Credit: LAPTOP Magazine

A few weeks ago, I ran some battery tests on my netbook. I have  both Windows XP and Windows 7 installed on my Toshiba NB205, which takes hardware variances out of the equation. My early looks show that Windows 7 offers 10% less runtime on the exact same device. I’ve since done some additional testing, thinking that the graphically intensive Aero features of Windows 7 might be the biggest factor. Unfortunately, that’s not what I found — using Windows 7 with all of the advanced Aero features off not only makes your netbook look like a Windows 95 beta, it doesn’t help run time in any noticeable way.

Readers offered up great commentary on the testing techniques and I can’t argue that there are many ways to run these tests. But even my informal testing shows the same trend continuing. When I use XP in my normal work day, it runs longer than when I use Windows 7 on the same hardware and in the same use cases. But don’t take my word for it. Brad Linder of Liliputing confirmed the same results not long after my testing and now LAPTOP Magazine completes the trifecta.

In fact, LAPTOP put three different netbooks through the paces — and all of them offered less run time on Windows 7. They used an entirely different approach as well, one that’s more reflective of real world usage, so it’s a safe bet that you’ll see less battery life on a Windows 7 device. Will there be exceptions? Of course there will — everyone uses different power management settings, not to mention they use their devices in different ways. But by and large, it looks like there’s a small battery life sacrifice with Windows 7 on a netbook. Should that stop you from using Windows 7? My opinion, is no, but if you’re happy with XP and don’t want or need some of the new Windows 7 features, you might want to stay put.

Customers are frequenting forums run by both companies, detailing their horror stories of difficulty not only getting the upgrade, but in cases even getting an acknowledgment that one will be forthcoming. While it is not surprising to hear these tales of woe, you would think these companies, who have been doing this upgrade bit for years now, would have their ducks in a row. You’d think.

So did you purchase a system entitled to an OS upgrade? Did you get it yet, or at least hear when you might?

The rise of the netbook helped bring reasonable computing power to smaller packages. While that’s good, one of the downsides is trying to cram all the expected ports and jacks in a thin, small device. USB ports and audio jacks aren’t so bad, but when it comes to that VGA output — well, lets just say it can be a design challenge. In fact, some netbooks don’t use a full-sized VGA out. The HP Mini 1000, for example, uses a mini VGA jack, which requires a small cable adapter. I’m all for simplicity, so I’d rather not have extra adapters to carry and potentially lose while on the go, but I can understand why HP and a few others went in this direction. But that size constraint may soon become a thing of the past.

Today, the Video Electronics Standard Association, or VESA, issued a mini DisplayPort Standard for version 1, Rev. 1A. If mini DisplayPort (mDP) sounds familiar, it should. This is the video adapter interface developed by Apple, who will now be licensing it to VESA for inclusion the DisplayPort standards going forward. In fact, VESA is already finalizing the DisplayPort 1.2 standard, which will include mDP — the new standard is expected to double bandwidth to 21.6 Gbps for video. VESA says “[t]he increased bandwidth enables new capabilities such as multi-monitor support via a single output connector, higher resolutions, refresh rates and color depths, along with high performance 3D displays.“

That all sounds well and good, but the biggest netbook and notebook benefit I see is the smaller port size. mDP is smaller than VGA by a bunch — I have such an interface on my MacBook and I’d love to see it on my netbook. Unfortunately, in my current setup the mDP interface requires that dreaded adapter since my external monitor offers DVI and VGA inputs. Regardless, this development could lead to thinner netbooks and notebooks — well, if they can lose the blocky RJ-45 jack for wired Ethernet, that is.

The news didn’t end there, as Dropbox also announced the new iPhone app. The app lets you access files in the Dropbox cloud, download files for viewing later, sync iPhone photos and videos to your Dropbox, and share files with friends via links to the Dropbox location. There are free and paid versions of Dropbox, depending on the amount of storage needed.

Image Credit: LAPTOP Magazine

I’ve mentioned the Intel CULV, or Consumer Ultra Low Voltage, platform several times this year. That’s the product that will help bridge the gap between underpowered netbooks and powerful, but less portable, notebooks. Mark Spoonauer offers up an insightful observation over the LAPTOP Magazine blog on this space. He notes that a $399 Acer Aspire 1410 configuration compares more than favorably against some of the top-rated netbooks in the same price range. In fact, two out of the three netbooks — Toshiba’s NB205 and HP’s Mini 311 — cost more and offer less on a spec and feature basis. Only the Asus Eee PC 1008HA cost less than the full-figured Acer in this comparison, and not by much

So here you have a more powerful notebook at roughly a netbook price. The Aspire 1410 and its 1.2 GHz Intel SU2300 beats the pants off the netbooks when it comes to benchmarking performance. It also comes with 2 GB of RAM, an 11.6″ display capable of 1366 x 768 resolution and weighs 3.2 pounds, which is about the same weight as my Toshiba netbook. Extra power generally comes at a hit to battery life, but the Aspire 1410 tested to run for over six hours. Oh and the version of Windows 7 it comes with is Home Premium, not Starter Edition.

