Using Linux is like being a third-class citizen in a troubled autocracy. Windows and Mac users can click on things and expect them to work, Linux users have to tread lightly and do their best not to upset the OSS or alsa daemons, or go too far in hoping a Flash plugin might actually, oh I don't know, WORK!!

I've been using Linux since 1992 or '93. I've always had a Linux box around. It's been an experiment that's kind of lasted 15 years. Given my predilection for technology experiments, I suppose I'll always maintain a Linux box on the side. But every now and then, I succumb to The Urge. I take one of my main computers, this time my home office PC, and install a Linux distro as the primary OS. Only when you do this do you really start to understand where Linux stands and what holes need to be filled. And when I say holes, I really mean gaping cavities that would put geological marvels like the mighty river Indus to shame. But let's not get caught up in the semantics.

I've used tons of distros; Slackware, debian, Puppy, Mandrake, Damn Small Linux (DSL), Suse and Ubuntu. My latest adventure involves Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) with a 2.6.24-19 Kernel. I'm running this on a 3 Ghz Pentium 4 rig with 2 GB of RAM and a couple of 80 GB disks. Not by any means, a slow machine.

So, what are my findings? I've been running this thing for 3 months now and have been using it daily. The good news is that the install was relatively painless, my NIC was recognized and so was my display. I have a widescreen LCD and the resolutions were picked up just fine - all goodness, and a far cry from the xf86config days when you had to manually select GPU clocks and the like.

Now, the bad news. In the course of usual business, you keep running into irritating limitations mainly around Linux being unsupported by so much of the new stuff out there (hardware, applications, websites.. you name it). Also, I keep running into system oddities that take a LONG time to debug and figure out. Combine this with the fact that Linux has been robbed of its stability and performance, and you're in for an unpleasant ride. I'll give you some examples:

1) The sound config on my machine is really wierd. At times it works ok, and then sound just stops. I think it's the alsa daemon that keeps core dumping. When I manually restart it, things return to normal, and then it'll go away again. Bloody irritating.

2) I had to go to lengths unrequired by Windows in order to configure Sun's VirtualBox to run audio, but once I did, it worked. Indeed, when you run a Windows VM it outputs audio just fine. The problem, of course, is that the host Linux OS no longer does! I can go in and try to debug this and figure out if it's a permissions issue or if VirtualBox is trying to talk to hardware directly, bypassing alsa or whatever other evil dynamics exist. But I will gain very little at the end of all this and I really can't afford to waste so much time debugging everything manually in order to get little things to work that have been working on Windows since the good old days of 3.1. This is no longer fun. It's miserable.

It's not just hardware interaction stuff that causes you to tear your hair out. Commonly used apps like Flash are casualties too. If I want to upload an image to this wordpress blog when I'm using my Ubuntu box, and I naively attempt to use the default Flash uploader, it never works. The content area in the browser window is grayed out indefinitely. You have to use the HTTP upload functionality and God forbid you forget! Using Linux is like being a third-class citizen in a troubled autocracy. Windows and Mac users can click on things and expect them to work, Linux users have to tread lightly and do their best not to upset the OSS or alsa daemons, or go too far in hoping a Flash plugin might actually, oh I don't know, WORK!!

3) New apps, even when they're released by the Champions of Free, Google, are unsupported on Linux. So what that tells you is that Linux is and probably will forever remain second or third class. Anytime a new app comes out, you've either got to wait for a low-quality, feature-poor knock off in the OSS domain, or wait on the developer to finally come out with the Linux version, if ever. In the case of Google Chrome, here is what I see when I try to download the new Chrome browser for Linux:

And oh by the way, yes, I do know some guy on the web got Chrome to work with WINE. Whatever. WINE is about as stable as a drunk trying to walk a straight line. I've unfortunately been using that for years also. I currently have the latest released rev which continually bombs and pegs the CPU to boot. I am not going to run Chrome under WINE (sort of sounds like Chrome running 'under the influence') and I doubt very many others will either.

