First look: Sony’s VAIO netbook, the Mini W Series

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

The long wait is over: finally, we have in our hands a Sony VAIO netbook. The Mini W Series is here, and we got our chance to try it out at a briefing in central London this afternoon.

Note: click here to read our full review of the Sony VAIO Mini W Series netbook

Its big selling point is undoubtedly the screen, with 1,366 x 768 pixels on show. It’s bright, and on first inspection it also looks sharp. Although at 10.1in it feels cramped compared to a full-size laptop, we’d be happy to work with this screen all day.

Sony has also made plenty of effort to give this netbook an element of luxury. It’s available in “berry pink, sugar white and cocoa brown”, and the model we had to hand was the sugar white version (white to everyone else in the world).

It won’t take your breath away with its style, but there’s no doubt the bold VAIO logo on the lid gives this netbook some immediate kudos. The chassis itself is plastic, but Sony gives it an element of styling with a mottled finish. (more…)

Hands on with Nvidia Tegra

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Nvidia’s Tegra was first introduced in June 2008, touted as a “computer on a chip” that would saunter into numerous types of device – most notably MIDs – and beat Intel’s Atom at its own game. It’s been all quiet on the Tegra front since, but we’ve finally had the chance to go hands on with Nvidia’s exciting new technology.

The ARM11 core (which is also used in the Zune, several Nokia phones and the HTC Dream) is the main processor but, for tasks that have specialist demands, several other chips are included: a GPU handles gaming and 3D tasks, an audio unit is optimised for mp3 and radio playback, a 2D graphics chip can handle a camera.

Separate chips tackle video encoding and decoding, with Nvidia promising the ability to encode and decode 720p video simultaneously. The board also houses flash and system memory, which are the larger chips towards the bottom of the PCB.

(more…)

The PC Pro Father’s Day gift guide

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Father’s Day is this Sunday and, as the big day looms ever closer, there’s now little time left to go out and hunt for the ideal gift. Just turn to the PC Pro A List, then, for the perfect presents that you can rush out and buy before it’s too late.

Those with photographic fathers are spoilt for choice: there are superb choices available no matter what you’re looking for, whether it’s a compact, DLSR or video camera.

(more…)

First look: the Ion-powered Lenovo Ideapad S12

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Lenovo’s Ideapad S12 is one of the first netbooks we’ve seen to use Nvidia’s Ion platform, which can allegedly “turn a netbook into a notebook” thanks to its combination of Intel Atom CPU and Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU.

It’s a new part that’s only been used by Acer up until now, in its netbooks and A-Listed Aspire Revo R3600.

That ambitious claim comes courtesy of Matt Wuebbling, a senior manager in Nvidia’s notebook division, who’ll understandably talk up the chances of his own product in the face of endless scepticism. However, having been hands-on with Lenovo’s latest offering and seeing the Ion in action, we’ve seen plenty of evidence to support his claims.

(more…)

First look: the new 11.6in Packard Bell netbook

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Netbooks have fallen into a steady routine since their 2007 debut: get a small chassis, cram it with an Intel Atom processor and integrated graphics, and watch them fly off the shelves. However, Packard Bell’s latest attempt to crack the lucrative netbook market, the 11.6in “dot m”, is a little different.

A glance at the exterior suggests that little about the classic netbook formula has changed: the 11.6in screen has a native resolution of 1,366 x 768, the trackpad is small but has a decent pair of buttons and supports multitouch functions, and the keyboard is reasonably spacious but also felt quite spongy. Three USB ports, an Ethernet socket and D-SUB output aren’t exactly groundbreaking, either.

Peek under the hood, though, and Packard Bell’s latest looks far more interesting than the average Atom-based products that have flooded the netbook market.

(more…)

Acer’s new laptops and netbooks – first look

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Once upon a time, manufacturers would launch one product at a time, allowing you to soak up the details pass comment and have time for reflection. Some, however, insist on the scatter gun approach.

And Acer, having just announced a new netbook, six new laptops, two nettops, and several all-in-one PCs, including a Windows 7-equipped touchscreen model (which a spokesman said would be on the shelves on October 23) fall firmly into the latter category. (more…)

First look: Toshiba Mini NB200

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Hot on the heels of Toshiba announcing its new 10.1in netbook, the NB200, we got a chance to try one in the flesh – or, to be precise, several in the flesh. And they look impressive.

A little confusingly, the Mini NB200 isn’t one new netbook but a range. There’s a plain black offering, which will use a 1.6GHz Atom N270, but Toshiba is also releasing far more stylish versions dressed in satin brown, white, pink and blue – and these will use the marginally faster 1.66GHz N280.

In reality, you won’t see much difference in speed between them day to day, but you will notice the keyboard. While the black version uses a traditional style of key, the other versions include the increasingly popular Scrabble-style keys.

(more…)

First look: Dell Mini 10

Friday, April 17th, 2009

The Dell Mini 10 hasn’t had the smoothest of births thanks to grocery juggernaut Tesco, which accidentally revealed its existence before the machine could be officially launched. We haven’t yet been able to get our hands on Dell’s latest netbook until this morning, though, when one arrived in the Labs.

First impressions are good, with the Mini 10 oozing class: the screen sits flush with the wide bezel, the red lid looks inviting and classy rather than garish, and the lack of chrome around the rest of the case, aside from the small power button, leaves the Dell looking more mature than most netbooks.

(more…)

First look: Samsung N310

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Samsung placed a great deal of emphasis on the N310’s design when announcing it to assembled journalists at its European Forum 2009. And in the flesh it certainly makes a strong impression.

The outer coating looks almost like painted polystyrene to the untrained eye, and it’s only when you feel it that you realise this is moulded plastic vaguely reminiscent of 70s kitchens (think coloured Formica). It’s unusual, but somehow it works – because the surface is textured, when you hold it the N310 actually feels quite nice in the hand. (more…)

Netbook or Notbook?

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

I enjoyed the recent Labs round-up of netbooks and was sorely tempted to cash out. These days I spend quite a bit of time working in the browser producing cms-based websites, so a lightweight system dedicated to making net access effective and pleasurable would really make sense.

But then I thought about it…

(more…)