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Gateway goes for luxe on new laptops

October 20th, 2008, 7:29 am by

These fancy photos make Gateway’s new MC series laptops look very sleek and luxurious. I haven’t seen them in person, but from the description, they are trying to be stylish. Since Gateway is out of Irvine, I thought I’d mention them.

Design elements include illuminated multimedia touch controls on the keyboard and a 16-inch screen with ‘edge-to-edge seamless glass.” There’s also an ambient light sensor that adjusts the brightness according to the external light. 

The case comes in two colors – burgundy and black — and it looks like there’s a leather stripe on the cover with Gateway’s logo embossed in zinc alloy metal. Inside, each color has a different look. The burgundy model has a brushed metal palm rest and a black polished keyboard. The black version has a shiny jet black keyboard with a synthetic leather palm rest.

These don’t skimp on computing features, either. Both come with 4 GBs of memory (DDR2 667 MHz), Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 (2 GHz) and an Intel Graphics card plus 320 GB hard drive. 

The  Gateway MC7801u is the lower-end model for $949.99. The higher-end Gateway MC7803u, adds an  ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics card with 512MB dedicated memory and comes out at $999.99 (hmmm… same price as the new ‘lower priced’ MacBooks). 

More details at Gateway’s MC Series site.

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Samsung enters PC world with 4 laptops, plus netbook

October 14th, 2008, 12:00 am by

Is there really room for another computer company? Samsung plans to find out. The Korean company, which started selling PCs in Korea in 1983, is launching five laptops for the first time in the U.S. today.

I visited withf Dave McFarland, Samsung’s senior product marketing manager (who previously held a similar job at Toshiba), for a closer look. Samsung’s North American PC headquarters is in Irvine, where the company also has its printers, monitors and other computing products located. 

McFarland said the reason Samsung finally entered the U.S. market is simple: It already makes many of the parts that go into laptops: hard drives, memory, LCD screens, AC adapters and communications chips. 

“Sixty percent of what’s in a laptop is made by Samsung,” McFarland said. “The one piece missing is the computer.”

Click images below for larger photo:

    

For more photos, see the slideshow HERE.

 

But at least one industry analyst isn’t too excited. David Daoud, from market researcher IDC, has two words: “Good luck,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

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eMachines finally comes out with sub-$300 computer

October 10th, 2008, 4:55 pm by

eMachines, now part of the Acer computer family based mostly in Irvine, finally offers up a PC just $2 shy of $300. It’s a 25 percent price drop from its $399 price tag that eMachines slapped onto PCs 10 years ago, which changed the entire price scene of the PC market. Until now.

Its first small desktop computer, the EL1200 Desktop Series PC, is an interesting offering for the brand, which isn’t known for its pretty PCs. But this must be different. Even the press release calls it ‘stylish.”

eMachines has come out with sub $399 PCs before but those usually had lesser hardware and weren’t that interesting. The brand started in Irvine, was later acquired by Gateway, which in turn was acquired by Acer last year. eMachines and Gateway are now brands of Acer.

All I can say is – About time! eMachines should have led the latest trend of budget-priced PCs (see “Netbooks everywhere. Do consumers really want them?“). The small form factor has already been done by everyone else, including Gateway. Dell has really nice-looking ones in the $599 range.

Getting back to the latest machine … The EL1200 is “one-third the size of a traditional PC,” according to the company. It’s 40 to 55 percent lighter than eMachines smallest desktop. Yet, as with traditional eMachines, the series “pack as much computing power as most mainstream full-size towers.”

The goods?

It has a 64-bit AMD Athlon 1.5 GHz chip (OK), 1 to 2 GB of memory (can add more cheaply), NVIDIA GeForce graphics chip (not bad), 160 GB hard drive (the going rate) and a DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash technology (fun!)

A nice touch: a low-power 15-watt CPU that uses less energy than a standard desktop (let’s hope so).

Two versions are available now. The $298 is at Wal-Mart. The $349 version, which has a larger hard drive and faster chip, is at Best Buy.

