The HP Mini 110 Studio Tord Boontje Edition

If you look at the specs of most of the netbooks out in the market today, you’d be hard-pressed to separate one from another. Almost all of them are based on the Intel 945G chipset with the 1.6GHz Atom CPU and 1GB RAM. You might have slightly more RAM or hard disk space on one compared to the other, but they’re pretty much identical otherwise. The HP Mini 110 “Studio Tord Boontje” edition that we’re looking at today expectantly boasts similar configurations as noted above. What does set it apart from other netbooks is its beautiful design. HP offered me a choice of selecting between the black, white and pink models for review purpose. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate the pink version but to keep the occasional gal interested in our review, I asked them to send the white version across.

Using the industry’s first three-dimensional surface technology, the external lid on the Mini 110 certainly looks like it has multiple layers to the design with things floating around and casting shadows. The artistry is from a Dutch designer Boontje, hence the name of the netbook.

As I mentioned at the start, the specs on this 110 aren’t much different than your usual standard netbook. It comes equipped with the N280 Atom CPU running at 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM and a 250GB Hard Drive. The 10.1″ screen has the standard resolution of 1024×600 and is powered by the Intel 945G chipset that takes its memory from your system RAM. You have the usual array of ports such as three USB ports (one on left and two on right), power, SD/Memory card reader, Ethernet and VGA output. HP uses just one jack for audio input and output which is a bit of a shame. There is a built-in microphone if that is any compensation. WiFi and Bluetooth are built-in and so is a webcam on top of the screen.

The Keyboard on the 110 is quite nice- the keys are large and soft to type on which proved to be quite comfortable. Unfortunately, the same can not said for the trackpad. Like the older version, the left and right buttons are placed on the left and right side of the trackpad instead below it which makes it harder to get to them. The power switch also feels a bit flimsy but that could very well be our unit. We received the higher capacity six cell battery with the 110 which, instead of sticking out horizontally like most high-capacity batteries, sticks out vertically giving a nice tilt to the netbook when placed on a desk. The higher capacity battery gave the Mini 110 an impressive battery life of over five hours.

There are two Operating Systems installed on the 110- Windows 7 starter edition and the extremely quick to load Splashtop desktop that allows you to do common tasks such as checking your mail or browsing the web without getting into Windows. Windows 7 takes it sweet time to load and I do give HP credit for making that extra effort of skinning Windows slightly to match the look on the netbook but I really think that you need a dual core CPU to enjoy Windows 7. The 2GB configuration helps a bit but even then the unit feels a bit sluggish running Windows 7.

Performance on the 110 is similar to most netbook we’ve tested . Windows 7 gave it a Windows rating of 2.2 because of its 954G graphics throughput but the CPU wasn’t too far behind scoring 2.3. PCMark scored 438 in Audio/Video Multi-tasking and 0.66 in Web Page Rendering- about average for notebooks with the 1.6GHz Atom CPU. Pictures dont necessarily do justice to the 3D surface technology so I would highly recommend checking one out at a store near you to get a feel of it and that really is what the Mini 110 Tord Boonjte edition is all about. Priced at AED 1,899, this netbook should be available at most leading electronics stores.

Etisalat eLife Services

Etisalat launched their eLife services a few days back which is basically a re branding of their Fiber to Home services offering insanely high Internet Speeds, landlines and cable- all from one box. The packages aren’t necessarily designed for the heavy duty downloader with monthly caps of 100GB but if you like browsing the web and not download everything left-and-right then AED 300/- per month can get you a nice 8Mbps connection or AED 359/- for a 16Mbps connection. This price also provides you 8 hours per month for their WiFi Hotspots and a regular land line number. Call the dreaded 101 for more information

Samsung introduces the OmniaPRO B7320 Smartphone

PR: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today announced the launch of its latest Omnia smartphone, the OmniaPRO B7320. Featuring a hybrid Touch/QWERTY form factor the OmniaPRO B7320 is the optimal messaging phone for highly mobile professionals.

Following on from the success of the Omnia I (1900), which sold more than 2.5 million untis worldwide last year, the Samsung OmniaPRO B7320 keeps consumers in sync with the office without losing touch with the rest of everyday life. Push email, instant messaging, easy web navigation, seamless compatibility with a PC especially when using MS Office – the B7320 offers a premium professional experience while on the go.

“The Omnia Series is one of Samsung’s most important lineups yet and definitively shows our leadership in the Middle East smartphones marketplace,” said Mr. Sandeep Saihgal, General Manager, Mobile Phone Division, Samsung Gulf Electronics. “Samsung’s smartphone strategy is to provide both powerful multimedia features, with brighter and faster AMOLED displays, and offer efficiency and convenience at work supported by an advanced open operating system, and the OmniaPRO B7320 reflects that strategy.”

