The computing relics unearthed in the PC Pro Labs

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

The PC Pro Lab is a dark, dingy place full of cardboard boxes, benchmarks and more motherboards, processors and PCs than we care to count, but it’s also home to a variety of kit that’s slipped through the net –  some of it even dating back to before PC Pro launched in 1994.

From iconic machines like the IBM PC to the silliness of Sony’s £1,190 netbook, we’ve scoured the darkest corners and blown dust off some of the oldest, oddest and rarest kit we can find – starting with a true icon of the industry. (more…)

Will tablets suffer the same fate as netbooks?

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

When did you see your first netbook? I spotted a fellow commuter pecking at the Asus Eee PC 701 not long after its October 2007 debut, and I was impressed: powerful enough for basic tasks and smaller than any laptop I’d ever seen, it seemed like a genuine innovation.

Fast forward, and I spot my first iPad: on the Tube, its user oblivious to the envious gawping of fellow travellers. For me, it had a similar effect, heralding the arrival of another exciting, innovative type of product.

That’s not the only parallel between netbooks and tablets but, as far as I can see, others aren’t nearly so positive. The netbook’s story has been a sad one: that initial flurry of excitement withered by staid products, precious little evolution and a stagnant market.

Look beneath the iPad – which is still a premium product – and the tablet market could suffer from many of the same problems. (more…)

Toshiba mini NB550D review: first look

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

The big news about the Toshiba mini NB550D netbook is the processor inside: no Intel Atom here, but AMD’s all new C-50 – a dual-core chip running at 1GHz.

And AMD is very enthusiastic about the platform as a whole, describing the combination of processor, chipset and graphics chip as an APU: accelerated processing unit.

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Toshiba AC100 mobile internet device: first-look review

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Toshiba has just announced the AC100 mobile internet device, and we were fortunate enough to grab one for an extended test over this weekend. While Tosh’s implementation of Google Android is still in development – the AC100 will be released in August – the hardware is final and we were able to get a clear idea of what the AC100 would be like as a day-to-day companion.

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How to play HD video on a netbook

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Netbooks aren’t famed for their high-definition video playing prowess, but if you’ve got about $10 and a few minutes going spare, there is a way to enjoy high-definition trailers and videos on your Atom-powered portable.

You’ll need two things: a copy of Media Player Classic Home Cinema, and CoreCodec’s CoreAVC codec which you can purchase for the princely sum of $9.95.

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MSI Wind U160 netbook: first look review

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Listen to the chatter of the reps at the stand, and you could quickly believe that the MSI Wind U160 is the shape of netbooks to come. Forget the slightly squat designs of yesteryear: the U160 is slim and beautiful enough to have won an iF Product Design Award. And it really is slim: 25mm at its thickest point. As this “official” MSI photo shows, it brushes up rather nicely too:

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Acer Android netbook review: first look

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Following Acer’s announcement of its dual-boot netbook that boasts both Google Android and Windows 7, I got an opportunity to spend some time with the netbook in question: the Acer Aspire One D250 with Android.

On this occasion, it isn’t the hardware I was interested in, but the software. For this is the first netbook PC Pro has seen to include Android as the OS, and the big question is – just how well can an operating system designed to work on a phone work on a full-blown PC?

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Nvidia Ion netbooks: first look

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

The first Ion-based netbooks are beginning to trickle in, so yesterday Nvidia took the opportunity to introduce the technology to us formally. And if there was any doubt as to the focus of the demo, it was quickly made clear by the presence of a gigantic 1080p Sharp Aquos TV with a tiny netbook attached.

The netbook in question was HP’s Mini 311, announced today, and it offers a very similar core spec to others we’ve already seen from the likes of Samsung. The usual 1.6GHz Atom N270 and 2GB of RAM are joined by an 11.6in 1,366 x 768 LED screen and that shiny new Nvidia Ion GPU, which also allows manufacturers to include an HDMI port for hooking up to an HD TV. The Mini 311 is pencilled in for a £349 launch price, which is actually a rather competitive price for its size and spec. (more…)

Sharp PC-Z1 MID: first look

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

This year’s IFA trade show has seen all manner of amazing gadgets and boundary-pushing technology unveiled – but, unsurprisingly, there haven’t been many MIDs on the menu.

Don’t tell Sharp that the MID is dead, though – it’s just introduced a brand-new MID device at this week’s IFA Berlin trade show: the PC-Z1.

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First look: the Virgin Media Freedom netbook

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

While mobile broadband dongles are undoubtedly well-matched with netbooks, most mobile broadband firms offer third-party netbooks with their respective dongle deals: T-Mobile bundles its dongle with an Eee PC 904HD, Vodafone entices customers with a Samsung NC10 and Orange lets prospective buyers choose between HP, Asus, Samsung and Toshiba models.

Virgin Media, meanwhile, is the first mobile broadband company to release its own netbook and, while it’s undoubtedly very similar to Zoostorm’s offering – even sharing the same name, the ambitious “Freedom”, – it’s an interesting move and a good-looking product.

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