News Bits: Alienware Trade-in Program, Asus Eee PC with Windows, HP Teams up with Sprint

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Asus Eee PC coming with Windows this year

Asus has confirmed that it will be coming out with an Eee PC running Windows this year. Exactly what version of Windows is unknown at this time but XP is likely; Vista takes up too much space (15GB) to be a viable option.

The Eee PC will appear on the market by the end of this month and will have prices ranging from $260 to $400.

Asus Eee PC First Thoughts
Read More (Laptoping.com)

Clearwire introduces high-speed wireless PC card

Clearwire Corporation has announced that its first mobile broadband wireless PC card is now available. The card uses Motorola's pre-WiMAX OFDM technology and receives power from the notebook computer. The Clearwire card is designed to work with Clearwire's wireless networks and can provide up to a 1.5Mbps connection speed. The card is available now in all Clearwire markets nationwide and through Clearwire retail locations. It is also available through Clearwire's authorized local retailers and national partners. Service plans start at $59.99/month and the leases for the card start at $6.99/month.

Read More (BusinessWire.com)

 

HP integrates Sprint EV-DO Rev A into business notebooks

HP announced today they'll be offering EV-DO via Sprint in several of their business laptops. The 8510p, 6510p, 6910p and 2710p notebooks will all offer this feature from Sprint. If you sign up for a two-year contract then you get 1 month of free service. Previous to this announcement HP only offered Verizon EV-DO as an option.

Read More (BusinessWire.com)


Alienware creates trade-in program

Alienware today announced its AlienExchange Trade-In Program, which allows customers to trade in a number of electronic devices toward the purchase of new Alienware products. Possible trade-in items include desktop and notebook computers, game consoles, monitors, mobile phones, MP3 players, PDAs, servers, cameras, and several others.

The customer will get a quote for the items they want to trade in and can ship them to Alienware for free. A special bonus is given to those who trade in an old Alienware system for a new one.

More Information (Alienware.com)
Read More (BusinessWire.com)

Lenovo rugged laptop in the works

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Matt Kohut from Lenovo just got back from a trip to the Lenovo Innovation Center in Beijing, China. On the company's official blog, LenovoBlogs.com, Matt reports that he saw a ruggedized PC made by Lenovo that was previously unknown to those of us outside China. There's no official word this rugged PC would ever be sold outside of China, but on the blog post about this laptop the question is asked whether anyone would be interested in a truly ruggedized ThinkPad.

Read More (LenovoBlogs.com)

Microsoft gives up EU antitrust case, agrees to sell code

Microsoft today gave in under pressure from the EU and agreed to sell some confidential computer code to rivals for a nominal cost. The agreement to sell code symbolizes the ending of a 32-year old practice of designing proprietary systems to increase its competitive advantage.

Read More (NYTimes.com)

 

NEC announces Nissan X-Trail themed laptop

Images courtesy Engadget

NEC has come out with a Nissan X-Trail themed laptop in Japan. The machine is based on the company's 12.1-inch Lavie G Type J laptop and has the same red paint as the X-trail. The palmrests feature the X-trail logo and the materials are the same as the X-Trail's seats. Specifications and pricing vary; with an Ultra Low Voltage Core 2 Duo U7500 (1.06GHz), Vista Premium, and a DVD burner, the retail price is about $2113.

Read More (Engadget.com)

 

Hmm, I think this car branded notebook thing has to stop, but if its going to happen, lets have them use good cars. If you want to use a Nissan, do the GTR - its fantastic. The X Trail? Not so much...

 

An easy pc with xp, I'd buy one in a heart beat.

 

I heard about the eec vista deal. Its supposed to be a modified (compressed/condensed) form of vista so that it doesn't take up as much space.

 

Lenovo makes their own line of notebooks, so a ruggedised Lenovo does not necessarily mean a Thinkpad.

 

If Asus increased the price on the EEE by $100 or $200 and threw in a touch screen, I'd be very interested. Otherwise, my desire for the EEE is a bit lukewarm.

