Dell apparently really doesn’t want to be competitive in the NetBook market space.  The Mini 9 was OK and a reasonable option.  The Mini 10 was supposed to be all that and a bit better, thanks to a bigger screen and keyboard, among other things.

And then they did something ridiculously stupid.  The RAM configuration is “fixed” at 1GB.  It doesn’t start at 1GB like every other NetBook out there (a ridiculous limitation imposed by Microsoft in an attempt to protect their Vista market).  It is fixed at 1GB.  No after-market upgrades are currently possible on the Mini 10.  What a bunch of morons. 

In the meantime, if you want a 10″ NetBook model today, grab the Asus 1000HE.  They haven’t made the mistake of artificially limiting the hardware.

New screens, new chipsets and new keyboards.what’s not to love?

Asus has started offering pre-order sales of their 1000HE model, the first NetBook that uses Intel’s latest chipset.  The processor is incrementally faster, but the front-side bus has a notable improvement which will speed things up a bit, not that the systems are all that slow to begin with.  And then there is the improved video – up to 720p resolution from the current 600 pixel standard.  Laptop magazine also says the keyboard is better, so take that for what it is worth.

Or you could hold out for a model using the NVIDIA chipset that will support 1080p resolution.  None shipping yet, but you never know when one will be announced.  I’d be a little worried that the increased graphics capabilities will reduce battery life, but that is still an unknown at this point.

Go light, save your back.  Everyone wins.

My deal of the day today is quite spectacular. It’s for the new Asus Eee PC 900. This machine was introduced just a few months ago for $549, but with this deal it has dropped well below $400.

Inside this mini notebook is an 8.9″ display (1024*600), 20GB of SSD storage, 1GB of memory, Wi-Fi and a webcam. It comes with the Asus Eee PC version of Linux, but that can easily be replaced if you have access to a Windows XP installation CD.

There are a couple of caveats with the price; the “out the door” price is normally $529, but for just 3 days (July 22-24) it is on sale for $479.99, and Asus have a $100 mail in rebate promotion till July 31st. The sale and rebate make the final price of this machine just $379.99, which is actually cheaper than the original Asus Eee PC.

Product page: Zipzoomfly.com (via Fatwallet)

You would think that putting your 11 different notebooks in a chart would help people pick the right machine for their needs.

Sadly, if the machine is an Asus Eee PC, you’d be wrong.

I’ve complained about Asus before, and how they have jumped the shark, but it takes their own chart to show what a daft mess this has become. And things are only going to get worse once they add the Eee 905, the Eee monitor and several Eee desktop machines.

Source: Asus UK (via Engadget)

My deal of the day today is for the Asus Eee 900.

The version on sale is the 900 20G, which means you get a 900MHz Intel chip, 8.9" display, Linux pre-loaded, 20GB SSD (spanned between 2 drives), 1GB ram, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, webcam, card reader and several USB Ports.

As always with Asus, this machine has already been replaced by the upcoming Eee 901 which comes with an Intel Atom chip, but costs $200 more.

These machines come with all the required Windows drivers in the box, so if you manage to find XP you’ll be able to replace the Linux OS.

The $100 rebate is valid till the end of the month and can be found here. The machine is currently in stock and ready to ship.

Product page: Amazon.com

Oh Asus…this is just getting silly.

What started as the prospect of a $199 laptop has now evolved into lineup of overpriced machines that get upgraded every month. That $199 PC is about to pass the $700 mark.

The successor to the original Eee PC was the Eee 900, and it was available for less than 3 weeks. It got replaced by the 901 last month.

And now the 901 is about to be replaced by the 903, 904 and 905 (in addition to the already announced Eee 1000). Whatever goodwill Asus generated for themselves with the original Eee PC, will soon be gone if they keep this up.

Asus may not have delivered the $199 super notebook we were promised, but they have created an entirely new market for compact notebooks (called Netbooks).

The next big player to join the gang is MSI with the "Wind".

The MSI wind is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom chip, has a 10" display (capable of 1024×600), 1Gb of ram, a spacious 80Gb SATA drive and even comes complete with Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth and a 1.3MP webcam.

In every possible way it is better than the Asus Eee PC, plus it’s only $80 more than the most common Eee (the 4G).

That’s right; the MSI Wind will be released on the 27th for just $479.99.

You can learn more about this machine here and a snazzy flash animated demo with horrible music can be found here.

We already knew Dell was "secretly" working on their own answer to the Asus Eee PC, Gizmodo ran into someone from Dell who gave them a sneak peek at the machine. But it’s Engadget who got the real scoop, with some real info.

Dell will be releasing not one, but 3 different versions of a netbook (yeah, that’s apparently the new name for these machines); The E Classic, E Video and E Video+.

They will all run on a 1.6GHz Intel CPU and come with Wi-Fi and an 8.9" widescreen display. The different versions will come with either 4, 8 or 12GB of storage and options for Linux or XP. The high end machine will also come with Bluetooth.

Then, later in the year they’ll be releasing an ultrathin machine called the E Slim. It’s a .8" thin notebook with a 1.3 or 1.6GHz CPU, 40 or 60Gb storage, webcam and once again the choice of Linux or XP.

Both machines can be equipped with WWAN (wireless broadband) as well as WiMax!

But the best part is the price; the Dell E will start at $299, which is without a doubt the pricepoint it takes to kick Asus out of this market, since their similar specced machine (with an 8.9" screen) starts at $600.

The E should be out in September along with a long list of optional accessories (batteries, carrying case, auto/air adapter, Bluetooth headset, Bluetooth mouse and a USB TV dongle).

Source: Engadget

TAIPEI, Taiwan — June 3, 2008 — Today at Computex, Microsoft Corp. announced that following the success of Windows on netbooks, the Windows offering is being extended to include nettop devices. Netbooks are commonly referred to as ultralow-cost PCs (ULCPCs) and were originally intended for students and other first-time PC customers in emerging markets. Nettop refers to desktops that are ultralow-cost.

In April, Microsoft announced the worldwide extension of the availability of Windows for this emerging class of devices that are primarily used for e-mail, accessing the Internet and instant messaging, and the company is seeing much demand among industry partners who want to ensure that customers can have the benefits of Windows on both new and existing devices.

For ages, I’d been struggling with how to describe the new generation of cheap and small PC’s. But Microsoft have finally answered that, by naming them "netbooks". They can also be referred to as ULCPC’s, but that is just too damn confusing.

Well, this is kind of silly… The long awaited Asus Eee PC 900 (with an 8.9" screen) barely ever made it onto retailers shelves, and it’s already being canned.

Apparently Asus only intended it as a "transitional device", in anticipation of their Intel Atom powered Eee 901 (and to compete with the HP Mini-Note).

This is good news for people who didn’t manage to actually find a 900, but bad news for those that did, as their machines are already obsolete. The 901 should be available pretty soon, but it’s a mystery how long it’ll take to actually make it Stateside.

The Eee PC 900 was unveiled for the Asia Pacific market during late April and for the US market on May 12. But Asustek is said to have stopped taking any more Eee PC 900 orders as the Eee PC 901 is set to launch on June 3, the sources said.

Source: Digitimes