For those who wish to have computing on the go this slim and stylish offering from HP is a great choice. It is slim and compact, yet has all the power you need from a netbook. Powering this netbook is a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom Processor and it comes with Microsoft Starter Edition to give you the functionality required.

This HP Mini 110-1130 comes with a 92% keyboard meaning typing is comfortable if this is what you need. The 10.1 inch anti-glare widescreen display means the resolution is good for viewing the Internet or playing your movies on the go.

1Gb standard memory is installed which is standard for most netbooks. This will give you ample memory for running those applications which are most needed but if you want to run more powerful apps it might be worth upgrading to 2Gb. With a 160Gb SATA disk you can store a good amount of data including your latest tunes and downloads. Wireless is also included making connecting online easy on the go.

For a battery there is a 6 cell Lithium rechargeable battery which gives up to 6 hours of battery life. There is also an integrated webcam and digital microphone meaning you can stay in contact with friends online and show them where you are.

The Mini 110-1130 also comes with 3 USB 2.0 ports enabling you to connect extra disks or your MP3 player to sync to.

There is some great pre-loaded software as well to get you going. Microsoft Works (word processor, spreadsheet, calendar and database), Microsoft Internet Explorer, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Media Player, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player, HP Games Console with hours of free game play and Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009 60 day update. Also included is a free 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Edition.

The Good
This offering from HP is both stylish and practical. It is lightweight making it easily portable and comes with a good array of hardware and software so that you should have the tools you need to work or play on the move.

The Bad
The battery life at 6 hours can be a little inadequate. Especially if you are using the netbook for battery hungry use such as powering up external disks or MP3 players.

Conclusion
We think this is a great offering in the NetBook market. Its very easy to carry around so if mobile computing is what you need you can’t go too far wrong with the HP 110-1130.

Related posts:

1. Toshiba NB200 netbook
2. Samsung N130 review
3. Toshiba NB305 Netbook Review

One of Toshiba’s strong entries into the netbook world is the NB200. The NB200 is what a  netbook is all about. It’s strong and lightweight at the same time, offers good battery life and some good features for those who wish to use a netbook on the go. The NB200 comes with 1Gb of RAM which is great for those wishing to use the netbook for browsing, e-mail, music and movies on the go. The Toshiba NB200 comes with a 1.67GHz Atom N280 CPU with the 945 chipset which is pretty standard for a lot of netbooks.

The 10.1 inch screen with a resolution of 1024×600 is also a good screen which is good for browsing most websites and offers a good resolution for movies. There is a 160Gb hard disk which is ample for computing on the go. If you need more there are 3 USB ports allowing you to plug in external hard disks or memory sticks. A 0.3 MP webcam is also present allowing friends to see you while you are out and about. Standard with netbooks comes a wireless option and also bluetooth is also included.

The Toshiba NB200 also comes with Windows 7 starter.

The Good
The Toshiba NB200 is a good size and weight for a netbook but doesn’t compromise on features. At under 2kg it is a nice weight to be able to carry around. Also the keyboard is a good size so typing is pleasant rather than awkward and fiddly on some netbooks.

What we really like here at GizmoSpy is that the USB ports charge USB devices even when the netbook is switched off. This is great if you want to charge your MP3 player on the go. It obviously drains the batteries of the netbook but if you have some power spare and want to charge something its a great option.

The Bad
We can’t find too much wrong with this offering from Toshiba. For a netbook it ticks all the right boxes. Maybe some more memory would be ideal but if you are using the netbook for what they are designed for, mobile computing, then 1Gb should really be enough.

Spy Rating
We like this Toshiba NB200 netbook. If portable computing is what you want then we don’t think you can go too far wrong with this excellent offering from Toshiba.

Related posts:

1. Toshiba NB305 Netbook Review
2. Toshiba NB300 Netbook Review
3. HP Mini 110-1130 Netbook

Samsung have unveiled the NB30, a netbook that is designed to be more durable than it’s rivals, we’ve sent out agents in to find out what exactly is so special about this latest offering from Samsung HQ.

The Good

Right from the off this netbook feels like it could withstand a knock or two, it obviously isn’t bulletproof or built to have tanks run over it but it can survive a drop (of 30 inches according to Samsung) and has a water tight seal that can handle 50cc of water being spilt over it. The build quality is excellent, it looks and feels sturdy, there really isn’t a bone we could pick in that respect.

The lid of the NB30 is finished with a rubbery textured design that is shock, scratch and fingerprint resistant. The screen which it protects has a sharp and vibrant picture and is 10.1 inch and LED backlit, with the familiar netbook resolution of 1024*600.

The palm rest is also made from a rubberised material to offer the same protection as the lid, and the keyboard is spill resistant with the usual quality touchpad and mouse buttons below.

