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Japanese PC maker DosPara is no stranger to pushing the limits of netbooks and ultraportable laptops. The company was one of the first to put out a notebook with a dual core Atom 330 CPU and NVIDIA ION graphics, for example. But DosPara’s latest notebook ups the game with the addition of a Blu-Ray drive.

The Dospara limited edition “Yu-pon” model is based on a character from game animation company Nitro+. The notebook features a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and an HDMI output. It’s loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium, and according to Akihabara News it’s due out in Japan this month for 69980 yen, or about $783 US. I doubt we’ll see this laptop in the US anytime soon though.

The Eee PC 1201T is one of umpteen versions of the Asus Eee PC 1201-series of laptops. They all have 12.1 inch, 1366  x 768 pixel displays ans the same chassis and keyboard. But while the Eee PC 1201N, 1201HA, and 1201NL all have Intel Atom processors, the Eee PC 1201T has an AMD Neo MV-40 CPU and ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics.

The folks at Yugatech have posted one of the first reviews I’ve seen of the AMD version of this laptop. There’s not a lot of information about the overall performance, but here are a few things I learned:

•The Eee PC 1201T comes with the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium (most other models have the 32-bit version).
•The computer has a Windows Experience Index of 3.1 (with the graphics notching the lowest score and the CPU weighing in at 3.2). By comparison, the Eee PC 1201N has an Index of 3.3, with a 4.3 graphics score, but a 3.3 for the CPU.
•HD video appears to be a mixed bag, with the Eee PC 1201T playing 1080p HD video locally without a problem, but struggling with 720p and higher resolution Flash video.
•Battery life was pretty sad, with the computer lasting about 2.5 hours with a 4400mAh battery.
Yugatech reports that the Eee PC 1201T sells for about 21,900 Philippine pesos ($471 US) in the Philippines.

By definition, netbooks are cheap (and small) laptops. As such, they typically have cheap plastic cases because let’s face it, aluminum, magnesium, and the other metals often used in laptop casings cost a bit more than plastic. But a handful of netbooks (most noticably the HP Mini 2133, 2140, 5101, and 5102) have had metal cases. And now you an add another one to the list: The Core Grid Vigood U220.

If that brand name isn’t familiar, that’s because this netbook comes from an obscure Chinese manufacturer. Or at least, obscure outside of China.

The Vigood U220 features your typical netbook specs including a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, and a 10.2 inch display. It sports 802.11b/g WiFi, a 1.3MP webcam, 3 USB ports, VGA output, and a flash card reader. The one distinguishing characteristic is its metal chassis. Shanzai.com reports the Vigood U220 sells for the equivalent of about $350

When Notion Ink showed off an early prototype of its 10 inch tablet at CES last month, the device was still in the early prototype stages. How early? The case was hand-carved out of wood instead of being made of metal or plastic. But the Adam tablet still got a lot of buzz as one of the most exciting devices on display at CES thanks to two factors. It has a Pixel Qi 3qi display which looks as good outdoors as it does indoors, and which can be flipped from full color mode to a high contrast, low power mode for reading eBooks or web pages. And the tablet uses NVIDIA’s Tegra platform which bundles high quality graphics with a low power processor.

The Notion Ink Adam still isn’t ready to ship yet. But the company sent SlashGear a series of mockup images showing what the finished product could look like. All told, it doesn’t look that different from the device I saw at CES. But the company does have a few new details to share.

First, there could be two different versions of the Adam. One would measure 12.9mm thick, while the other would be just 11.6mm. Both would be thinner than the 13.4mm iPad.

Notion Ink claims that the Adam might be able to run for 2-3 times longer than the iPad for surfing the web or performing some other tasks. SlashGear reports that the tablet will also launch with partnerships in place with digital magazine, eBook, and comic book content available.

The Samsung N150 is one of a handful of mini-laptops powered by Intel Atom N450 processors that Samsung introduced last month. It’s one of the cheapest new models, with a rather ordinary looking plastic case and a battery that’s good for up to 7.5 hours (as opposed to the 11 to 12 hours of run time Samsung is promising for the NB30 and N210/N220 netbooks).

CNET has posted one of the first reviews of the Samsung N150. Overall, the reviewer finds the netbook to be a mixed bag. He finds the keyboard to be a little cramped, but he likes the touchpad which supports multitouch gestures.

The 4400mAh battery provided just over 5 hours of run time in a Battery Eater test. Since Battery Eater is designed to constantly stress the CPU, you should expect closer to 6 or 7 hours of web surfing or other light duty activities.

The Samsung N150 is available from Amazon for $349.

Ubuntu Netbook Edition is a light weight version of Ubuntu Linux optimized for netbooks. It used to be called Ubuntu Netbook Remix, but this spring it will  graduate from “remix” to “edition” status. The operating system is designed to play well with low resolution displays, limited storage capacity, slow processors, and it’s specifically optimized for machines with Intel Atom CPUs. But one thing that’s always puzzled me about Ubuntu Netbook Remix is that some of the applications that come preloaded by default just don’t make that much sense on a netbook.

