Nvidia planning PCI-Express ION 2 solution?
December 21, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Despite the popularity of Nvidia’s ION chipset, it cannot be used on Intel’s new Pine Trail Atom platform. The move from a three-chip to two-chip processor platform means that Nvidia needs to revise its ION chip to be compatible with upcoming netbooks sporting Pineview CPUs.
Nvidia’s next-generation ION part (ION 2) is expected to launch in Q1 2010, although it’s still an unknown as to what form it will take. Intel’s new Atom platform does not offer HD video acceleration or Adobe flash acceleration with its GMA 3150 GPU and judging by the reviews seen today, won’t offer an improvement in performance over the current Atom platform. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1201N reviewed – most potent netbook to date
December 18, 2009 at 11:40 am
The Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook always had the building blocks to be a raring success. It combines the much sought after Nvidia ION chipset with a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor. This is the first time we have seen such a combination from one of the big netbook manufacturers and judging by HotHardware’s review, Asus is onto a winner.
The dual-core CPU was quick in their benchmarks and the inclusion of Nvidia ION meant that the ability to play even recent games was possible. Under their real world battery testing, the battery lasted for 3 hours and 23 minutes. This is obviously lower than the claimed 5-hour battery life but it was achieved with 50 percent brightness, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth switched on. Read more
Nvidia’s next-generation ION to launch in Q1 2010; shown off at CES
December 17, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Nvidia will showcase ION 2 at CES 2010 in January, with a formal launch penciled in for the first quarter of 2010. Nvidia confirmed the existence of the chip during a conference call yesterday and expects several partners to be showing off ION 2 devices at CES.
Nvidia has apparently delayed the release of the chip due to pressure from its partners such as Asus, HP and Lenovo who are still enjoying good sales of netbooks/nettops using the original ION. ION 2 is expected to run twice as fast as the original, sporting at least twice as many shaders. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1201N now shipping in US
December 17, 2009 at 7:39 am
Judging by the Amazon pre-order it was widely expected that the ION-powered dual-core Eee PC 1201N would not be available until mid-January. However, Newegg has come up trumps and has the 12.1-inch netbook in stock for $499.99 with free shipping. That means that if you order now there’s a good chance of getting it under the Christmas tree!
A quick reminder on the specs: the 1201N will come with a 12.1-inch (1366 x 768) display, 1.6GHz dual-core Atom 330 processor, Nvidia ION, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD and Windows 7 Home Premium.
Via Netbooked.
Nvidia prepping Tegra 2 announcement for CES 2010
December 16, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Nvidia’s Tegra chipset is similar to ION but differs in that it marries an ARM-based processor with an Nvidia GeForce GPU whereas ION pairs an Intel Atom CPU instead. The benefits of the Tegra SoC (system-on-chip) includes the ability to handle 1080p video, HD Flash, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G and a huge battery life. All of this while being very energy efficient.
However, Tegra hasn’t taken off as well as Nvidia would have hoped. It is used in the Zune HD but not too many other high profile products. In response to this, Nvidia is set to announce the second-generation Tegra chipset at CES in January. Tegra 2 is believed to be twice as powerful as the original and run on a 40nm dual-core ARM processor. A number of new devices sporting the Tegra 2 chipset are expected to appear at CES 2010. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1201N battery life results
December 14, 2009 at 4:54 pm
We have already seen some hands-on impressions of the 12.1-inch Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook, but we are now treated to some more detailed performance results of the dual-core ION powered netbook. Blogeee did some exhaustive testing on battery life and the results were quite surprising. Noti also did some benchmark performance testing.
Both sites praised the machine and found it to be a great ‘bridge’ device between netbooks and ultra-thin devices. Build quality was reasonably solid although Noti found the battery to be a bit loose. Overall performance was very good with multi-tasking proving no problem for the 1201N. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1201N gets hands-on and graphics benchmark
December 11, 2009 at 9:11 pm
The Asus Eee PC 1201N dual-core ION netbook is not set to hit US/UK shores until next month, but it appears that a lucky few have already got hold of the powerful device. Pierre over at Blogeee has a very thorough selection of photos of the netbook including a number of hands-on videos. The videos are in French but it’s not hard to get the gist of what’s going on.
Pierre also compares the 1201N to other netbooks but unfortunately there are no benchmarks or battery life results, this will come later. However Vention from Noti did manage to do some graphics benchmarks against the HP Min 311 (also ION-powered).
