Presidents Day deal from Dell $199 Mini 9 Netbook

Dell’s Mini 9 Netbook deal, one day only, President’s Day.
These are the specs.

Ubuntu Linux version 8.04.1
Obsidian Black
1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
512MB DDR2 at 533MHz
4GB Solid State Drive
Intel® Atom Processor® N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K cache)
Glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024X600)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
Wireless 802.11g Mini Card
32WHr Battery (4 cell)
Base LCD Assembly
Base LCD Assembly in Black

via: Geekadviser

Asus all-in-one desktop PC

With its glossy white chassis and transparent plastics, the Eee Top looks like something Apple would design. Its 15-inch, 1366-by-768-resolution LCD touch screen is small by desktop standards, but it is adequate for most basic tasks (Internet, word processing, light gaming, and the like). The Eee Top features a carrying handle integrated into the angle-adjustable foot, so you can carry it around. Of course, it helps that the Eee Top is light enough and compact enough that toting it around with one hand doesn’t require you to have the arm strength of Alex Rodriguez.

Asus includes six USB 2.0 ports on the Eee Top, two of which occupy the left side (along with an SD Card slot) for easy access. One nagging design flaw, however, is the location of the Eee Top’s headphone and microphone jacks on the unit’s rear. The Eee Top is small enough that you can easily rotate it to get to the jacks, but I wish that Asus had included jacks on the front for easy access.

One drawback with this new system is the Eee Top is a completely closed system, and you can’t upgrade the components inside–which means no memory or hard drive upgrades are available. This means you are limited to the unit’s included 1GB memory and 160GB hard drive. In addition, Asus took a page out of Apple’s book and omitted any optical drive.

via: Asus

via: PCWorld

Microsoft planning chain of Retail Stores

Microsoft plans to follow Apples lead and open their own chain of retail stores. According to the Associated Press, Microsoft has enlisted former DreamWorks distribution chief David Porter to head the new retail business. Porter will start work on Tuesday, and his first order of business will be to help determine the “timing, locations and design” of the upcoming stores.

Microsoft has already opened locations in stores from chains like Best Buy and Circuit City last year, right as it was rolling out its $300 million ad campaign.

The AP writes that Microsoft’s retail stores will carry the company’s products and PCs pre-loaded with Microsoft software. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Zune media players and Xbox 360s make appearances alongside boxed software and Windows PCs.

via: Techreport

Starcraft II Trailer

StarCraft II beta testing will be starting in the next few months and will use a newer version of the company’s Battle.net gaming service. The StarCraft II trilogy will be made available in three parts, with Wings of Liberty being first and focusing on the Terrans. Blizzard plans on releasing the game as soon as possible, but actual release dates have yet to be announced.

via: IGN