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The week belonged to Dell, which finally confirmed one of the worst kept secrets in laptopdom, the Studio line of laptops. Somewhere between the budget Inspiron line and high-end XPS line, the Studio 15 and Studio 17 are available with a variety of colors and lid imprint patterns; buyers--whom Dell describes as "today's digital nomad"--can also snap up optional color-coordinated accessories. But how do the new laptops perform? Read our Dell Studio 15 review for the full scoop.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Aside from launching new laptops, Dell also made headlines by briefly extending the deadline for ordering a system with Windows XP. Now that the deadline's passed, though, you'll have to pay $50 for the XP downgrade option. Buyers can take solace in the fact that Dell's upgrades are still cheaper than Apple's, according to the super-sleuths at CNET U.K.

In little-laptop news, we waited in vain for the MSI Wind, which was supposed to start shipping today but didn't. However, the Intel Atom-based Eee PC 901 did show up--am I the only one who's losing track of all the Eee PC's variations? Colleagues at CNET Asia reported on two Atom-based tablets from Kohjinsha that are popping up in Japan. Also in Japan, Mouse Computer announced the awesomely named, 10.6-inch LuvBook U100.

Other product news this week included rumors of new Sony notebooks and an actual announcement of the Panasonic ToughBook CF-U1. Also announced were laptops to incorporate AMD's Puma platform: the HP Pavilion dv5z and a raft of Toshiba Satellites.

Also worth reading: a California company has developed a mobile fuel cell that can power a rugged laptop; Engadget has "in the wild" photos of the oh-so-shiny Voodoo Envy 133; Newmarket Technology acquired Everex, manufacturer of the CloudBook, from its Taiwan-based parent company; and the U.S. Congress debated the issues of searching citizens' laptops when they return to the country from abroad.

Finally, as part of his summer road trip, CNET News.com reporter Daniel Terdiman discovered that your busted Toshiba laptop is likely to be repaired by UPS..

Have a great weekend!

(Credit: First International Computer)

First International Computer, a Taiwanese computer manufacturer and the parent company of U.S.-based Everex, announced two new mininotebooks at Computex this week. The field of tiny laptops is already starting to look crowded (with the HP 2133, Eee PC, and MSI Wind--heck, even Dell's working on an mini-laptop), but FIC has a distinguishing characteristic right out of the gate: the otherwise identical systems can be configured with either a C7-M processor from Via Technologies or Intel's new Atom CPU.

Both the Via-based CE2A1 and Intel-based CW0A1 feature an 8.9-inch screen and a 1.3-megapixel Webcam. Around the case are VGA, Ethernet, and two USB 2.0 ports, plus an ExpressCard slot. Networking connections include 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. Regardless of platform, the laptops can incorporate up to 2GB of RAM and up to 160GB of hard-drive space.

The manufacturer promises up to 5 hours of life with the included four-cell battery and up to 8 hours of life with the optional six-cell battery. Both models will also offer a choice of operating systems, with the CE2A1 supporting Windows Vista Basic, Windows XP, or Linux, and the CW0A1 supporting Windows XP or Linux. The starting weight is listed as 2.1 pounds.

Pricing and distribution plans have yet to be announced, but our money's on the two mininotebooks being released under the Everex brand in the United States sometime this summer.

Via Technologies is shipping samples of the new Isaiah processor targeted at low-cost compact computers.

Via Isaiah Architecture die plot

(Credit: Via Technologies)

Via's current C7 processor is already used by Everex in its CloudBook, by OQO in the Model 02, and by Hewlett-Packard in thin-client computers and in certain models that the computer maker sells in China. Both the C7 and Isaiah are x86-compatible processors, meaning they can run the same software that Intel amd AMD chips do.

Samples of the Isaiah-architecture-based x86 chips are now being shipped "aggressively" to customers with a release timeframe of May-June, said Glenn Henry, CEO of Centaur Technology, the Via subsidiary that designed the chip. The first generation of Isaiah-based products will be pin-compatible with the C7 processor family and offer two to four times the performance, according to Henry. Fujitsu is manufacturing the chip.

Isaiah is targeted specifically at the low-cost "thin-and-light notebook area," Henry said. The same market segment that Intel is targeting for the upcoming Atom "Silverthorne" processor. (Intel prefers to call this segment "netbooks.")

Correction: Isaiah's TDP (Thermal Design Power or power envelope) is not confirmed at this point. However Henry said that Isaiah will consumer more power than Intel's Atom processor.

