ASUS P30A

Asustek has announced the Asus P30A, the first model in the P30 13.3-inch business notebook series.

Measuring 1-inch in profile and weighing around 3.3 pounds, the P30A includes the Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor at 1.4GHz, up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, up to 320GB of hard drive storage, and a DVD burner. There’s no info on the GPU in the press release.

The LED-backlit anti-glare display has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio.

The Asus P30A also sports a built-in 1.3MP web camera, Intel’s WiMAX/Wi-Fi Link 5100 module, Bluetooth, a Gigabit LAN port, HDMI output, and a variety of security features including Intel Anti-theft technology, a fingerprint reader, a magnesium alloy skeleton beneath the chassis, hard drive shock protection, and a spill-proof keyboard.

The laptop runs Windows Vista OS.

We have no info on pricing and availability.

 HP ProBook 4710s

Hewlett-Packard’s recently unveiled  HP ProBook 4710s 17.3-inch business laptop is now available for purchase.

The 4710s features the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 512MB dedicated video card, up to 8GB of DDR2 memory, up to 500GB of hard drive space, and a DVD burner or Blu-Ray Combo drive, depending on model.

The 17.3-inch LED-backlit display has a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio.

The ProBook 4710s also sports a keyboard with a separate numeric keypad, an optional 2MP web camera, stereo speakers and an integrated microphone, 802.11a/b/g/n wireless, a Gigabit Ethernet LAN port, Bluetooth, optional 56k modem, VGA and HDMI outputs, four USB ports, an ExpressCard slot, and a media card reader.

The laptop starts at around 6.8 pounds and runs Windows Vista.

It can be ordered through HP’s website for a base price of $899.

HP ProBook 4710S PDF File

Microsoft has launched the first Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC).

Both the 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 RC are available in English, German, Japanese, French, and Spanish and can be downloaded from Microsoft’s website.

The RC 1 of the new operating system will be available at least through July, with unlimited number of downloads and product keys, according to Microsoft. The RC will expire June 1, 2010, and the bi-hourly shutdowns of the OS will begin on March 1, 2010.

Users who run Windows 7 Beta and want to upgrade to RC 1 will need to do a clean install of the RC, reinstall applications and restore their files.

Windows 7 is a successor of Windows Vista OS. It is expected to be released in the last quarter of 2009 or early 2010.

Lenovo Ideapad S10-2

Lenovo today officially announced the IdeaPad S10-2, an improved version of their 10.1-inch S10 netbook.

The S10-2 is 0.2kg lighter and 4mm thinner than the S10 and includes a slightly larger and improved keyboard and larger touchpad, a 6-cell battery for “up to 30 percent more battery life than before”, an additional USB port for a total of 3 ports, and a new cover pattern and color design. The netbook’s sound system is upgraded with Dolby headphone technology, while select models also include a built-in 3G mobile broadband module.

A same as the S10, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 features the Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive, a built-in 1.3MP web camera, and 802.11b/g WiFi, and a 4-in-1 media card reader.

The netbook will come in white, black, grey, or pink.

The IdeaPad S10-2 will be available beginning at the end of this month on the Lenovo website and through business partners beginning at the end of June. The netbooks start at $349, whereas the models with 3G support are $50 pricier.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10V

Instead of the Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz/Z530 1.6GHz processor in the standard Mini 10, the Mini 10v includes the Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU. The Z-series Atom chips are paired with the Intel GMA 500 integrated graphics, whereas the N270-based 10v features the GMA 950 IGP.

Another difference is the video output – the Mini 10v has a VGA port, while the Mini 10 has an HDMI port. Also, the only display resolution when configuring the 10v is 1024×576, while the Mini 10 optionally comes with a 1366×768 screen.

As same as the Mini 10, the Inspiron Mini 10v comes with Windows XP or Ubuntu Linux OS (no difference in price), 1GB of RAM, up to 160GB of hard drive space, a 3- or 6-cell battery, a 1.3MP web camera, stereo speakers, WiFi, Bluetooth Ethernet LAN port, 3 USB ports, a 3-in-1 card reader.

The new netbook is available in seven different colors, including white, black, red, pink, blue, green and purple.

Its base price is $299 with a preliminary ship date of 06/02/2009, whereas the Mini 10 starts at $399.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with Hewlett-Packard, yesterday announced a voluntary recall of Lithium-Ion batteries used in select HP and Compaq laptops.

The recall includes around 70,000 units that can potentially overheat, “posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers”.

HP-branded notebooks that can contain a recalled battery include the HP Pavilion dv2000, dv2500, dv2700, dv6000, dv6500, dv6700, dv9000, dv9500, and dv9700, as well as the HP G6000 and G7000.

