Intel N280 processor and GN40 chipset provides better hardware video decoding and 3D graphics performance only if you are using Windows Vista. This is because only Vista (or later) gives you directX 10 and DXVA 2.0.
Unfortunately, most of the netbooks are still shipping with the Windows XP. With Windows XP, you only get DXVA 1.0 due to which hardware video decoding does not work properly. With Vista, DXVA 2.0 is available and hardware decoding worked fine.
Right now, only Eee PC 1004DN and Gigabyte Technology’s Touch Note T1028 have GN40 chipset. It may be true that netbooks with N280+GN40 combo may offer better hardware video decoding, but the overall performance with a BETA product like Vista is simply horrible on the netbooks.
I tried Vista on my EEE 1000H with 2GB RAM and the performance is disappointing. I will (patiently) wait for the Windows 7 instead.
Fujitsu has released many portable devices like UMPCs and netbooks in the past. Most of them have really been ground-breaking (take U820/U2010 for example). Although the Loox M looks quite pretty from outside, but from inside it is just-another-netbook.
It comes with 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, three USB 2.0 sockets and a multicard reader. True, there is nothing ground-breaking about these specifications, but its price of $611 is surely something which most of the netbooks in the market are not carrying right now.
Steve Jobs once said “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk.” This statement was not much liked by a lot of netbook users as we ourselves know how capable these machines are. The latest rumors point towards Foxconn Electronics, which is supposed to make the Apple’s first netbook. Most of the rumors point towards a device having 10-inch screen and running Mac OS X. It is also supposed to have WiFi and built in 3G to use the cellular networks for Internet surfing.
According to About.com, there may be two ways in which the Apple Netbook may be retailed:
via Apple and its retail stores
via cellular providers
By selling via cellular providers, they will be able to sell the netbook with small initial price just the way they sell iPhone and then letting the consumer pay according to the plan chosen by him
Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, has announced the availability of Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix. The newer version of ubuntu is going to be made available this coming Thursday. The newer version sports faster boot times. It also comes with an interface which lets them launch their favorite application easily and quickly. Other improvements include better power management and easier switching between networks.
Although, I really enjoyed EEEbuntu, which is actually an Ubuntu 8.10 with EEE drivers, but its long bootup time was the main turn off. That is the reason, I kept going back to Windows XP. I’m really looking forward to download the Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix version. I hope the improvements are enough to make me use the Ubuntu full time.
Remember the Sharp Mebius netbook that we mentioned a couple of days back? Well, some new details have emerge about it, something that makes it very different from the other netbooks in the market. It features an LCD trackpad. About the Trackpad: Contrary to what you must be thinking about its utility, it features multi-touch too. Looks like engineers at Sharp took some thoughts from the Apple’s book. The resolution of the trackpad is really notable: 854 x 480. That is more than the one found on the early EEEs! (700 series). The brightness is automatically adjusted. The LCD on the trackpad can also be used as a second LCD and its resolution is not too bad for running programs. However, you will to squint your eyes to read the text.
After built-in DVD drives and bigger displays, now companies have another gimmick to offer to the users: a netbooks with LCD trackpad! How useful that would be? Only time will tell. The Sharp has bundled Windows Vista Home Basic with it. I hope they make the Windows XP drivers available soon as performance of Vista on a Atom machine won’t be that good at all. The price is to be around 80,000 Yen ($815). That would really hurt your wallet in such tough economic times. For that price, you can two EEE 1000H easily.
