The new solid state drives are likely from Samsung and offer speedier read and write speeds. Anandtech put the new drives through the paces and found the following speed bumps.

What does this mean for MacBook Air owners and potential MacBook Air buyers? Unfortunately not much. While the speeds are faster, you can’t take your MacBook Air in for an upgrade and as Anandtech points out, when you buy a new MacBook Air you’re going to get whatever you get.

If you do want a faster SSD in your MacBook Air, or more memory than you can order from Apple, check out the OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD upgrade kit which offers larger and faster MacBook Air SSDs. The kits claim to deliver a 68% increase in performance and come in sizes up to 360GB. Unfortunately with prices ranging from $499 to $1,179 you may want to just wait for Apple to offer a faster and larger SSD option or pick up a more affordable external hard drive.

MacBook Air Notebooks Get Faster SSDs, Luck of the Draw is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The Chrome OS powered notebooks were expected in the first half of 2011, back when Google sent out the Cr-48 notebooks to a group of beta testers, but sources are telling DigiTimes that the actual mass shipment of Chrome powered mini notebooks won’t start until the second half of 2011.

When the invasion of Chrome OS notebooks does start, expect to see some manufacturers using a dual boot system with Windows and Chrome OS to ease consumers into the idea of using a cloud based operating system.

Should you Wait for a Chrome OS Notebook?

The idea of an almost always connected, simple use notebook with built in broadband for $200 to $300 is appealing, but is it really what you should be looking for to fill your computer needs.

If you are a student, or looking for a companion notebook, then the Chrome OS notebooks will likely be a good fit. Because of the reliance on Chrome and the likelihood of integrated broadband at an affordable monthly fee, it should work well as a computer you sync to and use with a full fledged notebook or system.

If you need to access specific applications for business or need to run demanding tasks that can’t be moved to the cloud, then you’ll probably want to stay away from the Chrome OS.

The early Chrome cr-48 notebooks received mixed reviews, but it’s important to keep in mind that these units were essentially beta hardware, known as a prototype, on which Sony, ASUS, Acer and Samsung will base their designs. The key word is base, we expect to see manufacturers differentiate their offerings, just like they do with Windows.

If you see a notebook you want to buy today, like the $399 HP Pavilion dm1z, we suggest you get it and wait to see what Google Chrome OS notebooks actually arrive on the market and how they perform. Until then, you can look into running Chrome OS on your existing hardware.

Chrome OS Notebook Invasion Planned for Summer 2011: Should You Wait? is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Notebook News For the Week of March 18th:

This week we saw a collection of new consumer and business class notebook announced from several major manufacturers and looked into when we might see a new MacBook with 2nd Generation Intel Core i processors.

New Dell Vostro 3350, 3450, 3550, and 3750 Notebooks

New Notebooks for March 2011:

• Dell Inspiron 14R, Inspiron 15R and Inspiron 17R with SWITCH Interchangable lids
• Dell Vostro 3000 Business Notebooks with 12 Hour battery option
• Samsung Introduces Series 2, 4 and 6 Business Notebooks
• Samsung Series 9 Ultrathin Available for Sale
• Sony VAIO F, VAIO C and VAIO C Notebooks go on sale
• Dell Latitude E6520, E6420, E5520 and E5420 Available For Purchase
• HP G Series Budget Notebooks Now Available w/ SRS Audio, Colors and More
• Fujitsu LifeBook AH572 3D Notebook w/ 3D Camera Announced

Notebook News:

• Why My Next Notebook is a MacBook
• New MacBook: When Will the MacBook Get an Upgrade in 2011
• 11 Must Have Outdoor Notebook and Laptop Accessories
• Japan Quake Affects Internet as Efforts Are Underway to Repair Undersea Cables

Tablet and SmartPhone News for the Week of March 18th:

• HTC Thunderbolt Speedtest: Verizon 4G LTE Ridiculously Fast! (video)
• Motorola Droid 3 Leak Reveals Keyboard
• HTC Thunderbolt Now Available for Order on Verizon Website
• HTC Ignite Windows Phone 7 Image Leaked, But Specs Seem Dubious
• 4G LTE: One Writer’s Switching Plans: Bye-Bye AT&T, Hello Verizon
• Watch Live TV on Your iPad and iPad 2 w/ Time Warner Cable App (video)
• Common Tasks on a Tablet
• Top 5 Reasons to Jailbreak on iOS–Should You Do It to Your iPhone, iPad?
• How To Enable Multitouch Gestures in iOS 4.3 on the iPad and iPad 2

