Acer’s Veriton Z280G is a space-saving all-in-one nettop that runs on a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and 2GBs of DDR2 memory. Designed for business use, the entire system is mounted on an 18.5-inch widescreen LCD, leaving only a three-piece stand (along with the detached mouse and keyboard) to save on desk space.
Sony’s new Walkman player, the S540 series, comes with a large 2.4-inch QVGA display for showing videos and something that other portable players (at least the more popular ones) don’t: built-in stereo speakers.
Nokia’s line of full touchscreen-based smartphones are expanding by the week; they’ve just announced the GPS-centric 5800 Navigation Edition, the 5530 XpressMusic is about to be released (it’s currently up for preorders), and now they’ve announced an “entry-level” model (at the very least, it should be cheaper than the 5530 XM), the 5230.
Asus has recently introduced a new line of portable soundbar-style speaker kits designed to work with notebooks and portable devices called the uBoom series. Two models have been initially unveiled: the uBoom, which is designed to work specifically with notebooks, and the compact uBoom Q.
MSI’s 15.6-inch X-Slim X600 notebook is now available, months after being announced last May. For $800, you get a notebook with a spacious screen, a thin-and light design (at 5.5 lbs and an inch thick), and a power-efficient system built around Intel’s 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo Ultra Low-Voltage processor. It’s not bad if you’re in it for the portability without sacrificing screen size—ATI Radeon HD 4330 graphics and 4GBs of memory round out the spec, along with a 320GB hard drive, an external DVD drive, and a six-cell battery.
The X600 is available now on Amazon and Newegg, with a choice of black or silver shells.
Update: MSI will also reportedly come out with an AMD-based version of the X600 called the X610. The newer model replaces the Intel CULV platform with a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon MV-40 processor and a smaller 250GB hard drive, but the rest of the spec–ATI HD 4330 graphics and 4GBs of memory–is expected to be kept. Initial tests done show a slightly slower performance and a shorter battery life compared to the Intel-based X600, but it’s expected to be priced lower.