One new peice of ingeniouty is the free fall sensor on the hard drive, if it detects it has been dropped it will shut the hard drive down quickly so as to avoid the usual data loss and the potentially unrepairable damage to the hard drive platters, we where unfortunately not allowed to test this feature out but Samsung say it works, and works well so we have no reason to doubt them.

The NB30 comes in Windows XP and Windows 7 starter flavours, the latter of which puts the price up slightly. It is built on Intel’s latest Pine Trial platform with Intel GMA 3150 graphics and a Hyper-threaded 1.66GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and a choice of either 160GB or 250GB hard drive, with of course 802.11bgn wireless and a digital Livecam.

Samsung have stated the battery life is approximately 11 hours, although you can expect it to drop slightly under normal use, it still provides a decent time between charges.

There is talk of there being a touchscreen version as well, but we have yet to see it so we’ll keep on the lookout for that.

The Bad

The specs of this machine are pretty much the same as the majority of netbooks available today, so don’t expect a super charged experience.

The keys on the keyboard are a little closer together than expected, but it didn’t take long to become accustomed to using them.

Conclusion

We think that the Samsung NB30 could take off in a big way, particularly for parents buying a netbook for their child or even those who like having a bit more peace of mind that their machine and data have better protection in the event that the worst happens.

Even though the specs are the same as a high percentage of the netbook market the extra durability this one provides at a similar price to the rest makes it a definate worthwhile purchase.

Related posts:

1. Samsung N130 review
2. Samsung LE32B450C4
3. Nokia Booklet 3G

Dell recently unveiled the new Alienware M11x 11 inch gaming netbook at the CES 2010 show, claiming to be the most powerful sub 12″ gaming laptop in the universe packing the same graphics power of a 15-inch laptop.

When you think of netbooks you will be thinking lightweight, good battery life, web browsing, but when it comes to the Alienware, this is aimed to be a decent gaming netbook that you can use home or away. Serious Gamers may question whether this is a proper gaming laptop replacement. Yet with a full 30 frames per second, a 720p resolution and capable of running Modern Warfare 2 with respectable performance we think this is a great effort and we want to get our hands on one.

The Gaming netbook manages to weigh in at approx 4 pounds or so and packs a Core2Duo processor along with a 1GB NVidia 335M graphics card. The 8-cell lithium ion battery lasts approx 6 hours or 2 hours full on gaming, plus there is a battery meter on the case so no need to exit from the game.

This netbook could be a popular choice for gamers who are on the move.

OurSpy’s have been alerted that The M11x is expected to be released in approx 1 month with pricing under $1000.

Related posts:

1. Alienware M11x Netbook further price and spec details
2. HP Mini 110-1130 Netbook
3. Dell Inspiron 11z Review

Yes you did read the title correctly, Nokia have dipped their toe into the netbook market and brought us the Nokia Booklet 3G. So does the mobile phone company cut the mustard in the computer world or should they stick to what they’re good at? We’ve sent our agents in to bring us a full report.

The Good

The new Nokia Booklet 3G certainly makes a good first impression, it has a certain Macbook-esque look about it with an aluminium chassis that also doubles up as a heat sink enabling Nokia to do away with a fan and vents. The fact that they have used aluminium does mean the netbook weighs a bit more than most (1.2Kgs) but this is far from a bad thing, it feels much studier and better built than a lot of the recent netbooks on the market. The outer lid has glossy plastic which isn’t interchangeable unfortunately but does come in 3 different colours, black, silver and blue, of course the glossy finish tends to attract fingerprint marks so you’ll be glad to hear that Nokia even include a little cloth to keep the Booklet 3G spick and span.

Lifting the lid reveals a 10.1 inch LED backlit display, which in fact is very easy on eye, it runs at 1280 x 720 which provides a good amount of screen real estate for a netbook. Just above the screen is a built in 1.3MP camera and beneath is a chichlet style keyboard, the keys are very comfortable to work with, if ever-so slightly smaller than the norm but we didn’t find this to be a problem with our chubby digits. The mouse trackpad we were very impressed with, it is only a basic touchpad and doesn’t support all the fancy pinching and twisting gestures, but still was very easy to use and a good size.

There are plenty of connection options on the Booklet 3G, consisting of three USB sockets, headphone jack, HDMI output and a SD card reader all found on each side. Nokia have also decided to integrate a GPS chip which we thought was a nice touch and not often found in other netbooks/laptops, while it doesn’t work brilliantly inside a thick walled building it does work nearer to a window or while strolling outside, it accurately tracked our location and we could plot destinations with ease. It also of course offers connectivity via Wi-Fi and even bluetooth, but the Nokia Booklet 3G really comes into it’s own with it’s built-in 3G.