At the end of the day, Mark makes a compelling argument for this sector to start displacing netbooks. The product gains performance, offers more screen real estate yet is still easy to tote around and offers solid battery life. While we’re expecting the Intel PineTrail Atom devices within the next month or two, I think Mark’s final point is accurate: “[i]f you can nab a fully capable ultraportable for less than 400 bucks, I think traditional netbook prices will have to sink even further if the category is going to stick around.” I suspect the category will stick around because tens of millions have proven they want and can use a device in the 10″ display range. And some won’t want to give up the 8 or 9 hour battery life they see on a netbook — as good as the Aspire’s runtime is, some netbooks can still run for 40% longer, if not more. Thoughts?

I’ve been playing a little with the latest Moblin release this afternoon and I’m actually thinking of trying to run it full-time on a netbook. There’s a few holes yet, but it does offers me much of what I’m looking for in a smartbook — a lightweight operating system and good browsing experience. My wireless broadband modem isn’t working, nor is my sound or my Bluetooth, so there’s a few gotchas just yet. The Bluetooth might be easily fixable in my netbook BIOS, but no sound on the Toshiba NB205 is a reported known bug.

In this 11 minute video, I think you’ll see why I’m walking away impressed. The user interface is intuitive, although it will take some getting used to, and the overall environment is fluid and snappy. Bear in mind that I’m running a live image from a USB drive, so an actual installation should perform even better. Maybe it’s time to turn the Toshiba into a triple-booter: Windows XP, Windows 7 and Moblin!

Just over three weeks has passed since the last Moblin preview image for Intel Atom netbooks and already the final release is here. That kind of pace has me burning through blank CDs faster than Hideki Matsui is batting runs in. But I’m a glutton for OS testing, so I’ve downloaded the release and will burn it shortly. Why bother taking a look? Plenty of reasons, if you ask the Mobile project team:

• Internet Browser. After much work, we are including a new internet browser application that far exceeds our previous browser performance and adds full support for features such as plug-in support and add-ons. Many thanks to Moblin users and the developer community for their feedback and contributions.
• 3G Data Support. Support for 3G data connections using the Ericsson* MBM 3G modems. Support for additional 3G modems is planned for future releases.
• Application Installer Integration. The Moblin Application Installer is integrated and provides a logically categorized list of applications that you can choose to install. The selection of applications that appears within the Moblin Application Installer comes from the Moblin Garage.
• Clutter 1.0. With this new version of Moblin, we are releasing Clutter 1.0, the Moblin animation framework.
• Bluetooth* Device Support. Bluetooth* device discovery and pairing now supported via a new panel in the toolbar, which supports Bluetooth* audio devices, input devices (keyboards, mice), OBEX file transfer, and using a Bluetooth* phone as a 3G modem.
• Connection Manager. Connection Manager (ConnMan) has significant modifications particularly in the areas of performance and reliability. The new version of ConnMan now supports Ethernet, WiFi, WiMAX, and 3G.
• Nettop Support. UI scaling is provided for a wide range of nettop resolutions, including the ability to show more information in the Myzone panel based on the available screen space.
• Improvements to Instant Messaging. Improvements have been included for Instant Messaging account setup, integration within the connection manager, and support for transparent connection to your friends on your local network.

Slowly but surely, Moblin is becoming very functional while offering an effective interface for mobile devices. By building such a mobile operating system from the ground up — instead of trying to cram a desktop environment into a smaller device — Moblin has a real chance of gaining an audience. It may not happen on netbooks, but the groundwork here will help on even smaller devices.

Word has surfaced that the current beta build (10C535) of 10.6.2 has regained support for Atom processors. Whether this is due to the reaction to its removal, or to fixing an accidental removal we will likely never know. Of course, until 10.6.2 is finalized, we’ll have to wait and see if the Atom support stays.

• Full support for Aero in Windows Vista and 7 through Windows WDDM driver, including Aero Flip 3D
• Virtual machine size automatically optimized for best performance with Parallels Compressor
• A more Mac-like experience in Windows applications through Apple Trackpad Gestures technology (pinch, swipe, rotate and more), horizontal scrolling and the application of Full Screen active corners and curl page effect
• Copy & Paste fidelity for formatted text and complete layouts including images, even between Windows and Linux guest OS
• Freedom and flexibility to run Windows and Mac applications across multiple monitors
• 7 times better graphic performance for games and 3D applications than the previous version with Direct X 9Ex with Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.1 suppor
• Full hardware resources can be utilized with support for 8 virtual CPUs, 64 bit Windows and Snow Leopard Server 64 bit

Folks that bought Parallels Desktop 4 on or after October 1 qualify for a free upgrade to version 5. For the rest of us, an upgrade is $49.99 while a new, full license is $79.99.

Although running Windows natively on a Mac through Boot Camp offers an overall better experience, running Windows in a virtual machine is more than usable. I personally like the flexibility it offers over an either / or solution like Boot Camp. And Parallels isn’t the only game in town — be sure to check out VMWare’s Fusion or the free VirtualBox software from Sun. I’m half-tempted to upgrade my license of Parallels just to see the multitouch gestures on the Windows side — Parallels says that even four finger gestures are supported.

