News Bits: More Netbooks, MSI Business Laptop, Expensive Eee PCs Coming Soon

Fujitsu, Sony, Toshiba getting ready to introduce netbooks

According to a news story on Financial Times, Fujitsu, Sony, and Toshiba are preparing to introduce netbooks. The netbook market is currently being led by ASUS with the Eee PC. Quanta, the world's number one notebook manufacturer by volume, will produce the Sony netbook, while Inventec, a contract manufacturer, will produce Toshiba's. Fujitsu is planning to produce its netbook in its own facilities.

Full Story (FT.com)
Via (HEXUS.net)

Intel sells 500,000 Classmate laptops to Portugal

Intel made a deal with Portugal's government to supply primary school students with 500,000 machines. The deal is part of an educational program called the Magellan Initiative.

Full Story (ChannelRegister.co.uk)

ASUS to introduce high-end Eee PCs for $700+

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ASUStek president Jerry Shen said the company is planning to introduce high-end Eee PCs to address different market segments. ASUS currently has 11 different Eee PC models, differentiated by size, CPU type, and design. The Ultimate and Pro Fashion series are expected to join this year. They will feature more expensive components including dual-core Intel Atom processors and larger storage capacities (a 120GB hard drive or a 32GB SSD).
The S-series Eee PCs will be introduced in late September, and feature 10.1-inch, 16:9 LED-backlit displays and a 4-5 hour battery life. They will carry pricetags in the $700 - $900 range.
Shen says ASUS is expecting to ship 1.5 - 1.6 million Eee PCs in the third quarter of this year, and is on track to meet its 5 million unit goal for this year.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com)

Alienware now offering Nvidia QuadroFX 3600M GPU

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Alienware is now offering the workstation-class Nvidia Quadro FX 3600M graphics card in its Area-51 m15x notebook. The m15x is currently the only 15.4" notebook offered with the FX 3600M.
Alienware currently offers the QuadroFX 1600M on its Area-51 M9750 notebook, and will be offering the FX 3600M soon in its new m17x notebook.

Alienware Press Release (BusinessWire.com)
NotebookReview.com review for the Alienware Area-51 m15x
NotebookReview.com review for the Alienware Area-51 M9750

Alienware Area-51 m15x User Review
Forum member Svarto has done a thorough review of the Alienware Area-51 m15x in our forums. Overall the review is positive, while pointing out the high and low points of the machine.

Read the Full Review in the forums

Sylvania G netbook specs emerge

Image credit: jkOnTheRun

Information has been uncovered on Sylvania's G netbook. Reported specifications are as followed:

• 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor
• 512MB - 1GB RAM
• 80GB hard drive
• 4 hours battery life (max.)
• 8.9-inch LED-backlit display, 1024x600 resolution
• Media card reader
• Intel 945 Express graphics chipset

Full Story (jkOnTheRun.com)
Via (Engadget.com)

MSI announces PR601 business-class notebook

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MSI today announced its PR601 business-class notebook, based on the latest Intel Centrino 2 technology. It features a 15.4" display and an independent numeric keypad. Specifications include Intel Core 2 Duo processors, Intel GMA X4500 graphics, up to 4GB of RAM, Bluetooth, and N wireless.

MSI Press Release
Via (Laptoping.com)

Intel Atom processor beaten by VIA Nano

HardOCP has done a thorough comparison of the two, and the results are quite surprising. In real-world usage, the VIA processor was much more tolerable than the Intel Atom. 

Full Story (HardOCP.com)

Special thanks to forum member Gophn for submitting this bit