Every computer lover has got his and her eyes fixed on the latest product from the ASUSTek Computer Inc, Eee PC™ SeaShell which to be launched in UK on the 15th May. Everyone is holding the breath and rightly so. A look at the upcoming product is enough to get you hooked on to the Seashell, which does very much resemble the seashells.

But to a tech-savvy person there are many things besides looks that matter. Exploring the specifications of the laptop ensures that the initially generated interest among the buyers would definitely hold good.

The ASUS Eee PC 1008 HA ‘Seashell’ is not just another addition to the Eee PC Series. It actually takes the bar higher and higher. The kind of perfection the designers have targeted becomes quite obvious from the pains they have taken in making the laptop resemble the seashell, i.e. true to the name given.

The laptop weighs only 1.1 kg and has astonishingly small dimensions of 262mm x 178m x 18~25.7 mm making it easiest to carry around wherever you may be. Not just that, the Asus Eee PC 1008HA-WHI012X SeaShell netbook has a 10 inch LED-backlit display screen that gets you 1024×600 pixels and comes with Colour-Shine technology. So you not only get smaller and handy size but you also get the best of technology as well.

The system doesn’t fall short on any front. It is driven by Intel® Atom N280 processor, the very best in its domain. It comes with 1GB DDR2 RAM and impressive hybrid storage of 160 GB SATA HDD and 10 GB Eee storage.

To ensure effective connectivity it comes with WLAN 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 2.1 features. Also it has Mini VGA connector, 2 x USB 2.0, LAN and audio jack for smooth interface and better options for enjoying the laptop.

To make the Seashell a complete product, the Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS has provided 1.3 MP camera. It also comes with stereo speakers and a built-in digital array mike enabling you to get all the desirable multi-media features.

ASUS is bringing out their upcoming offering in various impressive colours including usual ones like white, black and blue and typical ones like pink, sapphire blue and ruby red. There would be something to suit the likes of everyone. It must be accepted without any doubt that the buzz that Seashell Asus netbook has already managed to generate is turning out to be as justifiable as anything can be.

The Dell Inspiron 1545 is a integrated graphics multimedia notebook from Dell. A budget notebook in the true sense, Dell Inspiron 1545 is available in matte black colour. Other colours like Microsatin Blue, Red or Pacific High-Gloss Blue lids are also available at an extra cost. The sleek and stylish look matches the high performance of the machine. Besides the keyboard and touchpad, a speaker grille and small square chromed power button above the keyboard are present. The material used to manufacture the note book is solid and strong. The fact that inside the note book, every inch besides the sides, keyboard and touchpad are also glossy is a sort of a drawback. The glossy finish on the inside of the note book results in fingerprints and streaks over it, which makes the gadget look messy. Moreover, no cleaning cloth has been provided for cleaning marks of fingerprints and other streaks that are bound to show on the shiny material. This also means that the laptop though good looking needs regular cleaning and wiping as it shows the tiniest of streak and marks. The shape of the notebook from the world’s number two PC maker is sleek, streamlined and minimalist.

Features of Dell Inspiron 1545 include DVD-Rewriter and memory card reader. But a webcam is missing and there is a 34mm ExpressCard slot rather than the more usual 54mm version. In addition a headphone and microphone jacks, 3 USB ports, an Ethernet port and VGA-out are present. The Dell Inspiron 1545 also boasts a 15.6-inch widescreen, which promises to display the best picture quality. It runs on a Core 2 Duo processor with a maximum speed of 2.53GHz. It has up to 4GB memory and for its operating systems, the user has a choice between Windows Vista and Ubuntu.

ARM, the world leader in mobile phone chip designing has recently teamed up with the world’s most popular open source software developer, Ubuntu, to develop a new operating system for small computers or netbooks. The new operating system will be infused in the ARM powered machines and the first unit will be launched in 2009. These will be the first computing devices running on the Ubuntu platform and will be based on ARM7 architecture and contain the Cortex A8 and A9 processors.

As notebooks with a small form factor are becoming more and more popular these days, this is a natural development for Ubuntu, which is driven by the demand from the manufacturers of an ARM technology based version. The One Laptop Per Child project, popularly known as OLPC, has already introduced Linux Sugar based small laptops and has been very successful in developing nations. The Asus Eee PC 7014G is also famous for offering a Linux version at its launch. This has boosted the enthusiasm of Ubuntu developers and they are now aiming for a next generation powerful operating system for netbooks, which will take users beyond basic computing and offer a longer battery runtime.

Rob Coombs, director of mobile marketing at ARM said, “It’s significant in that it is taking ARM onto larger screen formats. The resultant netbooks were likely to sport screens up to 25cm (10in) across and be able to run good quality video, web browsers, and the well-known suite of Open Office programs. These netbook devices would have the long battery life enjoyed by many mobiles. They’ll be for people who want a small internet-centric device.”

As X-mas gets closer, the IT giant Toshiba is getting ready to delight its UK customers with a whole new range of exciting laptops before the end of the year. For big boys, the company is going to act like ‘Santa’ by handing out lots of cool gadgets. The new NB100 laptop is all set for UK market. This one is the company’s first gadget to enter into the growing netbook market. It’s a mini laptop loaded with big features. If you work on power hungry, resource demanding applications, then this netbook is fit for you. It has a blazing processing speed due to its 1.6GHz Intel Atom mobile chip, which is supported by up to 1GB of RAM. Whether you are a Windows expert or Ubuntu Linux fan, the NB100 netbook can accompany you without any hassles.

The 8.9-inch LED backlit widescreen TruBrite display offers a stunning resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. This little mobile mate also offers 120 GB of storage space. The most exciting feature is that the Toshiba NB100-128 is still a winner, ergonomically. The total weight of this device is less than a kilo and it’s very compact in design. Therefore, you can carry it with you anywhere you want without putting much burden on your shoulder.

The connectivity features are also very impressive. It contains Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), 10/100 Ethernet port and 3 USB ports. There’s also a 0.3MP integrated webcam.