Eventually Google will come out with Chrome on Linux, which won't be as stable as Chrome on Windows. Just like Firefox on Linux is not as stable as Firefox on Windows. And there'll be sound integration problems, and plugin problems and all sorts of other misery... The upshot is that I waited several extra months to get my hands on what Windows users had for a long time ago. And when I got it, it was uglier, slower, fatter and generally the sort of thing that ruins your weekend.

4) Video playback on Linux is, let's face it, still a nightmare. Having tried three different video players (VLC included), I've found that the behaviour of codecs on Linux is much less stable than on any other platform I've used. This is still the case, as of September 2008. I've tried a dozen codecs. I truly, really wanted this darn thing to work. I get playback but with an FPS rate Windows 98 readily produces on a Pentium Pro!

5) The mythological stability of the Linux OS is officially GONE now. Argue with me all you want, but Elvis, my friends, has left the building. I've used both platforms sufficiently to know the difference. Linux today, out of the box at least, with a mainstream distro like Ubuntu is both SLOWER and LESS STABLE than Windows. Flame away. It won't change the truth. I have more inexplicable Firefox crashes on Linux, I have more instances when my screen grays out (GNOME does this when an app isn't responding) leading to either the app disappearing and the screen 'ungraying' or me having to kill the process the old fashioned way. Good old ps -x, hunt for the PID, kill -9 it.

6) Process bloat. Those who complain about Windows running a lot of processes, blah blah, should do a ps -x | nl on the command line as root. I'm counting over 70 processes right now when I have TWO applications running... Firefox and Open Office's Calc spreadsheet.

7) Bad resource management. I don't mean this to be a lecture delivered in an Operating Systems class, but just take a look at the following image. I don't have any Flash playing under Firefox, I don't have any active apps or heavy Web 2.0 Javascript type apps running at the moment. And yet, Firefox usage is 56% of a modern, 3Ghz CPU. What the HELL!!??

What is Linux good for? Maybe a minimal kernel that's been thoroughly tested to run a single app in kiosk mode? Maybe as a way for embedded device makers to save some RTOS royalties by massaging a Linux kernel to run a couple of their point-applications? It certainly continues to have utility as a server platform that doesn't need to worry about the peripherals an end user needs, or compatibility with the latest graphics stuff you would expect to pick up from a typical computer store, or any semblance of UI uniformity and ease-of-use etc. Also, netbooks and UMPCs like the MSI Wind, eeePC etc. are using Linux primarily to keep their costs low, but also, the limited apps you're going to run on a platform like that can probably be caressed and cajoled into working when the hardware manufacturer is involved in building the specific Linux kernel, and hand picking the apps that go on to the device.

When it comes to the desktop, I think Linux is not ready and the question is, will it ever be? I don't think so. I think we'll sooner migrate to apps in the cloud where Chrome, IE and Firefox running fast JavaScript engines will allow us to do most of our stuff online. Ironically, that might be a simpler target for the Linux community to aim for. Let the browser be the "Window Manager", cut the kernel down to the basics, remove some of the bloat - which should hopefully restore a bit of the speed and stability we used to have 10 years ago with Linux - and just try to make it a great platform to run Cloud apps.

Meanwhile, here in TechLahore Land, I'll be scrubbing Ubuntu off my drives and moving to Vista-SP1 (been running fine for me post SP1, thank you). Maybe next winter I'll come around, like I always do, and give the latest distro fare another try. Until then, adios penguin!

The Wind is one of the larger netbooks, not quite as 'notebook looking' as the Asus EEE 1000 but sizeable nonetheless. Sitting under the Acer Aspire One the Wind shows a centimeter of clearance all round, which is not bad considering it boasts a full inch of extra screen space due to the Wind's narrower bezel.

