ultralight
Latest
MSI Wind U200 gets the hands-on video treatment
We already got a pretty good look at MSI's new 12-inch Wind U200 at its debut at Computex in Taipei, but the folks at NewGadgets.de have had a chance to spend a bit more quality time with the not-quite-a-netbook, and they've thankfully provided a hands-on video (in both English and German no less). While they aren't offering much in the way of actual impressions just yet, they do provide a fairly thorough overview of the device, and even discover a working SIM card slot in the battery compartment, along with a mysterious rubber plug on the side that may or may not actually conceal something. Head on past the break to check it out for yourself, or hit up the link below if you're looking to practice your German.
MSI X-Slim X340 gets reviewed, loved on - despite the 'flexy' keyboard
We've had our eyes on MSI's answer to the MacBook Air (yeah, we said it!) for a while now -- and that includes a shady, late night hands-on photo session live from the Neville Island Motel and a horrifying back-alley vivisection, to boot. Now it looks like the crazy kids at Laptop are dead set on having their say on the X340 13.4-inch ultra-portable -- and why not? The more the merrier! According to the reviewer, what this character lacks in processing power, it more than makes up for in price, weight, and battery life -- at 2.9 pounds the device is certainly lighter than the Air, and its over three hours on a single charge are none too shabby. Even the 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo processor (coupled here with 2GB memory and running Windows Vista) is characterized as "snappy." Sadly, the keyboard is said to be flimsy and graphic performance pretty weak -- but still, at $899 (price as reviewed) this is sure to be right up some of your proverbial alleys. Interested? Hit that read link for all the gory details.
MSI X320 ultralight escapes its box
We've already spent some time ogling over the MSI X-Slim X320 in person, but the ultrathin laptop is starting to ship out in Europe, and these are the first unboxing photos we've come across. Sadly it looks like retail units will be festooned with an nasty array of stickers across the palm rest, but overall it looks like MSI's pulled off a nice little riff on the MacBook Air theme. Full set of pics at the read link.[Thanks, Jens]
MSI X-Slim X340 gets dissected
They're still pretty hard to come by 'round these parts, but it looks like the folks at UMPC Fever have managed to track down one of MSI's shiny new X-Slim X340 ultraportables and, like any good citizen of the internet, they've promptly gone and ripped it apart. As you might expect, there aren't exactly a ton of surprises, but it looks like anyone hoping to do a quick and easy 3G upgrade is out of luck, unless, as SlashGear points out, they're willing to ditch the built-in WiFi to free up a PCI-E slot. Hit up the read link below for the complete, not always pretty breakdown.[Via Slash Gear]
ASUS gets official with business-minded P30A laptop
We already knew that ASUS's P30 laptop (or P30A, as it's now apparently known) would come equipped with Intel's latest and greatest anti-theft technology, but ASUS has only just now gotten fully official with the laptop itself, and dished out all the rest of the specs that at least some folks have no doubt been waiting for. This being a full-on ultraportable, you won't exactly get a ton of power, but you can expect a snazzy LED-backlit 13.3-inch display (1366x768 resolution), along with a low-voltage 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM, your choice of 250GB or 320GB hard drives (in either 5,400 or 7,200 rpm variations), a DVD drive, HDMI out, a 4-cell battery, and even some built-in 3G -- all in a package that weighs in at just over three pounds. Still no official word on a price, but it looks like you should be able to pick one up any day now -- or you could just wait for a similarly thin-and-light and slightly more stylish Acer Timeline, your choice.[Via Electronista]
Acer announces Aspire Timeline thin'n'lights -- $699 to $899
Acer's announcing a ton of new gear right now (we're live at the event in a New Jersey IMAX theater, of all places) and the hottest new products so far are the new Aspire Timeline laptops. Hard specs are a little light at the moment, but what we do know sounds pretty great: 13.3, 14.1 and 15.6-inch LED-backlit 16:9 screens in a one-inch thick chassis, Intel ULV processors, multitouch touchpads, HDMI and S/PDIF out, and eight hours of battery life -- 10 hours with an SSD. The real killer is pricing, however: $699 to $899. Ouch -- poor Adamo. We're still at the event, but we'll be trying to get as much info on these as we can, stay tuned.Update: We got some more detailed specs, and things are still looking good -- like, built-in WiMAX good. The processors will be ULV Core 2 Duos, and the 13.3-inch model will weigh 3.5 pounds while the 15.6-incher will tip in at 5.3 pounds. RAM is DDR3 and drives top out at 500GB spinners and 64GB SSD. We're angling for clock speeds, we'll let you know when we go hands-on
Fujitsu LIfebook T2010 tablet snooped at the FCC
It looks like the "handsome" new Fujitsu T2010 that we saw back in the beginning of July has made its way into the loving arms of the FCC -- where they've given it their precious stamp of approval. Of course, this doesn't mean anything yet, as the company hasn't made any announcements, but it does open the possibility of seeing the 12.1-inch ultralight tablet around these parts in the future. The Core 2 Duo system runs on Intel's Santa Rosa 965 chipset, with an integrated X3100 GMA graphics chip, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a weight starting at just 3.31 lbs. Check the read link for pages of fascinating FCC documents.[Via PC Joint]
Engadget Chinese gets its hands on Asus' Eee PC 701
Those as intrigued as we were with Asus' newly-announced Eee PC 701 ultralight will likely want to take the short hop over to Engadget Chinese, which has managed to gets its hands on the device and dig up a few more details on it. Perhaps most interestingly, Asus' product manger told them that while Windows XP has been successfully tested with the device, the final product will likely come with only Linux pre-installed, with XP driver support thrown in for good measure. What's more, Asus also said that the mini-laptop could eventually pack as much as 32GB of SSD storage, and even hinted at the possibility of either an optional built-in 3G module or a separate dongle. Asus also reiterated that seemingly too good to be true $200 starting price, adding that a version for "English speaking countries" could be available "as early as August this year."