For instance, why do you need the Brasero disc burning software on a device with no optical disc drive? It’s not like Brasero takes up all that much space, but some netbooks don’t have much disk space to start with, so every megabyte counts.

Now it looks like the Ubuntu team is stripping Brasero and a number of other programs from the list of applications to come preloaded with the next version of Ubuntu Linux. Also missing from the latest nightly builds are the PalmOS Pilot software, and Openoffice.org.

OpenOffice.org is an open source alternative to Microsoft Office, and it comes with a word processor, spreadsheet app, database builder, and presentation application. I wouldn’t say you don’t need these things on a netbook. But some people will prefer to use web-based solutions such as Zoho or Google Docs. And others might simply not use a netbook for editing office docs at all. So I can’t say I blame the Ubuntu Netbook Edition team for stripping a OpenOffice.org from the default installation. It does take up a couple hundred megabytes of disk space, and if you really want it you can always download and install it yourself.

What else would you like to see added or removed from Ubuntu Netbook Edition?

The Asus Eee PC 1008P Karim Rashid Edition is a distinctive looking nettop, thanks to its designer edition crocodile-style cover. It’s also one of the thinnest netbooks on the market, measuring just 1 inch thick. Engadget has posted a review of the laptop and the good news is that it looks as good in person as it does in the pictures. The bad news is that the battery life is pretty subpar for a netbook with an Intel Atom N450 processor.

The Eee PC 1008P comes in hot pink or chocolate brown, with the brown color looking much more subdued. Overall, the notebook looks a lot like the Eee PC 1008HA, which has been available since last summer. But the new model ships with Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a removable battery.

Unfortunately, Engadget’s Joanna Stern found that the notebook lasted for just 3 hours and 20 minutes in a video rundown test, which is about 5 hours less than the score notched by the Asus Eee PC 1005PE. Oh yeah, and the Eee PC 1005PE sells for well under $400, while the Eee PC 1008P has a suggested retail price of $499.

It’s nice that you do get the extra memory, storage space, Windows 7 Home Premium, and designer lid for your money. But a higher capacity battery would also have been nice.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook is already available with WiFi, Bluetooth, and an optional HSPA 3G modem. But it looks like a 4G WiMAX modem might be available soon as well. Wireless Goodness spotted an FCC filing for a Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 with WiMAX.

It’s not clear from the filing whether Dell will be partnering with a WiMAX provider such as Sprint or CLEAR to bundle the netbook with a data plan, or if the mini-laptop will be sold unlocked. Honestly, I think it makes more sense to just purchase a USB WiMAX or 3G module that you can use with any laptop rather than tying your wireless broadband plan to a single computer. But that might just be me. I suppose it’s nice not to have to carry around the extra USB dongle.

Aside from the addition of WiMAX, the new version of the Mini 10 looks to be about the same as other models, which I assume means it has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, and Windows 7 Starter.

French retailer fnac has posted a product page for a new Asus netbook model called the Eee PC 1005PE-H. Basically, the laptop is identical to the Asus Eee PC 1005PE in most respects. It has the same design, keyboard, and processor. But the Eee PC 1005PE-H comes with more RAM and storage space than its cheaper sibling, and ships with Windows 7 Home Premium instead of Windows 7 Starter Edition.

There’s no word on whether this model will be available in the US anytime soon. But I’d be surprised if it’s only available in France. Typically netbooks that pop up in that country are made available throughout much of Europe.

Here’s a rundown of the specs:

•CPU: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450
•Display: 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixels
•RAM: 2GB
•Storage: 320GB hard drive
•OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
•Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet
•I/O: 3x USB, SD card reader, mic, headphone
•Battery: 6 cell, 4400mAh
•Dimensions: 10.3″ x 7″ x 1.4″
Fnac is charging 349 Euros for the Eee PC 1005PE-H, whichi s the equivalent of $476 US, although European prices tend to be higher than prices in the US

Samsung was showing off one of the coolest pieces of technology I’ve ever seen in real life at CES this year: A laptop with a fully functional semi-transparent OLED display. In other words, you can see what’s on the display, but you can also look right through the screen to see what’s behind it. The technology is kind of useless, to be honest. But man is it cool looking.

Clearly, the device Samsung was demonstrating in January was just a prototype. But it turns out that Samsung is actually working to turn the prototype into a real product. And it could ship within the next 12 months.

I’d be surprised if a laptop with a 14 inch display falls into the budget category. But the sooner this thing comes to market, the faster the prices will drop.

This kind of technology would probably be more useful in other applications. For instance, imagine a GPS system in your car that you could look through to see the street beyond. Or one of those crazy-futuristic windows that doubles as a video player. But you’ve got to start somewhere, right?