As for overall appearance, the Wind looks OK. In the Advent's silver plastic guise it misses out on the eye catching looks of the EEE 1000 and Aspire One which are definitely a step ahead in the fashion stakes with their design details.

Opening the lid reveals a good size keyboard with a smallish trackpad. The keys themselves sit up high and seem initially stodgy to press. Due to their angled sides they actually have a smaller contact area than the Aspire One's, which sit almost flat giving a sleeker look and for me a more reliable typing experience. The Wind's keyboard is perfectly functional however and would be easy to adapt to. I wasn't a fan of the right Shift key's position and there is some empty space where MSI haven't fully utilized all the available real estate.

The trackpad is responsive enough, but might ideally have been wider. It's reminiscent of the first EEE PC, which had an even smaller square. The EEE 1000 definitely leads the netbooks in this regard with its lurvely multitouch pad.

The Advent ships with Intel's Atom N270, 1GB RAM, an 80GB hard drive and Windows XP Home, which took just under sixty seconds to boot and turn the egg timer into a full arrow. That's passable, but this is a bare machine. I expect that once you install a firewall, antivirus, Skype and other apps which load at boot-up you're probably looking at nearer ninety seconds plus another ten to lock on to a wireless router. By contrast the Linux Aspire One boots in eighteen seconds plus wireless lock-on time.

Once the Wnd is up and running the Atom hustles along speedily enough for general uses with applications loading in acceptable if not lightning time. Again performance on the Aspire One Linux feels snappier with faster application load times. Music sounds reasonable through the built in speakers and the webcam puts in a good performance compared to some of the other current netbooks.

The screen is also nice enough too. I was expecting to be dazzled given early claims about its quality but it's actually very similar to the Aspire One and EEE 1000 in terms of brightness and clarity, which is still a good thing. I was unable to test DVD playback as I did not have an external drive to hand.

The Wind is well connected with three USB ports, ethernet, VGA, audio in/out and an SD card slot, although it lacks the Aspire One's second SD slot.

So was I blown off my feet? Not quite. The Wind is a nice netbook, it does everything well but just looks and feels a bit ordinary at $499 for the 3-cell version or a whopping $599 for the 6-cell. By contrast the Aspire One XP is $349 and $449 for the 3 & 6-cell versions respectively and the longer lasting EEE 1000 is yours for $549. Last time I looked the Wind had fallen out of Amazon's top 100 computing bestsellers, whilst the Aspire One and EEE 1000 were both in the top 5. Until MSI revises their pricing I have a feeling it might stay that way.

Neil Berman

www.thonbutton.com

Gallery:

En TECH:consumer hemos tenido la oportunidad de probar a fondo el nuevo Aspire One, la primera sub-notebook de bajo costo de Acer, un dispositivo pensado para acceder a Internet y comunicarnos sin complicaciones gracias a un sistema Linux de diseño propio, y que está gobernado por Intel Atom y las primeras versiones integran discos sólidos a costos muy baratos.

Conoce más de este análisis aquí.

You've got to hand it to the brave and the few. Because that's what the mavericks at Celio corp are. While you and I would try to learn from products that the world rejected and, oh, I don't know, maybe NOT repeat the same mistakes, Celio has a different idea. They want to re-introduce the worst idea Palm ever had - the failed Foleo - to prove to the world that the world is just a random collection of idiots who don't really know what they want. Celio will now teach us otherwise.

First, let's get the concept out of the way. What is the REDFLY? It's a "Smartphone Mobile Companion", the same as Palm's doomed Foleo. I suppose the marketing team at Celio didn't feel they needed to recast the category which, thus far, has a population of one dead product. The basic idea is that you will pay $400 for the REDFLY, and connect it via bluetooth to your $300 smartphone to get a painfully slow computing experience, albeit on a larger display and more comfortable keyboard. Hey, if it's going to be slow, it might as well be big too!