Affected Compaq models include the Presario A900, C700, F700, V3000, V3500, V3700, V6000, V6500, and V6700, and the HP Compaq 6720s.

Batteries that can be subject to the recall have one of the following bar codes:

62940^^AXV^^^^ 65033^^B7U^^^^
65033^^B7V^^^^
65033^^BGU^^^^ 65035^^B7U^^^^
65035^^B7V^^^^
65035^^BGU^^^^
65035^^BGV^^^^ 67059^^V8U^^^^
67059^^V8V^^^^

The US CPSC says consumers should immediately remove the recalled battery from their laptop and contact HP to determine if their battery is included in the recall and to request a free replacement battery.

The laptops with the recalled batteries were sold at various stores nationwide, hp.com and hpshopping.com from August 2007 through March 2008. The battery packs were also sold separately.

HP and CPSC are aware of two reports of batteries that overheated and ruptured, resulting in fire that caused minor property damage. No injuries have been reported.

 Asus K Series K40IN-A1

The Asus K40IN-A1, Asustek’s notebook that belongs to the new K Series, is now available in the US.

The 14-inch laptop features the Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 CPU at 2GHz and the GeForce G102M 512MB dedicated video card, which is “NVIDIA’s lowest power GPU with dedicated frame buffer”. Other core components of the Asus K40IN-A1 are 4GB of DDR2 memory, a 320GB hard drive, and a DVD burner.

The 14″ LED-backlit display has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio.

The K40IN-A1 also sports a built-in web camera, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a Gigabit Ethernet LAN port, four USB ports, an SD/MMC/MS media card reader, and a VGA output.

The laptop weighs 5.3 lbs with a 6-cell battery and runs Windows Vista Home Premium OS.

According to the earlier announcement, Asus K notebooks feature the proprietary ASUS Super Hybrid Engine (SHE) technology for better energy efficiency. The K Series is claimed to deliver “up to 5 hours of non-stop computing on a 6-cell battery”.

The Asus K40IN-A1 can be purchased through Newegg for $849.99.

Acer Aspire 3935

The recently announced Acer Aspire 3935 13.3-inch laptop can be purchased now in  Newegg, B&H, BuyDig, and Amazon , they offer the Acer Aspire AS3935-6504 model with the Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 processor at 2GHz, the GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics, 3GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB hard drive, and a DVD burner.

The notebook’s 13.3″ “edge-to-edge” LED Backlit display has a 1366 x 768 resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio.

The Aspire AS3935 also includes a built-in web camera, stereo speakers with Dolby Home Theater technology, a multi-gesture touchpad, a fingerprint reader, three USB ports, a 5-in-1 media card reader, a VGA output, and an audio jack with S/PDIF support, as well as 802.11a/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, a 56k modem, and an Gigabit LAN port.

Acer’s laptop weighs 4.18 pounds with a 4-cell battery that provides “up to 4 hours” of battery life.

It runs Windows Vista Home Premium OS.

The Acer Aspire AS3935-6504 is priced at $900 at Newegg, B&H, and BuyDig, while Amazon sells it for $972.

Acer Aspire One 571

Blog Macles has revealed the Acer Aspire One 571 10.1-inch netbook that features a dedicated HD video chip and a mini Blu-Ray optical disc drive.

The Quartics Q1721 Multimedia Coprocessor in the Aspire One 571 accelerates decoding and encoding of high definition video codecs, and also adds hardware scaling and filtering, according to Macles.

Regarding the optical drive, the 571 features a small Blu-Ray reader for Vmedia’s 1GB discs with a diameter of 32mm, whereas a standard Blu-ray disc measures 120mm.

The new netbook includes the Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz processor and a 10.1″ screen with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio.

AMD Tigris

AMD will showcase a new mainstream notebook platform called Tigris at the upcoming 2009 Computex Show in Taipei, Chinese Commercial Times reports.

The Tigris includes a 45-nanometer dual-core “Caspian” processor and the RS880M chipset.

According to AMD’s laptop roadmap, the Caspian will be paired with DDR2 800MHz memory and a DirectX 10.1-compatible integrated or dedicated video card, depending on configuration. Both video solutions include the UVD2 chip for hardware decoding of HD content and support PCIe Gen 2.

Commercial Times says the AMD Tigris will target 14-inch and larger notebooks, while Yukon and Congo platforms will be used in laptops with 13-inch and smaller screens.

In 2010, the chip maker is reportedly going to unveil a new notebook platform that will feature quad core processors and support for DDR3 memory.