VIA also points out some new benchmarks against the current N270 Atom:

• PCMark 05 tests — 2,137 for Nano, 1,496 for Atom = 43% higher
• 3DMark2006 — 2,419 for Nano, 1,605 for Atom = 49% higher

Although VIA doesn’t mention the Nano 3000 power consumption when in use, they do point out the low power when idling:

Those idle power numbers are quite low, but to gain wider acceptance by OEMs in the netbook space, device makers will be looking at in-use run times against the Atom. I’d love to take a look at a netbook powered by the Nano 3000 to see how it fares. I’m sure it will offer solid performance, but battery life is more important to me in a companion device. VIA says that mass production availability for the Nano 3000 line is the first quarter of 2010, so don’t expect to see any devices with it before then. Of course, at January’s Consumer Electronics Show there could be some demonstration units, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled.

RDM+ does indeed work with certain BlackBerry models (Storm included), but there are clients for other phones too. There are client apps for the iPhone/ iPod Touch, Windows Mobile, Java phones and the old Palm OS. There is no Android nor WebOS version that I could find. There is also a client to allow remotely connecting via another web-connected computer.

The program consists of one of the clients, and a host application for the computer to be remotely accessed. The host can work with any flavor of Windows, 7 included, and there is a Mac version. This means you can effectively work with any Mac or Windows computer, from almost any phone. That is a very powerful combination, and it looks to be a viable utility for those needing remote access from anywhere. I have not used it myself, but would love to hear from those who are using RDM+. The program is an expensive $40, but there is no subscription and this price includes all future upgrades.

It is easy to speculate that Apple is trying to kill off the growing Hackintosh movement. Just about every netbook out there has been hacked by someone to install OS X to create what has come to be called a “Hackint0sh.” Kevin even gave that a spin, and it’s pretty cool to have a little Mac netbook. That will be impossible once 10.6.2 is released, so those hardy souls who have created a Hackintosh better not update the OS once it is available. It is surprising that Apple would go to the trouble to remove processor support — it’s not often that a company will remove support that’s already included in an OS.

Image from OS X Daily

ASUS, creator of the EEE PC and thus the netbook craze, had embraced producing a smartbook at one time, only to back off from the possibility in subsequent statements. CEO Jerry Shen has ended the speculation, saying that the Taiwanese company will produce a smartbook for release in the first quarter of 2010, for a price equivalent to about $180.

The statement came during an investor conference in Taiwan, and Shen claimed that the ASUS smartbook device could be the “secret weapon” that helps ASUS recreate the peak reached with the original EEE PC release. ASUS had demonstrated a branded smartbook earlier this year at CompuTex (pictured right), but the device quickly disappeared from view and hasn’t been seen again.

• Ubuntu One integration — Much like Dropbox and other online storage or sync solutions, Ubuntu One offers a place to stash your data. Every Ubuntu user gets a free 2GB account and the service is natively integrated within the Ubuntu file system, making it pretty seamless.
• Improved 3G connectivity — I’ll have to try this to better understand what exactly has been improved, but this is key for mobile folks.
• New Software Center — One-stop shopping for software is always nice, especially when there’s a button for Free Software as well. This takes the place of Add/Remove in the Applications menu.
• New Kernel Mode Setting — By default on Intel hardware, this “reduces boot-time flickering and dramatically speeds up suspend/resume.”

Has anyone installed this — or the new Netbook Remix Edition — and been wowed by any other new features?

Yesterday’s test with Windows XP yielded a minimum runtime of 5 hours and 5o minutes. I get around 8 hours of usage with proper power management and basic web usage, so the Battery Eater test seems about right. Today’s test with Windows 7 was about 10% shorter, however — the netbook battery died off at 5 hours and 15 minutes.

I’m scratching my head a little over this because I had read about a similar test using the ASUS Eee PC 1008. In that test, Windows XP ran for 5 hours and 3 minutes on a single charge. The same device with Windows 7 ran for more than an hour longer — 6 hours and 7 minutes. Since the Eee PC 1008 and the Toshiba NB205 are essentially built from the same hardware, the only conclusion I’ve drawn is from the one variable: device manufacturer software.

When I got the latest Toshiba Power Management utility for Windows 7 last week, I was leery that it wasn’t quite the same as it was for Windows XP. For starters, there isn’t a Toshiba application or GUI for the power management — it’s simply integrated within the Windows 7 Power Management applet in the Control Panel. And even there, I only see one bit of evidence that there’s any Toshiba optimizations.

The other possibility here is that the ASUS Eee PC test was flawed. I’m not saying it was, but it was performed with two different netbooks — one had a brand new battery while the other had been through a half-dozen charge cycles. Even with the different physical hardware, I don’t think the test could be skewed by 20%, but it’s possible.

Just for kicks, I think I’m going to re-run the test one last time once the battery is fully charged again. I was running all of the Aero bits under Windows 7, so I’m wondering how much battery life I can gain by turning those features off. If I find that the battery life gain is 10% or more, I’ll report back in, because I think that’s significant.