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(Credit: Asus)

Hot on the heels of the well-regarded HP Mini 311, Asus has moved the Netbook bar forward by taking a 12-inch Netbook chassis and including both Nvidia's Ion graphics and a dual-core version of Intel's Atom processor (called the Atom 330). We've previously seen dual-core Atoms only in a handful of Nettop desktops, because of heat issues, and it's unlikely we'd see one in anything smaller than a 12-inch laptop body.

While still small, the 1201N fits in a full-size keyboard and a 250GB hard drive (plus access to 500GB of online storage space). The system comes with Windows 7 Starter and 2GB of RAM. Asus claims the 6-cell battery should last up to five hours, similar to what we've seen in other Eee PC models.

In a brief hands-on demo, we noted that the Asus Eee PC 1201N looks very similar to the current Eee PC line, including the popular 1005HA, with a black glossy finish and textured touch pad.

Combined with a 1,366x768 HD display, the Nvidia Ion GPU makes for a great video watching experience, once you download the new Flash 10.1 beta, which allows the Ion to accelerate streaming Flash video.

When it's available later this year, the Eee PC 1201N should retail for $499, which is a $100 premium over the HP Mini 311 (with Windows XP and 1GB of RAM).

Got an HP Mini 311? Download the Flash 10.1 prerelease update ASAP.

The HP Mini 311 is one of our favorite current Netbooks, thanks to its hi-def screen, reasonable price, and Nvidia Ion graphics. Our main knock has been that the accelerated video, while great for basic gaming and HD video file playback, didn't work with the kind of streaming flash video used by Hulu and other sites. In our recent review, we said:

Video playback was excellent, and our test HD WMV file ran flawlessly--something no other Netbook has been able to do. Web-based video is a bit of a different story, but an updated version of Flash (reportedly available in November) will let streaming Web video take advantage of the GPU. For right now, Hulu on-demand content ran decently as-is, but not radically better than other Netbooks.

So, we're pleased to see the Flash player 10.1 update is available (as a prerelease version) for download. It's not even in official beta form yet, but we downloaded and installed it on an HP Mini 311 Netbook to test it out.

Even in this early form, full-screen HD video via Hulu was much improved. Playback was mostly smooth, with a tiny bit of occasional stuttering. Prior to the Flash update, low-res Hulu programming played reasonably well (and even then, not in full-screen mode), and HD video was very hard to watch.

If you're interested in installing the pre-beta version of Flash 10.1 on your Nvidia Ion Netbook or Nettop, you can find it here.

Samsung Go for cheaper: this used to be a pricier Netbook.

(Credit: CNET)

Whether or not you choose to take this path, subsidized Netbooks are everywhere. For those who choose to use a 3G data plan, going subsidized offers a little bit of upfront savings.

AT&T has announced updates to its Netbook offerings for the holidays, and the Samsung Go and Acer Aspire One have joined its subsidized offerings. The Samsung Go, with its eye-catching textured color and smooth bubbly look, is certainly a change of pace from most Netbook designs. Both come with Windows 7 Starter installed and sell for $199 with a 2-year data plan.

Is the Samsung Go more appealing to you than a $299 Nokia Booklet 3G?

As for the Acer Aspire One, it wasn't that expensive a Netbook to begin with at $299. Does $100 savings and a 3G antenna/Windows 7 Starter seem worth it?

Read our reviews of the Samsung Go and Acer Aspire One AOD250.

Like previous versions of Windows, Windows 7 supports legacy software written for previous Windows releases, including Windows 95.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

I remember the first time I ran into Windows in 1995. It was in one of the few small computer shops in Hanoi, Vietnam, where you had to pay money to use the machines. Being a high school student with absolutely no money, I made friends with the owner and helped him clean up the place just so I could use the computers after-hours. And I spent many hours using them.

Compared with what I had known, namely MS DOS, Windows 95 was truly revolutionary. I loved the support for long file names and marveled at the Start menu, the Taskbar, and the Control Panel. Everything made so much sense then, as it still does to this day.

Now, after having used Windows 7 exclusively for about four months on my PCs and even on my Mac, I realized that the impression Windows 95 made on me was far stronger than that of Windows 7 (or any other Windows).

Don't get me wrong. This is not a Windows 7-bashing article. Windows 7 is undoubtedly the most advanced and probably the best Windows ever. However, after 14 years, I think it's time Windows offered something more original than just improving and thriving on the success of Windows 95.

This is why when I saw the "I am a PC and Windows 7 was my idea" ads, I just wanted to jump into panel to ask the presumptuous-looking guy, "What is your idea, dude, really? What's really new?" (And speaking of original, come on Microsoft! You can do better than imitating Apple's painfully old and goofy, "I am a Mac, I am a PC" ads!)

So, strictly from a user's point of view, here are my ideas for how Windows could be better.