The new eMachines EL1200 models are available now. The EL1200-05w, available at Wal-Mart, has an MSRP of $298. The EL 1210-01e can be purchased from Best Buy, and has an MSRP of $349.

Specs are after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

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Toshiba won’t release netbooks in the U.S. — for now

September 18th, 2008, 6:01 pm by

Mini-computers known as netbooks may be the biggest trend among PC makers but Orange County’s own Toshiba America is holding off on releasing one of its own, according to a Toshiba spokesperson I spoke to today.

While the company’s European operations have apparently announced the first Toshiba netbook (pictured on right), that model will not be available in the U.S., according to my contact. We may even hear of other Toshiba netbook launches — Mexico? Asia? — but nothing here.

“The company is still evaluating the netbook in the U.S.,” is all my contact at Toshiba would say.

The local Toshiba computing group, based in Irvine, may be wondering as I did, whether people really want netbooks. These mini computers are smaller than laptops with 7 to 10-inch screens and cost around $300 to $600. But they are also less powerful, with Intel’s smallest chip, the Intel Atom. Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo plus a slew of lesser-known brands have already released a netbook or announced one. (See “Mini PCs you may have missed“).

But maybe people do want them? Netbooks were recently on sale at Amazon.com. And this week, Amazon said that mini-laptops like the ASUS Eee PC and Acer Aspire One were among five netbooks in the top 10 best-selling notebooks from June till now. Eight of the top 10 best selling notebooks right now are netbooks.

More on netbooks:

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A netbook with an 18-inch monitor

September 12th, 2008, 4:07 pm by

Santa Ana’s Averatec is coming out with an 18-inch netbook, which sounds contradictory to the whole netbook idea of being thin and light (some netbooks are tiny laptops with a mere 7-inch screen for $299).

The computer, dubbed All in One Design, is really an 18.2-inch 18.4-inch widescreen monitor with the netbook hardware as its base.

I stopped by its office this week to get the scoop from Darren Lee, Averatec’s director of marketing.

Netbooks tend to be smaller, cheaper and less powerful laptop computers. They’re being pitched to consumers as machines meant for Internet usage, and then some. It seems that everyone has a netbook these days, including the big companies Dell, HP and Acer. Averatec plans to release a standard netbook by Christmas.

But this all-in-one netbook (keyboard isn’t attached) is definitely unique. I do remember a similar design from prototypes that I saw a few years back, but I have never seen such designs in stores.  The arm attaching the monitor to the base flexes until it’s flat against the back of the monitor and top of the base. Thus, it’s easy to mount to the wall.

Watch my video of Averatec’s Darren Lee demonstrating this feature:

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.

Averatec’s computer has a lot of useful features: webcam, 160 GB hard drive, Wi-Fi and card reader. But missing is Bluetooth. If you’re going to mount this to the wall, it’ll need a wireless keyboard. That means you’ll have to use one of its 5 USB ports to add a bulky wireless dongle. But with Bluetooth, you won’t have that excess clutter.

The 9-pound contraption also claims to be the thinnest all-in-one design, with the LCD at 0.59-inch thick and the base at 1.3-inches. While white and black units are being made, only the black version will be available in the U.S. Estimated price: $549.99!

More specs: Read the rest of this entry »

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Acer cuts price of its 2-month old ‘netbook’ PC

August 22nd, 2008, 5:30 am by

Acer Aspire oneJust two months after launching its first netbook computer, Acer America plans to announce today that it chopped $50 off these 2-pound laptops. The Acer Aspire one is now $349 for the Windows XP version and $329 for the Linpus Linux Lite version.

Why the sudden price drop? To lure the back-to-school crowd, says Acer.

Netbooks, the newest category of computers, are a new option for students this fall, thanks to last spring’s debut of Intel’s tiny Atom chip. Most netbooks — also called nettops, ultra portables and mini computers — are around 2 pounds, have Wi-Fi for Internet access, screen sizes below 10 inches and cost between $300 to $500.

