If the idea of carrying a pad of paper, an eBook reader, and a netbook sounds like two too many things to carry, then you might be the target audience for the Android based enTourage eDGe.

The enTourage eDGe is a dual-screen, WiFi-enabled device that has optional access to 3G networks for fast and easy data transfers.  The left side of the enTourage eDGe features a 9.7” diagonal e-paper display, serving as an e-reader or notebook that comes with many built-in applications.  The enTourage eDGe allows users to read e-books in PDF and EPUB format and take notes or draw diagrams for easy storing on the device while they are top-of-mind, such as during a class or meeting.

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The right side of the enTourage eDGe is a 10.1” LCD screen equipped with a touch screen interface to easily browse email, surf the Internet, watch movies or listen to MP3s. The enTourage eDGe supports Bluetooth® keyboards so users can conveniently type notes, emails and IMs.  These two unique screens also work together to help individuals access information faster. For example, a user can highlight a word from the e-paper screen, and drag it to a Web browser on the LCD screen to search for definitions, images and so forth. For increased access to documents, users can choose between email attachments, USB drives, direct PC drag and drop or web page download for moving files on and off the device.

The eDGe looks interesting, and I think it’s smart that enTourage already has an eBook store in place — albeit with a limited selection of current titles and steeper prices compared to the Amazon Kindle and the nook stores; time will tell if the prices get any more competitive. Of course, there are plenty of free ePub and PDF books available online as well.

The enTourage eDGe will be available in February 2010 for $490. Colors available will include piano black, midnight blue, ruby red, glacier white, and ice blue.

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Can’t decide which operating system you want on the shiny new netbook you are about to get? Well this GearSponsor deal may be just what you are looking for. This Acer AOD250 has a 10.1″ LED display, 1.66 GHz Intel N280 Atom processor, 1GB RAM and a 6-cell battery. While those specs aren’t unusual for a netbook this one is… this machine Dual-Boots both the Android and XP operating systems.

That’s right, with this GearDeal you don’t need to choose which OS because it ships with two! And with $20 off at NewEgg you can grab it for just $329.99. The price even includes free shipping.

Acer AOD250-1613 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (9 hours battery) with Android/Windows XP via LogicBuy.

Context is everything. I hadn’t touched SiN since replaying SiN Gold when it was released for the Mac in 2000. Then they released the first ‘episode’ of SiN Episodes, called ‘Emergence‘ in 2006, which came with a Steam copy of ‘SiN 1′ as it was called. Naturally I played some then as I waited for the release of the episode, but didn’t make it all the way through. Since it is now more than ten years since the original release, I thought it only appropriate that I should do a Retrospective for a franchise that has spent its’ life in the shadow of Half Life. Continue Reading

It’s the most wonderful time of the year unless you get your loved one this “Netbook” on Black Friday.  Kmart is offering what they call a netbook for $119.99.  The only problem is this “netbook” has a 7 inch screen, 400 MHz ARM processor, 2 GB of storage and 128 MB of ram — and NO CHANCE of viewing a modern web site thanks to the ever crappy Pocket IE.

Unless they have pre-installed Skyfire or anything else, this computer is useless.  As for running your favorite Windows apps?  No way.  The only thing you may have a chance of doing is hacking it, and putting Linux or Android on it, but even then it would be pretty danged slow. Steer clear of this Black Friday “Deal”.

Via: blackfriday.info
Via: liliputing.com

I stopped by my local Best Buy yesterday to make a return and the demo unit of the new Nokia Booklet 3G caught my eye. I was impressed. The device is small and has gracious curves. It is thin and has almost no breaks in its super-clean lines. And it is solid. And I mean SOLID! Like the uni-body MacBook Pro, it is carved from a solid piece of aluminum. This gives it a high-end feel and makes it stand out from the rest of the netbook crowd.

I thought I might want to get one once they were released.

That thought left me a few seconds later.

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I picked up a Toshiba NB205 netbook shortly after Windows 7 launched and have been enjoying it every since. The netbook shipped with an Intel® Atom™ processor N280 running at 1.66GHz, 1GB DDR2 memory, a 10.1″ WSVGA LED-backlit widescreen display at 1024 x 600 resolution, a 160GB 5400 rpm drive and more. It weighs in at only 2.9 lbs. and is 1.3″ high. The battery offers up to 9 hours of run time. Over all it is a pretty standard package, but at a current price of $399.99 at Best Buy it is a nice machine.

Not content to leave well enough alone, I did three simple mods that have it running better and doing more. I upped the RAM to 2GB, swapped out the spinning platter for an SSD drive and did a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium. The result is a netbook that is quick, quiet and cool… and runs for a long, long time.