Sony's Vaio P: Getting a new lease on life?

(Credit: CNET)

One of the smallest, most pocketable ultraportables still remains the Sony Vaio P. We always liked its slim design and high-resolution screen...the problem was that it was far too expensive. That problem may be in the process of being rectified, according to reports that Verizon could be adding the Vaio P to its subsidized Netbook offerings this week. The cost? A mere $299, according to Gadgetmix and Phonearena. While that would require a 2-year contract, the original Vaio P cost around $1,000 at the beginning of 2009, making the subsidized price very appealing.

Even better, the P seems like it will be outfitted with a 160GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Home Premium. While it will have to compete with other high-quality Verizon Netbook offerings like the HP Mini 311, the Vaio P is another high-design Netbook we wouldn't mind owning at the right price, especially with 3G built in.

If this is true, it seems like a nice move for both Sony and Verizon.

(Via Engadget)

Tom and Rafe discuss life with Windows 7, Entourage, Seagate hard drives, Ubuntu and more.

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"Good" is always what you want to see when it comes to the state of your system, isn't it?

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

You get a new computer and it runs great. However, after a while, things start to get more and more sluggish. This is true for all operating systems, including those running the all new and shiny Windows 7.

That is because, other than user errors (such as misuse, viruses, spyware, accidental file deletion, harmful changes to the Registry and system settings, and so on), the OS doesn't take good care of itself. It collects and store junks from the Internet. It doesn't completely remove remnants of unwanted applications. Its Registry keeps getting more and more bloated with residual settings, and so on and so forth. All of these result in system clutter that over time slows down the machine.

This is when a cleanup software, like System Mechanic from Iolo, comes in handy.

I tried version 9.0.3 of the software recently, as it's the first I found that works with Windows 7 64-bit (the software itself is 32-bit, however) and it seemed to work well, though not perfectly.

One of the biggest frustrations for most people upgrading their systems to Windows 7 is that what Microsoft calls a "custom upgrade" is nothing less than a full system install. Some Windows Vista users won't have to reinstall their programs after upgrading, but many will and all Windows XP users will, too. Here's where LapLink's PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant steps in.

PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant will transfer most of your programs, settings, and files, but it will take a several hours.

(Credit: LapLink)

For $30, LapLink will pack up your programs, settings, and data, store them as you upgrade to Windows 7, and then reinstall them using its proprietary VAN file format. The process is simple, says LapLink: install and run the upgrade assistant, upgrade to Windows 7, then reinstall PCmover and restore your programs and settings.

While that's the gist of the process, it's not quite as simple. Reading LapLink's Quick Start PDF guide (PDF download) is a must. PCmover requires 200 MB of hard disk space in addition to the 16 GB that Windows 7 will need, and you'll probably have to reboot your computer. If you don't regularly run your antivirus program, you'll need to do that, and it's a good idea to run your defragger as well. Users will need to turn off their screensavers and power management options should all be set to Never. If the computer hibernates or goes to sleep during the upgrade, it will damage the process.

The guide recommends using the Windows Task Scheduler to make sure that all scheduled tasks and programs have been disabled, and warns that you should disable your security programs. If you're not comfortable performing this kind of maintenance on your computer, PCmover is definitely not for you. ... Read more

Over the weekend, CNET ran an unscientific poll inquiring about the level of difficulty in your Windows 7 upgrade experience, and the response we received was undoubtedly strong. Nearly 11,000 people voted, and more than 50 percent of you said your Windows 7 upgrade experience was as easy as pie. (And who doesn't love pie?)

We asked people to rate their upgrade experience from one to five, with one being the easiest and five being the hardest. A total of 5,492 people evaluated the upgrade experience as a one, but the second-most popular answer, at 16 percent, was five, indicating an unnecessarily hard upgrade. Sticking with the pie analogy, that's basically having to do all the cleaning up without getting to eat any.

The third-most popular answer was two, indicating a fairly easy but not flawless upgrade process for 14 percent of voters. The three answer garnered 8 percent of the vote, with 927 votes, and four scored 809 votes, for 7 percent.

Combining the two extremes, then, we can see that more than two-thirds of voters said upgrading was easy or fairly easy, while less than a quarter said the process was hard or unnecessarily difficult. Compared to what most people remember from their Vista experience, that's a dramatic, if anecdotal, change.

If you're planning on upgrading but haven't yet, there are several tools and links that Microsoft has provided to make the change easier. Microsoft has published guides to upgrading from XP to Windows 7 and from Vista to Windows 7, and it has also rounded up its upgrade and installation FAQs onto one convenient page.

The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor is a useful tool for evaluating your current hardware situation, and it gives you a "Windows experience" rating so you can decide whether it can handle Windows 7 before you buy. Windows Easy Transfer will help most users migrate their files and settings, though there have been reports of not all settings getting moved smoothly. It won't migrate programs.