Celio claims that the REDFLY neither has a CPU, nor an OS, nor memory. Now the engineer in me rebels at definitions at like those, because it HAS to have an uber-controller, processor or FPGA because it hosts a full fledged bluetooth stack, not to mention a display interface etc. I guess their point is it doesn't run Windows, Linux or an OTS RTOS... why not just say that then? But anyway, we'll ask the engineer in me to shut-up for a bit so we can continue with the product description. So, where were we... yes, the REDFLY has an 8 inch screen, a commensurately sized keyboard, decent battery life at 8 hours (and about the same as a $399 MSI Wind, which, by the way, is a fully functional UMPC). Windows Mobile seems to be the only Smartphone OS supported thus far, but that's fine, because it's pretty popular. And I'm sure Celio can expand the list if enough people buy their product to allow them to go do that.

If the pictures don't do it for you, you can watch a Celio demo here: http://www.celiocorp.com/nd/o/vDemo.asp

So why do we think this is a really-bad-idea? Well, here's all the reasons why:

1) High Price. Most people are NOT going to pay $400 to get a device exactly the same size as a UMPC, with the same battery life as many UMPCs, but with none of the capabilities of a UMPC. And let's not forget, I still need a $300+ smartphone with enough juice to run the kinds of apps the Celio REDFLY would be needed for.

2) Poor Experience. The video redirection over a bluetooth connection, while technically interesting, is not going to result in a good user experience. The Celio video demonstration at the link above is ample proof of this. And it's not just about the bluetooth connection, there's other problems. For one, Windows Mobile apps don't adapt well to resolutions larger than 320x240. You can drive a lot of Smartphone displays up to 640x480 and when you do, you notice that more than half the apps break. So while you have a large screen, you're either stuck using the same resolution, or having a significant percentage of your apps croak. Also, the Celio has an 8 inch screen whereas a similarly sized UMPC typically has an 8.9' display. The Celio provides an 800x480 resolution, whereas most UMPCs deliver a 1024x600 resolution. That translates into 40% more pixels!! Big difference.

3) Battery issues. The REDFLY battery may last for 8 hours, but my Smartphone battery probably won't. Especially when the Bluetooth connection is constantly active. The 8 hour battery on the REDFLY, in fact, does me very little good. And by the way, if I had a UMPC I wouldn't be using my Smartphone battery which I want to preserve to make calls. (Yes, calls. Remember that's what we typically use phones for.)

4) No ergonomic advantage. Will the Celio device and it's charger really take any less space than a fully functional MSI Wind, eeePC, HP mininote or Dell mini? NO. Will the Celio and a smartphone laid out on a typical airline fold-out table take any less space than a UMPC? NO. In fact, with the smartphone, it will take more.

5) Application Limitations. The Celio demo shows you a Powerpoint but neglects to mention that the Windows Mobile edition of Powerpoint doesn't let you edit anything. You can only view previously produced decks. Fat lot of good that does. In situations where you have to whip the Celio out, you would expect you're about to perform an activity not do-able on the smartphone. You can see a Powerpoint deck just fine on most smartphones. You'd sooner use the zoom feature on a phone than pull out the REDFLY from your backpack, set it up and synch it to your phone via Bluetooth. This isn't just an issue with Powerpoint, many Windows Mobile applications, since they were intended to be used on a Smartphone, have similar limitations. None of them expect to be attached to a large screen and keyboard so they limit input activities, typically. This is not Celio's fault, but not factoring this reality into their product design most certainly is. Now, you can pooh-pooh these limitations by posting links to apps that DO let you edit a powerpoint on your Windows Mobile device (Yes, I DO know there are several out there), but will I really pay $15-$30 for apps like these to enable my Celio with functionality I get for free on a UMPC? Don't know about you, but I certainly won't.

6) Poor entertainment capabilities. Why pay $400 for a small device with slow video driven off a bluetooth link, that'll consume Gigs of space on your Smartphone storage card for a single movie, and still won't be able to play 720p full screen video while you're cruising over the Atlantic, when you can pay $400 for a small device with great video and 80GB of space to store your videos.

