The Viliv S10 Blade convertible tablet style netbook has finally started shipping in the US. You can now place your orders through US retailer Dynamism and you will get a free battery and a 10% discount. A little over a fortnight ago, there were reports that the netbook had been delayed due to some factory issues. But now it looks like the issues have been sorted out.

The S10 models that ship now sport a 10.1 inch HD display with 1366 x 768 pixels, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 2 USB ports, 64GB SSD, Bluetooth, 1 mini-USB port, SDHC card reader and integrated webcam. Other configurations are expected to arrive next week.

The Viliv S10 Blade is priced at $699. Dynamism currently offers a $70 mail-in-rebate on the tablet. The spare battery that is offered with the netbook has a retail value of $110. It should be able to power the laptop for up to 10 hours.

Fusion Garage will release a 3G enabled version of its 12 inch JooJoo tablet within three months, CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan has said. The 3G enabled JooJoo will be available subsidized through wireless carriers.It will cost less than the WiFi only models.

Within a month or so JooJoo will also start recognizing USB memory drives. The JooJoo ships with a USB port. The company's decision to open up JooJoo's USB port for mass storage devices means that users will be able to install software on the tablet. They can, for instance, install the operating system of their choice. Fusion Garage has, however, clarified that any such attempts will void the warranty.

The JooJoo tablet was launched at around the same time as Apple's iPad. Fusion Garage has managed to sell only around 60 units so far. But the company is hoping that things will get better once the 3G version hits the market.

It isn't uncommon for tablets to get delayed or canceled. The Hanvon Touchpad B10 tablet has suffered the same curse: it has been delayed. Hanvon was planning to ship the tablets on March 25. But that date has come and gone by and the tablets are reportedly still in the volume production stage and will ship to Chinese buyers towards the month of May. There is still no launch date for the US or Europe.

Meanwhile, Hanvon has announced a cheaper F10 tablet powered by a 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor. This model will not have the multitouch support offered by the B10. Instead it features a stylus-based electromagnetic panel similar to the one used in the WISEreader. The F10 will cost 'much less' than the B10.

The Hanvon Touchpad B10 has a starting price of $877. At that price it is costlier than most touch tablets on the market.

Apple has proved that tablets can successfully run smartphone operating systems. The company's flagship iPad tablet runs the iPhone OS. Other companies are also building tablets running smartphone operating systems such as Android. MSI, for instance, is building tablets running both Android and Windows 7. The company is expected to show off the tablets at the Computex trade show in June. According to MSI, the tablets will have 8.9 inch and 10 inch displays. They will start shipping in the third quarter of 2010.

The Android model will be based on NVIDIA's Tegra 2 platform which combines a low power ARM processor with high performance NVIDIA graphics. The Windows tablet will have an Intel Atom processor.

Meanwhile, the dual screen tablet-style netbook that was on display at CES is still lagging behind due to hardware issues. MSI says that this model won't start shipping until the fourth quarter of this year.

The Asus Eee PC 1015P has hit the FCC. No image of the sleek machine sporting a brushed aluminum exterior is available at the moment. But the Eee PC 1015P label was on display at NextGadget which means that the netbook will be heading towards the US shores soon enough.

The Eee PC 1015P is expected to have an Atom N450 processor, a matte display and a wide keyboard. The battery is expected to power the laptop for up to 14 hours. No further information is available at the moment, but considering that the Eee PC 1016 and Eee PC 1018 ship with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB or 250GB hard drive, this model is also likely to have the same hardware.

No word on pricing or availability at the moment.

HP is all set to become the first major PC maker to release an ARM-based smartbook running Google Android. The company's Compaq Airlife 100 is expected to be available in Spain starting next month through the wireless carrier Telefonica Movistar.

To purchase the smartbook you will need to make an upfront payment of 229 Euros, plus 48 Euros per month for wireless service.

The Compaq Airlife 100 is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It has a 10 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels. The smartbook also features WiFi, 3G, GPS capabilities and always on internet access which will allow you to receive incoming mails and messages even when the screen is off.

The Compaq Airlife 100 is essentially a smartphone in a netbook case. In looks the smartbook resembles a typical HP netbook. No word on pricing or availability in the US.

Of course, taking pictures on the iPad with its huge viewfinder can be fun, but it will have limited value, as you can use a smaller and cheaper digital camera to get high quality photographs. In fact, the best reason to use a camera on the iPad is for video chats. And Apple knows video chats with the iPad would be a cool, futuristic feature.

So why isn’t a camera included? It's simple, because a camera would ruin the iPad's excellent design. Video chat means using a high speed connection to simultaneously download and upload large amounts of data constantly during a chat. People mostly use 3G for mobile video chats and currently it fails to meet the Apple’s high standards in delivering a first-class user experience.

Sending live video stream over AT&T’s notoriously sluggish 3G network sounds dreadful enough. And although we can get more reliable provider, most HSDPA services are still unable to give us sharp and smooth high resolution, 1024 X 768 video. An exquisite tablet like the iPad showing blocky video streaming is not something that Apple has in mind.

Only a broadband Wi-Fi connection that can give us good quality video chats on the go, however continuously rendering video chats on large display can eat up battery power quickly, unless if you can set the video chat window to a smaller size. The lack of camera on the iPad is a bummer for all of us as we hoped to see a magical communication device straight out of sci-fi fantasies. Although a camera on the iPad may not be necessary now, it won't hurt to see the next iteration of the iPad with a 3 Mp camera similar to the one found in iPhone 3GS, larger battery capacity and of course a 4G (LTE) connectivity for video streaming with ‘acceptable’ quality.

If you’ve just received your iPad, you may have been working with the new tablet non-stop ever since. You may love it so much that you ignore your MacBook Pro for awhile.
But, slowly you have come to the realization that it isn’t all roses and sunshine. You find a few annoyances, missing features, weird effects and bugs. No, it’s not the lack of Flash support and the absence of USB ports, we all already know that. It’s something new and annoying.

1. No Hover
The lack of hover is annoying when browsing on many websites. For example, when using Twitter, the retweet and reply buttons will only be visible when you hover on the tweet and that is impossible on the iPad touchscreen.

2. Issues on HTML rendering
Many websites, big and small, don’t render well on the iPad. Some users complained that the Facebook layout is simply a mess and there are also reports on interface issues when using other popular websites.

3. Apps are re-arranged poorly
You may have five apps in landscape mode, but when you use the Portrait mode only 4 apps are displayed in a row. The other app is placed one row down on the left; for some users, it can be both confusing and annoying.

4. Poor International support
Of course, your iPad may work nicely in Europe but curiously you can’t log in to the iPhone App store except if you use a US iTunes account. The iPad is a mobile device and users will bring it during their travel and vacation in many foreign countries. Movies and music may have a few copyright issues but all apps should work wherever you go. It is simply annoying that we can’t buy Numbers, Pages and Keynote in other countries.

5. Bad speaker design
Speaker sound system needs a couple of speakers, and of course, the iPad has two speakers. But unfortunately, they are located next to each other. The speakers are loud, but bad placement diminishes their stereo effect significantly.

6. Unpredictable and buggy Wi-Fi
This is a big issue for many Apple customers; many people have complained that they never have a full Wi-Fi signal strength in the MacBook Pro and iPhone. Some iPad users complained that they are stuck on the login screen due to the sluggish Wi-Fi connection and if they do pass the login procedure, they will receive no incoming data. If you can’t show off and impress your friends while hanging out in the Starbucks, what’s the point of having the new tablet?

7. iPhone apps won’t rotate at all
In the iPad, your iPhone apps won’t rotate in the landscape mode. Programmatically, it should be easy to rotate the whole application module when the device is also rotated. Perhaps, someone in the development team forgot about this simple feature.

