a full day, and the biggest we'd be willing to carry around on a regular basis--the popularity of Apple's 13-inch MacBook line points to this.
However, as much as we liked the HP dv3z's low initial price and customization, you can also get Apple's entry level plastic MacBook or HP's own retail-only Pavilion dv3510nr for only $999, and both offer faster Intel processors. The AMD-powered dv3z counters with a large 320GB hard drive and excellent battery life, albeit at the expense of a giant protruding battery.Similar to other current Pavilion laptops, the HP dv3z trades the typical glossy gray-and-black look for an upscale bronze tint, with a subtle crosshatch pattern on the keyboard tray and a slightly glittery finish on the back of the lid.The series of lighted, touch-sensitive media controls above the keyboard looks nice, glowing either white, blue, or orange depending on status (Wi-Fi on versus off, for example). There's also a volume slider, but for sensitive volume tweaks, we still prefer a physical wheel; touch-controlled volume sliders can be finicky. When the system is off or asleep, the touch-sensitive buttons literally vanish into the mirrored strip above the keyboard.The touch pad and mouse buttons have a highly reflective mirrored finish that offsets the bronze chassis color nicely. Fortunately, this touch pad feels like it has a slicker surface than some of the mirror-finished touch pads we've tried on 14-, 15-, and 17-inch Pavilions lately, which means less finger drag and more accurate mousing.
The 13.3-inch wide-screen LCD display offers a 1,280x800 native resolution, which is standard for screens 13 to 15 inches in size. The glossy finish can easily pick up stray light rays, however, and the dv3z lacks the slick edge-to-edge glass found in systems like the current 13-inch MacBooks.While very configurable, with multiple CPU, RAM, and hard-drive options, only AMD processors and ATI Radeon 3200 graphics are available on the dv3z. The starting $679 configuration includes a 2.2GHz AMD Turion X2 RM-74, 2GB of RAM (currently upgraded to 3GB at no extra charge), and 160GB HDD (also currently subject to a no-cost upgrade to 320GB). Interestingly, you have a choice of tray or slot-loading DVD burners; functionally, they're identical, but the slot-loading one costs an extra $25.Our review unit had a 2.3GHz AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core ZM-84 with 4GB of RAM, and, as expected, it fell behind comparable 13- and 14-inch laptops with Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, such as Dell's midrange 13-inch laptop, the Studio XPS 13-163B, which has a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600. In casual use--Web surfing, media playback, working on office docs--you're unlikely to notice the difference. Working with more professional apps, such as Photoshop, the difference is more pronounced.
The trade-off is in excellent battery life, where the HP Pavilion dv3z ran for 4 hours and 41 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, using the included extended battery (which sticks out from the back of the chassis and adds bulk and weight). The aforementioned Dell, for example, ran for only 2 hours and 46 minutes on the same test.Remember the MSI Wind -- the netbook we nearly soiled ourselves over back in May? It's back and it's better than ever. MSI has listened to our feedback, tweaked a few things and unleashed what, on paper at least, sounds like the best netbook we've seen.The most significant change is the new battery. Whereas the old model used a paltry three-cell unit, the new Wind benefits from a six-cell, 5,400mAh battery. Obviously, this adds a tiny bit to the overall size and weight, but you'd have to be a major pedant to hold that against it.The new Wind lasted 3 hours 39 minutes in our classic BatteryEater test. That's a solid 102 minutes longer than the old model -- enough to watch an extra feature-length movie. With more frugal use, the new Wind is likely to achieve over 4 hours of life.There are other new additions to the Wind. It now has a larger hard drive -- 160GB instead of the 80 or 120GB drives supplied previously. You also get high-speed 802.11n Wi-Fi, so you can connect to compatible networks at up to 300Mbps. Naturally, it can still connect to more common 802.11g networks.