Let's not make this a much longer list now. I think the point has been made. I am completely astounded that a company with an experienced executive team of 3 C-level executives and 5 Vice Presidents - yes, count them, a startup with an exec team of eight Powerful-And-Experienced-Executives - would go do something like this. I wish all eight of them the very best of luck, but my (unsolicited) advice would be for them to please not trade salary for equity.

In the meanwhile, please feel free to flame me for expressing my views on the product concept. Just keep it within the realm of civility.

I am not certain if it is just me, or if it is that I am getting older, or our educational system, or that things are falling apart around everyone, but this article had valid points, but a poorly executed. It was soo poorly thought out, I slapped together a few comments about this review and have to say that the logic of my criticism applies to almost ALL the reviews and commentary that I hear on a regular basis. Whether it is CNN political experts, Cramer, foreign policy experts, political campaign experts... they ALL seem to miss the point. So it does not make sense to me to listen to them. They are so interested in their own potential to come back on a show or to be ad visors, that they can only dance around the issues and never have truly valid points. Comments are said 'off the cuff' and no one substantiates these comments, which become important, which in turn become the review of an expert. But it always starts with a simple, unsubstantiated comment.

Sometimes, the younger crowd on line and the people who are addicted to all gadgets (I may be one of these people) have to realize that the world is more than you can 'see'.
Someone mentioned in the comments that this review is a little late, but the commentator forgets that there are huge amount of people who are slow to consider or buy product upon pre-release or release, like a techie. People have contracts that are expiring by the day, for the next fifty years, so a lot of those people will consider an iPhone on the day of expiration, but not before. Tom's Hardware is a great resource for everyone, and having this review as part of their library is important, and MAY even give them exposure  within Apple's marketing / engineering division. So for that comment alone "a little late" There is a LOT of value to this 'late' review, for many people.
That being said, I still think it is a stretch to start making comments about the stock market and just say 1+1=2!!!  Yes, Apple is showing a slowdown in revenue. But that does not mean that it is because the market does not accept the iPhone or consumers are punishing Apple. Let's just THINK for a second at WHAT could be a MORE REALISTIC cause of the 'bad' financial quarter:

1. Apple is in a huge R&D changeover -  adding the Air, adding a newer iPhone, Intel releasing a ton of new technology to incorporate into newer products, newer battery designs, compatibility ironing out with both the overall OS changes and partner companies, mobile Me

2. Competition has increased: Amazon.com, Sony, WalMart, Hulu, etc. This has cut into their revenue stream and predicted sales growth, but this is not necessarily a bad thing

3. The time spent on partnerships with many many international carriers for the newer iPhone, the growth pains of the iPhone app store (believe it or not, this takes resources)

4. The Apple building being burnt down which housed IT AND some additional offices.

5. Maintaining the momentum of future technologies to incorporate into future products, like some potential tablet and the inherent issues of compatibility, there.

6. The retail outlet growth, their entire marketing infrastructure, logistics, training, etc.

7. The ENTIRE economy is changing, the housing markets are falling and people are potentially losing their homes, ALL companies are showing a slowdown in many respects for reasons not related to the value a product brings to the market.

8. The influx of Ultra Mobile PC's - like Lenovo X300 (prices are dropping), Dell E Series, Acer, eeePC and others.

People may just not be buying right now because of the economy. Who wants to spend money on contract cancellations? So in contrast to other companies, is Apple really a 'crested' or 'reached its peak?' There is no honest way to say this in a review or otherwise without empirical substantial evidence. I dispute this review and beg others to just stop saying things they hear and consider the bigger picture, with all commentary on line or otherwise.