8. Bad ‘No-Flash’ implementation
If Steve Jobs doesn’t want Flash support in the iPad, then so be it, but forgetting to fill the holes left by the missing animations is simply unacceptable. The best solution is to collapse the empty space and re-design the layout as if the world never knows Flash. Instead, you may stare to an empty space on the browser wondering what it is. Even the no-Flash icon is a bad thing; it will make as if your iPad is an incomplete device.

The iPad is still a great and amazing device for just $499 and it would be foolish not to get one. The annoyances mentioned above should be fixed in the next iterations. If you can accept these issues and want people to have a second look at you then buy it!

You’re at 25,000 feet and the flight attendant informs the passengers that they can use electronic devices. You slowly remove the laptop from its case and put it on the seatback table. When you hit the power button, it is as lifeless as that cold airline tuna sandwich. If you are not anywhere near the wall-socket then the problem maybe on the battery itself or perhaps the battery charger, also the charger may not work properly the last time it was used.

These are a few troubleshooting steps you can do:

• Is the battery installed in the slot and connected to metal connectors? On most laptops, the battery is secured by a sliding latch or simple clip, both can be dislodged easily during travel. Sometimes, you may even discover that the battery falls off completely from the laptop. You should understand the laptop design and find out about the possibilities of battery incidents.

• Are you sure that the battery is charged? If you have an older battery type, the charge may be depleted even when it isn’t used. Before traveling you need to make sure the battery is charged overnight and if possible bring a spare or two.

• Is the laptop working when connected to the wall socket? If you are really at 25,000 feet, you have to be safely at the ground before finding out that is the real problem. If the laptop works when connected to the AC source but not under its battery, then the battery or the charger may be plagued by one of the following problems:

o The battery has reached the end of its useful life. Laptop batteries are not rechargeable forever. They always degrade slowly and lose their ability to store the power gradually. Sometimes, they die abruptly because of a catastrophic electrical short.

o The battery charger is not properly connected. Many chargers have interchangeable power leads to allow them match with various wall socket designs used in most countries. You need to be sure that the lead is attached properly to the battery charger and it is firmly plugged to your laptop.

o The charger isn’t getting the juice. Are you sure that the power outlet is working. Get a radio or a lamp to make sure that you have a live outlet. In some countries, especially in Europe and Asia, the power outlets are controlled by a switch.

o Bad battery charger. Although it rarely happens, your charger may be damaged by badly regulated current or physical factors. One of the common signs of bad charger is excessive heat. A charger charges 110/220 volts of AC to the DC voltage at approximately 5 – 20 volts; all electrical conversions are inefficient and produce a small amount of heat. The charger should be warm to touch even when after used for hours, also if you smell an acrid odor or see smoke, carefully unplug the charger and buy a replacement.

Running an Open Source OS on your netbook has its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you don’t have to pay the license fee. On the flip side, there is no guarantee that all peripherals you plug into your computer will work with a free OS such as Linux or Android. Your printer, for example, may require special drivers to work with a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu, Fedora or PCLinuxOS.

Windows drivers are easy to find because almost every hardware vendor releases them. But drivers for Linux, Android or Chrome are not always easy to find. But Google thinks that it has found a solution to tackle this printer driver issue by launching a new project called Google Cloud Print.

The Google Cloud Print is designed to work with Google’s upcoming Chrome Operating system. The Google Chrome OS is built around a web-browser and is meant for running web-based applications such as Gmail or Zoho Office. What if you need to print a page? Well, hit the print button and the job will be sent to Google Cloud Print which in turn will send the job to your printer.

Chinese PC makers are all set to hit the market with a crop of tablet PCs. These machines sport 10 inch and smaller displays and run Google Android. They are not yet available internationally, so if you happen to live outside of China you may not be able to purchase these machines at the moment. Another problem with these Android tablets is that Google has not yet opened the Android market for non-smartphones, which means that you can run only a limited number of third party applications on these machines.

That said, these tablets still deserve their time in the sun.

Shenzhen Utopia Tech tablet
This tablet has a 7 inch display with 800 x 480 pixels. It runs Google Android and reportedly weighs 0.7 pounds. The Shenzhen Utopia tablet can handle 720p HD video playback.

Eken 8 inch tablet

The Eken 8 inch tablet is powered by an ARM-based processor. It sports an unusually large bezel around the display. The tablet runs Google Android 1.6. A 7-inch model with strikingly similar looks was also spotted by Shanzai.com. This device, reportedly, has a 7 inch display with 800 x 480 pixels, a 600MHz ARM-based processor, 2GB of flash storage and 128MB of RAM. It runs Windows CE.

SungWorld Android tablets
SungWorld showed off a series of tablets with 5 to 10.2 inch displays at the Global Sources China Fair. Most of them are powered by 600MHz ARM-based processors and run Google Android 1.6.

The Acer Aspire One 521 will reportedly have a 1.2GHz AMD V105 single core processor.
The V105 chipset belongs to AMD’s Nile lineup. It has 512KB of L2 cache and a total power draw of 9 watts which makes it power efficient by AMD standards. The V105 supports DDR3 Memory.

The Aspire One 521 will also reportedly have ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 discrete graphics. You can’t probably expect to get NVIDIA ION like graphics performance from this GPU, but you should be able to enjoy 720p or even 1080p HD video playback. According to reports, the netbook will also have an optional Bluetooth 3 support. The battery is expected to power the laptop for up to 7 hours.

Acer already has an AMD powered ultraportable laptop. The Acer Ferrari One released in December last year has an 11.6 inch display and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core processor.

We have already heard that Intel is getting ready to launch a dual core Atom processor for netbooks. Now more details have emerged. According to Fudzilla, the next generation Intel Atom processors will use a 45nm chip with a clock speed of 1.5GHz.

This chip will consume more power than the current Atom chips, but that is hardly suRprising since the new chips have two processor cores. According to reports the dual core version of the Atom N450 processor will have a total power draw of 8.5W. The single core version of the same chipset, on the other hand, has a TDP of 6.5W.

There is still no word on a launch date and since Fudzilla doesn't quote its sources, this piece of information should be taken with a grain of salt.

Amazon Germany has uploaded the product pages for the Eee PC R101 and R101 PX. These are the German versions of the Eee PC 1001PX which will be released in the US soon.

The Eee PC R101 and R105 look like slightly tweaked versions of the Eee PC 1001P currently available on the market.

The Eee PC R101 has a 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels. It is powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. This model ships with Windows XP. The R101 is not yet in stock, but it will sell for 249 Euros, or about $335 US.

The Eee PC R101PX has a higher price tag and slightly better specs including a 250GB hard drive and Windows 7 Starter Edition. It will sell for 299 Euros or about $402 US.

Linux computer builder System76 has unveiled a new laptop called System76 Starling EduBook. The mini-laptop is essentially a rebadged Intel Classmate PC. It has a 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels and a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor. But unlike most Classmate PC models which have Windows XP or Windows 7, the Starling Edubook will ship with Ubuntu 10.04 Education Edition Netbook Remix.

Rounding out the specs are WiFi 802.11b/g/n, 3USB ports, a 160GB hard drive, VGA output, an SD card reader, 0.3 megapixel webcam, headphone and mic jacks and a 6-cell battery. The Starling EduBook is built for students and features a semi-ruggedized design. Other student-friendly features include a detachable handle which would allow you to easily carry the netbook around.

The Starling EduBook is now up for pre-order. It will start shipping in May. The base model with 1GB of RAM and Linux costs $399. By spending some extra cash, you will be able to upgrade to 2GB of RAM.

The Starling EduBook is also available minus the special education features. This model is thinner and lighter and has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 2GB of RAM, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10. It costs $359.

