Portable PC buzz

We take a look at some of the netbooks and tablets that users can look forward to in 2010.

2009 was the year of the netbook and 2010 is going to be no different. What started a couple of years ago when Asus launched its EEE PC has now become one of the most important PC trends and one that promises to shake up the status quo for everyone from laptop producers to chip makers.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held every January, is traditionally the time when electronics makers launch their most exciting products for the year ahead. This year's show in Las Vegas was no different and netbooks and portable devices took centre stage at the show.

We look at some of the netbooks and tablets that users can look forward to in the coming year.

Lenovo IdeaPad U1

Lenovo, which took over IBM's PC business a few years back, introduced one of the most talked-about devices at this year's CES. The IdeaPad U1 is a Snapdragon-powered tablet which can also be docked in a laptop-like clamshell. When it is docked the IdeaPad looks just like a regular laptop, but the screen portion can be removed and used as a standalone tablet with a touch screen. When it is removed the screen switches to use Lenovo's Skylight interface which has a six-panel interface which can be customized with email, calendar, RSS, and social media widgets.

Lenovo Skylight

Lenovo also showed off its Skylight smartbook which is an ARM processor-powered machine. The Skylight has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 10.1-inch screen and is claimed to have up to 10 hours of battery life. The Skylight runs a version of Linux and is expected to be released in April. It runs a customised version of Linux and has 20GB of flash storage under the hood. The Skylight is one of a new generation of "smartbooks" which fit in between a netbook and a smartphone.

HP's Mini 5102

HP also used CES to show off its first touchscreen netbook. The Mini 5102 runs on an Intel Atom N450 processor and is somewhere between a tablet and netbook. HP will ship the standard Mini 5102 without the touchscreen but users will have the option to upgrade to the touchscreen when they buy it. The Mini 5102 will ship with a full metal case, a 10.1-inch screen and a 2-megapixel webcam. The six-cell battery will give up to 10 hours of runtime. Interestingly, the 5102 will include face recognition software so that users can log on using just their web cam.

MSI Wind U160

MSI announced its latest netbook, the U160, at CES, one of the many netbooks to include Intel's N450 Atom processor. Weighing in at just 1kg the U160 has a claimed battery life of 9 hours and sports the increasingly common 10.1-inch screen. The Atom processor runs at 1.66GHz and the machine ships with a 250GB hard disk and will run Windows 7.

Toshiba NB305

Toshiba added to its netbook lineup by releasing the NB305 at the consumer show. The NB305 also uses the new Atom N450 processor and sports a 10.1-inch screen. Toshiba says that the six-cell battery gives up to 11 hours of battery life and the NB350 also has a 250GB hard disk. The NB305 will ship with Microsoft's Windows 7.

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