The Dodge Retort

PC Pitstop has conducted a netbook satisfaction survey which places the MSI Wind U100 at the top. Pitstop surveys folks downloading its Overdrive diagnostic download and asks three simple questions:

• How satisfied are you with this PC?
• Is this PC running slow?
• Is this PC hanging or requiring frequent reboots?
  

  Rob Cheng

PC Pitstop CEO and co-founder Rob Cheng who I knew a dozen years as a Gateway honcho says the netbook results were extracted from “well over a million and probably closer to two million” survey responses. However, the number of netbook responses ranged between 107-1,035, reflecting the small number of netbooks out there relative to overall PCs.  So while the U100 got the top rating with 170 responses, number 8 on PC Pitstop’s survey Acer AOA150 garnered the most responses with 1,035. That reflects Acer’s dominant position as the market netbook share leader.

Some of these models are a bit long in the tooth given the rapidity with which new models appear. Also, check out which ones crash the most or are reported as slow. PC Pitstop also looked at desktops (Dell took top nine spots!) and laptops (Dell, HP and Toshiba) as well.

I have not posted for several days because I was busy with my new CBS Interactive blog ThinkingTech at SmartPlanet.com. Check it out.

We’ll cover all manner of smart technologies from the rehabilitation of the grid to smart gadgets that report on traffic in realtime. The focus is on smart technologies that are kinder to the planet and that help humans. It’s a great site with lots of video (hey, it’s CBS!)

But don’t worry, The Dodge Retort is still a top priority for me. In fact, I’ll be introducing video shortly and should be getting a Dell Mini 10v to review.

I also finished my review for eWeek.com on the HP Mini 1000 Model 1151NR that comes with Verizon wireless mobile broadband. I will summarize that review here next week. My conclusion is that it works as advertised, but could use some refinements. It’s all in the bars!

I’m posting this from the passenger seat of a moving car, by the way. I do like that!

Seeing red is goal of HP's Vivienne Tam edition

Dell Mini 10v is awash in colors

You can have a netbook in any color you want as long as it’s black. While that timeworn notion thought to be coined by Henry Ford is changing, it would still seem to be the case (pun intended) from netbook leader Acer which dominates a third of market.

Acer’s most powerful model the Aspire One 11.6  says nothing about color choice and it’s black in the picture so I assume it’s, well, black. Or dark. It’s the same with Aspire One Pro 10.1, Ultra-thin 10.1 and regular 10.1 models. Only it’s 8.9 models comes in colors: sapphire blue, golden brown (like a perfectly-cooked McDonald’s fry), seashell white and rose pink. Near as I can tell, there is no black for the 8.9 inch model.

I’d like to think Acer is a reflection of the Taiwanese netbook maker’s greater focus on real features than cosmetics. Black is fine with me, but let’s face it, to teenage girls, color is a major feature. Dell and Asus by comparison are downright psychedelic.

In fact, number two maker Asus offers multiple colors for all its 24 netbooks. It’s new Eee PC 1008HA comes in white, black, pink, blue, sapphire blue and Ruby Red. Dell, too, is awash in color with the Mini 10v which can be had in jade green, ice blue, promise pink, passion purple, alpine white, red and not just black but obsidian black (Dell makes a $5 charitable contribution when the red and pink are purchased). All but the latter is $40 extra. What’s more, Dell offers the Mini 9 and 12 with sleeve covers in grey/famingo pink and jet/cabernet.

The wildest design is the Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition which probably comes closest to looking like a purse especially when it’s owner is wearing a similarly styled print dress. It plays off the notion of the art of accessories. It’s way too red for me – passionate red some politely might say and the $700 starting price is in the stratosphere.

Then again, it’s all in the eyes of the holder (of the netbook).

Many exciting things are on tap for The Dodge Retort and yours truly, John Dodge. From the top:

– Tomorrow, I will post my First Look at the Windows 7 Release Candidate running on a netbook. The review will also be promoted in the PC Pitstop newsletter (circ. 900k!) that goes out Tuesday so it should get great exposure.

– Dell has promised to send me an evaluation unit of its education netbook, the Latitude 2100. I will do a no-holds barred review. Trying to nab a Mini 10v, too.

– The buzz today is that Apple will do a tablet of some sort as opposed to a traditional netbook. Check out the coverage.