NEC has updated its LaVie Light netbook. In terms of looks the new model isn’t much different from earlier models from the company, but it has a relatively faster CPU, more RAM, more storage, built-in WiMAX mobile broadband support and a high capacity SDXC flash card slot.

According to news reports, the LaVie Light netbook is now available with a 1.83GHz Intel Atom N470 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive.
It is not clear which operating system the netbook runs. But since the machine has 2GB of RAM it is safe to assume that it will come with Windows 7 Home Premium because Microsoft doesn’t permit PC vendors to install Windows 7 Starter on netbooks with more than 1GB of RAM or over 250GB of storage.

The NEC LaVie Light is now available for purchase in Japan. It goes for the local equivalent of about $761US. No word on a US launch date.

The Acer Aspire 1825PTZ is an 11.6 inch tablet PC with a low power Intel CULV processor. This machine is not yet widely available for purchase, but Amazon.de has started shipping the tablet in Germany for 599 Euros or about $808 US. For that price you will get a 1.3GHz dual core Pentium SU4100 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and Windows 7 Home Premium.

The 11.6 inch multitouch capacitive display can be folded down over the keyboard for using the device in the tablet mode. Other specifications include a 6-cell battery rated at 5600mAh, Bluetooth 2.1 and WiFi 802.11b/g/n.

The Acer Aspire 1825PTZ is available in blue, red or black.

Sharp has updated its Netwalker PC-Z1 by dropping the keyboard. The new model is dubbed Sharp Netwalker PC-T1 and sports the same 5 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels as its keyboard-equipped sibling. But unlike the Netwalker PC-Z1, the PC-T1 uses a stylus and resistive touchscreen for input.

The PC-T1 is powered by an ARM-based processor. Other features include 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, audio, USB and mini USB ports and 8GB of storage space. There is a microSD card slot for storage expansion. The Netwalker PC-T1 comes pre-loaded with Ubuntu 9.04 Linux.

Pricing and availability
The Sharp NetWalker PC-T1 will go on sale in Japan in May for the local equivalent of about $510 US. No word on pricing or an international launch date.

It is now no secret that HP is working on an 8.9 inch slate PC with a 1024 x 600 pixels display and a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor. While HP is yet to divulge more details, the folks at Conecti.ca have managed to get a pre-production unit. And the verdict? Well, they didn’t find anything particularly impressive about the tablet, but that is hardly surprising.

Numerous convertible tablets with Intel atom processors and Windows OS are already available and most of them suffer from several problems related to the software. The Windows OS, for example, isn’t that easy to navigate using touch-only controls. Atom powered tablets running Windows also tend to feel a bit sluggish while performing certain tasks. HP, however, has tried to deal with these issues by building a custom touch-friendly user interface. HP Slate also comes pre-loaded with a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator which would enable HD video playback on the tablet. On the flip side, the 1GB RAM that the tablet ships with, reportedly, isn’t upgradeable. That means, there is no easy way to boost performance.

Can HP Slate be an alternative to Apple iPad? Well, that depends. Since the tablet runs Windows OS it is capable of running almost all desktop applications including Adobe Flash. So if you are looking for an iPad alternative with some expansion ports, built-in webcam and an HDMI output, you should definitely find the HP Slate a good option.

Netbooks running Linux will soon be able to support multi-touch gestures thanks to a new technology developed by Synaptics. Synaptics drivers were only available for Windows systems with supported touchpads up until now. But the just launched Synaptics Gesture Suite Linux (SGS-L) works with a variety of Linux distributions including SUSE, Ubuntu, Xandros, Fedora and Red Flag. The new driver will reportedly also support Google Chrome OS and other operating systems built on Linux.

Multitouch gestures that are supported by the suite include twisting to rotate, pinching to zoom, and two finger scrolling.

Right now, the drivers are only available for free to OEM and ODM partners that use the Synaptics Touchpads and ClickPads in their computers. That means right now, you will not be able to simply download the SGS-L driver and install it on your netbook. But it won’t be long before we start to see Linux distributions incorporating the technology. And if it does happen you will be able to buy a netbook with Windows, install a Linux distribution or your choice and the netbook will still be able to support multi-touch gestures out of the box.

The ECS TL101-PC with WiMAX has showed up at Taipei. It is an attractive netbook with a slim chassis and built-in broadband capabilities.

The ECS TL101 has a chiclet-style keyboard. It also sports some unusual features such as a silent mode that would automatically shut off the fan when you unplug the laptop. Other novel features include a series of LEDs to show you hard drive activity status, power status and other information. That said, there is nothing new - the status lights are actually built into the touchpad buttons.

No word on pricing or availability at the moment.

The Viliv S10 convertible tablet PC is unlikely to be available in the US until late April or early mid-May. Retailer Dynamism was planning to start shipping the tablet on April 22nd, but apparently some delay at the factory has forced them to push the launch date back.

The Viliv S10 is a tablet style convertible netbook. It has a swivel that would let you rotate the display and fold it down over the keyboard. The netbook is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, Intel GMA 500 graphics and Windows 7 Home Premium. The netbook starts at $699. At that price it is rather expensive, but not many 10 inch netbooks on the market have a touchscreen display, swivel and Windows 7 Home Premium.

It is known to everybody that Dell plans to launch a 5-inch Android tablet sometimes soon. But now word is that Dell has a whole family of tablets in the pipeline. These machines will have different sizes and are expected to hit the market soon. And if the sources are correct, the Dell Streak 5 tablet will be the first to hit the market. It will have a 3G modem built for AT&T’s network.

The 7 inch Dell Streak tablet will be released in late 2010 whereas the 10 inch model is expected to be out in early 2011. Not much information regarding specs is available at the moment. But the Dell Streak 5 is basically the same 5 inch tablet as the Dell Mini 5. It will have a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM-based processor and a 4.8 inch display with 800 x 480 pixels. The pre-release version of the Streak 5 runs Google Android 1.6. The larger models will definitely have larger, higher resolution displays. It is not clear whether they will have the same processor or operating system.

The Olivetti Olibook M1025 has pretty regular netbook specs. It is powered by an Intel Atom N450 processor and sports a 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels. And pretty much like most netbooks on the market, it also has 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and Windows 7.

In terms of looks, the Olibook M1025 is attractive. It sports a simple black and white design and has a large and wide keyboard which occupies almost all of the available space. On the flip side, there isn’t much space between the keys. Another design element that may adversely affect the user experience is the touchpad buttons which are located to the left and right sides of the touch area.

Olivetti is an Italian PC maker. The netbook is unlikely to make it to the US market, but it could hit Europe soon.

A certain mini-laptop called the Asus Eee PC 900AX has popped up at the FCC. Not much information is available at the moment. There are, nevertheless, a few things we can guess.

Like other netbooks in the Eee PC 900 line, the Eee PC 900AX will also probably have an 8.9 inch display. It is also likely to be powered by an Atom processor. The netbook will definitely have wireless capabilities. Otherwise it had no reason to show up on the FCC website. It, however, isn’t clear whether the netbook will have 3G, WiMAX and Bluetooth besides the standard WiFi. And despite the fact that Asus submitted documents with US Federal Communications Commission, this model will probably only be available in Europe and Asia.

In related news two other models dubbed Eee PC 1201K and Eee PC 1201X have also popped up. Even less information is available about them.

Before you buy a GPS receiver, you need to spend enough time kicking all the proverbial tires. You shouldn't rush out and get a receiver based only on an Internet review without trying that very GPS receiver and see how it works. Try to spend some time comparing as many as models and brands to figure out which one works best for your requirements. Because a GPS unit is sold in many sporting goods stores, electronic stores and bigger retail chains, you should have enough opportunity to try them out.

