For older readers of this site (before the refresh) you will know I am a huge Vaio fanboy. Matter of fact I am writing this article on one of the first 13.3-inchers released in Australia (cost $4,000). So I am very happy to announce a few range refreshers from Sony, which include a G2 replacement, an update to the desktop replacement’s titled the L series and a big fat AR series notebook.
The G2 is an ultralight, with a 12.1-inch display and low power processor. The changes between this model and the previous are the two choices of the new Intel low power processors (U7600 and U7500), choice of 3 different SSD’s (32/48/64GB) as well as a few normal HDD’s, and lastly the choice of 3 colours. No prices as yet, but expect the SSD driven variants to be a little pricier then standard HDD. The release date is set in October for Japan only.
The L series desktop replacement is a sort of iMac competitor (better in my opinion). Previously the L series “The Panel PC” was only a 15.4-inch (in Australia anyway), but the new series includes a 15.4-inch (LJ with 1280 x 800 resolution), 19-inch (LM with 1440 x 900 resolution) and 22-inch (LT with 1680 × 1050 resolution) version. Also included in the package is a range of Intel Core 2 Duo CPU’s and a NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT video card. They will range in 3 different colours, which are silver, black and pink (very metro). Release date is set as October the 6th and the pricing will start at $US1478 for the baby, all the way up to $3218 for the big daddy.
Finally we have the sexy 17-incher from Sony. The AR600 will be the replacement for the now aging AR500 series. Upgrades include 8400M GT or 8600M GT NVIDIA video card’s, Core 2 Duo T7250 or T7500 processors and a sweet Blu-ray and CableCard mix. They are expected to be seen around October the 2nd and will range in price from $US1,700 to $US3,300.
For more info, steal a plane and fly over to Gizmodo’s Blog, Engadget’s Blog and Akihabara News Site.
Since I’ve been gone we have seen the OLPC go up in price, we have seen the Palm Foreo shown off and then disappear, the VIA NanoBook impress and now we have the big news of something which sits between the lot of them. The device I’m talking about is the Asus EeePC.
It isn’t the latest news, and has been talked about for a few months now, but lets have a quick run over of what it is. Inside you are looking at something which should be quicker then your OLPC, with a 900Mhz Intel processor, integrated Intel GMA 900 graphics processor, 7-inch display, 256 or 512 MB DDR2-400 (upgradeable to 1GB), 2, 4, 8 or 16 GB flash Solid state drive, Hi-Definition Audio, 5200 mAh 4 cell battery (different numbers everywhere on life, but about 3-4 hours), PCI Express Mini Card connector, 10/100 Mbit Ethernet, 56k modem, 802.11b/g wireless LAN and a SD card slot for expandability. That is only the top of what it is capable of with some variants of the notebook to feature a built in web camera and possibly bigger screens in the future (10-inch). The whole ultralight weighs a measly 890 grams, making it light enough to keep on you most of the time.
The software part of the unit runs on a special edition of Xandros, which is a Linux based OS originally designed for simplicity and to mimic some parts of the windows environment. Asus have also said that it will be compatible with Windows XP, though that will be a extra cost to the user.
The questionable part is the reality of this unit. There has been tests run on and reviews by some websites about this unit (mostly positive), but the release dates are constantly changing and the specs as well. Even the price has gone up by around $US70 putting it at around $US269. Even those facts are being requestioned everyday!
Now I have to ask why? I understand it is cheap and does quite a bit, but then again it lacks quite a bit as well and considering the OLPC can do almost everything it can do in theory and at the same time help the poor, why would Asus release a notebook at could possibly compete with it? Is it a greedy move by Asus or just a smart one? Will be a great side kick to users who want a small cheap secondary device to travel with or Will it be to small and to under powered to be any use to anyone?
Now it is time for predictions. I expect this to be shunned by a lot of pro OLPC supporters, and for a lot of public releases from Asus saying it is the same but different to the OLPC. I expect it to be released later then we all expected (why rush? There is still no competition). I expect it to have a great initial release selling lots, but later on considered a gadget unless you upgrade to the more expensive mode. Seeing Apple and Asus have a tight relationship, expect an Apple variant of this notebook (more expensive and shiny).
For now that is all I will rant on about this product, but expect an update when I know more about the subject at hand.
For more info, hop skip and jump over to either the Asus EeePC Website, Wikipedia EeePC Page or the EeeUser Website.