Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Eee PC turns one year old, slides under the $300 barrier to celebrate

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/423166771/

Filed under: Laptops

You wouldn't know it by the vast array of spin-offs and iterations, but the Eee PC has only just now turned one year old and, whether by coincidence or design, it's also now finally dropped under the ever-elusive $300 mark. That doesn't come in the form of that rumored new sub-$300 model, however, but rather an existing Eee PC 900A that's now available from Best Buy for $299.99. Not that we're complaining, as this particular model packs an 8.9-inch display compared to the 7-incher on the 701SDX spotted yesterday, along with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB or RAM, a 4GB SSD, and Linux pre-installed. Now, about that $200 Eee PC.

Read - jkOnTheRun, "Asus breaks sub-$300 price barrier with Eee PC 900A at Best Buy"
Read - Laptop, "Happy Birthday Eee PC!"

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

NY Times Reporter Warped Into Dell Shill [Dell]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/421572696/ny-times-reporter-warped-into-dell-shill

Here's why you should never trust endorsements—besides the general principle of the matter. NY Times reporter Marc Santora did an interview for a startup site called Big Think, talking about how technology has changed covering stories like the Iraq War. Imagine his surprise when part of it was slipped into a DigitalNomads ad, a site that's "powered by Dell," magically turning his interview into an endorsement.

While he doesn't actually say the word "Dell" in the spot, at the bottom of the DigitalNomads site is a small sign of who's backing it: "Powered by Dell," so it's an implicit endorsement that, as Valleywag says, "suggests a New York Times reporter has endorsed its vision of mobile technology."

Santora says his involvement was unwitting and unpaid, and it's unlikely the NYT gave permission for an endorsement like this either, so it looks like he got played here. Apparently the people behind the ad have a particularly shady history anyway—last summer, that advertiser stirred up a wicked brouhaha by paying bloggers to recite sponsor slogans. Moral of the story: Don't trust sponsors, endorsements or anything that looks remotely cushy. [Valleywag]

Correction on Apple MacBook vs Dell Inspiron Price Comparison [Correction]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/421947682/correction-on-apple-macbook-vs-dell-inspiron-price-comparison

Yesterday we published an article comparing the latest MacBook and the Dell Inspiron 13, pointing out that the MacBook was too expensive. In the middle of the Apple event battle, the post omitted some facts that made the comparison invalid. We have edited the article to reflect these facts. Our apologies.

Asus Reeeturns to Its Roots With $300 Eee PC 701SDX [Unconfirmed]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/421947681/asus-reeeturns-to-its-roots-with-300-eee-pc-701sdx

Ten million iterations of the Eee PC later, there are signs Asus might be returning the thoroughly molested brand its simpler, cheaper notebook roots. EeePCNews.de has shots of what they think is the new $300 Eee PC 701SDX. This seven-inch Eee isn't a whole lot different from past models, it's just got a slightly updated chassis and dumps the integrated webcam to cut costs. Which we can live without on a $300 netbook—we're happy just see an actually cheap notebook again. [Laptop Mag]

Sony Vaio JS Series All-in-One PC Now Shipping [Vaio Js1]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/421985563/sony-vaio-js-series-all+in+one-pc-now-shipping

Sony has begun shipping their Vaio VGC-JS110J/S 20.1-inch all-in-one desktop PC—the base model in the JS-1 series with a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM and a 320GB HDD running Vista Home Premium. This particular model will run you $1000 (and stocks are low), but if you are holding out for something a little beefier, the higher-end models in the series are now available for pre-order. [Amazon via Computermonger]