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Rescuecom reports that for 2Q09, they provided repair or support services for 11,560 personal computers. That number included 69 Asus computers, 254 Apples and 150 Lenovos. Dividing out each manufacturers market share by their repair share, Rescuecom determined that AsusTek is now the most reliable brand with a score of 416. Apple machines are about 6% less reliable than Asus, with Lenovo about 25% lower. This is all somewhat suspect because of the low volumes involved, and also somewhat curious because Asus supplies parts to just about everyone else on the list.

Market leader Dell might be in trouble, as not only did their market share fall by 19% (2Q08 vs 2Q09) to 26.3%, but also they did not make the top 5 in reliability, meaning their product is at least 66% lower in quality than Asus.

…at least according to Rescuecom.

Rescuecom’s 2009 Second Quarter Top 5 Computer Reliability Report, August 18 2009

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DigiTimes reports that Asus moved 700,000 Eee PCs in September of this year. Thats a lot of netbooks, and management must be happy. There are about a dozen different variations of the Eee PC theme ranging from 7 to 10 inch screens, with more models on the way, such as the ASUS Eee PC 904HA.

In the current economic climate namely ” It’s really scary what’s going on out there“, with the S&P 500 Index closing at 1,056.89 down 28% YTD, it’s probably safe to say that while PC sales will be below expectations, netbooks, with their low prices, will almost certainly gain market share.

Asustek shipped 700,000 Eee PCs – DigiTimes, October 6 2008

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LG announces their 10-inch mini-notebook called the X-Note Mini.

Atom-based CPU, 10-inch screen, comes in white, pink or black … not much to distinguish it from the many other netbooks out there, aside from the logo & choice of models.

LG Electronics, 10-inch mini notebook ‘X-Note MINI’ Release – LG new release, 2008-09-25

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The year’s not even over yet, and Stuff Mag has declared the Asus Eee PC 901 to be the top gadget of 2008. The Eee netbook thus beats out the Apple iPhone 3G, and similar lesser gadgets…go figure.

But then again, the Asus Eee PC has been garnering praise since it first appeared late last year. Another recent convert to the Eee PC is Dave Winer of Scripting News. Dave says the Eee has cross-country battery life, that the Eee is a better reporting notebook than his trusty MacBook Pro and describes how it’s even replacing (parts of) his iPhone.

Stuff Gadget Awards – Eee PC wins gadget of the year – Stuff Magazine, 17 SEP 2008

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The Ultra-Mobile PC or UMPC was first introduced back in May 2006 to moderate fanfare, and in case you’re wondering how they are doing now, 2.3 years later, the answer seems to be ‘not so good’.

DeviceGuru in fact declares the UMPC form factor to be dead, having been replaced by the netbook, while no one was looking. Why?..the author attributes the demise of the UMPC to feature creep, and thus price, and the unpopularity of its cousin the MID to competition from the smartphone.

The netbook is doing so well that Gartner estimates that the category will ship 50 million units annually by 2012, and some worry that netbook sales will cannibalize the traditional notebook.

The UMPC is dead; long live the netbook! – DeviceGuru, August 29 2008

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Samsung announces their new NC10 netbook computer.

Specs include: 10.2 inch LED-backlit screen at 1024×600, Intel Atom processor 1.6GHz, 1GB memory, 160GB HDD, 802.11b/g WiFi & Bluetooth. Weight is 1.3Kg.

The NC10 is fairly similar to the MSI Wind and the ASUS EE PC, distinguished largely by its coating of antibacterial nano silver partcles on the keyboard, and its larger keyboard. The NC10’s keyboard width and key pitch are 252 mm & 17.7 mm respectively versus 210 mm & 16 mm for the ASUS.

Samsung to expect its Atom-based mini laptop supporting Wibro, Aving, September 9 2008

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Ok looking notebook, the new HP EliteBook 2730p. LED-backlit 1280×800 LCD screen. 80/120 GB 5400 rpm 1.8″ SATA II Hard Drive. ‘Business Rugged’ meets Mil-Std-810F. Specs are at this link. $1670.

Holding on to the new HP EliteBooks – Crunch Gear, August 21st, 2008

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Asus recently announced the M70 notebook, which combines a number of unusual features. The M70 is the first to offer a 1TB hdd (2×500GB), a Blu-ray disk player with a 1920×1200 resolution screen. The product is positioned as an entertainment appliance and described as having the ultimate high-def feature combo.

ASUS M70 Redefines Full HD with Ultimate HD Feature Combo - Asus news release, April 14 2008

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A diner in Hong Kong artfully poses his brand new black Eee PC 900 with the main course. Still life with grouper. Fish, yum.

??Eee PC 900

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Trusted Reviews reviews the Asus Eee PC 900 & deems it to be a great value at 10/10 and assigns the thing an overall score of 9/10 – high marks indeed.

T-R liked almost everything about the Eee including the “superb” 8.9in screen showing 1024×600, the multi-touch touchpad, 20GB solid state disk (Linux version) and the connectivity options.

Disappointments, mild as they were, included the 2-hour battery life, and the “adequately-powered” 900MHz Celeron processor.

There are no pejorative epithets in their review which concludes with phrases such as “Asus has done a brilliant job”, “staggering value for money” and “the Eee PC 900 should be top of your list”.

Asus Eee PC 900 – Trusted Reviews, April 16 2008

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