It was only made official a short while ago, but Mobile Computer already has a review of the Eee S101. Head over to the site to catch the full review (with plenty of pictures), or check out some highlights I pulled out below:

• "gorgeous", aesthetically pleasing
• underside looks just like the bottom of any netbook; exposed vents and internal parts cover
• keyboard identical to the Eee 1000, still has the annoyingly small shift-key to the right of the up arrow
• large trackpad that matches the lid color, single button instead of separate left/right buttons, click feels good on both ends of the button
• Windows XP version will have 16GB SSD, while Linux will have 32GB
• battery ran for 3 hours and 45 minutes on Battery Eater’s ‘classic’ test [impressive!], over 5 hours with light usage
• runs quietly [reviewers weren’t even sure if there was a fan inside], performance matches other 1.6GHz Atom Eee PCs

All of the aforementioned points show the S101 as being a quality product, however it looks like the price will be around $699. Some people may say that the price of the S101 is too high for a netbook, but I say: let’s welcome the broad range of pricing and spec options that consumers now have. Maybe this ‘higher-end’ netbook will spur other companies to bump up the quality of their netbooks, or perhaps offer premium versions of their computers.

Finally, a new Eee PC is announced that can be easily visually identified apart from its other several thousand variants. Asus seems to want to prove their dominance in the netbook area by creating a product that manages to fill the oxymoron of the ‘high-end, low-end computer’ category.

Announced several days ago is the Eee S101. Considering we are calling this a netbook, you can probably guess the specs: 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, 10.2" 1024×600 screen, and 3x USB 2.0 ports (I’ll spare you the rest of the generic netbook specs). At least the S101 throws something interesting into the mix, as it will be offering SSD storage solutions of 16/32GB and up to a 64GB SSD is rumored to be available.

This new model looks quite visually appealing with some nice rounded edges, and what appears to be brushed aluminum. The rounded edges of the screen look as though the S101 will have somewhat of a flush close similar to that of a Macbook Air. The S101 is thinner than its predecessors, and will come in brown or graphite. Check out the official images below:

[Liliputing], images from [Notebook Italia]

The Wind is arguably one of the best netbooks on the market today. MSI has just released the U90 8.9inch screen variant a while ago and its already thinking of future products. Andy Tung from MSI recently stated there will be a new “business-minded” U120 (Wind 2) model coming end of November/beginning of December. The new device is said to be a complete redesign, will have 3.5G (HSPDA), and options for an SSD or Harddrive. The price will be under $600 which sounds like a pretty good deal. Look out for numerous rebrands of these appearing over the next few months. Also if you are looking for the current U100 model, you will soon be able to head down to your local “major retailer” (Im guesing Best Buy) and buy the 3 cell/ Win Xp version for $399.

Via Engadget

Allow me to introduce you to the recently released Acer Aspire One. The Aspire One is Acer’s first foray into the netbook space. It is nice to see lesser recognized laptop OEMs such as Acer have the ability to jump quickly into the netbook area with a quality product. I have been testing the Aspire One, provided by Dynamism, for the last few weeks and I have had a positive experience with the computer which is the first Atom based device I have used.

The Aspire One that I have been testing has a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, 120GB HDD, and Windows XP ($450 with that configuration). The whole unit can be bought starting at a very reasonable $399.

Hardware Tour

Check out the formal unboxing here.

Front: Nothing on the front but a spring loaded WLAN radio toggle.

Left Side (right to left): AC plug, VGA output, small vent, 10/100 ethernet, USB 2.0 port, SD slot (SD only).

Back: Nothing but battery. Under the battery is a faux SIM card slot, presumably for integrated 3G on later models.

Right Side: Mic input, audio output, USB 2.0 port x2, multi-card reader (MMC, SD, xD, Memory Sick), Kensington lock.

LED Indicators: Battery status, HDD use, Num-Lock, Caps-Lock.

Screen: 0.3 MP camera.

And a quick size comparison shot.

How long will it be until netbook launches get zero press coverage? The comments on a recent netbook story over at Engadget give plenty of hints.  "Ahh i’m sick of all these mini laptops" says one commenter. "Please just make a weekly overview of the xxx rebadged notebooks that come out every day." says another.

How long before the profit margins on netbooks become so slim that there’s nowhere to go with pricing and all the devices become die-stamped copies? There’s at least five versions of the MSI Wind out there now and the latest one is by a light-bulb manufacturer! Will the next one use the Facebook brand as the differentiator?