Notebook and Accessory Reviews:

iPad 2 Review

• iPad 2 Review
• AViiQ Review: Collapsible Notebook Stand is Perfect for Portability
• Internet Explorer 9 Review
• Targus 360 Degree Stand Case Review: iPad 2 Case Doesn’t Cut It
• Daisy Disk Review: Visually Displays Mac Hard Drive Space Wasters
• OnLive Gaming System Review: Nearly Matches Sony & MS Gaming at a Third the Price

Popular How To Articles for the Week of March 18th:

• How To Make Better iMovie Trailers [iMovie '11]
• How to Use a Backup to Set Up a New iPad 2, iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch
• How to Add an App to Your Wishlist from the iPad or iPhone
• How to Get a Facebook Email Address
• How to Send From Your Facebook.com Email Address in Gmail

Weekly Wrap Up: Notebook, Tablet and Smart Phone News for March 18th is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

David Isenberg took the data from a website that has researched and tracked down the price of a 5MB hard drive from 1956 all the way up to the 2TB hard drives on the market today and was able to determine the cost per GB for storage going back to 1981.

Price per GB of Hard Drive Storage:

1981 — $300,000

1987 — $50,000

1990 — $10,000

1994 — $1000

1997 — $100

2000 — $10

2004 — $1

2010 — $0.10

Compared to the price of many other items, like gas or clothing, the decrease in price is astounding, but incredibly welcome as we store more and more of our lives in the digital world. The per GB price has also come down for the portable storage we carry in our phones and cameras, which at 1981 prices would be out of reach for pretty much everyone except Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

Now, in 2011 we are already looking to a future of 4TB hard drives from Samsung, which will likely carry a price premium when first introduced, but nowhere near the $300,000 per GB of storage from back in 1981.

Currently the costliest storage is for SSD based storage which has a price of $1.50 per GB compared to the 10 cents or lower per GB pricing of traditional hard drives available on the market today. Still, it is expected that SSD prices come down closer to the hard drive prices of today in the next 3-4 years.

If you want to relive the early days of computing, take a look at the notes at the bottom of the hard drive price tracking website to see the old sales ads for hard drives which boast of a “18Mb Hard Disk Drive!” and harken back o the days where the best way to buy a hard drive was with a mail in rebate.

Hard Drive Prices Over Time: Price per GB from 1981 to 2010 is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

We saw a smaller 11.6″  Samsung Series 9 at the show, but according to sources at the show, the smaller notebook was not coming to the States, where traditionally 11.6″ notebooks don’t sell so well (unless you’re Apple). That looks like it has changed now that Provantage is listing the 11.6″ Samsung Series 9 for sale in the U.S. starting at $1,164.

The smaller 11.6″ Samsung Series 9 has the same look as it’s larger sibling, and packs in a 1.33GHz Intel Core i3 processor, 2GB RAM, a 64GB SSD, 1 USB 3.0 port and Bluetooth 3.0 to name a few features. It also looks like this model will feature a backlit keyboard. The 11.6″ Series 9 notebook weighs in at 2.88 pounds and has a 4 cell battery built in to the mini notebook.

Engadget Via Liliputing

11.6″ Samsung Series 9 Notebook inbound to U.S. is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The actual problem isn’t with the Intel 2nd Generation Core i family of processors, but rather a design error in the chipset which can, in 5% of the cases, cause degradation over time in a controller that could, over time, result in poor performance from hard drives and DVD drives.

While the problem was caught before the Sandy Bridge processor made it into the mid-range and low end machines that many customers purchase, individuals who purchased the newest high end notebooks that were just announced at CES will likely need to contact their place of purchase or the manufacturer for a refund or replacement.

The affected systems have Intel Core 15 and Core i7 Second Generation Processors, code named Sandy Bridge by Intel. To get a return or to exchange your affected laptop for a new model, see the table below which has details on the current recalls and refunds.

For more information on the Intel Cougar 6 Chipset recall stay tuned or ask a question in the comments below.