Other differences include: Atom uses a more simple "in-order execution" design compared to Isaiah's Superscalar, out-of-order design. Because of this more sophisticated design, Isaiah may deliver higher performance than Atom, though independent benchmarking will be the final judge.

Via will need all the technological advantage it can muster just to avoid getting buried by Intel's marketing juggernaut. Intel is "formidable but won't take it all. We've already got design wins. The cost to a manufacturer to change their whole design is quite high unless there's some real benefit to it," Henry said.

Henry also noted that Intel is following Via into the low-cost, small-device market--where Via has been a player for many years--not the other way around.

Via is also planning a dual-core version of Isaiah but Henry would not provide any more details.

The $198 Google-approved Web 2.0 gPC.

(Credit: Everex)

On Thursday, WalMart begins selling the Everex Green gPC TC2502, a $198, low-power, Linux-based PC designed primarily for running Web 2.0 applications.

When users first fire up their gPC, they'll get a Mac-like desktop with a series of program icons "docked" across the bottom. The icons are bookmarks to popular and useful Web 2.0 services from Google and other vendors. There are icons for Google Docs, Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube, for example, as well as Meebo, Facebook, and Wikipedia. Sprinkled into the lineup are some non-Web-based apps, like Skype and Gimp, but the novice user won't know, initially, which are local applications and which are Web services.

Isn't that as it should be? An app is an app, so why should users know or care if it's running on their local PC or in the cloud?

The gPC icon dock

(Credit: CNET)

Unfortunately, using the gPC's Web apps isn't as transparent as we'd like, although that's not Everex's fault. Web apps still run in a browser (and the gPC won't ship with Adobe AIR or another runtime platform that runs online apps in their own windows), so each time a user clicks on one of the icons that's pointing to a URL, it will fire up Firefox or a new tab in it. Also, Web apps require their own online logins (though if you're logged into Google, you have to worry about that only once per session). And, of course, there's the question of where one's data is stored. The gPC has a hard disk, but users of the Web apps won't be putting files on it. (It also has OpenOffice installed on it, but users will have to dig to find the suite.)

My criticisms are aimed mostly at Web apps in general, and this is nonetheless a great product. It costs less than $200 and you don't have to buy one for a child you've never met to get it (not that that's a bad thing, but it would drive up your cost). It will do what most of us need, thanks to all the Web 2.0 sites and services that are available now and that don't require the equivalent of a Cray supercomputer to run acceptably fast. The gPC, which Everex is selling with Google's blessing, gives us a look at what a Web PC should be: A much cheaper but almost-as-capable alternative to a regular PC or Mac. This is the closest thing I've seen to a Web appliance that might actually sell.

The gPC runs a 1.5GHz VIA C7-D processor and ships with 512MB of RAM and a 80GB hard drive. The operating system is gOS, from a new company of the same name. It's a version of Ubuntu 7.10 with the Enlightenment window manager. The $198 price tag does not include a monitor. But it does include 24/7 800-number tech support.

The gPC will be available at Walmart.com and at these Wal-Mart retail stores.

See also these interesting Linux-powered products from Everex competitor Asus: The P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP motherboard with embedded Firefox, and the Eee PC 4G, and low-cost Linux laptop

The gPC runs all the Web apps you'll need as well as several useful Linux-based desktop apps.

(Credit: CNET)

Everex has unveiled its $298 back-to-school desktop, touting its open-source productivity software.

Databases, spreadsheets, word processing and graphics, open-source or not, are lost on most K-through-5 kids. I know. I have one.

(Credit: Everex)

Ditto for the junior-high market, where concerns over acne and hormonal changes are likely to outrank the question of "to open-source or not to open-source." Similar issues may plague kids in high school, unless it's shown that using open-source productivity software can boost SAT scores or geek cred.

Nonetheless, parents, aka the walking wallets, may care.

It's all about giving our kids an edge in life, and if it means getting them familiar with open-source technology at a young age, hey, that may be useful.

The Everex Impact GC3502 features open-source office productivity suite OpenOffice.org 2.2, which is designed to run on all major computing platforms and be compatible with Microsoft Office files.

Everex's back-to-school desktop also comes with a 1.5GHz VIA C7-D processor that is designed to be energy-efficient.

"In creating the eco-friendly GC3502, our main focus was to build a no-compromise, back-to-school PC with all the software applications a typical student would require, without resorting to bundling frivolous trial versions or increasing prices 30 percent," Eugene Chang, Everex product manager, said in a statement.

Maybe Everex will develop a back-to-work version.