Jika melihat ukuran keyboardnya, kembali kita bisa melihat keseriusan HP. Dengan ukuran keyboard ini nyaris sama (tepatnya 92%) jika dibanding ukuran keyboard notebook standar. Setiap tombol terasa luas bahkan bagi Anda yang berjari besar. Juga didapati setiap tombol terasa empuk saat ditekan, sehingga salah pencet adalah hal yang sangat jarang terjadi di netbook ini.

Boleh dibilang, Mininote 2133 adalah netbook paling nyaman digunakan untuk typing atau mengetik. Satu-satunya yang agak aneh adalah posisi tombol klik kiri dan kanan yang mengapit touchpad, yang sepertinya disebabkan kurangnya tempat di sisi bawah touchpad.

Dari sisi fasilitas, Mininote 2133 juga tampil istimewa berkat keberadaan slot ekspansi Express Card. Fasilitas ekspansi ini tidak tersedia di netbook lain, dan bisa menjadi faktor penting bagi Anda yang ingin menambah fasilitas tambahan seperti TV Tuner atau modem seluler. Konektor lain yang tersedia di netbook ini adalah USB (2) dan card reader berbasis SD.

Namun fasilitas paling istimewa dari netbook ini adalah resolusi layarnya yang mencapai 1280x600 pixel. Di netbook lain, resolusinya terbatas di angka 1024x600 pixel.

Resolusi lebih tinggi berarti area pandang yang lebih luas, dan ini menjadi kelebihan tersendiri ketika browsing di internet atau melihat foto. Namun perlu dicatat resolusi setinggi itu di layar ukuran 8,9” membuat teks terlihat kecil, yang mungkin menjadi masalah untuk mata yang sudah menua.
Sayangnya HP memilih menggunakan prosesor VIA C7M 1,2GHz. Dari hasil pengujian terlihat, jelas terlihat prosesor ini memiliki performa di bawah Intel Atom atau pun Celeron. Apalagi netbook ini menggunakan sistem operasi Windows Vista (Basic Edition) yang terkenal berat itu.

Untuk mengetik, browsing internet, atau memutar film dari Youtube, Mininote 2133 bisa melakukannya dengan mudah. Namun ketika kita membuka banyak jendela, keterbatasan VIA C7M menjadi terasa.
Secara desain, rancangan HP Mininote 2133 nyaris sempurna. Tampilannya bagus, nyaman digunakan, dan ditunjang dengan fasilitas yang komplit. Bobotnya sedikit lebih berat dibanding pesaingnya, tetapi kami rasa tidak banyak yang keberatan membawa peranti berbobot 1,28kg ini.(kom/eno/malangpost)

Dell telah mengumumkan berita tentang Netbook (UMPC) mereka yang terbaru. Ini berarti, persaingan netbook akan semakin panas. Rencananya, netbook ini akan diluncurkan minggu ini. Kabarnya, netbook ini akan diberi nam Dell Inspiron 910. Dell menyadari bahwa akan sulit bersaing di pasar netbook atau UMPC yang sudah sangat ketat. Maka dari itu, Dell melakukan pendekatan dengan Box.net, yang merupakan media penyimpanan online. Nantinya fitur ini akan disematkan pada Inspiron 910 ini. Ftur ini mirip dengan EEE Cloud Storage dari Asus. Netbook ini akan dirilis pada tanggal 4 atau 5 September ini.

Spesifikasi

Dimensi                   : 232 x 175 x 30 mm (p x l x t)

Berat                         : 0,99 kg

Layar                         : WLED 8,9 inci (res. 1024 x 600 piksel)

Prosesor                    : Intel Atom N270 Diammonville 1,6 GHz

RAM                           : DDR2 800 Mhhz 512MB / 1GB

Storage                       : SSD 4GB / 8GB / 16GB

Fitur                            : WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, ExpressCard slot, 4-in-1 card reader, 3x USB slot, webcam (0,3 / 1,3 megapiksel), mini card support for blueotooth, external USB modem, 3-in-1 media card reader SD-HC/MMC/MS, dll

Sistem Operasi            : Linux Ubuntu 8.04 / Windows XP sp2 32bit

Baterai                         : 4 cell batery

Dopo molti anni di silenzio e dopo aver prodotto negli scorsi anni alcuni apparecchi multimediali da attaccare al televisore, e alcuni PC dedicati ai videogiocatori, il marchio Commodore viene oggi legato ad un PC per essere precisi ad un UMPC che tanto sembrano andare di moda oggi. Se vi interessano altre informazioni andate qui.