Mouse Computer unveils HDMI-equipped m-Book PR200S / PR200X
Joining the Santa Rosa party a bit after the fashionably late crowd is Japan's Mouse Computer, which is kicking out a duo of m-Book PR laptops with Windows Vista and HDMI outputs. The m-Book PR200S gets us started with a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 processor, a 12.1-inch WXGA display, 1GB of dual-channel DDR2 RAM, an 80GB SATA hard drive, dual-layer DVD writer, multicard reader, Intel's X3100 graphics set, 802.11a/b/g/n, 1.3-megapixel camera, fingerprint scanner, and a bevy of ports include VGA, HDMI, audio in / out, FireWire, gigabit Ethernet, a 56k modem, ExpressCard, and a trio of USB 2.0 connectors to boot. The m-Book PR200X mimics the its lesser-spec'd sibling in most ways, but does manage to up the RAM to 2GB, the hard drive to 120GB, and you get Vista Premium versus Home Edition. These ultraportables should be hitting the Japanese streets early next week, and while the PR200S will run you ¥149,940 ($1,235), the minor upgrades in the PR200X demand an additional ¥19,950 ($164).[Via Impress]
Averatec rolls out another: the 1579 11.1-inch ultraportable
If good things always come in threes, Averatec should probably stop while it's ahead, as the forthcoming 1579 ultraportable marks the third new lappy from the company in the past couple days. Following the 6700 and 2371, this 11.1-inch machine packs a 1.06GHz Intel Core Duo U2400 processor, WXGA resolution, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, 802.11a/b/g, and a flash card reader that plays nice with SD, MMC, MS, and MSPro. Additionally, users will find a VGA output, a number of USB 2.0 ports, and line in / out as well. Nothing too hard-hitting on this one, but those needing just the basics on a miniature machine can snap this one up for $1,275.99 starting May 11th.
Fujitsu unveils Vista-equipped LifeBook S2210
As if you haven't had enough Vista-equipped lappies thrown your way, here's another one to mull over if you're digging the ultralight composition and the built-in optical drive. Fujitsu's latest LifeBook sports a sleek, black and silver enclosure, the standard array of multimedia controls, a 13.3-inch LCD, and the obligatory palm rest stickers to boot. Internally, you'll find an AMD Sempron 3200+ processor, 1GB of RAM, 100GB of hard drive space, dual-layer DVD burner, and Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed. Additionally, you can reportedly expect around 3.4-hours of battery life from the six-cell battery, and if you won't need the skills of your DVD writer for the day, you can whittle the weight down to around 3.6-pounds. No word on price, but for those camped out in Seoul, keep an eye out for the S2210 to land soon.
Fujitsu LifeBook P7230 hits North America
Fujitsu's been teasing us with this one for a while now, first showing it off late last year without so much as a mention of specs or availability, then announcing that it's been released in Taiwan but giving no indication when we might be able to get our hands on one over here. Well, it looks like those looking for a little of that ultraportable action won't have to be going the importing route, with Fujitsu today announcing availability of the LifeBook P7230 in the U.S. and Canada. The specs, of course, remain the same, with a 10.6-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, Intel Core Solo U1400 low voltage processor, Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics, up to 2GB of RAM, a maximum 80GB hard drive, and a promised 9.75 hours of battery life with the second battery slotted in, all in a package that weighs in under three pounds. You'll also get your choice of "Leather Black" or "Leather White" color schemes, with prices starting at $1,699 for the base configuration.[Via Laptoping]
System 76 unveils Ubuntu-powered Darter ultraportable series
It looks like the barrage of Vista-equipped laptops has subsided just a bit, which means it's the perfect time for System 76 to bust out a new Ubuntu Linux laptop to appease the open-source crowd. The Darter series boasts a trendy white paint job, a 13.3-inch widescreen WXGA display, and weighs a very manageable 4.3-pounds. Aside from booting directly into Ubuntu, this ultraportable machine boasts Intel Core 2 Duo options up to 2.33GHz, as much as 1.5GB of DDR2 RAM, 40GB to 100GB hard drives, a dual-layer DVD burner, 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth, Ethernet, 4-in-1 card reader, ExpressCard slot, VGA / S-Video out, a trio of USB 2.0 ports, audio in / out, FireWire, and a six-cell Li-ion battery that chugs along for around 4.5-hours per charge. Not so surprising, however, is the slightly higher than average price, as this little fellow starts at just under a grand, but soars to nearly $2,000 when adding all the highly coveted niceties that are oh-so-hard to resist.[Via CoreDuoNews]
CompAmerica unveils ultralight Snow Leopard 6220
Better known for its ultra-wide and uber-powerful lap-burners, CompAmerica is taking things down a few notches with its newly-released Snow Leopard 6220. Complimenting the high-end machines, this ultralight "bundle of mobile computing joy" sports the usual me-too white enclosure, 12-inch WXGA LCD, 1.2GHz Intel U1400 Core Solo processor, 512MB of RAM, 40GB 5400RPM hard drive, dual-layer DVD±R / RW burner, 802.11a/b/g, integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics set, and a 4-in-1 flash card reader. This 2.8-pound (including battery) notebook also sports a myriad of ports, including 4-pin FireWire, PCMCIA, 56k modem, audio out, Ethernet, VGA output, and a trio of USB 2.0 connectors. While the Windows XP-powered machine may mimic the ole MacBook at first glance, the magnesium alloy casing should withstand a bit more abuse, and the built-in fingerprint scanner offers up a warm feeling of security to boot. The Snow Leopard 6220 can make your holidays white regardless of locale for $1,399.[Via Laptoping]
