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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

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.

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?

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.

Over the past year or two I’ve seen plenty of Macbook Air knockoffs come out of China. But M.I.C. Gadget has the first photos I’ve seen of a knockoff that goes the extra mile and actually comes in a box labeled MacBook Air.

Under the hood, this machine is all netbook, with a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and 4 cell battery. It sells for under $300 and ships with Windows XP instead of OS X. Even though the box quite clearly shows a picture of a MacBook Air with OS X installed. In fact, when you open the box you get a driver disc and Apple instruction manual. Unforutnately you also get a notebook that looks vaguely like a MacBook Air, but not quite like the product pictured on the box.

Design-wise, the clone does sport a glowing Apple logo on the lid and a MacBook-like island style keyboard. It has a 13.3 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display. It also has a removable battery, which is something you won’t find on a real MacBook Air. Of course, the MacBook Air battery is also good for 4 to 5 hours, while the knockoff runs for less than two hours.

M.I.C. Gadget has a boatload of additional photos and some hands-on impessions.

The Alienware M11x is a thin and (somewhat) light notebook with an 11.6 inch display, an Intel CULV processor, and some seriously powerful graphics capabilities which make the M11x the first budget 11.6 inch laptop that gamers can truly love. And the folks at Hardware Heaven are apparently in love. They’ve published the first review of the M11x that I’ve seen, and they conclude that it’s one of the best products they’ve ever reviewed.

The laptop is a bit heavy for an ultraportable, weighing in at 4.5 pounds. And it has the same angular shape as other Alienware laptops, which might be a turnoff for those looking for a sleek machine for use on the go. But here’s where the Alienware M11x stands apart: It can handle 720p and 1080p HD video playback, and it can handle 3D video games at 720p resolutions.It also has a backlit keyboard, which is rare on a budget ultraportable.

The laptop has two graphics processors. For day to day tasks such as web browsing, Intel’s integrated graphics will probably do the trick. But when you want to play games, you can hit Fn+F6 to fire up the NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M GPU without rebooting. It features 1GB of dedicated video memory, DirectX 10.1 support, and Blu-Ray acceleration, among other features.It can handle recent games including Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Dirt 2 without breaking a sweat.

Of course, you’ll sacrifice some battery life if you switch from integrated to dedicated graphics. While you can surf the web for about 5.75 hours with integrated graphics, you’ll get less than 4 hours of HD video playback with the GeForce graphics, and just over 2 hours of gaming time.

The Alienware M11x is available for pre-order from Dell for $799 and up. Make sure to hit up Hardware Heaven for the complete review if you’re considering this laptop.

The Asus Eee PC 1008P Karim Rashid Edition is an ultrathin netbook that’s pretty much the same shape and size as the Eee PC 1008HA. But while you can’t easily replace the battery on the Eee PC 1008HA, the 1008P has a battery door that lets you remove the battery and swap it out for a replacement. And it looks like Asus will be shipping the netbook with two 3 cell batteries in at least a few countries.

Swapping out batteries in the middle of a session isn’t exactly convenient. But it is one way to double your computing time. And since Asus says the Eee PC 1008P gets up to 5.5 hours of run time on a single battery, that theoretically means you could use the netbook for up to 11 hours without stopping to charge. Of course, battery estimates are usually inflated, but 8 or 9 hours doesn’t seem unreasonable.

MSI announced a handful of new 10 inch netbooks with Intel Atom N450 processors in January. The MSI Wind U160 is probably the most attractive of the bunch. I got a chance to play with one for a few minutes at CES, but Johannes at NewGadgets.de did me one better and he got MSI to send him a pre-production model. You can check out his unboxing video (in English) after the break.

The laptop has a glossy lid, a chiclet-style keyboard, and a textured touchpad with a single mouse button that makes the Wind U150 look an awful lot like the Asus Eee PC 1005PE.

The computer ships with Windows 7 Starter Edition, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, GMA 3150 graphics, and a choice of a 3 or 6 cell battery. There’s also a SIM card slot, indicating that the Wind U160 may be available with a 3G modem.

The 6 cell battery does stick out like a sore thumb at the back of the netbook. One thing that sets the Wind U160 apart from other MSI netbooks is that it has a two-tone color scheme. The lid, keyboard, and base of this particular unit, for instance, are black. But the battery and the area where the keyboard meets the lid are a metallic gray color. I’m not really sure how I feel about this particular color combo, but the models I saw at CES had more of a gold and chrome color combo, which looked a bit better.

The Lenovo IdeaPad U150 features an 11.6 inch screen and an Intel CULV processor. It’s available in a variety of configurations with up to 4GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive, and a 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo SU7300 CPU, and a choice of a 3 or 6 cell battery.

There are a lot of things to like about the IdeaPad U150. It has an distinctive textured lid, an attractive two-tone keyboard, and a combo eSATA/USB port, which is something you won’t find on a lot of ultraportable laptops. But there are a few down sides as well. While the laptop gets decent battery life, it doesn’t last as long as I’ve come to expect of a laptop with an Intel CULV processor. And while the keyboard is attractive, I found it mildly uncomfortable to use.

The unit Lenovo sent me to review features a 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo SU7300 dual core CPU, GMA 4500MHD graphics, a4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a 6 cell battery. It features 802.11b/g/n WiFi and runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and has an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display. This model is available from Lenovo for a starting price of $749, but there’s also a $649 model with a slower processor, less RAM and storage.