A parte la notizia (che poi ormai non è neanche tanto più tale) della comparsa dell'ennesimo clone dell'EEEPC a me sorge spontanea una domanda: ma sti benedetti UMPC a che servono?

Quando è nato il primo EEEPC con lo schermo da 7" potevo ancora capire che avere uno strumento piccolo, per quanto scomodo da usare, utile per consultare la posta in giro o fare piccoli lavori su fogli di calcolo o documenti di testo potesse avere un senso: più grande e comodo di un palmare ma non ingombrante come un Laptop e con una buona autonomia. Ma oggi a ancora senso? I nuovi UMPC con lo schermo da 10 pollici sono praticamente ingombranti come un laptop da 15" ed offrono un autonomia di poco superiore ad un prezzo a volte maggiore. Faccio un esempio pratico:

L'EEEPC 1000 con Linux a bordo ha un processore Atom a 1,6Gb, 40GB di SSHD, 1Gb di RAM e 6 ore di autonimia massima. Le dimensioni sono  265.9 × 191.3 × 38.1 mm e pesa 1,33Kg. Il costo è di oltre 400 euro.

Un portatile tipo l'Acer 5220-301112Mi sempre con Linux invece offre un Celerom M a 2.13Gb , 120Gb di disco fisso, 1 Gb di RAM, un autonomia di circa 3 ore. Le dimensioni sono 360 x 267 x 30.3/43 mm con un peso di 2,88 Kg. Il costo? 375 euro.

Alla fine 1,33 Kg e le dimensioni di un foglio A4 dell'EEEPC sono eccessive per pensare di portarlo senza una borsa, quindi a quel punto i 13cm in più dell'ACER non fanno la differenza, mentre le prestazioni e lo schermo di maggiore leggibilità si.

Untuk itu saya coba susun daftar netbook yang menggunakan hard disk konvensional sebagai media simpannya. Meski hard disk masih tergolong boros baterai, panas dan lambat, namun keuntungan dalam daya tampung datanya yang tinggi membuat pilihan netbook dengan hard disk menjadi lebih rasional (untuk saat ini). Inilah 6 (enam) netbook yang memakai hard disk yang mungkin bisa anda pilih, diurut berdasar kapasitas hard disk terbesar hingga terkecil.

