The HP Mininote has faded into the background recently due to the hype over Acer, ASUS, MSI and Dell netbooks but remains a favourite in terms of design. A quick poll on the live session the other night revealed that the majority of chat room members think its the best looking of all the netbooks. I tend to agree. As a netbook, its very attractive. The original target market though was schools and that’s why it was built to spec, with its tough chassis and splashproof keyboard, rather than a price.

According to HP’s Jerry Chong, (commercial notebooks business development manager) HP will offer a cheaper version. There’s no word about the possible changes in it but what Yahoo are saying about removing the ruggedness, sounds about right. Maybe it will be a lot lighter too which will be a nice side-effect.

The question remains though about weather HP will re-visit the CPU. If Intel drops a near-ready Diamondville board on their doorstep at a good price and VIA aren’t ready with Nano, it would make sense to go with Atom. Why? Because reports are coming in from all over the place that Atom is doing a great job with Vista. I’m even experiencing it myself here with the M912X. More about that later though.

Coming up in the next 24-hours, Ben’s review of the HP Mininote. In the meantime, you can brush up on HP Mininote specs in the HP Mininote product page.

10.2 is just out of the UMPCPortal coverage range (yes, the ASUS 1000 won’t get coverage here either) but this is worth noting due to it being the first device we’ve seen that will be using the VIA Nano processor.

Aving snapped the pic but there’s no hands-on or word on price or availability. I’m a little confused as to why they have the old VX700 chipset in there though. A man’s Nano-based PC requires VX800 and no less!!

Images of the device, which doesn’t look bad at all, over at Aving. Take it from us, the translation is hardly worth reading!

There’s a lot of news coming in right now. I’ll make brief posts and follow up later with commentary if neccecsary. Here’s a new video of the ASUS Eee PC 901 from Sascha at Computex.

Fresh from Sascha (eeepcpnews.de) at Computex. Here’s one of the first ever hands-on videos of the Acer Aspire One.

Specifications

It certainly looks like the MSI Wind is taking point in the mininote race right now. Everyone seems to love the design that’s slightly bigger and heavier than the Eee PC 900. The price, style and specifications seem to be spot on. There’s a tough 2 weeks ahead for all mininote product managers but with reports like this one from Crave being published, MSI’s product managers can be happy that they have the right momentum at exactly the right time.

…it could take the throne from the Asus Eee PC as the best mini laptop on the planet.

Crave mention a few ‘tricks’ too, like the TurboDrive button and a keyboard that is ‘miles miles’ better than the Eee PC 900. We’ll have to see about that but it’s not often you hear the Brits getting over-excited about something so maybe, just maybe, this is the one!

More images and notes over at Crave.cnet.co.uk

Latest information and new links are being added to the Aspire ONE product page.

Hot on the heals of the Dell Mininote leak are these images which just dropped into our forum. This posts are titled ‘Aspire One.’

It’s got the same touchpad as seen on the HP 2133 and what appears to be an 8.9″ screen. Images show a, probably linux-based, user interface. Anyone recognize that UI?

Thanks ‘Liza’ whoever you are. We’ll be looking out for this at Computex and as soon as we have enough info, we’ll add it to the database.

Update#1: From 3Fire. (Source Mobile 01)

According to his information in that pag, Acer’s Mini-Note is called “Aspire One”, running Windows XP SP3 on the 8.9 screen with resolution of 1024 X 768. The ODM partner is Quanta, the main notebook ODM partner of HP, DELL and Apple. The source thinks “Aspire One” is better looking than Asus’ EEE PC, however, no photo release yet.

Looks like it’s an Atom/Diamondville-based device. Digitimes mentions a 299 Euro price which is 100 Euro cheaper than the Eee PC 900!

Update#2: Now tracking the details in the database.

Update. Launch details, official specs and images here now.

Update2. Hands-on video.

Update. New Pics and a few lines of confirmation in a Dell blog

Spotted by Gizmodo at the ‘D’ conference, Mr Dell and his mini notebook.

Very little information was given by Michael Dell to Gizmodo when they, apparently, bumped into him at the All Things Digital conference. Apparently it’s for developing countries but it looks a bit too shiny for that.