– I’m supposed to getting the Storm and LG Versa phones from Verizon for review. The Storm has been out a while, but I want to see why folks are opting for the Curve like I did instead of the Storm.

– On June 1, I will be blogging for ZDNet’s on smart technologies. Stayed tuned for more details in next week or two.

Have great long weekend everyone!

Dell isn’t a company that keeps quiet and then all of a sudden blasts out press releases on the  product announcement day. That’s the old model.

Rather, it teases us with possibilities via its blogs. That’s exactly what it did with a video post today showing Android running on the new Dell Mini 10v.

Dell software guru Doug Anson was featured in the video showing that porting different OSes to the 10v is fairly simple. Anson said Android ran “fairly nicely” whatever that means and then put on the disclaimer:

“We don’t have any announced products plans with Android running on a netbook. We just wanted to show you it’s possible to run,” he said. The Android implementation on the 10v was running a browser, dialer and contact manager.

I have to think an Android netbook from Dell is coming, but this could also be a negotiating ploy aimed at other OS vendors, namely Microsoft. He kept emphasizing how Android and Ubuntu, the other OS he showed in the 2:12 minute video, are small and “snappy.” We know Windows XP is not small and snappy is not a word I’d associate with it either.

Judge for yourself.

Dell Latitude 2100 for Education Market

Dell confirmed it will have netbooks for education by the time kids go back to school this Fall.

Dubbed the Latitude 2100, Gizmodo scooped the story about them in late March. Starting at  $369, they seem a bit pricey for what the student gets and for some reason, Dell omitted the display size in the blog post in which it released info about the machine (Gizmodo’s March story says 10 inches and in the video, it looks like a 10).

They differ from Dell Minis in that they have a rubberized case for durability, an optional touchscreen and a network monitor light that tells the teacher the student is online. It also can be securely stored in a networked case where an administrator or teacher can download software or data to up to 10 netbooks simultaneously.

Here’s the specs:

• Intel Atom N270 processor
• Up to 1GB fixed RAM; Additional memory slot to accommodate up to 2GB RAM total
• Display: 1024×576 LED screen, optional touch screen
• Storage options: standard hard drive options up to 250GB; SSD drive up to 16GB
• Battery: 3 and 6-cell battery options
• Wired Connectivity: 10/100/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet
• Wireless Connectivity: 802.11g standard, option 802.11n
• Ports: 3 USB, VGA, headphone/speaker out, mic
• Expansion slot: SD/ MMC card reader

Dell today introduced the Mini 10v netbook line this morning on its Direct2Dell blog as an entry level netbook to its Mini 10.

I watched the eight minute video on the 10v and jotted down some notes. The star of the video was Brian Pitstick, who leads Dell’s Mini product development (stay tuned for a Q&A with him when I get back from Europe around May 21). Nothing jumped out at me as extraordinary, but the machine emphasizes the notion of a companion computer that you use in bed or in front of the TV (which is exactly how I use my netbooks, one at bedside, one in the family room). The only difference is I see my netbook as my primary laptop. Sorry notebook makers, but you keep adding features, models and improving performance, keyboards and battery life.

The 10v also comes with some unique entertainment features. Dell positions this as entry level netbook with the standard Mini 10 and $430-$480 Mini 12 holding up the higher end. The 10v, which is highly customizeable, starts at $299.

The most disappointing omission in my opinion is the lack of a built-in mobile broadband option, which is about to be the ground zero  hotspot of the netbook market. The always-connected netbook will be as transforming as the always-on wired cable broadband options that appeared in the mid-nineties and largely did away with dial-up modems. All netbooks should come with the built-in mobile broadband option, IMO…at least in the parts of the world where broadband is dominant. Lordy, Wifi is about to invade airplane cabins.

“Expect more mobile broadband news soon,” says Dell spokesman John Pope.

Here’s the features:

– 92% full keyboard with more traditional layout than other Minis. As he flashed it on the screen, it looked similar to the 92% keyboard HP has had in its Mini line all along. Same keyboard is in the Mini 10 already and is slightly larger than the Mini 12′s, says spokesman Pope.

– Novel touchpad design with buttons below the pad to create more touch real estate.

– 10″ WSVGA display with 1024 x 576 maximum display (the standard Mini 10 goes up to 1366 x 768) hence the 10v’s lower price point.

