NetbookShow

MSI is still going stron releasing new netbooks even though they aren’t really upgrading their hardware. The U160DX is being launched in Japan next Friday for 33,600 yen or around $400 USD.

Its running the Intel Atom N455 with 1GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD a 10” Wide WSVGA screen, USB 2.0, WiFi BGN, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a 1.3Mpix Camera in just 1kg. For colours we’ve got a choice of gold brown or black. We do wish that MSI would take the time to upgrade their netbooks, with Cedar Trail coming to market later this year we wonder how they can still be releasing an N455 CPU on a “new” netbook, which is why there are rumors that MSI is going to be acquired by years end.

Optical disc drives may be passé nowadays, but the enclosures usually reserved for them in laptops need not go to waste. Fujitsu has just rolled out its latest line of portables and a pair of them pack a pretty awesome new extra: an integrated pico projector.

The 13.3-inch LifeBook S761/C and 12.1-inch P771/C both fill their ODD slots with a small visualizer, and while the specs of its actual output aren’t clear, the two machines have been fully specced and priced. The S761/C can offer you a Core i5-2520M  CPU, a (presumably upgradeable) 1GB of RAM, 160GB of storage, and a 1366 x 768 resolution for a price of ¥219,450 ($2,675). Moving down in size class but up in price, the P771/C matches those specs, but for a squarer 1280 x 800 resolution, and asks for ¥255,150 ($3,110). Both will be available in Japan in mid-May, which is also when Fujitsu will release its LifeBook E741/C, whose claim to fame is the ability to authenticate users by reading the veins in their palms. Sexy!

The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s  is a thin and light computer that’s pushing the boundaries of the thin and light space thanks to its unusual (but not quite unique) 12.5 inch display. The notebook also packs more power than many of its smaller siblings, thanks to an Intel core i5-2537M processor. Lenovo is now taking orders for the notebook for $749 and up.

The base model comes with 2GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and a 43Whr battery. The notebook has a 1366 x 768 pixel display and Windows 7 Home Premium.

You can also upgrade the notebook with an Intel Core i7-2617M processor, Windows 7 Professional, up to 4GB of memory, Bluetooth, a 3G modem, and a larger hard drive or optional solid state disk.

The upgrade from 2GB to 4GB of RAM is free right now, so if you’re thinking about picking up this laptop, I’d highly recommend clicking the customize button and adding the memory upgrade.

The folks at LogicBuy also have a coupon that will cut almost $40 off the price.

Dell today unleashed the Alienware M18x, M14x and M11x R3 notebooks for gamers.

The mobile gaming rigs feature 18.4″, 14″, and 11.6″ displays respectively, and incorporate the latest Intel “Sandy Bridge” processors, as well as ATI and NVIDIA dedicated video cards.

The Alienware M18x is a brand new top-of-the-line model and the first Dell and Alienware laptop with an 18.4″ screen. Besides the 1080p display, the notebook sports a factory overclocked Intel Core i7 Extreme Quad Core processor that runs at up to 4GHz clock speed, optional dual graphics cards, and up to 32GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 memory.

Dell’s M14x is the first Alienware 14-incher. It has Core i-series CPU choices with enabled overclocking, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M GPU, up to 8GB 1,600MHz RAM, and 1366×768 or 1600×900 resolution.

The smallest member of the Alienware gaming laptop family has got its third refresh. The M11x R3 also has an overclockable Intel chip and fatures the GeForce GT 540M, maximal 16GB 1,333MHz system memory, and a 1366×768 screen.

All of the announced notebooks have Alienware’s a distinctive design, capability to output 3D content to an external 3D-enabled display via an HDMI port, and USB 3.0 technology. The m18x additionally has an HDMI-in port and Wireless Display solution by Intel, while the M14x and M11x R3 provide optional WiMAX connectivity and have Klipsch speakers.

The Alienware M14x and M11x R3 are available for purchase now and start at $1,199 and $999, respectively. The M18x is expected to hit the market next month and its pricing is currently unknown.

Last year Acer introduced two mini-laptops with AMD processors, the Acer Aspire One 521 and Aspire One 721. The key difference was that the 721 had a larger 11.6 inch display while the 521 model featured 10.1 inch screen.

This year Acer updated the lineup with an Acer Aspire One 522 10 inch netbook featuring a new AMD C-50 processor. So it should come as no surprise that the company also plans to launch an Aspire One 722 with… you guessed it — a larger display and the same processor.

Macles reports that the Acer Aspire One 722 will have an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display and a 1 GHz AMD C-50 dual core processor with Radeon HD 6250 graphics. The laptop will have stereo speakers and a higher capacity battery than the Aspire One 522, but in most respects it’s just a larger version of the same laptop.

