You probably hear the word netbook all the time these days. Do you wonder what is a netbook, anyways? Well, it is a kind of portable mini laptop, but to be more specific it is a mini laptop that is primarily designed to get online, and browse Internet. That’s were the term comes from:

Internet + Notebook = Netbook

The origin of the word netbook is not clear. It was used by Psion in 1999 as a name for their ultra portable mini laptop, but at that time it never gained any popularity. It was popularized by Intel just in 2008 and became widely spread with the production of Asus Ee PC. According to some sources term was invented by Intel and Psion is not mentioned in the story.

Nowadays netbooks developed into a seperate class of mini laptops. Shops list netbooks as subcategory of Laptops. For example here is the netbooks category on Amazon. Netbooks are smaller and cheaper than regular laptops, yet they are bigger than ultra portable mini computers (UMPC). UMPC are generally much more expensive as well. So we can define netbook as an inexpensive mini portable laptop.

Are you interested in netbooks? Follow up closely our netbook reviews blog and get latest mini laptop news and reviews.

Seems like clone manufacturers are creating serious competition to brand name companies, like Asus. Shanzai.com has pointed out to a Eee PC 1002HA clone that is actually better than the original!

Clone features VIA NANO CPU which beats Atom N270 CPU from original Eee PC running at 1.3GHz. Besides clone is using VIA’s VX855 chipset that allows users to play back 1080p videos having only 20-30% CPU used. Eee PC 1002HA has a hard time playinh back even 720p videos…

There is a hope that clone will cost 200-250 dollars, which will make it a very desirable buy to many.

Laptops are getting smaller and smaller cheaper and cheaper. $199 promised by Asus for basic Eee PC was a dream for many, never fullfilled. Well, $73 laptop is real, at least in China.

Shenzhen, chinese computer manufacturer, has put together a laptop with a 7 inch 800×480 display, 300MHz processor, 128MB RAM and 1Gb of storage… and it runs Windows CE (check out Wikipedia archives if you have no idea what this is). Goog thing is laptop does feature WiFi!

It is kind of interesting to see what can be done with the machine like that. I guess it is good for typewriter and some real basic Internet activities.

It is not secret that Asus is getting ready to release 12-inch laptops, Eee PC 1201N and 1201HA. Asus did not tell us anything about these two netbooks officially, yet somehow info about them leaked and was published on a Eee PC fan site… I would even think companies allow info to leak on purpose…

Asus Eee PC 1201N

• Display: 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixels
• CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Atom N330 dual core
• Graphics & chipset: NVIDIA ION (GeForce 9400M)
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
• Memory: 3GB DDR2
• Storage: 320GB HDD + 500GB web-based storage
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n WiFI, Bluetooth, Ethernet
• I/O: HDMI, VGA, 3 USB 2.0 ports, SD card slot, mic, headphones
• Webcam: 0.3MP
• Touchpad: Supports multitouch gestures
• Battery: 6 cells, 8 hours
• Colors: Black, blue, or red
• Dimensions: 11.7″ x 8.2″ x 1.3″
• Weight: 3.1 pounds

Asus Eee PC 1201HA

• Display: 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixels
• CPU: 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520
• Graphics & chipset: Intel US15W / GMA 500 graphics
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
• Memory: 2GB DDR2
• Storage: 250GB HDD + 500GB web-based storage
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n WiFI, Bluetooth, Ethernet
• I/O: VGA, 3 USB 2.0 ports, SD card slot, mic, headphones
• Webcam: 0.3MP
• Touchpad: Supports multitouch gestures
• Battery: 6 cells, 8 hours
• Colors: Black, blue, or red
• Dimensions: 11.7″ x 8.2″ x 1.3″
• Weight: 3.1 pounds

Looks like Eee PC 1201HA will be more simple version of 12-inch laptop having 1.33GHz Atom Z520 processor, and lacking in memory and hard drive space, as well as HDMI…

Seems like we will not hear anything official before October 22ns, big day for Microsoft and all computer manufactureres, the day when Windows 2 is released.

If you are into Hello Kitty and other girlish things, be sure to pick up Hello Kitty Netbook from geekstuff4u. Yes it is netbook with all standard specs (we will not list them here, since you already know them by heart.. well, 1.6 Atom, 10″ screen, 120GB HD… you know the rest).

The price is exclusive though, $890. Thinking “expensive”? Well, Hello Kitty stuff never was cheap. Check out more pics under cut. Perhaps you will change your mind.

This feature alone is worth $800!

Packard Bell have now officially launched the its netbook in UK. Pocket-lint.co.uk got its greasy hands on it and took some pictures of netbook. We are not surprised to see 8.9-inch screen, Atom N270 processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive.

One thing that make this netbooks stand out is a shine red dot on the side. Check out more pics on and short review pocket-lint.co.uk.

Long awaited netbook from Epson has finally being officially released. Epson Endeavor Na01 Mini (thats how it is officially called) spots 10.2” LCD with 1024×600 resolution, an Atom N270CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB of HDD, Intel 945GSE Express Chipset, USB 2.0, Wifi B/G and the rest of common netbook gear. It is all packed into 266 x 184.7 x 39mm box that weights 1.28kg.

Nothing special about the design.

Epson sells its netbook in Japan for $480.

Land of the Rising Sun (Japan, in case you wonder) will enjoy red Dell Inspiron Mini 9 starting from tomorrow. Red version is added to black and white versions of Mini 9. This is so called Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Platinum Package which also comes with flash-drive upgraded to 32GB and is priced at ¥54,980 (about $570).

No word when the rest of the world will see this red beauty. Before you decide to wait, read Dell Inspiron Mini 9 review on Laptopmag.

Looks like Europe will be getting Asus Eee PC 901 with extended 8700mAh Battery which will provide up to 7 hrs of operation time. This will be a necessary upgrade since new Asus Eee PC 901 will be provided with integrated 3G modem.

New Asus Eee PC 901 will have a single 16Gb SSD, compared to the previous 16Gb being split into two cards.

[ via - ubergizmo ]

Microsoft is getting deep into netbook market, leaving less and less netbooks with preinstalled Linux. Obviously they are aiming at non tech croud (just look at the ad above).

Of course for those of us who are tired of Windows it is not a big deal to have a laptop with Windows preinstalled. We can always install the OS of our choice. The only con is that we will have to pay for Windows license we might never use…