Here are its full specifications:
* Intel Atom N270 (1.60GHz)
* Mobile Intel 945GSE Express chip set
* 1GB RAM (max 2GB)
* 160GB HDD
* 10.1-inch
* 1024 x 600 pixel display
* USB 2.0×3
* Ethernet and WiFi b/g
* Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
* Dimensions: 260×190×23.3
* Weight: 1.46kg
* Battery life: 3h
We have heard so much about the netbooks running Android OS (see this and this). iBuddie is actually planning to ship a netbook loaded with Android OS sometime soon. Here is a video of its prototype:
Finally, Samsung’s announced its long-awaited N120 netbook for a not so desirous price of $465.99. Its available in two shades – black and white. Nothing unusual or rare about its features yet to put them down, here they come:
Toshiba launches its new 10.1 inch widescreen range of netbooks in Japan this week, with a price tag of £400. The UX Series boasts of a longer battery life of about 4 hours compared to the NB100 netbook with battery life of 2.9 hours. However, inspite of its larger screen the model is smaller, at 263 x 192 x 31mm and weighs between 1.2 and 1.3Kg depending on the configuration. The other specifications are same as many other netbooks in the market, like:
Intel’s N280 Atom processor
1GB RAM
160GB Hard Disk Drive
1,024 x 600 pixel resolution
The new netbook from Toshiba looks very promising. The chicklet keyboard seems to be of much better quality than the found on ASUS EEE 1000HE (reviewed here)
I do not think there remains one netbook which has not enjoyed tasting Mac OS X. This clearly shows that the netbooks have adequate hardware to run full fledge Mac OS X. Then why Apple is not coming out with a netbook? Well, the reason is obvious:
They do not have a tendency to sell products for cheap
It would make selling iPod Touch even harder
Anyway, here is a video of how to install Mac OS X on a Dell Mini 9 netbook
Requirements:
Intel Mac with OS X Leopard installed
8 GB or greater USB Drive (Flash, HDD, memory card + reader, etc.)
Retail Mac OS X Leopard DVD, any version
Sotware, as mentioned
*Note: If you use a disc older than 10.5.6, make sure to extract the Mac OS X 10.5.7 update package from the DMG file to a USB drive and have that drive, whether it is you DellEFIBootMaker drive or another one, plugged in when you boot into the OS for the first time. This is a common glitch, 10.5.6 is okay with this.*
2) Insert the Mac OS X Leopard Install DVD into your Mac, as well as the 8 GB drive. Open Disk Utility (in the Utilities folder of Applications) and select the 8 GB drive in the list. Select the Partition tab, set the Volume Scheme as “1 Partition”, name it OSXDVD, and select “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” as the Format. Click “Options…”, select “Master Boot Record” and click OK then Apply, then click Partition and confirm your decision by entering your password. (This should only take a minute or two.) Now switch to the Restore tab, drag the OSXDVD partition icon from the left into the Destination field and drag the DVD volume named “Mac OS X Install DVD” to the Source field. (Do not drag the CD Drive model, that will mess things up.) Press Restore, confirm the decision by pressing Restore in the next window, enter your password, and then wait for it to finish. Depending on the drive and disc quality, this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours.
3) Run the DellEFIBootMaker app (you’ll need to unzip the file first), simply click the “Make DellEFI USB Boot Key” button, enter your password and click okay when it is done. You’ll want to unzip and copy the DellEFI 1.2a5 app to the drive as well. (This next step isn’t necessary, but if you have any more room, or if you have another drive available, you should open the Mac OS X 10.5.7 Combo Update image and copy the file inside to a disk as well.) Eject the DVD and the drive from your Mac, either by a right-click (control+click for you one-buttoned people) or by dragging the icon to the trash.
Installation (On the Dell)
4) Insert the USB drive into your Dell. Turn the Dell on and enter Setup by pressing “2” (the number two.) Navigate to the Advanced tab, and make sure that “USB BIOS Legacy Support” is Enabled and “USB Wake Support” is Disabled. (If you don’t have BlueTooth or do not have a need for it, turn off BlueTooth as well.) Select “Exit Saving Changes” in the Exit tab and your Dell will restart. Now press “0” (the number zero) when you see the Dell logo, and select “USB Storage”. A grey screen with drive icons should appear, select OSXDVD. After this you should see a bunch of scrolling text, and then the Installer screen will appear.