The smart money is on an 8.9″ screen, Atom and the usual set of mininote specs. Modified image below shows the screen frame and web cam. Battery design looks like a 4-cell job. I guess we’ll hear more about this very soon. All images and story from Gizmodo

(more…)

With a launch obviously timed to coincide with Computex next week and positioned to take advantage of the incredible growth in the low-cost mobile notebook market, the OpenBook Mini-Note, on first look, seems to be a much better product opportunity than the Nanobook was. While the Nanobook and Eee PC launched together one year ago, it was the Eee PC that stole the show based largely on price indicators but also on looks. With the OpenBook Mini-Note, VIA appeared to have attended to the important issue of aesthetics and using what looks like it could be a masterstroke in the pin-compatible Isaiah CPU, extended the market placement from low-cost netbook right up into an area of the market that neither Intel’s Atom or Core can currently operate in. Low cost, highly mobile Vista notebooks. Read on for images, video, Q&A and analysis.

(more…)

Its Nanobook version II! Bigger, more powerful, more stylish, using an open-source hardware design and aimed right where Intel have left a gap. The VIA Openbook reference design that you might recognise as the Cloudbook Max, has just been launched.

The VIA OpenBook mini-note reference design introduces a host of new innovations, including the next generation of VIA Ultra Mobile Platform, based on the VIA C7^®-M ULV processor and the new all-in-one VIA VX800 digital media IGP chipset. Together, this ultra compact, power efficient platform delivers richer computing and multimedia features, including a stunning 8.9” screen and greater video playback support, in a compact and stylish clamshell form factor that weighs just 1kg.

The VIA OpenBook features a flexible internal interface for high-speed broadband wireless connectivity that provides customers with the ability to select from a choice of WiMAX™, HSDPA and EV-DO/W-CDMA modules appropriate to their market. In addition, under a unique collaborative approach, the CAD files of the external panels of the reference design are offered for download under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license to give customers such as OEMs, system integrators, and broadband service providers greater freedom in tailoring the look and feel of their device to meet the diverse needs of their target markets.

There’s three important things to take note of here.

• The CAD files for the hardware design will be available to OEMS which will really help reduce cost and time to market.
• There are two internal module options. This provides excellent flexibility for radio options. Just slot in a new module and you have a 3G-enabled product for your market
• Not mentioned in any of the launch materials - the Isaiah upgrade path. You can bet that this was designed with Isaiah in mind and that it will scale to desktop-replacement speeds when Isaiah CPU is available as a CPU option

I see a device that can compete in the ULCPC space (XP Home, sub $500) with the VIA C7-M and the enhanced VX800 chipset and very importantly, a device that can create a brand new space for low-cost premium Vista and 3G-enabled devices when combined with an Isaiah CPU in the near future.

More analysis coming up on this later but in the meantime, you can read more information at VIA new website - www.viaopenbook.com

Update: Specs and links now being tracked in the OpenBook product page.

What is there to say about the Eee PC 900 that JKK hasn’t already covered yet? It’s mobile, productive and people absolutely love it. The big question is, do you need a small, lightweight, good value mobile computer like the Eee PC 900 or do you want a mini-laptop like the HP2133 and MSI Wind, devices that are trying to balance themselves between ultra mobile and sub-notebooks. There’s not much between all the netbook devices which makes it a difficult choice. Hopefully this 35-minute info-packed video will help you decide!

Source: JkkMobile.

More information, links and specs in the EeePC 900 summary page.

UMPCPortal have been fortunate enough to be able to build some good relationships with resellers over the last few years which means there’s a nice two way channel for information that can go to and from potential customers.

For example, yesterday I contacted Gigabyte about the rumored 912, 8.9" netbook and I should be getting some official news very soon. In the other direction, came the following information for UK and Australian customers…

(more…)

As expected, The Phone House, France, has put the Airis Kira into their catalogue and is expecting it to be available in Mid May. The Airis Kira is a 350-Euro, VIA-based device that uses a 1 Ghz VIA C7-M, includes 1GB of RAM and a 40GB drive. Its said to have 4.5 hours of battery life too which means it probably gets shipped with a double-capacity battery. Apart from the 1Ghz CPU, the specs echo almost exactly, the Packard Bell XS20 but the price is around 150 Euros cheaper. Its only 50 Euros more expensive than the Eee PC. 50 Euros isn’t a bad price to pay for Windows, 40Gb of storage and 512MB of RAM but at 1Ghz, the VIA C7 isn’t going to keep many people happy for long. This is definitely one to take a closer look at if you’re looking for a browser-only device and are in the vicinity of a ‘Phone House’ Keep an eye out for it in other countries too because they might have struck an EU-wide deal. Image after the break.

(more…)