1. Axioo Pico. Produk ini menempati posisi pertama karena kapasitas hard disk yang ditawarkannya luar biasa besar dengan kapasitas 160 GB. Namun Pico ini memang  layak menempati posisi teratas disini karena didukung spesifikasi yang mantap seperti prosesor Intel Atom 1,6 GHz, memori 1 GB, WiFi, webcam 1,3 MP, plus Windows XP home. Terlebih, layar Pico ini telah berukuran 10 inci yang nyaman untuk membaca teks/huruf berkuran kecil. Harga jual Pico ini berada di kisaran 5,2 jutaan.
2. HP mini-note 2133. Pemain elit di kelas laptop pun kini telah terjun ke dunia netbook dengan produk mini-note 2133 yang sayangnya justru memilih memakai prossesor VIA C7-M 1,2 GHz yang amat lambat. Padahal HP 2133 ini memiliki desain yang cantik dan bodi almunium, plus keyboard yang nyaman. Spesifikasi lainnya terhitung standar dengan layar 8,9 inci, memori 1 GB, harddisk 120 GB, WiFi, webcam VGA, plus Windows Vista home. Ya, Windows Vista. Apakah pemilihan OS ini tidak terlalu berlebihan ya? Mungkin itulah mengapa harga yang ditawarkan jadi kelewat tinggi dengan 6 juta rupiah.
3. Acer Aspire One 150. Bicara tentang produk UMPC yang berimbang antara harga dan performa, bolehlah Acer 150 ini menyandang predikat 'recomended UMPC'. Bagaimana tidak, berbekal nama besar Acer, produk seharga 4,8 juta ini telah dibekali prosesor Intel Atom 1,6 GHz, layar 8,9 inci, memori 1 GB, Harddisk 120 GB, WiFi, webcam VGA, plus Windows XP home. Sekedar hands-on preview saya pribadi bisa dibaca disini.
4. Asus Eee PC 1000H. Bila jajaran Asus Eee 701, 900, 901 hingga 1000 seluruhnya memakai media simpan SSD, maka Asus menjawab kebutuhan netbook berhard disk dengan Eee PC 1000H ini. Prosesornya kini telah memakai Intel Atom 1,6 GHz, layar berukuran 10 inci, memori 1 GB, Harddisk 80 GB, WiFi, Bluetooth, webcam 1,3 MP, Dolby, plus Windows XP home. Bisa jadi inilah 'best-UMPC' yang harganya hampir sama dengan laptop termurah di pasaran.
5. MSI Wind U100. Satu lagi pemain baru di dunia netbook hadir. Produsen motherboard ini mengisi pasaran netbook dengan satu-satunya produk UMPCnya yang bernama Wind U100. Berbekal prosesor Intel Atom 1,6 GHz, produk seharga 5,9 juta ini mengandalkan layrnya yang berukuran 10 inci. Spesifikasi lainnya tergolong standar dengan memori 1 GB, Harddisk 80 GB, WiFi, webcam 1,3 MP, plus Windows XP home.
6. Zyrex Anoa 942. Produk lokal ini patut diperhitungkan dengan harganya yang murah (dibawah 4 juta), meski hanya mengusung prosesor Intel Mobile-ULV 900 MHz, namun layar Anoa ini telah berukuran  8,9 inci. Spesifikasi lain, memakai memori 'hanya' 512 MB, Hard disk lumayan lega 40 GB, WiFi, webcam VGA, dan OS yang disediakan cukup berbeda yaitu Linux. Bila harga jadi faktor utama, bisa jadi Anoa ini layak dipertimbangkan.

Sebagai info tambahan, bila faktor dana betul-betul jadi alasan utama (namun tak ingin mengorbankan kualitas), siap-siaplah menyambut UMPC termurah : Dell Inspiron 910 seharga 3 juta, yang semoga akan segera diluncurkan dan masuk ke pasaran Indonesia. Meski tidak memakai hard disk, Dell 910 ini amat ramai dibicarakan apalagi kalau bukan karena harganya yang murah. Spesifikasi yang bakal diusungnya amat baik mengingat harganya yang murah, simak saja : Atom 1,6 GHz, layar 8,9 inci, DDR2 FSB 800, SSD 16 GB, WLAN/WWAN, OS Ubuntu atau XP2. Bila sudah begini, harga netbook lain harusnya juga ikut turun untuk menjaga persaingan penjualan. Seru kan?

It’s an interesting new design which solves the fundamental problem for the UMPC: how do I create something that’s smaller than a traditional laptop but is still usable?

Intel’s solution?

1. Use a high-res touch-screen for all the functions that don’t require a keyboard (e.g. casual internet browsing, watching a movie, etc.).
2. Have a slide-out keyboard for those functions that do require typing (e.g. writing an email, using Excel).
3. And, a tilt mode if you want to use the machine in its “laptop” mode (with built-in optical mouse!).

It’s sleek. It’s high-tech. And, knowing Intel, it’ll be a powerful little device with real teeth.

And I want one.