The three biggest manufacturers of consumer-level GPS receivers in the U.S. are Garmin, Lowrance, and Magellan. All these manufacturers have exhaustive Web sites that provide complete information about their receivers. If you are in the market for those products, definitely spend enough time browsing through the catalog.

Catalogs only provide limited information, you should download the user manual for each model you’re interested in buying. All GPS receiver makers offer free manual in PDF version for their products. If you’re choosing the best GPS receiver, these are great resources for comparing features and performance while seeing what the user interface will look like because the user manuals have screenshots as well as detailed instructions.

Experienced GPS receiver users are also a dependable source of information; if you are out in the wild and a friend is carrying a receiver ask him/her about its strengths and weaknesses and borrow it to familiarize yourself with it. Here are a couple of big questions that you need to ask yourself before you start your GPS receiver hunt:

• What are you going to use the receiver for? Think about what kind of activities you will be doing with it: biking, hiking, fishing, business travel, and so on. What are your requirements? Store secret fishing spots, navigate the narrow paths on the wilderness, or geocaches hunt (hidden stuff from the well-known sport of electronic treasure hunting)? When you can get specific with your requirements, you will know important features that your unit should have.

• Understand your budget constraints. How much cash you’ve got in your purse or wallet is obviously going to affect which models you end up choosing. The more features your GPS receiver has, the more expensive it is. So if you can determine exactly what you are going to use the unit for and also which features you really want, you’ll end up saving a good deal of money. Generally, the figure on your budget should anywhere between $150 to $450 for a fully-featured portable GPS receiver, also note that a few specific aviation and automotive models can cost $1,000 or more.

Mostly, the GPS receiver price doesn't influence accuracy. A high-end GPS receiver isn’t more precise than a more affordable model. The only exception is those that support WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System), which are more accurate compared with GPS receivers that don’t use enhanced location feature. Determining your budget and your requirements will narrow your options considerably, however you're likely still going to be confronted with many other considerations. These are things you need to consider:

1. Map-based interface: Do you need to view maps and interact with them on your device? If so, you certainly need a GPS receiver equipped with a mapping model.

2. Functions: Will you use the GSP receiver primarily for outdoor recreation or road navigation? Outdoor models should be resistant to shock and water.

3. Accessories: Do you need accessories such as spare cases, vehicle mounting brackets, cables, and upgradeable maps?

4. Battery: Consider these questions:
• How many hours does a GPS unit should run on a fully charged battery?
• Remember these facts: Different models (and their unique features) have different battery consumption, and capacity. Can the battery be replaced by the user? If you are spending more than one night outdoor you should bring at least one fully charged spare battery.
• Is it possible to use a cigarette lighter to charge the unit?

5. Memory: How much memory do you need, is it upgradeable and use a common memory format? This is an important factor if you want to upload and update maps often. Go to the GPS receiver maker site to know how many maps it can take up.

6. Display screen: Consider the following:
• Size: How large is the display and is it easily readable? Make sure to consider visibility in poor weather conditions, in bright sunlight, and at night. The screen size is directly proportional to the GPS receiver size, so if you need a larger, more readable display, expect a larger unit to go with it.
• Color: Is a color screen necessary? A color screen allows easier map reading because colors are often associated with map features.
• User interface: Do you want a device with less steep learning curve? Sure, all devices involve some learning process, but a GPS receiver must be intuitive. Make sure to compare different models and brands because UI are far from standardized.

7. Physical controls: Are the controls and buttons easy to use? Are they easy to operate while wearing mittens or gloves?

8. Weight and size: Is it possible to get the smallest weight and size possible? Note that there is only less than 8-ounce weight difference between the heaviest and lightest handheld GPS units.

9. Connectivity: Do you plan to connect the unit to a computer to upload and download data? If so, check to see if the receiver can interface easily with your computer to exchange data, especially if you are using a Mac or Linux; it is necessary if you want to update the GPS receiver’s firmware.

Apple iPad from user’s point of view

Apple iPad, one name that is so famous even kids know of it, irrespective of geographical boundaries. After its release it has been on top of the selling chart for over two weeks now, and there is no sign that it may come down soon. So while the iPad lovers of USA are busy exploring its possibilities, rest of the world is waiting for its release in their city.

The first thing that impresses any buyer is the stylish outlook, round edge glossy design and out of turn handling ease. Apple iPad is lighter than MacBook Air or any mini netbook, giving no excuse for not carrying along. The interface is smart, simple and easy, operating system looks and feels like iPhone one. Browsers, basic applications, some games and other necessary software are preloaded into it, instantly accessible and extremely easy to use, one of the brand policies of Apple. iBook, the newest revolution in reading eBooks in digital device is along strong enough to eliminate its competitor eBook readers like Amazon Kindle, that are unable to deliver real world hard copy reading experience like iBook does with its versatile features.

But as everything has some bad qualities that prevent it to be sole important, iPad lacks in some features too, one example of that is multitasking. Audio can be enjoyed while browsing internet in iPad but one application must be minimized to work with the other, eliminating the possibility to work with more than one windows simultaneously. There is no camera also in front or read side of the iPad that could be used for video calling using the 3G communication facility. Limited storage facility, non-removable battery and limited file support also goes against the usability of Apple iPad in user’s point of view, preventing it to use like portable computers.

Despite the cons, iPad is being proved to be greatly useful for a third device, on the way of its being an essential gadget like mobile or computer that everybody needs to buy one, now or soon in the future.

The first few notebooks to get NVIDIA's next-generation ION graphics will be the Asus Eee PC 1201PN and Acer Aspire One 532g netbook. Neither of them are available for purchase in the US yet, but French retailer Fnac has uploaded their product listings. While Aspire One 532g is expected to start shipping on May 14th, the Eee PC 1201PN should be available in France by May 1st.

The Eee PC 1201PN is a 12.1 inch notebook with an Intel Atom N450 processor and NVIDIA's ION graphics. Other specifications include 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and an HDMI port. The notebook will ship with a 6-cell battery rated at 5600mAh. The laptop runs Windows 7 Home Premium. It will sell for about 499 Euros or about $676 in France.

The Aspire One 532g has a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor. This model also features NVIDIA ION albeit in a less capable form. That said, the Aspire One 532g will still be able to handle HD video playback and 3D graphics. But by using a less capable version of ION Acer will be able to reduce the prices.

Other specifications include a 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Windows 7 Starter Edition. No Bluetooth or HDMI. The netbook will ship with a 6-cell battery rated at 4400mAh. It will sell for 369 Euros or about $500.

You may consider a laptop as a living, breathing organism. Just like an infant, you should clean and reorganize when it gets messy; you may extend its operational life through a properly planned and executed maintenance schedule.


If you hit the road often, your laptop may be more exposed to dust and greasy hands. So adjust your maintenance and cleaning schedule to fit your activity. Whatever you do, start by making your home or office safe for it. Never leave your laptop perched perilously on the corner of a table or on the edge of the shelf; don't place it under the sun and near cooling and heating vents. You shouldn't place anything big and heavy on it. Always properly stow away the cables or keep them out of tripping range. Refer the instruction manual for advices on whether you should keep an unused laptop constantly plugged into the socket to keep it fully charged. In some models this might shorten the battery life; however, leaving the battery unplugged for a long period of time might result in complete depletion, which causes the BIOS configuration settings to reset. The other obvious downside to leaving the laptop unplugged is that it won't be ready for immediate use, if you need it. Luckily, a battery isn't too expensive, especially for popular types from well-known sellers. If a battery doesn’t hold a charge and slowly dies, you may get a new one for about $100.

