It’s a certain thing that 2008 will be the year of ultraportables and Rock’s new Pegasus 210 is just a new addition to the market. It has a lot of Intel UMPC internals, runs on a 800MHz A110 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 80GB 1.8-inch HDD, Bluetooth and 802.11n WiFi. The 12-inch ultraportable from Rock  weighs 2.2 pound and also packs a 4-in-1 card reader and a PCMCIA slot. The price is roughly $1,580 and remember there’s no disc drive.

via Bios

Rumors regarding the new Windows XP powered Eee PC 4G are now over. The “new” mini-laptop which has the exact hardware items inside,  is going to be available from April 9th for $399 on BestBuy. LaptopMag got their hands on it a few weeks before the official sale and they liked it. It boots Windows XP Home, pretty fast in 40 seconds.

Check out the videos.

It’s just recently that new info about Intel’s designed for education notebook surfaced. This is how the Eco PC (or the Classmate PC) is going to look. So far it’s rumored to be a 10-inch laptop with a 9-inch display that weighs a little under 3 pounds and will sell for sub-$400. It’s supposed to run on a 900MHz Celeron processors, with 512MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, built-in WiFi and Ethernet. It has decent specs for a $400 laptop.

I am sure Intel is trying to take on the OLPC, Asus` Eee PC or any other Eee PC rivals like HP’s 2133 UMPC. We’ll probably have to wait for the official release before we’re certain of what’s inside and can give a verdict. Meanwhile see more photos.

For a full gallery with the Eco PC please see mgminthu’s photos on Flickr.

The new HP dv3000 has been announced for Asia. It’s a redesigned version of the dv2000 they’ve released 2 years ago and since it’s cool to have a 13.3-inch display this is what you get. It has pretty interesting specs with a 2.5GHz T9300 Penryn Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, GeForce Go 8400M graphics that outputs HDMI or a 160GB hard drive. Of course there are others like a VGA webcam, a dual layer burner and a combo USB / eSATA port.

The price is $1,399, the date is May and the continent is Asia. Too bad for the rest of us.

Cnet-Asia

The popular mini-notebook from Asus will get some competition. Taiwan’s Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has presented its plans to built a low-cost computer with 3G support. That means the Asus Eee PC will have a tempting rival.

Besides the 3G support that enables Internet access via HSDPA and HSUPA (High Speed Downlink/Uplink Packet Access) technologies, the ECS models will feature Wi-Fi support, 56Kbps modem and Bluetooth wireless. Moreover the ECS computers will run on Intel’s Atom microprocessor paired with an Intel 945 GSE chipset. The hardware configuration includes either a regular HDD or a SSD (solid state drive) and up to 2GB of DRAM. ECS users will have the option to choose between the 8.2″ screen or the 10.2″, respectively.

The notebooks will run Microsoft Windows XP or a Linux OS. No price or availability details were revealed, but ECS has got at least a fan in my person.

via InfoWorld

This is something I wasn’t expecting but now that I found it, I think it’s a very smart marketing move. This is the new Lenovo ThinkPad X300 ad that wants to redefine the idea of “thin”. It’s obviously a way of kicking the MacBook Air in the balls when they say “The no compromise, ultraportable, 13.3″ widescreen notebook with an optiona integrated DVD drive and 3 USB ports, starting at just 2.9 lb. Everything else is hot air”.

These words are definitely going to start the fight somehow. Looking forward to Apple’s reply.

via Engadget

The Latitude XT has a great success and Dell is ready to come up with the next generation. Dell Latitude XT2 will sport the same 12.1-inch from the original XP but will work with Intel’s latest Montevina (Centrino 2) processor, both ULV (ultra low voltage) and LV types. It’s going to be packed with UMA graphics that should support Vista Aero, comes with an ultra-thin optical drive and replaces USB ports with eSATA.

The new Dell Latitude XT2 should be available from November 2008.

via Engadget

Fujitsu’s Lifebook S6510 is a ultraportable laptop that weighs 4lbs and was obviously designed for business. The main specs are :

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 processor running at 2.4 GHz
• 2 GB of RAM
• 14.1-inch wide-screen display
• Intel GMA X3100 graphic card
• 802.11n WiFi
• dual layer DVD+R optical drive
• built-in 1.3 megapixel camera
• 3 USB and FireWire ports, S-Video jack
• Works on Windows Vista Business
• Starting price : $2,039

Now that you see what the two grand price will get you, it’s time to know if it’s worthy, too. Here’s our review.

Fujitsu Lifebook S6510 PROs

For me when I buy a laptop or I look for one the weight is very important and I always tend to have that number as low as possible. It’s great to see that Fujitsu managed to pack a 14-inch display in just 4-lb, total weight. The secret is the use of LED backlights technology instead of fluorescent tubes that not only makes a display weight less but also thinner and consumes less power.

Another one in favor of the screen is the Fujitsu’s CrystalView technology with great colors, richer and sharper image details.

The air circulation technology that Fujitsu is great because it helped keeping the temperature around 85 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s like 30 Celsius) across the base and palm rests.

Last thing. A decent battery life, thanks to the low voltage processors and the LED display.

Fujitsu Lifebook S6510 CONs

I’ll start with the keyboard. I appreciate the fact that it’s a full-sized keyboard but the keys are not that great to use. They’re very weak, there’s no resistance when you press them. Next on the list, the speakers. Also weak and if you need to have a conference call with your partners you won’t enjoy it.

No dedicated graphics. It depends on the business. If it’s Word processing, charts and such then you probably won’t need it, but if it involves some designing you may want one.

And I will end my list with the fact that Fujitsu Lifebook S6510 doesn’t come with an internal cellular modem (cellular broadband). It’s useful if you’re traveling and need some quick Wireless, but there’s a solution: WiFi.

All in all, this sounds like a good ultraportable laptop, but I’ll have to be honest, the price is a little steep.

Dell Precission M6300 is getting a small upgrade. Since the laptop manufacturer is keen on putting Penryn processors in more and more of their products if you want to buy a Precission M6300 you now have two processor options, a 2.6 GHz Core 2 Duo (T9500) or a 2.8 GHz Core 2 Extreme (X900).

If it was a new graphics card you wanted, rest assured, there are two of them available. NVIDIA Quadro FX 3600M with 512 MB of dedicated RAM or the 1600M model with 256 MB dedicated. In terms of RAM memory it goes up to 8GB (which seems to be enough these days) divided in two 4GB DIMMs.

The standard version for the new Dell Precission M6300 starts at $1,769 and if you need a 32 or 64 GB SSD add $631 or $1,030.

Dell vie Electronista

There’s been a lot of rumors lately about Lenovo’s ThinkPad X300 but no one managed to find the real (official) price it’s going to sell for and though we’re waiting for new MacBooks today you should know that if you want to own a ThinkPad X300 it’s starting from $2,404. Here are the full specs.

Lenovo ThinkPad X300
13 inch widescreen with integrated graphics and DVDRW
Price: $2,488.80

- Intel Core 2 Duo SL7100 @ 1.2GHz, 4MB L2 and 800MHz FSB
- 13.3 WXGA+ TFT (LED backlight) 3×3 UltraConnect II
- 1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
- 64 GB Solid State Drive
- Ultrathin DVD-RW
- Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG (supporting Centrino Pro)
- ThinkPad X300 Series 3 Cell LiPolymer Battery

Lenovo ThinkPad X300
13 inch widescreen with integrated graphics but no DVD-RW
Price: $2,404.80

via Gizmodo