Intel’s Atom processors popularized the netbook mobile computer platform but its shortcomings were starting to become glaringly obvious with the media rich websites becoming so prevalent.

The Asus Eee PC 1005PE takes the familiar netbook dimensions and piles in the new Intel Atom “Pine Trail” platform which promises even better energy efficiency and improved performance. The Tech Report has a review:

Overall, Pine Trail isn’t so much about new features as it is an exercise in consolidation. Where once there were three chips, now only two remain. The Atom platform’s physical footprint has shrunk by a factor of three, down from 2,174 mm² to 773 mm². Total platform power is lower, too. Netbook implementations of Pine Trail have a combined TDP of just 7W (5.5W for the CPU and 1.5W for the chipset), which is 40% lower than Diamondville’s TDP.

It’s not the huge performance upgrade you were hoping for but its battery life is extremely impressive.

As is quite apparent by now Nvidia’s ION chipset provides a “good enough” dose of graphics performance to give Intel’s Atom processor some legs with multimedia playback.

The HP Mini 311 makes good use of the chipset and combines it all into a slick looking package. HotHardware has a look at what it can do:

Now, there are two major reasons to pay close attention to the Mini 311. It may follow the prior Minis in terms of size and style, but it’s the differences within that promise to make this a new, refreshed machine. For starters, HP has loaded Windows 7 onto this machine. We waited for what felt like forever to finally have Windows 7 available for netbooks, and we can confess that it really adds a touch of style and functionality compared to older models with XP.

If you’re going to stick with the small form factor may as well go for the slickest looking one.

Netbooks are all about the portability and battery life which is all good and dandy until it comes time to run some of your multimedia files then the integrated graphics Intel coughed up for their ultra-mobile platform starts to show its weakness.

The HP Mini 311 uses Nvidia’s ION chipset which features a decent integrated graphics chip that’s more than capable of handling multimedia files and the light-weight 3D gaming. AnandTech has the review:

A single-core Atom N270 is generally able to handle 720p x264 decoding (using CoreAVC), but CPU utilization is well above 50%. With more demanding video files (1080p for example), Atom will need help. If it were just x264 videos, the case for ION netbooks might only be moderately interesting, but with the recent release of the Flash 10.1 Beta we finally have GPU accelerated video playback for Flash videos. If you’re a frequent YouTube or Hulu user, the case for ION just became a lot more compelling.

Given the fact that these netbooks are more often used for entertainment than productivity the ION chipset makes quite a bit of sense.

Will HTC follow the lead of fellow handset maker Nokia and dive into the netbook market? Definitely maybe, at least according to James Kendrick of jkOnTheRun.

At the HD2 launch this week, CEO Peter Chou let slip that the company is “carefully looking into [the netbook] category and how it can be part of that.”

Question is, what lessons did the handset maker learn from it’s cool-on-paper but underwhelming HTC Shift? Also, will its Android love turn into hardware for Chrome OS?

The mind boggles…

Seeing a high end brand labeled on products outside of their market usually means you paid more for that cologne or set of luggage…in other words nothing of value was added. This changes things a bit.

The Acer Ferrari One Netbook switches things up by piling on some spirited hardware into an extremely tiny and portable system. HardwareZone takes it for a test drive:

In terms of performance, we could find no fault with the system. AMD’s newer Congo platform does deliver much better performance compared to the older Yukon platform, while handily beating the Intel Atom yet again. While it still loses out to Intel’s CULV processor based platform, it’s still a pretty decent effort on AMD’s part. Battery life wise, the Acer Ferrari One managed to secure a respectable uptime of 175 minutes, though power consumption at (much higher than either of Intel’s solutions) remained somewhat of a weakness of the platform.

For those with an even greater need for speed the system comes prepped with an ATI XGP (external graphics port) that will allow you to connect an even more powerful graphics card to the machine.

Most netbooks are content to stick with the basics in order to get in at a low price but when you consider how much upgrading your new mobile wonder would cost you you might want to consider something that includes a few more upgrades.