So, if you use your laptop often, here are a few ways to care and feed your laptop:

1. You should have a special laptop desk; make sure it's firm and stable, also not too small.

2. You should keep your laptop plugged to the AC adapter at all times while keeping it protected by a power surge suppressor.

3. Make it a part of your network, allowing you to quickly copy files from the network before you set out on a trip. It would also be possible to update the adware/spyware and antivirus definitions using the high speed Internet access through the network. This will make your laptop more resistant against virus attacks while you are traveling.

4. When you return from a trip, you may need to transfer all new files from your laptop to the network storage and make sure you have other backup alternatives, for example in DVDs or external hard drive. It's a good idea to use the automated features of or Windows Briefcase to copy newly created or revised files from your laptop and the other way around without user intervention. Some people choose to manually manage the updates, before a trip they create an empty folder on the laptop with the travel date as the name and manually change the Save location of word processor, spreadsheet, image editor, browsers and other apps to that new folder.

5. After a long trip and you have backed up all important files, you should manually run Norton SystemWorks to find any anomalies inside the Windows Registry, bad shortcuts, and other issues with file indexes and structures. It is always a good idea to run Ad-Aware to get rid of any adwares that penetrate your anti-virus defenses. Because a laptop is usually not used all the time, configuring a utility to automatically run even in Sunday at 2AM may not be a good idea as the laptop may not be turned on at the time, however, it is entirely your choice whether you want to set it up manually or automatically.

6. Review and flush the Recycle Bin every week (or more often, if you deal with many files)

7. Unless you have a good reason to keep your temporary files, clear any temporary Internet files and the Web browser history. Mostly you won't need those temporary files; they mostly have .tmp extension or have a tilde, for example ~tempfile001.dta. It's a good idea to clean them after you boot the laptop up.
8. If you are dealing with large files like digital images and videos - you need to defragment your hard disk drive. You should also do this before installing or after uninstalling large applications and games (3GB or more).

Word is that Toshiba will soon release a dual screen tablet PC running Windows 7. The company also plans to release smaller and cheaper models running Google Android.

In functionality the Toshiba tablet, won't be much different from the iPad. The company has already said that it tablets are for consuming media and not creating it. If that is the case, then building an Android tablet is probably a better idea than building a Windows tablet because the Android platform is specially designed for touch input. Android tablets will be able to run on low power ARM processors. And now that both Google and Adobe are working on bringing Flash to Android, the device will also be able to handle Flash video - something which iPad can't.

The Windows platform, on the other hand, isn't very touch friendly, but it will be able to run all desktop applications. And since a Windows tablet will have a few USB ports, you will be able to plug in peripherals such as a keyboard or printer and use it as a fully functional laptop.

Not much is known about either tablet at the moment, so we can only guess. But one thing is certain: the tablet revolution has begun.

Intel has been building Atom processors for a while. But while both single core and dual core Atom chips are available for nettops and low power desktops, only single core Atom processors are available for netbooks at the moment.

It is true that companies like Asus have built netbooks with dual core Atom 330 desktop processor, but Intel never really supported this trend. But now it has been confirmed that Intel will launch a dual core Atom processor for netbooks in the second quarter of 2010. The news hasn't surprised many because we have been hearing rumors about a dual core Atom n500 processor since last month.

That said, getting too excited about the development is still unnecessary because dual core Atom processors are unlikely to give your netbook a major performance boost. Atom chips are designed to be cheap and power efficient. They are not built with the objective of delivering blazing fast performance. But adding a second core may give your machine a little more power to handle multitasking. That's it.

The Asus Eee PC 1005PR is now available for pre-order. In looks, the Eee PC 1005PR isn't different from the Eee PC 1005PE. But unlike the 1005PE which has a regular display with 1024 x 600 pixels, the 1005PR sports an HD display with 1366 x 768 pixels. Better still, it also comes pre-loaded with a Broadcom Crystal HD Video Accelerator which will enable HD video playback on the netbook.

Here’s a rundown of the specs:

* Processor: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 Processor
* Display: 10.1 inch HD display with 1366 x 768 pixels
* Graphics: Intel GMA 3150 plus Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator
* Operating system: Windows 7 Starter Edition
* Memory: 1GB of DDR2 RAM
* Storage: 250GB HDD, 5400rpm
* Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, Ethernet

There are 3 USB ports, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, 1 VGA port, SDHC card reader, headphone and mic jacks. The netbook ships with a 6-cell battery which should get around 11 hours of runtime.

The Eee PC 1005PR weighs 2.8 pounds with the 6-cell battery and measures 1.5 inches in thickness.

Pricing and availability

The netbook hasn't started shipping yet, but both Amazon and B&H have started taking pre-orders for around $400.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3s is not yet available in the US. But if you happen to live in China you can pick up the netbook from one of the retailers at the moment.

The IdeaPad S10-3s features a new design with rounded corners. In size and shape it isn't much different from the S10-3 currently available on the market. But this model offers more customization options than the regular S10-3. For instance you can buy the netbook with either a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 or a 1.83GHz Intel Atom N470 processor. The display is also available in two versions - one with 1024 x 600 pixels and another with 1280 x 720 pixels. Another difference is the addition of plastic doors to cover the ports which give the machine a streamline look. But if you tend to plug in a lot of peripherals you may find this layout a little annoying.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3s is available in several color options including plain black, white and a 'spring flower' design.

Dell has finally pulled the plug on its Inspiron Mini 10v, but the netbook is still available from Amazon for under $300. Dell has been selling a newer version of this netbook - the Inspiron Mini 10 - with Intel Atom N450 processor since January. The Inspiron Mini 10v has an Intel Atom N270 processor. That said, the netbook could still make a reappearance in Dell's main store if the company has enough units in stock.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 10v is an ordinary netbook with yesterday's specs. It doesn't have anything particularly impressive about it, but this particular model has always been a favorite with hackers. In fact,hackers have managed to get most of the netbook's hardware including the audio, wireless and storage card to work with Apple's OS X.

Apple has refreshed its MacBook Pro line of notebooks with Intel's Core i5 and i7 processors. The 13 inch MacBook Pro will continue to have the Core 2 Duo processors, but the 15.4 inch models will get Core i5 and i7 processors. Surprisingly the Core i7 option is not available with the 17 inch MacBook Pro.

The graphics option on the bigger models is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete GPU which is twice as fast as the GT 320M available with the 13 inch MacBook Pro.

Apple claims that the 13 inch model will last for around 10 hours on a single charge. And thanks to the NVIDIA Optimus technology, the bigger models are also expected to get around 8-9 hours of battery life.

Other specifications that are common to all notebooks include up to 500GB of hard drive storage and up to 4GB of RAM. A 512GB SSD is also available if you are willing to shell out an extra $1,300. More details are available at the Apple Store.

The Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator is meant for enabling HD video playback on low power devices such as Intel Atom powered netbooks. The Broadcom video card is a mini PCI-E card that you can throw inside some netbooks and notebooks. It works well with local video content.

A few netbooks such as the HP Mini 210, Dell Inspiron Mini 10 and HP Mini 5102 come pre-installed with Broadcom; several others support the card which means that you can buy one from the retailer and install it on your netbook. Until a few weeks ago buyers used to get good deals on eBay where the Broadcom card used to be available for as little as $25. But now the prices have nearly quadrupled.

But eBay isn't the only place you can buy the Broadcom card. Retailer Logic Supply has started selling Broadcom BCM970012 for $49. This card is aimed at system builders and doesn't ship with drivers,but you should be able to download the necessary drivers from the Broadcom site.

Samsung has released the touchscreen version of its NB30 semi-rugged netbook. Called Samsung NB30 Touch, the new model has the same Intel Atom N450 processor as the regular NB30.