The Booklet 3G has a SIM card slot on the side which allows you to connect to the 3G network in those times where a Wi-Fi hotspot isn’t available. Installation is a breeze and as soon as you insert your sim card, Windows 7 picks it up and has you connected via 3G in no time at all. You can currently use a SIM card from any network as the Booklet 3G isn’t locked into one or the other, but this may change if they start to offer a subsidised model in exchange for a mobile broadband contract.

Battery life on Nokia’s offering is truly excellent, lasting a good 7/8 hours under load, under normal use you could easily expect it to last a good 12 hours+ between charges which should be more than ample for those on the go.

The core of the netbook is an Intel Atom Z530 running at 1.6GHz combined with 1GB of DDR2 RAM and a 120GB hard drive

The Bad

Even though the low power Intel Atom CPU provides the system with excellent battery life, it does suffer a bit in the performance stakes, if you try and have too many applications open at once it will start to struggle. That being said the same is true for most netbooks using the Intel Atom chip, but in the price range in which this one lies a little more would have been nice.

Nokia have bundled in Windows 7 as well, but only the starter edition unfotunately, while it does the basics very well you won’t find any of the bells and whistles to be found in the more advanced editions.

Conclusion

For it’s price tag the Nokia Booklet 3G certainly looks the part, just let down slightly by it’s ability to multi-task. If it’s style and looks you are after then this is your baby, but if you want more performance bang for your buck then keep shopping around.

Related posts:

1. Watch live football via Sky TV from your Nokia
2. Acer Ferrari One review
3. Samsung N130 review

The Samsung N130 10.1 inch Netbook is a great model from Samsung in the netbook range. Its usability, low price and long battery life help it stand out from the crowd in a tough market.

The Samsung N130 comes with an Intel Atom processor which is used to increase energy efficiency to extend the battery life giving you up to 6 hours battery life making it a great model for those on the move. The N130 also comes with 1Gb of memory. The N130 is sleek and elegant making it very portable as a netbook should be but with a 10.1 inch XD display giving proper 16.9 aspect ratio it can play true wide-screen content. Although slim it packs in an ergonomic keyboard which is normal size so typing is easy and un-compromised.

Storage is a capable 160GB hard drive and the Samsung N130 also comes with a 3-in-1 card reader making it good for multi-media use. Three USB ports let you connect peripherals such as external disks, CD / DVD drives or memory sticks while 802.11n Wi-Fi provides high-speed wireless connectivity. The Samsung N130 also comes with an integrated webcam fitted above the screen.

The Good
The Samsung N130 is a great product for those that truly want a portable netbook. The great battery life makes it ideal for those who want to use the netbook for a good portion of the day without access to power. The full keyboard makes typing on this netbook easy so is very good for people who want to do a lot of typing on the move, such as chat or content writing.

The sleek design also make this netbook great for those who truly want portable computing and online access on the move.

The Bad
There are few negatives with the N130 model. The mouse can be over sensitive making it a bit annoying when hovering over as it can move the mouse. The Webcam is off to the right which means you won’t appear centrally if you are sitting directly in front of the netbook but this isn’t a reason not to buy this product, just more of an annoyance.

Spy Rating
Great netbook for those who want portability. Great battery life, good performance and a great price make this a true netbook and what netbooks are all about. Sure there are models out there with better specifications and more features but if you are looking for a netbook which gives you online access on the move with the capability you expect from a netbook then this is a great product for you.

Related posts:

1. Samsung NB30
2. Dell Inspiron 11z Review
3. Acer Ferrari One review

In a similiar vein to the Italian car manufacturer with which it’s partnered, the new Ferrari One netbook from Acer is designed to be sleek, sexy and quick. But does it live up to it’s namesake? We sent our agents to check out what’s under the hood on the new addition to the netbook market.

The Good

At first glance it is obvious that some time has been spent on aesthetics, the glossy scarlet red lid sporting the ever famous prancing horse logo may not be everyones cup of tea but it certainly sets this model apart, we almost felt like cracking out the chamois leather to give it a quick buff up. Even the plastic wristrest has been made to resemble carbon fibre and a quick look underneath will reveal four rubber feet in the style of tyres.

The Ferrari One is a little bigger than most netbooks available at the moment, but boy do Acer make good use of the extra space. The keyboard is quite possibly one of the best we have seen on a notebook and for that matter a large number of laptops, the primary keys are a nice big size and the general keyboard layout is good, it takes no time at all to become comfortable and up to your usual typing speed. The mouse trackpad also allows you to use pinch, stretch or twist gestures similar to that on the Macbooks or iPhones to manipulate things on screen which is a nice touch.

The larger frame also means that Acer could sneak in a 11.6 inch screen which, when compared to the 10 inch screens of the majority of netbooks really makes a lot of difference. The larger screen also means a higher resolution than most of it’s competitors, 1366 x 768 to be exact which provides a nice workable area.