With its compact design and ergonomic QWERTY keypad, the Samsung OmniaPRO B7320 is a portable messaging centre which lets users carry their inbox with them wherever they go, with corporate push email support and email/wireless internet capabilities. Launching with an updated Windows Mobile® 6.5 operating system, the OmniaPRO B7320 empowers users more than ever to stay connected and productive while on the go with unprecedented ease of use.

For those who value networking and maintaining relationships, the OmniaPRO B7320 boasts social networking applications like Facebook and MySpace as well as instant messaging support for MSN, Google Talk and Yahoo Chat.

Product Specifications: OmniaPRO B7320

Network HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
EDGE/GPRS 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz
Display 65K QVGA TFT Display (2.4”, 240 x 320)
OS Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
Camera 3 Megapixel CMOS
Audio Audio Format Support (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA)
FM Radio with RDS / Bluetooth Stereo Headset (A2DP)
Video Video Format Support (H.263, H.264, WMV9, MPEG4)
Value-added Features A-GPS with Navigation / Pressure Sensor based Up/down Scrolling
Connectivity Bluetooth® v 2.0 / USB 2.0 / Wi-Fi
Memory Internal Memory : 70MB
External Memory : microSDHC™ (up to 16GB)
Size 111.8 x 59.8 x 12.6 mm, 103g
Battery 1480 mAh

* Note : Product specifications may vary among countries.

Scythe FenrisWolf Mid-Tower Chassis

QUOTE: “This chassis is a collaborative effort to a mod expert from across the pond. Scythe sought the knowledge of renowned case mode guru, Benjamin “benny” Franz from Germany. I’m not quite sure of the exact proposal here; if “benny” made the design, or just looked at it and “endorsed it” in the manner of a Fatal1ty type branding. I will get to the bottom of it as I go through the chassis and have a better look at things and just how well they all play together.

Today we are looking at the FenrisWolf Mid Tower chassis from Scythe. To my knowledge, this is the only chassis currently available from Scythe. As such, and the fact that it has been given the thumbs up from a well known mod maker, I would assume this chassis should bring good things, inside and out.”

ASUS P7P55D Premium Motherboard Review

“As was the case with the ASUS P7P55D Deluxe, using the ASUS P7P55D Premium was a great experience. We were able to really push the overclocking envelope of our i5 750 CPU. If you plan to watercool, this would be a great motherboard to get your hands on, as it has the capability of pushing any current 1156 CPU past the limits of air-cooling. Coupling this motherboard with an upcoming Intel i3 CPU should result in some impressive clock speeds!

Jetway Ecomo EM100BV Netbook Review

Quote: Tired of being bombarded with all of the netbook options this holiday season? Find out if Jetway’s Ecomo EM100BV netbook should be on your holiday buying list.

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/jetway-ecomo-em100bv-netbook/

Razer Abyssus Gaming Mouse

For a while now we’ve been seeing mice with a horde of buttons and programming interfaces to program that flock of buttons hanging all over the mouse. We’ve been wanting to see a regular 3 button mouse with enough high tech to make it deadly accurate, a nice infrared sensor capable of picking up swift movement, high to mid-range adjustable DPI and with adjustments that can be made without going back into the operating system to make changes.

We get a lot of feedback on products we’ve reviewed and one of the top responses we get is on gaming mice. A lot of people tell us they want just 3 buttons on a high tech mouse, or they tell us they have a 9 button mouse and only use 3 buttons. They still want the high tech bells and whistles, precision control, and above all else they want it from a major player in the gaming field at a reasonable price.

Apparently Razer has been hearing the same things we’ve been hearing because we received a Razer Abyssus mouse with those features and a lot more.

NZXT Gamma Mid Tower Case Review

Quote: “Today we have the opportunity to take a look at the NZXT Gamma Mid Tower Case. This chassis supports up to six fans, has a complete black interior, and has plenty of higher end features packed into a small case. In the past couple years more and more cases are packing more features at a cheaper price; the NZXT Gamma is no exception. Read on further to see what else this case has to offer.”

HIS Radeon HD 5750 iCooler IV Video Card

QUOTE: “The HD 5750 has been a great card from the word go. Its mid-range status but high-end performance is nothing to shy away from and when compared to cards in the HD 5800 series, the HD 5750 has shown us many times that it’s highly capable of handling 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 at times.

With HIS being an ATI only partner, it’s important that the company attacks the new models without haste and today we’re looking at the HD 5750 which has been given the iCooler treatment.”

Best of 2009: Netbooks

Quote:
“The second in our ‘Best of 2009’ series is all about what seems to be everyone’s favorite product, Netbooks. We’ve got the top ten best of 2009 Netbooks as based on a combination of user and expert reviews from around the world. In this list of the top ten best of 2009 we’ve got the usual suspects like Acer and Asus occupying spots, sometimes more than one, but there’s a couple that might surprise you. ”

Main site link: http://www.testfreaks.com

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