Other specifications include 1GB of DDR2 RAM, up to 250GB of hard drive storage, integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics, a memory card reader and built-in webcam. The supported connectivity options are WiFi b/g/n, Ethernet, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. The 10.1 inch touchscreen display has 1024 x 600 pixels. The netbook runs Windows 7 Starter Edition and ships with a 6-cell battery.

There are 3 USB 2.0 ports one of which can be used to power your cellphone or MP3 player even when the netbook is switched off. other notable features include a spill resistant keyboard, shocked protected hard drive and reinforced chassis.

Pricing and availability
The Samsung NB30 Touch is now available for purchase in many parts of Europe. It is priced at €399 ($544).

Toshiba has updated its Tecra M11 with Intel's Core i3 and i5 processors. The Toshiba Tecra M11 is a 14 inch notebook aimed at businesses. Other specifications include up to 3GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD writer and integrated graphics. The 14 inch LED backlit display features 1366 x 768 pixels. Higher end models with NVIDIA's discrete NVS 2100M GPU is also available.

The Tecra M11 runs Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit. Windows XP is also available through downgrade rights. The base model also features a built-in webcam, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, audio in / out, an ExpressCard slot and a three-year warranty.

Pricing and availability

The Toshiba Tecra M11 is now available for purchase. The base model with integrated graphics starts at $899. A high-end configuration with discrete GPU will set you back $1299.

When Lenovo introduced its Skylight smartbook at CES in January, the company had said that they would launch the device in April. But now the US launch date has been pushed back to July and word is that the delay could be due to iPad.

According to the folks at Digitimes, Lenovo plans to work on the device a bit more to make it a good competitor to Apple iPad. The Lenovo Skylight has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, 3G mobile broadband, and a custom Linux user interface.

Both Skylight and iPad are devices meant for surfing the web over a WiFi and 3G connection. But unlike iPad the Skylight is not a tablet. It is more or less like a netbook and has a physical keyboard. The Skylight can offer the full functionality of a laptop something which iPad can't offer.

On the flip side it lacks a touchscreen display and the polished user interface that made iPad such a huge success. And unlike iPad the Skylight can't run the tens of thousands of iPhone applications either.

The unsubsidized version of the Lenovo Skylight is expected to cost $499 - the same price as the base model of iPad without 3G. But if you sign up for a long term broadband plan, you should be able to pick up the smartbook at a cheaper price. The iPad with 3G,on the other hand, will set you back $599.

The Dell Latitude E6410 ATG is now available for purchase. The Latitude E6410 ATG is a semi-rugged 14.1 inch notebook aimed at businesses.

The Latitude E6410 ATG is available with your choice of a Core i5 or i7 processor,up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM and up to 500GB of HDD / up to 256GB of SSD. The notebook meets the MIL STD 810G standards for shock, vibration, temperature, humidity, and altitude.Other features include a DVD burner / Blu-Ray drive, built-in webcam, WiFi 802.11n, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 3.0 (optional), stereo speakers, optional mobile broadband connection and optional modem. There are 4 USB ports, 1 USB/eSATA combo port, a 6-in-1 media card reader,ExpressCard slots, a Smartcard reader,VGA and DisplayPort outputs and optional fingerprint readers.

The latitude E6410 ATG has an outdoor-optimized LED backlit display with 1280 x 800 pixels. The display is quite readable in direct sunlight and also features optional touchscreen functionality. The notebook sports a magnesium alloy chassis and weighs 5.7lb with the 6-cell battery.

Pricing and availability
The Dell Latitude E6410 ATG runs Windows 7 or Windows Vista. It is now available for purchase from the Dell website. Prices start at $2,114

WePad is an iPad competitor built by a German company called Neofonie. It has an 11.6 inch multitouch display with 1366 x 768 pixels and a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor. The WePad runs a custom Linux-based operating system and sports a touch-friendly user interface.

Neofonie revealed more details yesterday at a news conference. Here are the high lights:

The WePad will be able to handle 1080p HD video playback, thanks to an optional Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator. The tablet will also have an HDMI port for transferring video to an external monitor. Neofonie says that it has tested Flash and Adobe AIR on the tablet and is happy with the results.

The WePad has the following specs:
Display: 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel multitouch display
Processor: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450
Operating system: Linux-based WePad operating system (Plus ability to run Android apps)
Storage: 16GB or 32GB plus SDHC card slot
Webcam: 1.3Mp

There are 2 USB ports, a card reader, SIM card slot and headphone jack. The supported connectivity options include WiFi, Bluetooth and optional 3G. The Li-ION battery is expected to power the tablet for 6 hours.

Pricing and availability
The WePad will be up for pre-order in Germany on April 27th. It should start shipping this summer. The 16GB model with WiFi will cost 449 Euros ($610 US). The 32GB model with WiFi, 3G, GPS, and HD video playback will set you back 569 Euros ($773 US).

It isn't just PC makers that are building tablets these days. According to a report in the New York Times, Google is also working on an Android-powered device. Word is that Google is in talks with publishers to get content deals for the device which means that it will be some sort of an iPad and Kindle competitor. It is not clear whether Google actually plans to build and market this device. It could probably be an Android powered device built by a third party.

HP, it seems,is also building a new 6-inch Android tablet which would complement the company's bigger Windows-based Slate PC.

Archos Generation 8 Internet Tablet
Archos needs no introduction in the tablet space. The company has been selling tablet PCs since 2009. And now the company is all set to flood the market with 6-new tablets having screen sizes ranging between 3 and 10 inches. The new tablets are likely to be powered by ARM-based processors clocking between 800MHz and 1GHz. Other features include multi-touch displays and OpenGL support. Prices will range between $100 and $350.

Lenovo has started shipping its ThinkPad W701 and W701ds notebooks. Both models feature a 17 inch display and sport Intel's Core 2010 processors.

The Lenovo ThinkPad W701 and W701ds are unarguably the most powerful ThinkPad notebooks ever. The notebooks can be configured with a Core i7-720QM, Core i7-820QM or Quad Core Extreme i7-920XM processors. Other specifications include NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M discrete graphics with 1GB of video RAM, up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM and Up to 500GB, 7200rpm hard drive / 160GB of SSD. Both notebooks run Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. Rounding out the specs are recordable DVD drive, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, optional Bluetooth, and 2 megapixel webcam.

The base model of W701 with a Core i7-720QM processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB HDD and Quadro FX 3800 graphics costs $3299.

The ThinkPad W701ds has the same configuration as the W701, but it also sports a 10 inch secondary display.Prices start at $3999.

Onkyo Japan has released a new netbook that gets more battery life than most netbooks on the market. But that is at the cost of performance. The model dubbed MX1007A4 also sports a fresh chassis design.

The Onkyo MX1007A4 has a 1.20GHz Intel Atom Z515 processor instead of the relatively faster Atom N450 found in most netbooks. The Atom Z515 doesn't deliver good performance, but it increases the battery life by almost double. Other specifications include 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and WiFi b/g. The Onkyo MX1007A4 has a 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels.

Rounding out the specs are 2 USB ports, a fingerprint reader, integrated webcam, multi-format card reader and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.

The onkyo MX1007A4 runs Windows 7 Starter. It weighs 2.55lbs and gets around 14.4 hours of battery life on a single charge. No word on pricing at the moment, but the netbook will be available for purchase in Japan on April 10.

PeeWee is known for making mobile computing devices for kids. The company's latest offering is a mini-laptop with netbook internals. With its plastic body, the PeeWee Power laptop might look like a toy but it gives the power of a mainstream laptop for kids.

The PeeWee Power laptop is powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. The laptop has a 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels. There is no discrete graphics solution other than the integrated GMA 3150 graphics.