The Ferrari One is not all about style though, from the word go it’s evident that this netbook is a cut above it’s rivals in terms of performance as well, mainly helped along by the fact that it is the first of it’s type to make use of the AMD Athlon X2 L310 CPU, with two cores running at 1.2GHz each and 1MB L2 cache which easily runs the pre-loaded Windows 7 installation. Backing up the CPU is 2GB of RAM which can be expanded to 4GB if required and an integrated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200, the latter of which is a huge improvement over the Intel integrated graphics that are shipped with most netbooks. It can even run some of the latest games, albeit at a lower performance level, but still playing the likes of World of Warcraft on this baby should be a walk in the park. It can also quite adequately handle HD streaming/playback.

Acer have gone to great lengthes to highlight the Ferrari One’s audio capability. It ships with a pair of integrated stereo speakers, and its sound card can easily handle Dolby Home Theater v3, which features Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Pro Logic IIx and, more usefully for a netbook, Dolby Headphone, which produces a fairly realistic 5.1-channel surround-sound effect.

Other features include an ample 250GB hard drive, more than enough for the average netbook user, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabyte ethernet. External connectivity on the Ferrari One is mostly as you would expect. It has two USB ports on the right side, along with a five-in-one memory-card reader, a mic jack and a headphone jack that also doubles up as an optical digital SPDIF audio output. The left side houses a third USB port, a D-Sub VGA video output port and something a bit different, an ATI XGP port (More about that in a minute).

The Bad

Now moving on to the things our agents didn’t particularly like (There aren’t many), firstly the ATI XGP port, it allows users to connect an external graphics card which can then output to up to four monitors. Now this sounds nice in theory, but not many are going to be willing to buy another peice of kit for something that may never be used, a nice HDMI output would have been better in our opinion.

The mouse trackpad may take a little getting used too, it is a slightly odd shape and not quite as smooth as some may have used in the past, not that this is a major issue as we quite quickly became accustomed to it but thought it best to highlight.

Conclusion and rating

While we liked the styling and bold appearance of the Ferrari One, obviously it isn’t going to appeal to everyone. But one things for sure, it’s specs and performance make it one of the, if not THE best netbooks available today. Our agents have absolutely no qualms in recommending it to anyone looking for a bit of ompf in their netbook.

Related posts:

1. Samsung N130 review
2. Nokia Booklet 3G
3. Dell Inspiron 11z Review

Dell introduced a new line of NetBooks as they are becoming more popular. The latest gem of a model, the Dell Inspiron 11z series netbook was released towards the end of 2009, with models boasting a 1.3MHz Intel Celeron or Pentium SU4100 Ultra Low Voltage processor, ultra light design and laptop like performance. The 11.6″ HD TFT Screen makes this a little larger than the Dell Mini Series, but packs more power and performance yet is still a bargain at little over £350.

Some other features include latest built in Wifi, a 1.3MB Webcam to stay connected and optional extras soon to be available like bluetooth and mobile broadband

The Good

Like all Dell hardware, they can be customized with very reasonably priced upgrade components, but also the entry level models still prove to be very good for the average user. The Inspiron 11z has the benefit of still being a very portable and ultra light netbook weighing only 1.4kg and only 1″ thin. With a slightly larger screen, the 11.6 inch Hi-def WLED 1366 x 768 pixel display, while the Mini 10v has a smaller 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600.

Entry level models comes with 2GB 800MHz SDRAM, 160GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard drive, decent Intel processor which fares better than the Atom processors in most netbooks and the best bit of all they are extremely well priced. Because of the Ultra Low Voltage Processor the battery life is also very good giving approx 6hrs with the larger 6 cell battery. The 11z series also feature a near full size keyboard beacuse of the the larger chassis and a HDMI port unlike the Dell Mini series.

The Bad

Our Spys have informed us that some users experience problems with the touchpad, mainly because the left and right buttons are now intergrated which can be frustrating at first but think this would be one of those things to get used to. This does allow for doing a 2 finger pinch type zoom like you would on the Iphone, and some users actually prefer this.

For the full battery life you will need to opt for the larger 6 cell battery and this will also add some extra weight and size to the machine and isn’t always suitable for on the go Spys.

Spy Review & Rating

A very affordable netbook with the power of a laptop, also very stylish and lightweight design. The Dell Inspiron 11z netbook would be very suited to the average Spy or general public who is on the go with a decent battery life for researching secret missions or just browsing the internet. The added benefit of 2GB ram a decent processor and decent lcd screen will not affect the performance and allows for doing more advanced spy tasks like watching covert operations in HD or topping up our skills in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

Verdit = If you are looking for style, portable, lightweight for most basic tasks then go for the entry level. If you are after performance and have to upgrade from the entry level then you may be approaching similar prices to some best good performing laptops such as the

Related posts:

1. Samsung N130 review
2. Toshiba NB305 Netbook Review
3. Acer Ferrari One review