MSI is aiming for a price of around ¡ê350, which seems like good value to us. In its current state, the Wind is a real contender for the best netbook ever -- it's comfortable to use, well designed, has good battery life and a good screen.What do you reckon? Have a look at the pictures over the page then let us know in the comments below or in our forums. -Rory ReidThe new battery juts out by a few millimetres and weighs around 100g more than the original. The overall weight of the new Wind is 1.26kg, which isn't bad.The battery raises the height of the screen and tilts the keyboard towards the user, which seems to improve usability slightly.Own an HP laptop? Check your battery. The company has recalled batteries that may be found in HP Pavilion, HP Compaq, and Compaq Presario brand notebooks. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, "An internal failure can cause the battery to overheat and melt, or char the plastic case, posing a burn and fire hazard."Acer has launched an 11.6-inch Aspire One netbook, the Aspire One 751h, and it's a touch more aspirational than the current version.
Pushing 12 inches, a good portion bigger than the current 8.9-inch version, the new model is pushing at the upper limit of portability for a netbook. But Acer has thinned the frame to just 25mm, and the company claims it weighs "little more than a kilo", so the 751h should still be easily luggable.Inside there's an Intel Atom processor and Mobile Intel US15W Express chipset, with 160GB of built-in hard drive storage. A multi-memory card reader is included, along with Bluetooth and 3G. Wireless Internet connection comes courtesy of 802.11b/g Wi-Fi with Acer's multi-antenna Signal Up feature.One advantage of a bigger frame is a larger keyboad, which is described by Acer as 'soft-touch' for extra typing comfort. We'll test that out when we get one in for a full review. We're also hoping the new multi-gesture touchpad improves over the earlier Aspire's fiddly effort.The 11.6-inch screen boasts 1,366x768-pixel resolution with an LED backlight. Coupled with a six-cell battery with an estimated life of 8 hours, that should make it good for watching movies on the go.The 11.6-inch Aspire One 751h will come in white, dark blue, red and black. UK pricing and availability are yet to be announced.
Our anticipation of reviewing the 3520 turned to trepidation shortly after the netbook stork dumped it on our doorstep. The problem isn't its looks -- it holds its own against all netbooks with its stylish black and white design, and inherent cuteness. It isn't the replaceable clip-on covers that let you change the lid colour at a whim, either -- we quite like that idea. Nor is it because the 3520 lacks portability -- it tips the scales at a svelte 1kg. The problem is its unnecessarily verbose name. Most netbooks have names like 'Eee', 'Wind' or 'Aspire' -- surely someone in the marketing department could have come up with a better name than Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Mini Ui 3520?
This keyboard might be okay for kids or people with abnormally precise typing skills, but, for the rest of us, it's useless
Our next beef is with the keyboard. By opting for chassis measuring just 232 by 175 by 29mm, Fujitsu Siemens has been forced to fit a keyboard that's too tiny for serious typing. During our time with the machine, typing mistakes were commonplace, and even attempts to correct those mistakes led to more errors, as the backspace key is just as small as the others. The mouse trackpad is a pain in the backside, too. Not only does it rival a couple of postage stamps for size, but the selector buttons are located to the far left and right of the pad -- not below, as is normally the case.
Connectivity on the 3520 is slightly less impressive than is the case with most netbooks in its class. It has a VGA D-Sub video output port, a 4-in-1 memory card reader that gives you easy access to your digital images, and a USB port on either side of the device for connecting pretty much anything you can think of. Unusually, the 3520 also includes an ExpressCard/34 slot. This is an odd inclusion, as there are relatively few devices that use this type of connection. A third USB port would have been more welcome.
If we had a pound for every time someone made a netbook out of an Intel Atom N270 CPU, the Intel 945GSE chipset and 1GB of RAM, we'd have about ¡ê57 by now -- ¡ê58 if you count the 3520. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but, if you're wondering what this device has in common with its rivals, the answer is: 'Nearly everything.'
The mouse trackpad is small, and the buttons are located on either side, instead of directly below it
The 3520 is one of the tiniest netbooks on the market, and uses a small 8.9-inch display. Thankfully, it has the same 1,024x600-pixel native resolution as larger 10-inch netbooks like the Asus Eee PC 1000HE. Text and graphics look smaller as a result, but Web pages fit just fine, and users won't have to contend with high reflectivity, thanks to the matte screen coating.
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