The PeeWee Power laptop runs Windows XP operating system which means it will be able to run light Windows based games for kids. Other features include WiFi, 1.3 MP webcam, Ethernet and safety and security software for kids.

Pricing and availability

The PeeWee Power laptop is now available for order at the PeeWee website. Prices start at $499.99.

The newly unveiled Fujitsu LifeBook E780 is a 15.6 inch desktop replacement laptop aimed at businesses. The LifeBook E780 is available with your choice of a Core i5 or i7 processor GMA integrated HD graphics or NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete GPU with 1GB of dedicated video memory, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 500GB of hard drive storage, and a DVD burner or optional Blu-ray drive which can be replaced with a modular bay battery.

The display features either 1366 x 768 or 1600 x 900 pixels. An optional anti-glare coating is also available.

Other features include an optional 1.3 mega pixel webcam, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth (optional), Gobi 2000 mobile broadband connection (optional), Gigabit Ethernet LAN,
4 USB ports, Express card slots, memory card reader, a Smart card reader, Firewire, VGA output, a Serial port and a fingerprint sensor. There is a touchpad and a quick point stick.
The LifeBook E780 weighs 6.17 pounds with the standard 6-cell battery and should get around 4 hours and 20 minutes run time.

Pricing and Availability
Fujitsu LifeBook E780 runs Windows 7 or Windows Vista. It is now available for purchase at the Fujitsu online store. Prices start at $1,237.

Apple iPad will get limited multitasking capabilities later this year. The iPhone OS 4.0 will allow third party applications to perform some tasks such as streaming audio in the background. VoIP devices will also be able to receive calls when they are running in the background.

That said, you will still not get full multitasking support on iPad. Apple said the decision to limit multitasking was a compromise to prevent it from slowing down the application running in the foreground.

User can easily switch between the apps by double clicking the home button which would bring up a list of the apps that are currently running. Since this isn't true multitasking, apps developers will have to make some modification to their software for it to be able to work properly on the new system.

No word on pricing for iPad’s OS upgrade.

MSI has released two new multimedia laptops. Dubbed X-Slim X420 and X620, these machines are equipped with 14 inch and 15.6 inch displays respectively.

The X-Slim X420 is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra-Low Voltage processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430 discrete GPU with 1GB of dedicated video memory. Other specifications include up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 500GB of hard drive storage, optional WiMax and Windows 7 Home Premium. The notebook weighs 4.14 pounds with the 4-cell battery. An 8-cell battery option is also available and it should get around 9 hours of runtime.

The 15.6 inch MSI X-Slim X620 has an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor, ATI Radeon HD 5430 GPU with 1GB of video RAM, up to 4GB of RAM and up to 640GB of storage. It ships with an 8-cell battery that should power the laptop for up to 11 hours. Other features include a built-in DVD burner.

No word on pricing or availability at the moment.

Asus is finally ready to ship its Eee keyboard. There is still no official word on pricing, but sources claim that it could sell for around $500. The device was introduced at CES in 2009.

The Asus Eee keyboard packs a computer-in-a-keyboard. It has netbook internals such as an Intel Atom processor, some solid state storage and a video encoding software packed into a keyboard. The Eee Keyboard comes with wireless HDMI connectivity which would allow you to connect the Keyboard to your HDTV so that you can surf the web or watch online video sitting on your couch.

The keyboard also features a built-in touchscreen display. It is so small that you can't use it as a primary display but it can show widgets for things like your favorite sites and IM contacts.

The Alienware M11x is a solid gaming machine with an 11.6 inch display and a discrete NVIDIA GT335M GPU. While most gaming systems on the market are bulky with large displays, the M11x weighs just 4 pounds and has a starting price of $700. But there is always room for improvement, right? Well, the folks at Dell also seem to think so.

When Dell introduced the M11x a few months of ago, NVIDIA hadn't launched its Optimus technology that would enable automatic switching between the integrated and discrete graphics. As a result of this M11x users have to manually switch between the discrete and integrated options. But now word is that Dell will release an updated version of the M11x with NVIDIA Optimus technology. It is also rumored that the notebook will get Intel's new Core 2010 processors. The updated models are expected to be released in June or July.

But don't get too excited because we are talking about rumors here.

The Lenovo Skylight was introduced in January. Back then the company had said that it would bring the device to market in April. But now it looks like the US launch date has been pushed back to July. But the smartbook is likely to be launched in China and some other countries in May.

The Lenovo Skylight has more or less the same looks as a netbook - an oddly shaped on, though. It has a large keyboard, a nice touchpad and a slim chassis. The Skylight is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with integrated GPS, WiFi and 3G connectivity. This is basically the same processor found in Google's Nexus One smartphone. There is no HDD or SSD for storage, instead Skylight uses a removable USB flash drive and runs Custom Linux-based operating system called Skylight.

In the US Skylight is likely to be offered through AT&T and buyers will have to sign up for a long-term broadband service plan.

According to a blog post published by the The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) travelers will no longer have to remove their iPads and other electronics smaller than a typical laptop from their bags at American airports. The gadgets that you can keep inside your bag include game consoles, portable media players, and even netbooks.

Generally travelers are required to take out their full sized notebooks and place them on a separate tray for screening at airports. That said, screeners will continue to look for anything suspicious and you might still be asked to remove a netbook from your bag while traveling. The majority of travelers will, however, be saved a little time and trouble.

Travelers carrying a full sized laptop can also save a little time by getting a TSA-approved laptop case.

Samsung Electronics has released a performance driven 640GB hard drive dubbed SpinPoint MP4. Unlike most other high capacity notebook drives on the market, the SpinPoint MP4 spins at 7200rpm, rather than 5400rpm.

The SpinPoint MP4 is a 2.5 inch hard drive targeted at high-performance users. It sports a higher spindle rate and more cache than other hard drives. Samsung also claims that the new drive will offer 30% more improvement in performance. Better motor design will also make the drive durable. The Samsung SpinPoint is based on a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface and features a 16MB buffer.

Pricing and Availability
The SpinPoint MP4 is available in 250GB and 640GB sizes. No word on pricing or availability.

JooJoo tablet reviewed: Verdict? Replace the operating system and you should be fine.

Engadget has posted a detailed review of the JooJoo tablet which hit the streets at around the same time as Apple iPad. JooJoo is an x86-based tablet sporting an attractively minimalist design and NVIDIA ION graphics. It has a 12.1 inch HD display with 1366 x 768 pixels. But the software that ships with the tablet doesn't seem competent enough.

For example, the home screen houses shortcuts for a bunch of popular websites. clicking on any of these shortcuts will open the website in a browser window. But surprisingly there is no button for launching just the browser. So if you need to open a website that is not on the home screen, you first need to click on one of these buttons to launch the browser and then type the url of the site in the address bar. Wouldn't it have been better if there was a dedicated button to launch the browser? The onscreen keyboard is quite usable, but it is not the best.

The JooJoo does not have a media player or a picture viewer. So if you want to listen to music or watch movies, you will have to open a website that would let you do these things. There is a webcam for video chats, but unfortunately none of the popular web based chat sites work with the camera.

What about HD video playback? Well, JooJoo has NVIDIA ION graphics which enables HD playback on the tablet, but unfortunately the version of the Flash player that JooJoo ships with doesn't support hardware acceleration. The result? You can only watch standard definition Flash video.

These issues are all software related and may be easily fixed by installing your own operating system. The biggest thing that sets JooJoo apart from iPad is that it has an x86-based processor and a USB port which would allow you to install any OS of your choice on the tablet. By installing an alternate OS such as Android, Chrome or Ubuntu Linux you should be able to solve most of these issues.

