The Acer Aspire One 523H is the latest model from Acer in their Netbook series in Malaysia. Acer has been releasing quite a number of netbook in Malaysia at the beginning of the netbook revolution until now. So how does the new model, Acer Aspire One 523H fare?

Looking at the Acer Aspire One 523H design and specifications, I couldn’t help but thinking that Acer is staying true to the old adage of “if it’s not broken, why fix it”.

Let us look at the Acer Aspire One 523H specifications:

Intel® Atom™ Processor N450 (1.8GHz)
1GB DDR2 RAM
250GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
10.2′ Widescreen Display 1024×600 (WSVGA)
Intel NM10 System Chipset
Intel GMA 3150 Graphic Chipset
Built-in 1.3 Mega Pixel Webcam
802.11b/g/n WLAN Card
Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR
4-in-1 Card Reader
6 Cells Battery
Microsoft Windows 7 Starter

Acer Aspire One 523H price in Malaysia at the time of writing: RM1299.00

The Acer Aspire One 523H is clearly similar to other Acer Aspire One netbook model. The only difference is the new multi color scheme which I find quite attractive to look at. But to touch the lid is another story. You will find it is easy to leave smudgy fingerprints to the The Acer Aspire One 523H cover. Acer still using an all plastic chassis unlike some of the netbook manufacturer who has started using metal and aluminum chassis, such as the new Nokia Booklet 3G. It is not such a bad a design though, as the plastic does not feel cheap and feel sturdy and of high quality.

Like other netbook manufacturer, Acer chose to use the chiclet keyboard on the new The Acer Aspire One 523H. Although the keys are spacious and good layout, typing feel flat and it’s easy to mistype with the Acer Aspire One 523H keyboard. I get a mixed feeling when using the Acer Aspire One 523H touchpad. I like the feel of the touchpad, but at the same time I feel it is too grippy making it harder to move the cursor.

There is nothing to shout about the performance of Acer Aspire One 523H. Its performance is on par with other netbook using the Intel Atom N450 specifications. The Acer Aspire One 523H 6 cell battery lasted for about 6 hours. This is expected from a netbook, which were primarily created for portability instead of performance.

Considering the reputation of Acer as a solid and reputable company in Malaysia, I have no doubt that Acer will sell a lot of Acer Aspire One 523H here. Do not forget to ask for free upgrades from retailer when shopping for the Acer Aspire One 523H.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Since the introduction of MSI Wind Netbook in Malaysia as a competitor for Asus Eee PC range and HP Mini netbook, they have had their share of fans. The new MSI Wind U135 in Malaysia is the first netbook from MSI using the Intel’s Pine Trail platform.

By using the new Intel Pine Trail platform, MSI has ditch the aging Intel Atom N270/N280 and replaced with the new Intel Atom N450.  With newer processor and technology platform came improved performance and power management.

Below are the MSI Wind U135 specifications.

Intel® Atom™ Processor N450 (512K Cache, 1.66 GHz)
1GB DDR2 RAM (Upgradeable to 2GB)
250GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
10′ Widescreen Display 1024×600 (WSVGA)
Intel NM10 System Chipset
Intel GMA 3150 Graphic Chipset
Built-in 1.3 Mega Pixel Webcam
802.11b/g/n WLAN Card
Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR
4-in-1 Card Reader
6 Cells Batter
Microsoft Windows 7 Starter

MSI Wind U135 Price in Malaysia at the time of writing: RM1399.00

The MSI Wind U135 casings are the same as other MSI Wind netbooks series, with glossy exterior, matte underside and glossy black palm rest. I was a bit disappointed when MSI didn’t include a DVI, Displayport or HDMI when other netbook manufacturer are including them in their netbook specification. MSI opted to use the single VGA output on their new MSI Wind U135 instead. The lack of USB 3.0 port is also quite disappointing as the development of SuperSpeed USB is underway. But when looking at the attractive price of MSI Wind U135, I guess you can’t complaint much. One improvement in the MSI Wind U135 design is trackpad size have increase by 20%. Although 20% increase in size seems not much, any improvement is welcome.