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It’s amazing how much use you’ll find for a Netbook. Despite buying a Netbook thinking I’d use it only to  browse the web from my couch I’ve used my Acer Aspire One to initiate remote desktop sessions, download files, test Windows updates – and do some couch surfing. The battery life of Netbooks  is usually better than more powerful (and power hungry) laptops. While the processor, memory and speed generally won’t support crunching huge spreadsheets Netbooks can be useful for situations where you don’t need the full horsepower of a regular laptop. GearSponsor LogicBuy has found a deal on the Lenovo S10-2 Netbook that brings the cost to an affordable $275. Specifications include: Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, 10.1″ WSVGA LED LCD screen ; 1GB DDR2 RAM ; 160GB hard drive and Windows XP Home SP3. If you’re not quite ready for a new laptop but would like a small lightweight device for web browsing and light Windows application work – this could be your answer.

Lenovo S10-2 – $275 via GearSponsor LogicBuy

I love tablets. I used a Windows Tablet PC for years and have been chomping at the bit for the Apple tablet. The iPhone and iPod touch have been and are awesome, but I have been longing for something a bit larger. When the Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android came along, I thought it just might be the ticket. Here was a slick slate tablet with a 4.8“ touchscreen with 800*480 resolution. The 32GB model is just thin and light and… it runs Android. I bit.

It is an impressive device. But is it a “keeper”?

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Rumor has it that the upcoming 10.6.2 build of Mac OS X has removed support for the Intel Atom CPU, which is the processor under the hood of many netbooks on the market today, including my beloved Dell Mini 9. This isn’t an issue for most Mac users, but if you’re like me and you’ve Hackintoshed your way to super-portable bliss, you might be a little worried.  See, Apple…this is why I wish you had your own official netbook!

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There are many games from the history of computer role-playing games that deserve the attention of a full retrospective, looking back in depth at what made the game great and putting it into modern context. However, for every ‘Ultima IV’ or ‘Arcanum’ there are a hundred games like Hexplore – minor releases that added something at the time but were not significant enough to merit much attention even a year after they came out. Certainly I had never heard about it until recently when it was mentioned in a thread on a PC RPG forum. As part of my love affair with my netbook, I am seeking these games out, playing them and will be writing about them here. Continue Reading

Given that my first love of gaming is first-person shooters (FPS) based on my love of the original Castle Wolfenstein back on my Apple ][+, it is somewhat surprising that I was ‘late to the party’ on Unreal by nearly a year. But hey, gimme a break – I had a three-month old colicky baby when it was released in late May of 1998. Yes, that is right: Unreal is well past the celebration of its tenth birthday … but in terms of my ownership it has just passed the decade mark, so I guess that counts for something! You know what that means? Netbook Gamer Retrospective time! I am going to take a look at the original game and also touch on the other entries in the series as it has moved to being one of the premier online shooters. And as usual I will put it all into the context of how it works on my netbook.

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I was looking through my RSS feeds this morning and came upon this video on GottaBeMobile.

Quite honestly it is one of the most creative “Transformer” videos I have seen. Take a look for yourself…

PocketLint via 9to5Mac

Welcome to the first entry in the new Netbook Gamer series! In the fall of 1997 LucasArts delivered into the hands of gamers something they had wanted since they first saw one twenty years prior – a lightsaber.

Dark Forces brought the Star Wars universe a new level of immersion through the first person shooter perspective. The story brought in classic settings abd characters and introduced a new hero – Kyle Katarn. Former Imperial Academy hero shaken by the discovery of the nature of the Empire through tragic events, Katarn is joined by his partner Jan Ors as the pair serve as mercenaries in the hire of the Rebellion. Dark Forces was an amazing game that delivered a visceral experience and new technical advances to the new first person shooter genre. What it didn’t give gamers was a taste of what it felt like to be a Jedi.

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Welcome to a new series here at Gear Diary! Called the Netbook Gamer, this will allow me to share two of my loves – playing computer games and exploiting my netbooks to deliver whatever performance I can squeeze from them. In this series I will look at games released over the last decade that might have pushed the boundaries of what was possible when released, but still work on a modern PC and will run smoothly on a current release netbook.

In the title I will identify the game, the year it was released and the genre – expect these to be heavily FPS (first person shooter) and RPG (roleplaying game) centric. I will do a review of the game and also look at how it works in the context of playing on a netbook. I will look at whether it requires a CD to play, if the controls are re-mappable, if the game supports netbook-friendly video modes, and so on. Naturally any screenshots I use will come directly from my netbook unless otherwise noted!

Of course I am always open to suggestions in terms of games to review and anything else netbook-specific you’d like to see, so feel free to chime in the comments!

MSI has just announced their new Wind U110 ECO.

At just 3.2 pounds and 1.24 inches thick the Atom-powered unit offers 15+ hours of run time. That’s pretty impressive. Other specs look good too, including  a 10″ LED backlit screen with 1024×600 resolution, a high-definition webcam and 802.11 b/g/n LAN.

Full specs, the release and lots of pictures follow.

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