5) Select your language, press Continue, and Agree. Now click Utilities in the Menu Bar, and open Disk Utility. This time we want to select your SSD drive, then select the Partition tab. (This can also be performed on an external flash/HDD drive.) Volume Scheme is “1 Partition”, Name is “OSXMINI9” (all caps, no quotes), Format is “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)”, and you need to click “Options…” to change it to “GUID Partition Table”. Click OK, Apply, and confirm the decision. Once it is done formatting, close Disk Utility, select your new partition, and click Continue. I recommend no matter what your configuration is to press Customize and deselect anything you do not need, such as Language Translations, Additional Fonts, and Printer Drivers, but adjust according to your needs. Click Done, and then Install. This can take anywhere from 20-50 minutes.
6) Installation will most likely fail, but that’s okay, it’s normal. However, do not press Restart; instead, go up to Utilities and select Terminal. When the Terminal window appears, type “postinstall” (without quotes) and after a few seconds it should say, “You are now ready to reboot to a fully functional OSX Install!” Now type “reboot” and your Dell will begin the restart process. It may take a minute or two, so be patient. When your computer does reboot, enter Setup again by pressing “2” (the number two.) Navigate to the Advanced tab. If you have BlueTooth and intend to use it, turn “USB BIOS Legacy Support” is Disabled. If you do not have BlueTooth, or do not intend to use it, keep “USB BIOS Legacy Support” Enabled and set BlueTooth to Disabled. Select “Exit Saving Changes” in the Exit tab and your Dell will restart again. Let it start up as normal and it should show the grey screen again, and will ask which drive to boot from (or perhaps it will automatically boot from the SSD.)
Post-Install
7) You may or may not see the startup video, depending on the version of your Install DVD. Setup your account as you see fit. When it comes to the Migration Assistant, do not transfer settings. When it is all done, you should see your Desktop, with drive icons for your SSD and USB drive. If you are on 10.5.6, you could just leave it like this since all the drivers and the bootloader work just fine, but that would not be ideal since you are not up to date.
8) Now it’s time for DellEFI. You should have copied this to your flash drive earlier, or you could download it now, but either way run the app. If it prompts you about needing to remove or delete a file first, press No. You will need to run a Custom Installation with the following settings:
“Reinstall Chameleon 2.0RC1-r431 Bootloader”
“Install Dell Mini 9 Extensions”
“Hide DellEFI files”
“Remove custom dsdt.aml file”
“Restore the 10.5.5 keyboard pref pane”
“Disable Hibernate and remove sleep file (recommended)”
(You can also select “Remote CD” if you want to use that feature.) Press Install, confirm the decision, and let it run until completion. However, when it comes up with the prompt that says, “All done, ready for reboot” select No.
9) No matter what version you originally installed, you’ll want to install the 10.5.7 update. Either use the Mac OS X 10.5.7 Combo Update for discs 10.5.5 and older, or the Mac OS X 10.5.7 incremental update for 10.5.6 discs. (You can either obtain from the website via your Dell, or it could be stored on another drive, but please note that older disc installations (10.5.5 and below) will probably have a problem opening the DMG. To circumvent this, extract the update package from the DMG to an external drive and plug it in before booting). When the install completes, press Restart.
10) This time when it reboots, you will see a little progress bar underneath your SSD icon. Hit the “-” (minus) key before the progress bar disappears, and then type “-x” (no quotes.) If you look in the bottom left corner, you should see white text that says, “boot: -x”; hit enter. This will boot Mac OS X into Safe Mode. Once you log in back to the Desktop, run Dell EFI one last time. Use these settings in a Custom Installation:
“Reinstall Chameleon 2.0RC1-r431 Bootloader”
“Reinstall Dell Mini 9 Extensions”
“Hide DellEFI files”
“Generate a system specific dsdt.aml file”
Click Install, confirm the decision, and this time press Yes when it is done installing. Ignore the box that appears during the restart process, it is just letting you know that it is still updating some files. This time, you will boot into a fully functioning Mac OS X updated to 10.5.7. Congratulations!
You can now go ahead and rename your SSD to whatever you please, install any other software and adjust any settings at this point. Treat it like any other Mac
The Samsung NC10 is STILL one of the best netbooks out there. It is very famous for its 6 hours+ battery life and good performance. Folks at micodirect.co.uk at selling it for 293 pounds (including VAT), which is pretty decent price for a great netbook.