Hardware Bistro has a review of the iiView A2 12" netbook which sports an LED backlit display and a 320GB hard drive which is quite a bit more storage than the competition:

Overall the build quality of iiView A2 is pretty impressive and sturdy for such cheap netbook although it comes with plastic chassis but the finishing is still up to expectation; glossy surface for exterior panels while non glossy surface for interior panels. The LCD panel is not glossy type which is definitely good for long hour of working but most of the consumers will prefer glossy type since it is much more charming; anyway the LCD display is bright enough and hopefully it is as lasting as possible since some of the low end LCD panels are getting dimmer and dimmer after sometime.

A nifty machine which is pretty much set when it comes to the hardware you need.

When netbooks were introduced they saw a number of restrictions if they wanted to run the Windows XP operating system which, given Vista’s hefty requirements, was the only usable Windows choice. This time around they’ve eased up.

Microsoft is allowing netbook manufacturers to preload whatever version of the Windows 7 OS they’re content with no matter the machine’s specs. Of course you won’t likely find a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate on a bargain basement netbook so they’re somewhat safe on the hardware requirements front.

Good news for those fearing hardware requirements that would stop their shiny new netbook from running the best version of Windows 7.

Source: TG Daily

Netbooks have been one of the largest growing segments in the portable computer market givent heir small form factor and long battery life but they do lack any sort of grunt if you’re trying to do something remotely taxing on a PC, like viewing a high definition movie.

NotebookReview has a look at the Dell Inspiron 11z which puts together Intel’s ultra low voltage Celeron 723 with a GS45 chipset (integrated X4500) for the sort of power current netbooks can’t touch. Here’s a look:

Internally the design of the 11z is very friendly for users wanting to upgrade or replace components. At first you might notice there is no bottom access to components, with a solid panel covering the bottom. Instead Dell put all user-accessible components underneath the keyboard, which can be removed by three screws. With the keyboard off you have access to an open WWAN slot, the system memory, hard drive, and heatsink assembly. The WWAN slot was functional, recognizing the Verizon card borrowed from my D630; but it lacked antennas to allow the card to send and receive data.

A slick machine but a few flaws (namely one big one) may have you second guessing a purchase until Dell gets around to making modifications.

Nvidia is in a bit of a bind. The GPU maker is all but being shut out of the CPU chipset business by Intel with their next series of CPUs and compelling chipset offerings from AMD are making it difficult for them to focus on a losing battle.

So they decided quite a while ago that they’d create their own system on a chip and dubbed it Tegra. It’s no wonder then that the company’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, sees a bright future for its chips in a category of gadgetry they like to call Smartbooks.

It’s your run of the mill Netbook style device but instead of relying on "power hungry" X86 chips the company envisions their Tegra processor doing the heavy lifting. Given its processing capability, which is soon to be shown off on Microsoft’s upcoming Zune HD, you can’t help but indulge them in their new found sense of bravado.

Things are going to get mighty interesting over the next few months.

Source: Reuters

The trend for most netbook manufacturers has been to make as colorful and shiny a design as you can in order to draw the customer’s eyes to your product, fortunately for your unassuming self Lenovo has a model to keep you inconspicuous.

The company’s IdeaPad S10-2 sports the same spec sheets you’ve seen in just about every other netbook but this one comes in black. Think Computers has a review:

Opening the S10-2 up you have a 10.1-inch WSVGA glossy LED-backlit display with integrated camera at the top. Lenovo has improved the keyboard from the original S10 also. It is now an 89% full-sized keyboard that also has an enlarged right shift key. Also new to the S10-2 is the Lenovo QuickStart button, which we will talk about a bit later in the review. The touchpad has also been enlarged a bit, which is nice. Other improvements over the original S10-2 include optional 3G built-in, new Dolby sound enhancements, an extra USB port, and around 30% more battery life.

Who wouldn’t love a 30% longer battery life. There goes your "out of battery power, can’t work" excuse right there.