Netbook News

HP nixed the VIA C7-M processor it used in the 2133 Mini-Note for Intel’s reliable and power-efficient 1.6-GHz Atom N270 processor. Along with 1GB of RAM, the Mini 2140 provided the typical netbook performance we’ve seen in many similarly configured systems. We couldn’t run our usual PCMark05 test on the system, but in our hands-on experience, the machine’s Windows XP performance was snappy. Firefox and Windows Media Player opened quickly, and we saw no performance hit when conducting video calls over Skype, surfing the Web with multiple tabs open, and writing this review in Microsoft Word 2007.

The Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics chip with 64MB of memory delivered a score of 748 in 3DMark03 and 125 in 3DMark06; the former is about 70 points below the category average, and the latter is about 130 points below average. Still, the Mini 2140 scored higher on 3DMark06 than the ASUS Eee PC 1002HA (678) and the hp 372772-001 battery Samsung NC10 (730). Watching an episode of Heroes using an external DVD drive at full-screen was smooth.

Hard Drive Performance
The Mini 2140’s 160GB, 5,400-rpm Hitachi SATA hard drive (which is protected by HP’s 3D DriveGuard accelerometer) booted Windows XP Home in 57 seconds; that’s a few seconds better than the average netbook. The LAPTOP Transfer Test (copying a 4.97GB folder of mixed media) took a speedy 5 minutes and 22 seconds, a rate of 15.8 MBps. This is higher than the category average of 13.2 MBps and right smack hp 417066-001 battery between the Lenovo IdeaPad S10’s 17.4 MBps and the Samsung NC10’s 12.4 MBps. As with the HP Mini 1000, the Mini 2140 will also be available with a solid-state drive option.
Ambient Heat
Compared with the 2133 Mini-Note, which got extremely warm during heavy usage, the Mini 2140 stayed relatively cool. The keyboard and touchpad remained at room temperature during frequent use. However, the bottom of the Mini 2140 got slightly warmer than the rest of the system, registering 96 degrees during our battery test.

Battery Life
The HP Mini 2140 outshines not only its predecessor when it comes to endurance but all other netbooks equipped with six-cell batteries. On the LAPTOP Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi), the system lasted a very impressive 7 hours and 19 minutes. This runtime blows away the mini-notebook average of 3:48, and it beats out even the Samsung NC10, the longest-lasting mini-notebook to date, by 45 minutes. If you can live with the added bulk of the six-cell hp 367759-001 battery, it’s more than worth the $30 premium. Still, the smaller three-cell battery lasts a solid 3 hours and 32 minutes.

HP also includes its Fast Charge technology in the Mini 2140, which can charge the netbook’s primary battery up to 90 percent within 90 minutes when the system is off. A completely drained six-cell hp f2024a battery on the Mini 2140 took 98 minutes to charge up to 98 percent with the system powered down; by comparison, the ASUS Eee PC 1000H (also with a six-cell battery) recharged up to 84 percent in the same amount of time

Kindle owners rejoice: Amazon announced an upgrade and an add-on that should please current owners of the device and tempt a few more consumers into the fold.

Kindle engineers have been hard at work on a firmware upgrade that will increase the life of the device when wireless is turned on. Instead of lasting four days, Kindle will now last 7 — an 85% increase. Battery life with wireless off remains around 2 weeks.

Amazon is also adding a native PDF viewer. Now Kindle owners don’t need to convert PDFs to Kindle files in order to read them on the device. This works for both files loaded via the USB cable from the D5318 or those emailed to @Kindle.com addresses.

These updates will come via an automatic Whispernet update for current Kindle owners.Inspiron 6000 battery，Inspiron 9300 battery，Inspiron 9400 battery.

Mary Lou Jepsen and her team at start-up Pixel Qi have their display-screen technology in several products being shown at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and plan to put a DIY (do it yourself) screen kit on the market early this year.

Jepsen, formerly the head of Intel’s display division and chief technology officer at One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), has focused on lowering the battery drain by LCD screens and making them useful as e-readers in addition to normal computer use.

The GK479 company’s first screen, at 10.1-inches, is being displayed by several companies at CES, including in a multi-touch tablet PC from Notion Ink Design Labs called the Smartpad.

Pixel Qi also hopes to make the screen, called 3qi, available to anyone with some engineering savvy who wants to use its DIY kit to switch out their own netbook screen or try to create their own computer.

“We just think it’s important to give everyone an opportunity to innovate, especially [considering] our roots at One FK890 Per Child,” Jepsen said in an interview at CES, “so we’ll be announcing soon a way people can just buy the screens and mod their own notebooks or make their own systems.”

Pixel Qi hopes to have DIY kits out by the end of the first quarter or early in the second quarter of this year, she said.

Jepsen’s goal is to extend the battery life of laptops to 20 to 40 hours by lowering power consumption by the display screen. She said production of the new screens will ramp up quickly in coming Inspiron 1721 battery months.

The initial 10.1-inch screen uses LCD technology so it matches current manufacturing procedures, yet costs less to make than traditional LCDs and uses about a tenth of the power.

The screens are designed so people can read them in direct sunlight, turn off the LED backlight to view black and white text, like an e-reader, and offer a fully saturated HDTV-quality color mode for video.

Pixel Qi used Lenovo Ideapad netbooks at their CES suite to show off the black-and-white Inspiron 1720 battery mode because the LED backlight on the Ideapad can be turned off, a feature few netbooks offer.