Netbooks News, Hacks and HowTo’s

Today is the day the 2nd “Jesus Look Alike” will take home a Lenovo IdeaPad S10. The first one was last year, with a better full blown laptop.

Right now at Good Times With Mo, Magic 89.9, people are gathered on their most Jesus Look Alike costume and come judgement hour, one of them will take home the Lenovo IdeaPad S10.

That’s how easy you could win on that program, on that station. Their just the only one, the best. Good Times.

This blog was down last Saturday and was brought up just yesterday. The server had a serious problem, out of my control, and not sure what took it so long to revive it. How I wish there was a backup server that should have kept this blog and other blogs and sites hosted on the server running.

Well, that’s just one of the many downtimes this blog had. Worse thing is that my brains kind of stopped functioning already and cannot compose a good article for this blog. I need some rest I think.

Netbook News

Gigabyte, a company that specializes in motherboards, graphic accelerators, mobile and handheld communication devices has new plans in the coming year. The company has introduced a couple of Gigabyte netbooks in the last few months already, which stood out among other netbooks with its convertible-to-tablet design. DIGITIMES, one of the most reliable tachnology update website, says that the company is now focusing on increased performance on their motherboard segment, including plans to launch three more netbooks in the coming year that feature 3.5G module, for added mobility. Gigabyte is said to clear their inventory this 2008, to anticipate economic crisis impact in the beginning of 2009.

In Germany, Lenovo IdeaPad S10 makes a big hit as it comes along with a 6-cell battery. It is also now the most affordable 10 incher netbook in Germany for only 329 Euros. Lenovo IdeaPad S10 usually only comes with a 3-cell battery in other countries. Brad Linder says that the 6-cell battery doesn’t look perfectly good, but the doubled battery life should pay off. He also includes that 6-cell batteries are now also available in the US for an additional $50 USD on the base price.

Black Friday Netbook Deals

Black Friday is definitely one of the best days for gadget shoppers in the US which they await every year. Lots of cool gadget is sold at a discounted price which usually cuts a huge percentage on the original price. One of the most anticipated deal could be the Dell Inpison Mini 9 which cuts $50 instantly from the base price, making it to only $299, including free shipping if you buy on Thanks Giving Day until Friday. The said netbook has been offered for only $99 dollars before.

For more information on Black Friday Deals, check out the following:
http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com
http://bfads.net/
http://www.blackfriday.info/

MSI Wind U120 will be launched in the coming days, and while 3G module is expected, MSI is also going to negotiate with telecom providers to increase bundled sales. - Digitimes. Same has been tried before, bundling the netbooks with external broadband modem. In the Philippines, Globe and Smart Telecoms had different campaigns for Asus Eee PC, however, I have not heard about their successes. Consumers seem to be not satisfied with the pricing, as I learn from some blogs and forums.

Now I have no idea what will telecoms do with their pricings when 3G module already comes with the netbook itself. I suggest they do the same as the mobile service plans they currently have, where they charge monthly service fee, and the unit comes free… Or at lesser prices depending on service plans.

I’m actually exited for this, and I’m gong to consider getting one for me. Shall this come true before christmas?

Lenovo is running a contest for their IdeaPad S10 netbook, and it was pretty easy to join. You just simply have to create your own skin design of Lenovo IdeaPad S10. To create your design is even simplier. Just logon to http://designs10.com/, choose the country you’re joining in, and start creating your design.

There are 2 categories for the contest, one for Professionals where you have to create your design locally and submit it in JPEG format. And the other one is for Amateurs where you can design the skin online. Templates are available, you just have to be creative.

Top 10 designs with the highest number of votes will be chosen, and from there, the winner will be judged. I just joined and if you want to check my design out, just head on to the site, click on “Vote Now”, and search for serial no. 1226968595. View my design and if you like it, please vote.

Speaking of Lenovo IdeaPad S10, the contest I was talking about on my recent post has just ended, and guess what, it was won easily by beat-boxing to Rihanna’s Disturbia. Easy, isn’t it?

Like what we’ve discussed before, battery capacity plays the most important part on One Day Computing principle. And while netbook manufacturers claim their design can last a whole day (8hrs), it still seem untrue. However, most netbooks nowadays can last up to 5 or 6 hous in average, and that’s a very huge improvement for the ODC part.

But let’s forget about everything for a while for the sake of this post. We’d just like to talk about this new monster battery pack from DealExtreme, same who provides the monster battery pack for eee pc 701/900 before. This new battery pack has 12000 mAh of power, twice as the current most powerful battery pack that comes bundled with netbooks. But be warned, extra power comes with extra weight factor as well.

Not sure why. But it’s fallen down a couple of times in just a matter of days. Is it because of the Inspiron? Because somehow, Inspiron is quite impressive too.

Reported at Laptop Advisor, for the cheapest price of ¥100, one can avail an Asus Eee PC 701 in Japan with publication data plan.

The preparation is tagged sandwiched between $30 and $65 every month.