The lid has also been tweaked to include a water-drop design.

There’s no word on when the Aspire One 722 will ship or how much the laptop will cost.

Best Buy has released a pair of their new exclusive Blue Label laptops – a 14-inch Toshiba Satellite E305 model and the 13.3″ Sony VAIO S Series VPCSC1AFM/S.

The Blue Label 3.0 E305 and VPCSC1AFM/S are inspired by customers’ feedback and feature the Intel Core i5-2410M processor, 4GB of RAM, and Intel HD and AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics, respectively.

The Blue Label specific features are a 500GB Seagate hybrid HDD/SSD for faster system boot-ups, a Blu-ray combo drive, backlight keyboards, embedded WiMAX mobile broadband, Intel Wireless Display technology, three years of Intel PC Theft Defense anti-theft service, and extended 2-year warranty.

The Toshiba Satellite has a battery life of up to 7 hours and 10 minutes, while VAIO’s battery lasts 20 minutes longer.

The two laptops are priced at and $899.99 and $949.99, respectively and are available for pre-order now.

Chinese PC maker has unveiled two new laptop computers which will eschew the usual Intel or AMD processor for an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core ARM Cortex-A9 chip. The company isn’t showing off the actual laptops yet, but Charbax spotted spec sheets at a trade show in China.

The Malata PC-B1002 is a 10 inch laptop with a 1024 x 600 pixel display, up to 8GB of storage, up to 1GB of RAM, and a 2200mAh battery. It features 802.11b/g/n WiFi and optional 3G and weighs about 2.4 pounds.

The Malata PC-B1301 has a 13.3 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display and  a 4400mAh battery. The rest of the specs, other than the size and weight, are pretty much the same as for the 10 inch model.

Charbax says Malata will likely show off the new tablets at Computex in June.

Charbax is in China and he’s come across a Rockchip Netbook with the RockChip RK2918 processor running at 1.2 GHz on a ARM Cortex-A8 processor which supports Adobe Flash.

The netbook looks like a Nokia Booklet knock off but the OS is a tweak version of Android. Its by no means polished as when you try to enter text an on screen keyboard pop up but there is no touch screen supported on the 10.1 inch device. They’ve also added a mouse pointer to help you navigate this touch interface with out touch. You’ll notice that the device has 2 USB 2.0 ports, audio ports and speakers.

When will this device make it to the US, my thoughts are most likely never! But if it does Charbax imagines that you’ll be mobile computing for a ridiculously long time thanks to the ARM processor. Would be nice to see some battery life testing and some 3rd party performance benchmarks on Rockchip’s latest processor.

Asustek has revealed details of the Asus U43SD, an updated version of the 14-inch Bamboo Collection U43 which now includes 2nd Gen Intel “Sandy Bridge” processors.

The Asus U43SD sports a smoky brown bamboo exterior with some brushed aluminum parts and incorporates the Intel Core i5-2410M or i3-2310M processor and Nvidia’s Optimus switchable graphics solution which utilizes both the 1GB GeForce GT 520M dedicated video card and Intel GMA HD integrated graphics. Other core components are DDR3 memory – up to 8GB, a hard disk drive with up to 750GB of storage space, a DVD writer, and an 8-cell battery for “up to 10 hours” of autonomy.

Regarding the 14″ display, it has a resolution of 1366-by-768 pixels and LED backlighting.

Other notable features of the 4.7-pound U43SD are a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and USB 3.0 in select models, HDMI port, and a 4-in-1 media card reader.

The stylish bamboo-clad laptop runs Windows 7 OS.

Info on pricing and shipping date is not available at the time of this writing.

There was a time when it looked like the rise of low cost netbooks would finally lead to the rise of Linux as a consumer operating system. Then Microsoft slashed Windows prices for PC makers building netbooks and the rest is history. But there’s still a niche market for netbooks that ship with Linux, or with no operating system at all.

French retailer LDLC is getting in on the action with a netbook that ships without an operating system for about 260 Euros and up. It’s actually even cheaper if you forego the memory and hard drive.

The LDLC Mercure NB1 netbook has a 1.5 GHz Intel Atom N550 dual core processor and a 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display. On the company blog, LDLC recommends installing Joli OS, a Linux-based operating system initially designed to run on netbooks.

We’ve following Joli OS and Jolicloud for the past few years, but this is one of the first times I can remember a PC distributor recommending the OS — unless you count the Jolibook from VYE computers, the only netbook I’m aware of to actually ship with Jolicloud preloaded.