How long before netbooks pass through the mass-market phase and enter laggard territory where they are pimped and given away free with a subscription to Readers Digest Online? How long before OEMs start to realise that most consumers are finding peace with netbooks, that even companies are buying them and that it’s possibly dangerous for their core laptop business? How long before the pricing war goes out of control and the quality suffers? How long before the money for R&D dries up and there’s no way out? It seems to me that there are issues for both OEMs and conumers ahead. [Article continues]

Read the full story

While the M912V had an impressive high resolution display, the M912M, with its 1024×600 display seems to be more suitable for the average user. It’s a much brighter screen with great contrast and even brings better battery life. For 50 Euro less than the high resolution model, this seems to be a better choice.

We received the retail-boxed M912M from Mobilx.EU yesterday with the sole intention of checking out the differences between it and the M912X. After 3 hours of live testing, we’ve got the answers. I think the simplest way to summarise is to highlight the changes in the ‘lowlights’ and ‘highlights’ from our M912X testing.

• Screen. M912M has LED backlighting. Brighter, better contrast. Not the best I’ve seen but certainly very good. If you don’t need the high resolution of the M912X, this is a better choice for all-round use.
• Battery life. M912M averages 1-2Watts less (even more at high brightness settings.) 3hrs with the wifi on still requires careful setup but in general there’s a noticeable improvement over the M912X in all situations. An extended battery has been confirmed and will be available in October. (Details not 100% clear yet but the 6-cell battery is expected to be 150% capacity and not much bigger in size.)
• Keyboard. No flex at all. Very good quality. Same keyboard as Eee PC 700,900 etc.
• Heat build-up seems top have been reduced. This could be a result of faster fan.
• Same, very fast 160gb 2.5″ SATA drive. (50MB/s+ read and write speed) This is a surprise highlight (I was expecting an 80GB drive) and makes a noticeable difference when starting up applications when compared to other netbooks and UMPCs.
• Bluetooth is included. (Was previously announced without Bluetooth)
• Fan appears top be on more of the time than with the M912X we tested. Slightly annoying but seems have a noticeable effect on reducing heat build up.
• Optimised windows configuration. Gigabyte have taken the time to optimise window controls. Wider scrollbar, bigger close button. Very useful for users that might not know how to do this themselves.
• Price. At under 500 Euros, which isn’t much more than many netbooks in Europe, you really are getting something different. 160GB of fast drive storage makes this very interesting as a media device. Touchscreen makes this fun as a low-end tablet. PCI-Express make 3G connectivity easy.
• Some play/looseness in the screen pivot is an indication that the build quality may not be as high as on other convertibles.
• Synaptics pointer with scroll area is high quality but the single-bar mouse buttons arent. ‘Squashy’ is the only word I can find that describes them. No worse than on the Medion Akoya though.
• Screen has a matte finish.
• Piano black screen casing looks really great when clean. Has a slight sparkle, not the patterned finish of the M912X that we tested before.
• Crystalmark score: 26500. Impressive. I’m not sure anyone could really squeeze much more out of the Intel netbook platform.

One issue that we have found out about since testing the M912X is that the PCI-Express Mini slot, accessible under the removable panel, is locked by default and its not possible to unlock it through BIOS or software for use with a 3G card. I suspect this will be hacked before long but it makes it difficult for people wanting to upgrade with internal 3G. Using the ExpressCard/34 slot is obviously an easy alternative though.

Overall, the Gigabyte M912M is a nice, no, very nice, mini convertible offering a couple of unique features that are really worth thinking about. Media fans looking to carry around their complete library and use a netbook as a high quality media player should take a very close look at this one. Overall, I find it has better features and a better price than the M912X for the average user.

The M912M was sent for review by Mobilx.EU who have the device in stock now. Full details about the M912M are available in the product page.

We doubt that you’ll want to sit through the 90 minutes of recording that JKK, Sascha and myself made yestrday evening in one go so we’ve split it up into two parts. The first part covers the Benq S6, The Fujitsu U2010 and a good discussion about why we should all get behind Ubuntu Mobile. Part 2, to be posted tomorrowon Tuesday, includes some great discussion about netbooks.

Download here, stream now by clicking the play icon or pick the podcast up via the RSS feed below.

Subscribe to the Ultra Mobile Podcast RSS Feed

That’s Ultra Mobile Devices to you and me and it’s a term I rather like. Anyway, back to the story where ABI Research tells us that the UMD market, comprising Netbooks, MIDs and UMPCs. (Don’t ask us which definitions they’re using!) will reach, wait for it, 200 million units by 2013.

The interesting prediction is that by 2013, MIDs (Lets assume they mean small, handheld PMP-style Internet devices) will surge to meet 68% of that figure and netbooks sales will drop back to second place.

I agree with the general underlying opinion that MIDs and Netbooks will be the big sellers with UMPCs (as pro-mobile devices) remaining niche but the big question is ‘when’ and ‘how’ will MIDs take off?

Source: ABIresearch. Via Vunet.