User’s experience on the MSI Wind U135 seems to be same as using other netbooks. The keyboard are smaller than some netbooks, but the key layout make it easier to use for typing. The trackpad, also 20% larger than previous model is another story. The trackpad on MSI Wind U135 does not include any multi-touch function. Scrolling using the trackpad on MSI Wind U135 is a bit hard. The MSI Wind U135 glossy display is sharp and crisp with good viewing angle. Some may prefer matte display instead of the glossy display though.

The performance on the MSI Wind U135 is actually quite good in the netbooks categories. Some of the performance improvements came from the Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Operating System. Some of you may prefer to turn of the SuperFetch function in Windows 7 to decrease heat coming from the hard disk. The Superfetch in Windows 7 use hard disk constantly to cache applications so that i will open up faster the next time.

Although there a no major improvement in the MSI Wind U135 design, the inclusion of the new technology in hardware and software will make the MSI Wind U135 a good buy for those looking for their first netbook.

Popularity: 1% [?]

One look at the Asus Eee PC 1002HA netbook, and you will notice this is not an ordinary netbook. For once, Asus has dressed the Asus Eee PC 1002HA in a sleek business attire, rather than the plasticky look that is a norm with the Asus Eee PC range.

Looks good in business environment

Sleek external design

I think most of you will agree with me, Asus Eee PC 1002HA is the best looking netbook in the Asus Eee PC line up in Malaysia. Dare I say, maybe it is the best looking netbook around.

Let us look at Asus Eee PC 1002HA specification:

Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
1GB RAM
160GB Hard Disk Drive (Upgradeable to 320GB)
10GB Eee Online Storage
10″ Widescreen LCD
802.11b/g/n Wireless Adapter
Bluetooth Adapter
Multitouch Trackpad
MMC/SD/SHDC Card Reader
1.3 Megapixel Webcam
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Asus Eee PC 1002HA price at the time of writing: RM1900

The 10″ LCD screen on the Asus Eee PC 1002HA has a matte finish that reduces glare, a break from the normal glossy displays nowadays. With a maximum resolution of 1024 pixels x 600 pixels, the display are will work flawlessly with web surfing and text editing. Integrated into Asus Eee PC 1200HA is a 1.3 megapixel built-in webcam and a digital array microphone.

Most of us will find the keyboard size and layout on the Asus Eee PC 1002HA is comfortable to use for daily task. The keyboard on Asus Eee PC 1002HA is 92% the size of a standard keyboard, which should give users ample space to work with.

One thing about the Asus Eee PC 1002HA keyboard though, the right shift key is in a very weird position on the right side of the up arrow key rather than under the enter key like it should be.

One of the most talk about features of the Asus Eee PC 1002HA is the Track Pad. Asus has made the Asus Eee PC 1002HA trackpad to be as brilliant as they should be. A single finger moves the cursor as you expect it to. Place a second finger on the track pad and you can scroll up and down pages. Tapping the track pad with three fingers acts as a right click.

Hopefully this brilliant track pad will be a standard features on all future Asus notebook, laptop and netbook model. I will not be suprise if other notebook, laptop and netbook manufacturer will follow suit.

On the performance side, Asus Eee PC 1002HA will do its job just like other netbook in the market with a similar specification. Don’t expect the netbook to work like a full fledged notebook or laptop. But for the task that a netbook was designed to do, such as checking email, web surfing and documents editing, the Asus Eee PC 1002HA will perform with satisfaction.

In the end, I find that Asus Eee PC 1002HA is decent netbook with a weird keyboard layout that takes some time to get used to. But throw in the features of the smart track pad on the Asus Eee PC 1002HA, and all is forgiven.

Popularity: 34% [?]

Toshiba has enter the netbook market in Malaysia with the introduction of Toshiba NB100 netbook. Toshiba NB100 netbook is a compact and stylish netbook cater to the expanding netbook market in Malaysia. Targeted at the young generation, the NB100 netbook comes with two color, Cosmic Black and Champagne Gold.

Toshiba NB100 Netbook Exterior

Toshiba NB100 Netbook Interior

Toshiba NB100 Netbook featured 8.9″ LCD Display with LED backlight, with native resolution of 1,024 x 600-pixel. The Toshiba Netbook is powered by Intel Atom Processor and equipped with 1GB of DDR2 RAM. The Operating System of choice for the NB100 netbook is Windows XP Home Edition.