It is now quite clear that JooJoo can't kill iPad despite having a larger screen and ION graphics. But JooJoo is hardly the only tablet going to hit the streets this year. ICD, for example, has built a touchscreen tablet called Gemini whose specsheet looks a lot more impressive than that of iPad.

The ICD Gemini has a 1GHz ARM-based Tegra processor that supports 1080p HD video playback. There is a 3G modem for data connections and making calls over a cellphone network. Other features include WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS and FM radio. The only feature that is missing is probably WiMAX.

The tablet also provides enough expansion options: it has an SD card slot and a MicroUSB port. There are 2 cameras - one for making calls and the other for taking photographs. Other specifications include 512MB of RAM and up to 32GB of flash storage.

The ICD Gemini runs Google Android. The 11.2 inch display features 1366 x 768 pixels. No word on pricing or availability at the moment.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is now available for purchase with a dual core processor. The ThinkPad X100e is an 11.6 inch thin and light notebook. It has been around for a while but only single core processor options were available until now. But now you can configure the notebook with either the Athlon Neo X2 Dual Core L335 (at an additional cost of $45) or the AMD Turion Neo X2 Dual Core L625 (+$70) processor.

The cheapest model with a dual core processor now starts at $494. For that price you also get 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics and Windows 7 Home Premium. Upgrades to Windows 7 Professional, up to 320GB of hard drive and up to 4GB of RAM is also available. Other options include Bluetooth and 3G.

The ThinkPad X100e is known to get dismal battery life. While the dual core models will the give performance a boost, the battery situation may get worse further.

Lenovo's newly introduced IdeaPad S10-3s looks an awful lot like the IdeaPad S10-3 which is already available on the market. Both models have more or less the same specs including a 10.1 inch display, a Pine Trail Atom processor and WiFi 802.11b/g/n, but the IdeaPad S10-3s is available with more configuration options including:

* Processor: Intel Atom N450 or N470
* Display: 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel or 1280 x 720 pixel
* Memory: Up to 2GB
* Operating System: Windows 7 Starter, Windows XP
* Storage: 160GB, 250GB, 320GB hard drive, or 16GB, 32GB solid state disk
* Connectivity: Optional Bluetooth, 3G modem
* Battery: 3 cell or 6 cell

Another noticeable difference is in the case design. While the S10-3 measures an inch in thickness, the S10-3s is remarkably thin measuring in just 0.6 inches in thickness. Other remarkable features include the Quick Start OS and DirectShare software that would allow you to sync your files with another PC.

Pricing and Availability
The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3s is available in white, black and 'spring flowers' pattern. It has a starting price of $379.99 and is expected to be available in mid-April.

The Asus U30JC thin and light laptop is now available for purchase in the US. The U30JC sports a 13.3 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels. It is a good alternative for a bulky desktop replacement laptop or a tiny netbook.

The Asus U30JC is powered by a 2.26GHz Intel Core i3-350M processor and NVIDIA GeForce GT310M discrete graphics. The notebook features NVIDIA's Optimus technology that would automatically switch between the discrete and integrated graphics solutions. Other specifications include up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 320GB, 5400 rpm hard drive, an optical drive, Gigabit Ethernet,WiFi, HDMI out, webcam and mic. The battery is rated at 5,600mAh and Asus claims that it will power the laptop for around 9.5 hours.

Pricing and availability
The Asus U30JC is now available for purchase in the US. Prices start at $899.

The folks at Engadget have unearthed what could possibly be a leaked document showing the specs for the upcoming HP Slate. Here is the rundown:

Processor: 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor
Display: 8.9 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels
Memory: 1GB of RAM
Storage: 32GB to 64GB of flash storage

The battery is expected to provide around 5 hours of runtime. And unlike iPad, the HP Slate will have several expansion options including an SDHC card slot and a USB port. Other features include 2 cameras, an HDMI output and an optional 3G modem. According to the Engadget post, the base model with 32GB storage will cost $549 while the 64GB model will set you back $599.

The HP Slate will apparently run Windows 7 Home Premium which has several touch friendly features. HP is also expected to build a custom touch-optimized user interface. No firm shipping dates yet.

HP, we know, is building a tablet PC and has plans to release it soon too. Apple may have set a record or two by selling over 300,000 iPads within 24 hours of launching it on Saturday, but HP is undeterred by the figures and for good reason. The HP Slate, according to the company,is capable of doing a few things that iPad can't. For example, it has a camera which would let you take pictures and upload them to Flickr. You may also make two-way video calls. Neither is possible with iPad because it doesn't have a camera.

Better still, the HP Slate supports Flash. So if you are Hulu lover, it is the tablet you need to buy.

HP released a video today showing its tablet playing Flash videos and music from iTunes. Overall, the interface looks slick. The HP tablet also has an SD card slot and a USB port - two more things the Apple tablet doesn't have.

The Asus Eee PC T101MT has finally started shipping. Almost 14 months have elapsed since Asus showed off this tablet-style netbook. The Eee PC T101MT is now available from Amazon for $499 plus free shipping. Additional retailers may start selling the netbook in the coming days.

The Eee PC T101MT has a 10.1 inch touchscreen display with 1024 x 600 pixels. The display can be rotated down over the keyboard for using the netbook in the tablet mode. Other specifications include 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive,WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and a 0.3 mega pixel webcam.

The netbook runs Windows 7 Operating system. The particular model that is shipping at the moment has Windows 7 Starter Edition which means that you won't get the full advantage of the touch-friendly features available in other versions of Windows 7.
A higher-end model with more memory and Windows 7 Home Premium is also available in some areas.

Apple says that it sold over 300,000 iPads within 24 hours of launching the product on Saturday. Of course, that figure includes pre-orders that were placed over the last month or so. Still selling 300,000 units of a product that fewer people got to check out in person before shelling out $499 is no mean feat.

Apple hasn't released the 3G-enabled versions of iPads yet. They are expected to hit the streets in a week or so and then sales figures could jump even further. What's more, Apple says that iPad buyers downloaded over a million apps from the iTunes app store and 250,000 books from the iBook store.

Of course Apple has a fanatic fan following in the US and the company's products have a history of doing extremely well on the opening weekend. Now that iPad reviews are also out we should be able to get more reasonable numbers in the coming weeks.

The first few netbooks to hit the market were powered by VIA's C7-M processors. Over the next couple of years, the company lost the battle to Intel Atom processors. VIA has, nevertheless, continued to release new and improved power efficient processors but they are now usually only used in netbooks built in China or other developing nations.

According to a report that appeared in a prominent Indian newspaper, Samsung and Lenovo both plan to offer netbooks with VIA's new VX900 media processors by June.
The VIA VX900 processor offers 1080p HD video playback on low power netbooks. They also offer the DirectX 9 support - but not DirectX 10 support. So you can't expect these processors to compete with NVIDIA's ION platform. But since the VIA VX900 can be used with a VIA X7 or Nano processor, companies will be able to bring the prices of netbooks further down.

We spotted the LG X140 at the FCC website a few weeks ago and now more details have emerged. Wireless Goodness reports that the X140 will sport a 3G modem with support for GSM 850/1900 and WCDMA bands II and V which probably means that you will be able to use the netbook with AT&T’s wireless broadband service.Still it is not clear whether you will be able to pick the netbook directly from AT&T at a subsidized price.

The LG X140 has slightly better specs than an average netbook. It features 10.1 inch
HD display with 1366 x 768 pixels. The netbook is powered by a 1.83GHz Intel Atom N470 processor which is said to deliver better performance than the Atom N450 processor found in most netbooks. Other features include WiFi and Bluetooth. LG is also expected to release a cheaper model with an Atom N450 processor and a 1024 x 600 pixels display sometime soon.