But with the onslaught of netbooks in recent months — about a dozen since spring– I wondered if people really wanted them or if this was all just a marketing ploy by PC makers to expand the computer market. Everyone from HP to newcomer Sylvania and Hannspree were coming out with one (the only PC brand without one rumored on the way is Irvine’s Gateway, which is owned by Acer). An analyst I interviewed believes companies think the market is bigger than it actually is.

I wouldn’t mind ditching my 6-pound laptop for a smaller, lighter laptop. Not that lightweight laptops are new. For many years, the lighter laptops, like Toshiba’s old 7-inch Libretto for $2,000, were just too expensive. The new netbooks skimp on features but at $399, you may not care.

Acer Aspire one

Acer’s Aspire wasn’t the most expensive out there, nor the cheapest. But with the $50 price drop, it does become one of the cheapest, next to a very low-end $299 Eee PC from ASUS.

The $349 Aspire AOA150-1570 , in particular, weighs 2.17 pounds, and has 1GB of memory, a 120 GB hard drive and Windows XP. The Aspire one AOA110-1722 is the model with Linux.  A third model, the AOA150-1447, includes better specs, such as a six-cell battery and 160 GB hard drive, and costs $399.

Images courtesy of Acer

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Will crazy colors spur interest in new netbooks?

August 19th, 2008, 7:31 pm by

Sylvania g Meso netbooksI can’t get enough of these netbooks! And now they come in four new colors: Onyx, Snow, Solar and Blossom.  (I guess that’s artsy speak for black, white, yellow and pink).  Sylvania unveiled its ‘MESO‘ line ” to match your attitude,” says the press release.  Sylvania G Meso netbooks

These smaller, thinner and cheaper computers are sprouting up everywhere whether or not people want them. I definitely like the idea of a lighter computer, but I’m a girl who likes performance so trading the extra pounds for a less powerful processor and minimal features hasn’t made me bite. Yet.

These new 2.2-pound MESOs have an 8.9-inch screen, an Intel Atom chip,  80 GB hard drive, 512 or 1 GB of memory, Wi-Fi, web cam, card reader, 3 USB ports and your choice of Linux-based Ubuntu Netbook Remix or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. Battery lasts 4 hours.

That’s not too bad, especially for the $399 price tag (or the price of a 16 GB iPhone and a year of its e-mail service, MobileMe). It’s on pre-order right now at Amazon, TigerDirect and others. See how it compares to the other netbooks on the market at “Mini PCs you may have missed.”

But I do wonder why Sylvania skipped blue and green. Could they not think of some creative twist on the name? Got any colorful suggestions?

More pics: From Sylvania g’s web site:

Sylvania g Meso netbooks Sylvania g Meso netbooks Sylvania g Meso netbooks

Related posts on netbooks:

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Another PC company to launch cheap ‘netbook’

August 11th, 2008, 2:11 pm by

Averatec’s upcoming netbook computerSanta Ana’s Averatec is jumping into the category of smaller, cheaper computers with its own netbook.

Averatec, the brand name of Korean manufacturer TriGem Computer Inc., already has laptops with 12-inch screens (and recently launched a nifty-looking iMac-ish all in one computer). But the new netbook-sized computers will be around 10.2-inches, which puts them on the larger end of netbooks.

Averatec’s upcoming netbook computer

Darren Lee, Averatec’s director of marketing, filled me in on the details. This new PC will also be an Intel Atom-based netbook but Averatec is going after folks who just want a smaller laptop — not a larger PDA.

The larger screen plus a near-fullsize keyboard with a real ‘Shift’ key will also have a larger hard drive of around 120 GB, Lee said. It’ll still be sub-3 pounds and cost around $399 or $499. Expect the new netbook by Christmas.

“Here’s our take on it: Everyone’s getting in. It’s a trend happening right now. We have the resources to get in so we will,” Lee said. “Since we have a relationship with (retailers), we can get it into stores.”

Most companies sell their netbooks online only.

Who doesn’t make one these days? Read my last story on this: Netbooks everywhere. Do people really want them? and feel free to take the poll HERE.

If you’re wanting to read up on netbooks, check out my past posts on the topic:

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