Interestingly, the performance between both machines were very similar. The Asus 1201N was slightly ahead in 3DMark2006, but was behind in 3DMark 2003 and 3DMark2005. I’m looking forward to seeing the results comparing more CPU-intensive tasks to see how the dual-core processor of the 1201N fares against traditional single-core netbooks. Check out the graphs after the break. Read more
Lenovo Ideapad S12 ION review roundup
December 9, 2009 at 9:07 am
Whilst the 12.1-inch Lenovo Ideapad S12 has been around for many months, the ION version was only recently released. Lenovo waited for the launch of Windows 7 before release, which some feel took some of the steam out of its early momentum. Especially as the S12 was the first announced ION netbook, however in the end the HP Mini 311 and Samsung’s N510 launched ahead of it (at least in Europe).
A couple of sites have reviewed the Lenovo S12 ION. Laptop Mag found the graphics performance to be good and the S12 offered a spacious keyboard, bright colourful display and loud speakers. However, it was let down by poor battery life and felt that the HP Mini 311 offered better value for money, as it is both cheaper and lasts for two hours longer. The S12 ION lasted for three hours and forty-five minutes in terms of battery. Read more
Acer planning Nvidia ION 2 netbooks?
December 7, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Acer is one of the few netbook manufacturers that currently does not have an Nvidia ION-powered netbook on the market. All the other big names in the market (Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung) have released models or are about to. Whilst, Acer has several ION-powered nettops it seems to have ignored the netbook market for one reason or another.
However, Acer could be waiting for the next-generation ION 2 chipset to appear before sticking it in Acer netbooks. Digitimes is reporting that Acer has placed orders for the ION 2 chipset, which is designed to support Intel’s upcoming Pineview processors. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1201N hits Amazon US pre-order
December 4, 2009 at 10:33 am
Asus’ dual-core ION-wielding Eee PC 1201N netbook has hit pre-order on Amazon.com for $499.99
No UK pre-orders have popped up so far, but that US launch date is in line with what Asus has previously told us was penned in for the UK market. Hopefully, not too long to wait for a belated Christmas present to yourself. Click here for the lowdown on specs.
Via Engadget.
Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook unboxed
December 1, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Whilst we are waiting for the 12.1-inch ION-breathing Asus Eee PC 1201N to hit UK shores in mid-January, the guys over at ElectricPig have already managed to unbox a unit. As part of the Seashell range, it’s no surprise that it looks very similar to the 11.6” 1101HA and 10.1” 1005HA netbooks.
This includes a dimpled touchpad and clam shell design. This particular model comes with a chiclet keyboard though, rather than the flat keys seen in the rest of the Seashell range. The model is due to retail for £399 and will come with a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor along with the Nvidia ION chipset.
Asus Eee PC 1201N gets hands-on video
November 25, 2009 at 4:26 pm
The dual-core ION armed Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook appears to be on the wish list of many. Not only does it offer cutting edge netbook specs, it is also priced very competitively at £399/$499.
The guys over at MobileandNotebook scored some hands-on time with the device. They handled a pre-production unit and felt it was solid and well built. You can check out their video after the break. The full specifications can be found in our previous post here. Read more
Samsung’s ION-equipped N510 netbook now shipping in US
November 22, 2009 at 10:39 pm
The 11.6-inch Samsung N510 netbook has finally started to ship in the United States. Newegg.com has it listed for $599.99 and offers free shipping. Looking around, it seems to be the first major retailer to stock the Nvidia ION-powered netbook. The Samsung N510-4B (NP-N510-JA02US) only comes in black.
The US model has some material improvements over the European SKU, including Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB RAM and a 250GB HDD. This compares to the European version that comes with XP, 1GB RAM and a 160GB HDD. I’m sure the Windows 7 N510 will hit Europe at some point, although I haven’t seen it listed thus far. Read more
Inventec Tegra-powered smartbook gets video hands-on
November 22, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Inventec has shown off a new smartbook that sports the Nvidia Tegra T600 chipset. It boasts a boot time of around ten seconds and supports 1080p video playback using just 1W of power.
NetbookNews managed to get close-up with the Inventec smartbook and looks at the Windows CE boot time. Inventec is an ODM so if the device hits the market it will most likely come under a different name. Check out the video after the jump. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1201N gets UK launch details
November 20, 2009 at 9:52 am
Asus UK has officially confirmed that the dual-core ION-powered Eee PC 1201N netbook will be coming to the UK. It will be priced at £399 (including VAT) and is set to launch “around mid January”.
This seems like an aggressive price point to us, especially considering the fact that one of the other ION-powered netbooks on the market, the 11.6-inch Samsung N510, has the same RRP but only comes with XP and a single-core 1.66GHz N280 Atom processor.
The Eee PC 1201N will come with a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330, 12.1-inch display and Windows 7 Home Premium. The specifications are as revealed yesterday, although we’ve listed them again after the break. Read more
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