Toshiba NB100 is fitted with 120GB Hard Disk drive, and a four cell battery. Other connectivity features such as 802.11b/g Wifi and Ethernet are standard.

As with every Toshiba laptop and notebook, the Toshiba NB100 netbook is provided with Toshiba ConfigFree software for managing wireless connection.

Another notable feature of the NB100 is its Sleep-and-Charge function that allows users to charge their music player or mobile phone even as their notebook is on standby mode.

I will be reviewing the Toshiba NB100 netbook soon.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is another contender for the netbook market in Malaysia from Dell Malaysia. Dell Mini 9 will be competing head on with Asus Eee PC, Acer Aspire One and Lenovo IdeaPad S10 for the market grab.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 in black

The design of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is kept simple by Dell, with the businesslike image that Dell are famous with. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 build is similar to the netbook competitor, slightly bigger in dimension than Asus Eee PC and slightly smaller than Acer Aspire One.

Let us look at the specifications of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 in Malaysia:

Intel Atom N 270 (1.6Ghz)
1024MB DDR2 Ram
8.9″ Glossy LCD Display
8GB SSD storage
802.11b/g Wireless Adapter
Integrated 1.3Megapixel Webcam
Integrated Bluetooth Adapter
Integrated 4 in 1 Media Card Reader
4 Cell Lithium Ion battery
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Price of Dell Inspiron Mini 9 in Malaysia at the time of writing: RM1199.00

The 8.9″ display on the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 maybe quite small to some. But the 1024px X 600px glossy screen are bright and nice to look at. The keyboard on this Dell netbook is smaller than its competitor, thus making it a bit harder to use. It will not be a problem when you get to use to the keyboard layout though.

Dell Mini Inspiron 9 offer the same feature set as it competitor in the market. It has three USB ports, 4 in 1 Media Card Reader which support SD, MS, MS Pro, and MMC, a VGA out, and an ethernet port.

The processing power of the Intel Atom N270 and the equipped 1024MB DDR2 memory in this Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook is adequate enough for daily general purpose task. Some might find the storage to be a bit small after filled with Windows XP Home Edition installation, but you can always opt for external storage device.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is another contender in the ever growing netbook market in Malaysia, and it is a good thing that keep the customer with more choices and reduced prices.

Popularity: 63% [?]

The netbook market in Malaysia are bombarded with choice nowadays. Started by Asus Eee PC, other manufacturer follow suits including Lenovo with their Lenovo IdeaPad S10.

The chick magnet Lenovo IdeaPad S10

As you can see, Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is quite a good looking laptop, a far cry from the first model of Asus Eee PC, which look a bit childish in my opinion.

Let us see the specifications of Lenovo IdeaPad S10 that is selling in Malaysia.

Intel Atom Processor N270 (1.6Ghz)
1024MB DDR2 Ram
160GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
10.2″ WSVGA LCD Display
802.11b/g Wireless Adapter
5 in 1 Card Reader
Integrated Webcam
Integrated Bluetooth Adapter
3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Price at the time of writing: RM1699.00

The specification of Lenovo IdeaPad S10 being sold in Malaysia does not differ much from other Netbook in the Malaysia market. Netbook such as Acer Aspire One and Dell Inspiron Mini 9 offer almost the same specification as Lenovo IdeaPad S10.

The same can be said on the design of Lenovo IdeaPad S10 when comparing with other Netbook in Malaysia. The chassis of this Lenovo IdeaPad is made of a shiny white plastic. The advantages of using this kind of material is the surface resist any fingerprints.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is quite comfortable to use and feel bigger than it seems. The only downside to this keyboard is the feedback. It feel less springy compared to other netbook in the Malaysia market. The touchpad work quite well though. The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 Multi touch functionality is really easy to get used to.

When talking on performance of the IdeaPad S10, it will give you a decent performance. This is not a suprise when looking at the IdeaPad specifications.

If you are looking for a stylish Netbook in Malaysia with a decent performance, you should give Lenovo IdeaPad S10 a try.

Popularity: 46% [?]