Intel Sandy Bridge Recall Info: HP, Samsung, MSI, Acer, Toshiba, ASUS, Dell & Lenovo is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

This year, like HP, Samsung is planning to increase shipments dramatically from 10 million to 16-17 million by year’s end. This task looks to be achievable for Samsung since the company has a role in manufacturing many of the parts of its notebooks.

To help reach this goal Samsung will count on the Samsung 9 Series which we awarded a Notebooks.com Best of CES 2011 award and the Samsung Slider 7, a sliding form factor Windows 7 tablet with a built in keyboard.

Samsung Sets Sights on Apple in 2011 is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The Samsung NC210 was spotted by Netbook Italia with a 10.1″ display, dual core Intel Atom N550 processor, up to 3GB RAM and up to a 250GB hard drive. The NC210 comes with a VGA port, three USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 card reader and a 6 cell battery. There’s also the NC110 which comes with a faster 1.5GHz dual core Atom N570 processor.

Alongside the NC netbooks Netbook Italia also spotted the Samsung NF310, a 10/1″ netbook packing a 4G LTE modem and the NS310 which has a metallic chassis. There aren’t any more details or specs available right now.

We’d expect to see the NF310 arrive on Verizon sometime in the near future, and perhaps we will see the other netbooks arrive in various specialty retailer stateside before too long.

Samsung Updates NC210, NF310 and NS310 Netbooks is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The 15″ Samsung RC512 will make use of the 2nd Generation Intel Core i processor family with a new Intel Core i7 processor, 6GB RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce 430 GPU. This laptop will also have a Blu-Ray drive and a 750GB hard drive and retail for around $1,150.

On the budget end of things the Samsung RV511 is a 15.6″ laptop with an older Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive. The price on the RC511 will be around $600 when it comes to market in a few weeks.

We will have more details on this pair of Samsung laptops as we hit the show floor at CES 2011 tomorrow.

Samsung RC512 and RV511 Mainstream Laptops Announced at CES is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The Samsung Fascinate was recently reviewed by Chris Leckness on our sister site GottaBeMobile.

The Samsung Fascinate has an MSRP of $599.99, which is on par with many other mobile phones. That’s the price you’d have to pay if you didn’t want to sign up for a new two year contract or if you’re upgrading very early. Mobile carriers typically subsidize the up-front cost of smartphones. In exchange, their subscribers agree to long-term contracts that can be worth thousands of dollars, making the subsidy a wise investment for Verizon.

The Samsung Fascinate typically has a $300 subsidy attached to it. But Verizon and most resellers are currently offering additional discounts. Verizon is currently selling the Samsung Fascinate for $199.99 after a $100 discount and $300 subsidy. Wirefly is selling it for $0 and Amazon.com is selling the Samsung Fascinate for $29.99. Amazon is waiving the activation fee on this phone, which effectively brings the cost down to zero.

Obviously it doesn’t make sense to buy the Fascinate direct from Verizon Wireless for $199.99 when there’s all these other deals out there. It also doesn’t make sense to wait overnight in line in front of Best Buy on Black Friday to get the same deal as you can with Amazon, Wirefly and other online retailers.

To make matters worse, Best Buy will only have a minimum of 10 white Samsung Fascinate smartphones and 10 black ones at each retail store on Black Friday. Best Buy is advertising this deal as if it’s something customers should covet, but the truth of the matter is that it’s not much of a deal at all. If you’re already heading to Best Buy on Black Friday for other items you may as well buy your Samsung Fascinate from there, but don’t skip Thanksgiving dinner just to wait in line for this phone.

The Samsung Fascinate is an smartphone that runs Google’s Android mobile operating system. It can act as a mobile hotspot, allowing you to use it to get online with your laptop and other mobile devices. Ut has a 5MP camera that’s capable of recording 720p HD video. Many users prefer this phones’ Swype technology for typing on a touchscreen.

Visit this page to learn more about Best Buy’s Black Friday deals. Visit Notebooks.com’s Black Friday page to see all of the Black Friday tech deals and learn more about Black Friday laptops.

Black Friday: Samsung Fascinate for FREE at Best Buy w/ 2-year Activation, Not Worth Waiting in Line is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.