The only other company that I know of that has a viable trade-in program is Sony. Props to Alienware/Dell for accepting other electronics as well.

 

Forgive my ignorance but I don't get the fuzz about the Eee notebook. What exactly is it trying to achieve?

The ruggedized lenovo notebook is interesting. As shuttleboi pointed out Lenovo has their own lines of notebooks so it is not necessarily a thinkpad, although it certainly looks interesting.

The Alienware trade-in program is IMO a rip off. They rated my new t61p, which is about $1600, to be $389. I bet I could get a far better price for this and other electronics on ebay. Maybe someone would find logic in trading in their old electronics, but I think it's better to just make the money on ebay.

 

How are trade-in programs financially feasible for companies? They must sell or recycle the parts because I don't see them taking a loss on their products.



I always thought of Lenovo/IBM notebooks as a semi-ruggedized notebook already. No need to make it more so unless it's for military, construction, or extreme outdoor purposes.

 

I'm guessing 7" is a bit too big to fit in a pocket?

 

EEE was mainly for poorer countries. It was meant to be used in those countries as a cheap affordable laptop that would still give you good functionality. Its similar to the one laptop per child kind of deal.

The rumored revision of the EEE seems interesting. No fan and 33% cut on the CPUs tdp.

 

The Lenovo rugged laptop looks like a mix between the Panasonic Toughbooks and that rugged Dell machine .

 

according to alienware my m1330 is only worth 405$

 

That's rediculous.

 

From Alienware:

Who are they trying to kid? Not with the kind of quotes they are giving, and their overpriced machines as it is.

 

Just thought I would add that in Taiwan, the EEE PC is available and prices range from $240-$350 including tax. A local article in an English newspaper here in Taiwan said that windows XP will be an option later, for an additional $1000NT ~33USD. So hopefully Asus will make a deal with MS that will allow EEE users to upgrade to Xp if desired for a relatively low cost.

 

I don't see why Microsoft wouldn't go with that. They want everyone to use their software, so why not here? Especially if the Eee PC really takes off.
And as I said, the moment it becomes available to me with XP, I'm buying. No doubt about it.

 

And the keyboard looks like a thinkpad keyboard .
But that would be awesome if that machine, in some case, is comparable to the Toughbook. I myself would like to see the ruggedized Thinkpad .

 

That Lenovo isn't a Thinkpad, its missing the trackpoint. It's a self branded model. It also seems like it has a glossy screen. Who in their right mind would make a ruggedized notebook with a glossy screen?

 

Adding XP out of the box for the Eee is fantastic news, the only thing putting me off from buying one right away is the screen resolution. At 800 x 480, I fear a lot of side scrolling action will be necessary when surfing the web on this device.

 

Some of the quotes are viable, they are pretty decent for used point and shoot cameras. A couple of the cell phone quotes are ok. Basically the cheaper the item the closer to a decent deal you'll get.

 

You might have to do some side scrolling, but the good news is that the EEE PC can output at 1600x1280 resolution!

 

*twitch*

Okay, I've seen this far too often already since the news broke. The resolution you are all looking for is 1600x1200. While 1280x1024 might be 5:4, I haven't seen any 1600x1280 monitors out there.

(Unless you count two 1280x800 widescreen laptops put on their ends side-by-side.)

Now, with that out of the way - I imagine that the Microsoft OS on the Eee will be Windows XP, due to space/performance considerations, and it being the "most familiar" OS.

 

If they offer a streamlined, more efficient version of vista, I can see people buying up these machines just to copy it off and use on their main machines A less resource hungry vista? OK!

 

Alienware are a bunch of rip offs they want nothing, for the notebooks.

 

why do they bother with the trade in program? they are not doing it themselves, it's contracted out to another company... u have to trade in practically new item to get any value out of it... who are they kidding?

these trade programs are all the same, useless... (printer companies, cellphone companies, etc...)