Archos 10 netbook review

C'mon, did you really expect Archos to knock this out of the park on its first go? Okay, so we sort of did too, but we're not baffled to hear that the Archos 10 could've used a few more days in the oven before hitting primetime. According to a review at Laptop, the unit does have one of the better software stacks, and the speedy hard drive led to some remarkably hasty boost times. That said, the $399 admission price puts it up against some pretty stiff competition, with the Aspire One D150 and the Eee PC 1000HE both offering up more longevous batteries and more comfortable keyboards. In the end, it boiled down to critics preferring the long life and comfy typing over the above-average software suite, but true Archos fanboys may be willing to overlook its drawbacks to still fall in love.

Odd Dual-Screen Laptop Pops into View

GScreen has announced a ruggedized version of its dual screen notebook, seen above. This is interesting news, and the notebook will be tough enough for the US Navy, which provided the specs.

But the real surprise here is the gScreen G400 itself, a rather odd device which has only just come to our attention. Internally it's a pretty well equipped notebook -- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz, 4-8GB RAM, up to 500GB hard drive space and a choice of two speedy NVIDIA graphics cards. But the obvious feature is the dual-screen setup.

Those are both 15.4" LED backlit monitors, both the same size as the already generous MacBook Pro screen, and we totally dig them. You gain a little weight (7.7 lbs) and some thickness, but it sure beats dragging an external monitor around with you. The only problem we detect is a whiff of vapor. The site says that we can pre-order the G400 from February 25th. It lists no price, and the only product shot is the 3D render seen above. We do hope all goes well, though: dual screen notebooks to date have been rather clunky affairs.

Product page [gScreen]

See Also:

• Photo: Lenovo Dual-Screen Notebook Is A Heavyweight
• Lenovo Introduces New Dual-Screen Notebook, Slim Desktop
• Review: Lenovo's Mega Notebook Crushes Benchmarks, Femurs

New Eee PC with All-Day Battery Life

Asus has introduced its newest Eee PC, the 1000HE. Yes, it's another netbook, but there are enough differences from the formula to make it interesting.

First, the new Eee uses Intel's latest Atom chip, the N280 (most other netbooks use the older N270). This ups the clock speed slightly from 1.6GHz to 1.67GHz and uses faster memory. More importantly, it should use less power than the older chip, which brings us to the 1000HE's headline feature, the battery life.

Asus claims nine hours, and this from a six-cell battery. This will of course be less in the real world, but even five hours wouldn't be bad. The rest of the specs you already know -- three USB ports, SD slot, 160GB hard drive.

There is a final twist, though. The keyboard, usually the weak spot of any netbook, has been tweaked, and now uses chiclet keys like the MacBooks and the Sony Vaio P. We're not sure yet if it works any better, but it certainly looks prettier. Available soon, $400.

Product page [Asus]

India’s $10 laptop coming

Get ready, India's $10 laptop is set for its first unveiling on February 3rd. Ok, so it's not quite $10... $20 actually, but that's far better than the $100 some were estimating. It's also much better than the $200 per OLPC XO deal that Negroponte wanted to reportedly charge the Indian government more than 2 years ago -- an offer rejected by officials with a promise to young Indians to do it better and for less. According to some reports (we can't find anything official), the laptop will feature 2GB of memory, WiFi, fixed Ethernet, expandable memory, and consume just 2 watts of power. The Devil's in the details, they say, but with any luck, India will be swimming in cheap silicon within the next 6 months if the project can keep to schedule... that's a big IF.

[Via TechTicker, image courtesy of FMCKids]

Read -- Unofficial specs Read -- February 3rd unveiling

Wooden MacBook case

Cut down a tree to save a Mac? Sure, it's better than using your face. These unpriced (hey, if you gotta ask...) wooden slip cases with leather lining and magnetic enclosures are designed and custom crafted by Rainer Spehl to fit 13-inch MacBooks or 15-inch MacBook Pros. While that's clearly a last-gen MacBook Pro pictured, we'll bet that Rainer will build the case to whatever dimensions you'd like just as long as you've got the cash to back up that pretty smile. Else, why not roll your own.

[Via SlipperyBrick and Notcot]

Sony, where’s the 1.6GHz VAIO P for America?

Sure, we Americans are enamored by flashy designs, but that doesn't mean we don't appreciate performance. For whatever reason, consumers in the UK, Japan and the Principality of Sealand (among other locales) can order up Sony's oh-so-cute VAIO P with a 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, while we Americans can't get anything other than the stock 1.3GHz chip. So, what gives Sony? Supply chain problems? Too much haterade? None of the above?

[Thanks, James]

Dell Mini 10

Dell are launching the successor to the Dell Mini 9… the Dell Mini 10. Rather then a 9″ display, this one has a 10 inch display and is capable of displaying HD images at a resolution of 720p.

On the outside it doesn’t seem to look much different although when opened you will se an edge to edge 10 inch HD screen, edge to edge keyboard (not wasting any space here), a built in TV tuner, built in mobile broadband, built in GPS and a multi-touch touchpad with gesture. That’s not a bad amount of features and all of them make it in to the ultimate mobile device. The addition of GPS is one thing that is welcomed as the mobile broadband and GPS allow you to track where you are while downloading real time maps from places such as google earth.

Hopefully we can get our hands on one of these soon for review purposes as I was already impressed enough when I tested the Mini 9 series.

Via: Geeky-Gadgets and Engadget

Written by Gadget Venue.

Dell Mini 10

ASUS Eee Top touchscreen PC zombie hands-on

It looks like ASUS is about to carve out another unexpected niche for itself with its Eee Top all-in-one PC. The 15.6-inch touchscreen coupled with ASUS' touch-friendly user interface (riding an XP / Atom N270 underpinning) and industrial design definitely looked and felt like a winner. Sure, the UI could use some more polish, and the occasional menu pull-out was positioned too close to the bezel's edge for easy touching. But we could easily see an Eee Top making its way into our lair as a secondary PC when it begins shipping Stateside in "a few weeks" -- especially for a $599 MSRP.

Continue reading ASUS Eee Top touchscreen PC zombie hands-on

ASUS AIRO laptop

ASUS was kind enough to take its beautiful AIRO laptop out from behind the glass at CES for an Engadget exclusive look at the functional sliding mechanism. The design raises the keyboard to cool the hot running components beneath allowing for a fan-less, convection-cooled design. Unfortunately, this prototype is just a chipset-less mechanical shell. Raise the lid and the keyboard slides back smoother than a greased-up Pete Rose. This allows for a larger, more comfortable wrist rest from which to slap those angled keys. Sexy? Oh yeah, with mojo to spare. Check the video after the break. Continue reading Video: ASUS AIRO laptop with amazing sliding keyboard

Adhesive Covers for Apple Laptops

Come on, you can admit your Apple narcissism to me: you LIKE people to see the Apple logo. You are not so keen on cases that hide the Apple. Admit it. We're in the trust tree.

I am Human creates adhesive covers that shield the top of your Mac, but still let the little Apple logo show through. There are many patterns to choose from, but I'm partial to the wooden ones in walnut, bamboo, and cork ($35 each).

So you can be the show-off you don't want to say you are. It's OK. I love it too.  

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