We’ve already taken a look at some of the cooler laptop accessories on display at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, but the picture obviously wouldn’t be complete without looking at the actual notebooks and netbooks too, right? Since it would be virtually impossible to cover all of the new laptops at CES, I think it is much more fitting to look at a few that could prove to be real game-changers. The notebooks and netbooks featured in this article each bring something special, innovative, or unique to the table. The industry is pushing forward and these could indicate the direction that it is taking.
Asus Eee PC T91 Convertible Tablet Netbook
By most accounts, the original Asus Eee PC is what popularized the netbook format in the first place. There may have been other small form factor notebooks, but there was something about that Eee PC that skyrocketed it to the top. In continuing with this trend, we see the revealing of the Asus Eee PC T91, the first convertible tablet PC to join the Eee PC line of netbooks.
Featuring an 8.9-inch touchscreen display that can rotate and swivel, the Asus T91 could really bring the tablet PC format into the mainstream. Looking at the rest of the specs on the T91, you’ll find that it is more or less in line with the Eee PC 901 and Eee PC 1000H.
Some of the more notable features include the Intel Atom Z520 processor, Windows XP Home, and WiFi, as well as options for integrated GPS and TV tuner. The Asus T91 is about an inch thick and weighs just two pounds. I hope Asus keeps it affordable.
Sony VAIO P Lifestyle PC
Who said that netbooks had to be cheaply built and cheaply priced? Sony doesn’t want us to think of the new VAIO P-series as a netbook, instead referring to the little laptop as a “lifestyle PC”, whatever that means. Interestingly, it’s even smaller than most of the current netbooks offered on the market.
Featuring an extra wide 8-inch LED backlit display (1600×768), the Sony VAIO P series (the P stands for Pocket) has nearly a full-sized keyboard but it does away with the trackpad, opting instead for that little tracking nub in the middle of the keyboard. By getting rid of the trackpad, the VAIO P shortens the overall depth.
Highlights include an Intel 1.33GHz processor, Windows Vista Home Premium (or Home Basic), up to 60GB hard drive or 128GB SSD, 2GB of RAM, integrated WiFi and Verizon 3G wireless broadband, real-time GPS, MOTION EYE webcam, and Bluetooth connectivity. Prices start at $900, ramping up to $1500 for the top-end model.
GIGABYTE M912 Cafe Book Convertible Tablet
Similar to the Asus Eee PC T91 described above, the GIGABYTE M912 is one of the first convertible tablet-style netbooks available on the market. GIGABYTE is having a hard time keeping up with demand and for good reason: this little computing wizard is a great travel companion for those who want the utility of a tablet but without the added bulk or increased cost.
The 8.9-inch swivel touchscreen gets backed up with an Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 2.5″ SATA hard drive with 160GB of storage, Mobile Intel 945GSE Express chipset, Windows XP Home, 1.3 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. For people who want a little more beef in their Cafe Book, GIGABYTE has configured the M912 in such a way that the memory and hard drive are easily upgraded. It’s modular.
Lenovo W700ds Dual-Monitor Monster Laptop
If you want to talk about a real game-changer, then you should definitely take a closer look at Lenovo’s new W700ds dual-screen laptop computer. This is a huge contrast from the netbooks and tablets described in the rest of this article, because portability is nowhere near being one of its strong points. I hope you have a good bag and a strong shoulder, because this thing tips the scales at a whopping eleven pounds.
In this way, the Lenovo W700ds is designed to be a desktop replacement. The biggest selling point, of course, is its secondary display. The primary screen already offers 17-inches of real estate, but you can also pop up a secondary display out the right side that measures 10.6-inches. This second display is oriented in portrait mode, making it great for instant messengers and other secondary applications.
Better still, after you pop out the spring-loaded secondary display, you can tilt it toward you, just as you would with a dual LCD configuration on your desktop.
As a mobile workstation, the specs on the Lenovo W700ds certainly aren’t anything to sneeze at. Prices start in the $3,600 range, getting you up to a quad-core processor, Nvidia Quadro graphics, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, dual hard drives or solid state drives for up to 960GB of storage, an integrated Wacom digitizer, dual heat reduction systems, and biometric security.
MSI Focuses on Unwiring Your World
Early in the show, we told you about MSI’s brazen attempt to knock off all that Apple says that is special about their MacBook Air. Although MSI’s X320 Slim Netbook stole the show during CES Unveiled, the company had other things that they hoped would pique your interest as well.
Netbooks and notebooks are meant to be unwired, giving you complete freedom from the desk. Unfortunately, you still need to find yourself a WiFi connection to truly take advantage of this gift. MSI’s focus at this show seems to be in trying to find ways to make this happen. Their latest product, the U120 series takes wireless a couple steps further than the WiFi you find at the Coffee Shop.
With data prices starting to become more reasonable, users now have the option to use their netbooks and notebooks tethered to their cellphones. MSI is capitalizing on this trend by integrating 3.5G HSPDA support into their U120 series netbooks. All that is required is a SIM card and voila! Yep, that means you’re currently out of luck if you have that creepy guy following you around with his CDMA “Network”. This should hopefully reduce your need to drive around town hunting for an open WiFi hotspot, provided there is service in your area and you’re on a GSM network.
Spec wise, the U120H as it is called comes with a new LED backlight which saves power, but they still cripple it with only a 3 Cell battery like the MSI Wind U100. HSPDA is only going to suck more power and it makes no sense to include the smallest battery. Hopefully this is just a preliminary spec. Other specs include 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive and a 1.6GHz ATOM processor.
MSI was also showing off a fully functional WiMAX enabled U120 on the floor. MSI claims to be the first to do this with a netbook and they are committed to rolling this technology out to future products. With WiMAX service rolling out slowly but steadily, it will only be a matter of time till we no longer have to drink burnt coffee just to check our email. Let’s just hope they put a bigger battery in this one so we don’t have to return to said burnt coffee shop to borrow an outlet.
Always Bringing Something New to the Table
Sure, you could find notebooks that are a little more affordable, come in more colors, or shave a couple of millimeters off their profiles, but these are just more of the same. The notebooks and netbooks described in this article really do bring significant innovation to the table, encouraging us to consider things that are a little different. A dual-screen laptop? Are you kidding me?
Personally, I’m getting pretty excited about the prospect of an affordable netbook-style tablet PC. Everyone is in love with touchscreens on their smartphones, but wait until they get to enjoy that kind of interface on a fully functional PC too. Definitely stay tuned as we roll out all the things we found at CES 2009. More pictures of these products can be found in the photo gallery on the next page.
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CES 2009 – Notebooks and Netbooks Hit The Showfloor Running Photo Gallery
