MSI's 14-hour Wind U160 netbook now available in US

Unveiled at CES, MSI's Wind U160 is finally shipping to US customers. The system is readily available online for under $400 shipped. Powered by Intel's Pine Trail platform, the system carries a 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics, a 10-inch 1024 x 600 glossy display, 1GB of RAM, and a 250GB HDD.


Among the most noteworthy features is the U160's promised 14 to 15 hours of run time on a six-cell battery when in "ECO mode." It has the usual I/O connectivity, including 802.11b/g/n wireless, 10/100 LAN, Bluetooth, three USB ports, VGA-out, and headphone/mic jacks. The netbook also has a built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, speakers, a chiclet-style keyboard, weighs 2.40lbs, and ships with Windows 7 Starter as well as a one-year warranty.

Newegg seems to offer one of the best prices at the moment at $379.99 with $4.99 for shipping.

Dell's Adamo XPS pulled from stores?

It seems that Dell may have pulled its pricey ultra-thin Adamo XPS notebook. The system's product page no longer functions properly. If you click "continue" to purchase the laptop, an error is presented suggesting the Adamo XPS is no longer in the company's system. The notebook is still available in the UK through Dell's exclusive deal with retailer John Lewis, but the store only has eight units in stock.


Having first launched in December, this would mark an extremely brief lifecycle for the Adamo XPS. Some speculate that an updated model may be on the way. Considering its $1,800 asking price, the XPS has probably been slow to move off shelves, as other popular ultrathins are more wallet-friendly. For instance, Apple's MacBook Air starts at $1,499, and Dell's own Adamo 13 was recently cut to $999.

Pixel Qi to offer DIY swap-in screens for netbooks

Pixel Qi is readying a do-it-yourself kit that will allow users to swap out their netbook's existing LCD screen with one from the startup. The 3qi display can not only switch between an efficient e-ink-esque grayscale mode and a high resolution color screen, but also to a hybrid transflective mode, which keeps the full color display but lets the mirror at the back of the screen use sunlight as the backlight for outdoor use.


The company says its LCD screens consume between half and a quarter as much power as a standard screen. This could mean a significant boost in battery life for your netbook -- naturally, at the cost of invalidating the machine's warranty. Writing on her Pixel Qi blog, company founder Mary Lou Jepsen said the whole process is just "slightly more difficult than changing a light bulb." Basically it involves removing six screws, pulling off a bezel, disconnecting the old screen and swapping it with the new one.

The kits should be available by the end of June, with the first product being a 10.1-inch display. Pricing isn't known yet but it will have to be low enough to make it tempting. The tech is undoubtedly clever. However, not everyone will be comfortable performing the upgrade themselves and voiding the warranty at the same time. It seems Pixel Qi is having a hard time breaking into the supplier chain between screen makers and PC manufacturers.

Dell brings next-gen Precision performance to M4500 15.6-incher

The super-high-end 17-inch M6500 is all well and good for giant people, but we're glad Dell's finally giving us regular-sizers a shot with the new Precision M4500. Naturally, compromises have been made, but only just barely. The new 15.6-inch laptop rocks a 16:9, 1920 x 1080 display, backed up by NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800M or 880M graphics (the 6500 supports the 3800M, 2800M and ATI M7740) and your choice of Core i5 or Core i7 processors, on up to the Core i7-920XM Quad Core Extreme Edition. This being Dell, there are plenty of tweaks and perks on offer, like a HD+ sRGB LED screen with 100 percent color gamut, a 64GB SSD mini card for dual drive configs without losing the optical drive, a 3 megapixel camera, backlit keyboard, multitouch trackpad, Precision ON, and a multi-carrier-friendly Gobi 2.0 wireless chip. Perhaps most excitingly for us on-the-go regular-sizers, you can supposedly squeeze out 7 hours and 40 minutes of battery with the 9 cell option, and there's a 12 cell battery slice option less than half an inch thick that should send it over the moon. On its own the laptop is 1.1-inches thick and weighs 6 pounds, and while exact pricing hasn't been ironed out yet, it should start at less than $1,700. Start counting out those regular-sized green dollars of yours, the laptop should be out in the "coming weeks."

That not enough for you? Dell's also upgrading its Precision T7500, T5500 and T5300 workstations to Intel Xeon 5600 Westmere EP processors for you desk slaves within a similar timeframe. PR and another M4500 press shot are after the break.

MSI serves up Core i5 within 13-inch X-Slim X360 ultraportable

Those lowly Core 2 Duo chips already feel like a long forgotten memory, and frankly, that's a-okay with us. MSI is helping its seductive X-Slim line get a taste of Intel's Core 2010 lineup with a Core i5-520UM processor, which sits alongside up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB / 320GB / 500GB hard drive, integrated graphics, a 13-inch (1,366 x 768 resolution) panel, HDMI / VGA outputs, a pair of USB 2.0 sockets, 4- or 8-cell battery and an SD / MMC card reader. There's also built-in WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, twin speakers and a chassis that measures under 1-inch thick. Per usual, MSI is in no hurry to out pricing and release details, but we'll be sure to keep an eye (or two) out for both.

Sony unveils 3DTV release dates and pricing for Japan

Kicking off an expected repeat flood of 3DTV info over the next few days (Samsung and Panasonic both have events scheduled over the next couple of days) Sony has revealed pricing and shipping information for its new televisions and related accessories in Japan. The new sets share that sweet/ominous monolithic style of the already available NX800 series (also announced today in Japan, along with fellow 2D-only HX700 LCD and DVR-packing BX30H televisions,) with the edge-lit LED LX900 bringing the entire 3D package. With IR emitter built in and two pairs of RealD active shutter glasses, all you'll need to add is a source to the 60-, 51-, 46- and 40-inch models, ranging in price from ¥580,000 ($6,444) to ¥290,000 ($3,222.) Even if the TDG-BR100 / TDG-BR50 3D glasses (also available as an accessory for ¥12,000 ($133) or so) aren't on your face this WiFi-connected abyss of entertainment will look back into you, using face tracking to detect if someone is sitting too close and warn them to move back, as well as dimming and eventually turning off the screen if you leave the room or simply looked away from the TV for an extended period.

Want to get the full 3D effect with the LED backlit HX900 and edge-lit HX800? Expect to purchase the glasses and TMR-BR100 IR emitter (¥5,000 or $55) separately, or just live a 2D lifestyle and know the 3D is there if you ever want to upgrade. Feel free to wander through Sony Japan's machine-translated website for more specs and prices of these June & July scheduled displays or alternatively, wait a little while, enjoy the trailer embedded after the break, and we should get some find out U.S.-specific details soon that will likely be considerably easier on the wallet.