– Ubuntu 8.04 and Windows XP operating system (sorry, no Android…yet!)

– three or six -cell batteries

– N270 or N280 Intel Atom processors

– 120 or 160GB hard drive and 8 and 16 Flash memory storage options.

– More entertainment features found than in most netbooks including an HD mode, TV tuner, HDMI port

– Last but certainly not least in this fashion conscious world,  Seven colors and five designer lids options (sorry no photo of the latter, but you can see it on the video.

The color purple is included

The 10v's 92% keyboard

Dell chief blogger Lionel Menchaca

Last Thursday, Google cast a line on Craigs List for netbook users to survey. Today, it was Dell’s turn.

In its Direct2Dell blog, chief blogger Lionel Menchaca put out a call to users to query them on what they’d like to see in Dell Minis netbooks. Menchaca writes:

What would you like to see in future Dell Minis? (Things like form factor, new features, personalization ideas, operating system support, etc.). What features are most important in a netbook? (Things like HD capability, network connectivity options, battery life, usability, etc.)

Input can shared on Dell’s Ideastorm crowdsourcing site where users are bunt about what they don’t like such as Windows on very machine, trialware and Windows sticks such as “Vista Capable” or “Designed for XP.”

Sorry no $100 American Express gift cheque such as Google is offering.

Lenovo also has active feedback forums for its notebooks, but not for its netbooks.

FierceWireless blurbed earlier today that a Seattle company issued a news release saying it was porting Adobe Flash Lite 3.17 technology (Flash for mobile phones and consumer gadgets) on Dell netbooks running the Android OS. Android netbooks from Dell? That’s news. Dell, a longtime Windows loyalist,  hasn’t said anything about Android which was developed by Google.

After I contacted Dell PR, it would seem Bsquare, a software and engineering firm specializing on embedded Windows applications, jumped the gun although I am waiting for confirmation such a news release was issued. I can’t find anything like that now on the news section of Bsquare’s web site, but it got wide coverage.

Below is the response to my query from Dell spokesman John Pope:

“Thanks for checking with us. Dell constantly assesses new technologies. On the Bsquare release, it was issued in error and Dell has made no announcements on plans to issue an Android-based netbook.”

Hmmm…where there’s smoke, there’s fire….and possibly Dell Android-based netbooks. too?)

Much improved keyboard starting with Asus' Eee PC1000HE

Maybe they are mini-notebooks after all. Asus and Acer, the two biggest netbook companies, are planning to release models this month with 12-inch displays.

For its part, Asus is planning product blitz that includes an Eee PC with an 11.6 inch display for release later this month, according to a Digitimes interview with Asus president Jerry Shen. However, 50 per cent of the 2009 shipments will remain units with 10-inch displays including lighter and thinner models coming this month, according to TDR sources.

At the CeBit show in Germany last month,  Asus introduced the Eee PC1008HA, a thinner 2.4 pound 10-inch netbook with a five-hour battery. Invariably that model will most likely end for sale here. Forthcoming Asus netbooks will include the improved Chicklet keyboard that first appeared in the Eee PC 1000HE introduced Feb 9. Keyboards in previous Asus netbooks were horribly cramped.

The company also has an 15.6 inch XS15 ultra-thin notebook in the pipeline for between $1,000 and $1,300 as well as 13 and 14 inch entry level models, according to the Digitimes story.  Asus also introduced a 12-inch S-121 (S for Stylish on the Go computing) with a whopping big 512 GB solid state drive at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. An Asus spokeswoman declined to confirm existence the unannounced models and said availability and pricing of the S-121 in the U.S. were still unclear.

She added that the 1000HEis presently Asus’ best-selling netbook.

The Acer Aspire One Model 751 with an 11.6 inch display was demoed by Acer UK general manager Bobby Watkins in a Youtube video posted in May 1. It’ll sport a “full keyboard,” Intel Atom CPU, one GB of RAM, Windows XP Home, an 160-GB hard drive and 5 hours of battery standard with a 6-cell battery option for “all day” computing or up to nine hours, Watkins said.  The unit will come in five colors and will be out this month, costing about $570 (379£).

A message was left for Acer public relations to verify the video and offer details when the 751 might appear on shelves in the U.S.

The companies now join Dell with its Inspiron Mini 12 in the 12-inch netbook club.