MSI Wind U100 (white, Windows XP)

Msi Wind U100 White

The good: Strikes optimal Netbook balance between portability and usability; polished look; fair price.

The bad: Wimpy three-cell battery is only option at the moment; no 802.11n Wi-Fi or WWAN; no option for solid-state hard drive.

The bottom line: The MSI Wind U100 makes a positive first impression with its polished design and roomy (for a Netbook) display and keyboard, but it’s missing a handful of features–bigger battery, solid-state hard drive, and WWAN–that would turn it from a very good to a great on-the-go mini-laptop.

Specifications: Processor: Intel Atom (1.6 GHz); RAM installed: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM; Weight: 2.2 lbs

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$479.99
Processor	1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
Memory	1GB DDR2 SDRAM
Hard drive	120GB, 5400rpm
Chipset	Mobile Intel 945 Express
Graphics	Intel GMA950
Operating System	Windows XP Home Edition SP3
Dimensions (width by depth)	10.2 x 7.3 inches
Thickness	1.0 to 1.6 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	10 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.5 / 3.3 pounds
Category	Netbook

Multimedia Multitasking test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Dell Inspiron 1525-121B

1,239

Asus Eee PC 901

2,091

MSI Wind U100

4,020

Asus Eee PC 701

6,120

HP 2133 Mini-Note

9,250

Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Dell Inspiron 1525-121B

231

MSI Wind U100

743

Asus Eee PC 901

753

Asus Eee PC 701

941

HP 2133 Mini-Note

1,140

Video playback battery drain test (in minutes)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Asus Eee PC 901

315

Asus Eee PC 701

192

Dell Inspiron 1525-121B

190

MSI Wind U100

116

HP 2133 Mini-Note

91

Link:www.cnet.com

HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition 10″ LCD Netbook?

Vivienne Tam is truly accessorizing here.

(Credit: Laptopmag)

Hewlett-Packard and world-renowned Asian fashion designer Vivienne Tam have been working together to create the HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition notebook. However, anyone attending Tam’s fashion show during New York’s Fashion Week at Bryant Park Tuesday has probably already seen it.

The special-edition notebook–which looks to be an HP mini-note, except it’s sporting a 10-inch screen–debuted with the usual fanfare a fashion show receives at Fashion Week, but with a high-tech twist.

Models sashayed onto the catwalk workin’ the designer notebook as a clutch purse, while looking fierce in Tam’s clothing.

The HPs 10-inch screen seems to be a reflective one.

(Credit: Laptopmag)

The notebook is gleaming red and bursting with peony flowers–a signature staple of Tam’s collection–on the lid. The peony design is then meticulously carried inside the notebook, under the keypad. The laptop also features a extra special enter key that bears the Chinese symbol for double happiness. The design was inspired by Tam’s “China Chic” style, which is recognized from the runways in Milan to the Olympics in Beijing and represents her personal mantra to live well and be beautiful. The notebook also features a complimentary embroidered storage sleeve that helps keep the exterior protected while being carried as a clutch.

The “digital clutch” represents the first time a computer company has partnered with a fashion designer to create a notebook PC as well as have it debut at a fashion show. In addition to the design of the notebook, Tam worked with HP to design its accessories and packaging.

This isn’t the only instance of technology meeting designer. Christian Siriano’s (of Project Runway fame, season four) fashion show will show a scarf designed for LG’s newest phone, the Lotus.

Last month, Polo Ralph Lauren unveiled special downloadable software for camera phones that allows users to scan codes–placed in print ads, mailings, and store windows–and be directed to a phone-friendly version of a Ralph Lauren Web site, where you can shop.

Other design houses, including Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Zac Posen, are now using technology offered by Fashion GPS, which uses global positioning technology to keep track of inventory and samples by using either bar codes or radio-frequency identification tags to organize a fashion closet and check items in and out. It lets designers put together a look book for editors to browse online.

The laptop sports a glossy red design with peony flower detail.

(Credit: Laptopmag)

And DKNY also used bar code technology for invitations and seating for its fashion show, asking guests to RSVP online and then scan their invites at the show.

HP also launched a way to help fashionistas around the globe find design inspiration online, called the “Tech Chic” virtual experience. HP went all out creating a virtual catwalk, a designer tour hosted by Tam, and a “design bot” gadget inspiring users to dress up their computers with Tam-designed wallpaper, screensaver, and icons–all of which are available now in the United States and in early October worldwide.

The HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition notebook is expected to be available early next year. No pricing is available, however, and specs are pretty non-existent (Intel Atom CPU?), but coming from a high-end fashion designer like Vivienne Tam, we can expect it’ll cost some cha-ching.

Link:www.cnet.com

Predicts Global Netbook Sales Numbers, 2008-2011

If netbooks are following the traditional product cycle, they must be nearing the peak in Europe this week as two major budget supermarket chains push out the devices to their mainstream customer base. Aldi, the supermarket chain that sold 10’s of thousands of Medion Akoya Minis in the summer, is about to push the device out through its 300 UK shops. Expect at least 6 pieces per store for something like 2000 sales on the 7th of September. Then, in Germany, watch out for Plus who, with their 2700 shops started offering the Zen-ID (like the Akoya Mini, the same as the MSI Wind.) At an average of 6 per shop, that’s another 16000+. Add on the discount electrical stores and office stores and you’re at well over 20000, in just a few weeks, in Germany. Lets have some fun with these figures now and play Gartner because I think we’ve got enough data points to start estimating global netbook sales.

We’ll start with the above figures and call it 30000 netbooks sold in one month in Germany and lets say that its been happening since the first supermarket offering in July. That’s about 100,000 netbooks sold in three months which I have no doubt will extend to 400000 in 12 months. Due to competition, price reductions, marketing and new features, I even feel confident to say 0.5 Million in 1 year. A penetration rate in Germany of about 0.75%

For fun, lets multiply that across Europe with the UK, France, Holland, Italy and Spain collectively being about 3 times the size of Germany and having a similar customer base. That’s another 1.5 million sales in 12 months. The rest of Europe is not so small either, a total of over 700 million people [the EU totals 500 million. Europe itself is about 700 million] I wouldn’t expect the penetration to be the same in the rest of Europe but if we take an average of 0.3 times the German netbook penetration rate, we reach a grand total of:

Europe: 2.7 million netbook sales.
(12 months from July 2008)

That’s an average Europe-wide penetration rate of 0.38 of one percent. One in every 260 people across a mixed, but relatively rich, demographic.

Lets assume the same penetration rate in the top non-European, but relatively rich countries I see on my Google analytics results for UMPCPortal. U.S., Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan. Their total population is about 500 million.

* US, CN, AU, HK, JP = 500 Million people @ 0.0038 = 1.9 million sales

Other top countries that need to be considered are: China, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia which have much less buying power on average. Lets say 0.1 times the average European rate. One in 2600 people.

* CN, TW, SN, ID = 1500 Million people @ 0.00038 = 0.57 million

That’s 5.2 million sales across 2.7 billion people. We now need to add in the other people that live here with us. India and Africa and a bunch of smaller countries where I’d estimate the penetration rate to be somewhat less than in China. Again, lets say 0.1 of the penetration rate of China. 0.000038 (one sale per 26,000 people)

3900 million @ 0.000038 = 0.15 million sales.

More at.. Umpcportal.com