The Mobii ION was recommended for its good looks (it comes in a number of bright colours), build quality and it stood tall against a number of gaming and HD video tests. 1080p HD playback was possible via the HDMI port and Call of Duty 4 managed 25fps at low resolutions. One of the few points against it was poor European availability and a small keyboard/display versus the larger Samsung N510. Check out the key review points after the break.

The Mobii ION is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 processor, normally found in nettops. This is paired with the ION LE chipset that enables 1080p HD video and the ability to output content at this resolution from the netbooks HDMI port. Other features include 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 1.3MP webcam, two USB ports and XP Home. It uses a 10.2-inch (1024 x 600) matte display. A Windows 7 version is also planned.

Key review points of the Point of View Mobii ION

• The chassis feels sturdy. The dimensions (255×185x33mm) are similar to most other 10.2-inch netbooks on the market. It weighs around 1.4kg including its 6-cell 4400mAh battery.
• The Mobii ION comes in a wide choice of bright glossy coloured lids (black, white, green, red).
• The 10.2-inch matte display is impressively bright.
• The 1.3MP webcam works well in low-light conditions.
• The keyboard is solid although it’s annoying to see the Fn and Ctrl keys swapped places.
• The touchpad is a reasonable size (45 x 65 mm) and the mouse buttons are neither too sensitive nor too stiff.
• Noise levels when the netbook is idle are silent, this changes when you strain the CPU with short fan bursts cooling the components.
• The 6-cell (4400mAh) battery ran for 3 hours and 27 minutes with Wi-Fi on and screen brightness set to 70 percent. At 100 percent brightness the Mobii ION lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes.
• Call of Duty 4 was playable at 1024 x 600 and lower resolutions, scoring average frame rates of around 25 FPS.
• Windows 7 was also installed and performance was good. HD content played easier on W7 compared to XP too. To get 1080P HD content working in XP you need the “latest ION driver, latest DirectX version, a K-lite codec pack and Media Player Classic Home Cinema (GPU accelerated). The key is to use Overlay Mixer, VMR7, VMR9 or VMR9 renderless inside the playback/output options of either your codec pack or the Media Player Classic options menu.”

As the name suggests, the netbook is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 processor, normally found in nettops. This is paired with the Nvidia 9400M GPU which enables 1080p HD video and the ability to output content at this resolution from the netbooks HDMI port.

The 10.2-inch display comes with the netbook-standard resolution of 1024 x 600. The inclusion of a higher resolution (1366 x 768) screen may have set the Mobii ION 230 apart even more. The device comes with a 6-cell (4400mAh) battery that should last for up to 4 hours according to the company. POV are also planning to ship the netbook with Linux (although they didn’t say which distro would be included).

Other features include 1GB RM, 160GB HDD, card reader, a 1.3MP webcam, two USB ports and optional Bluetooth 2.0. The netbook weighs 1.4kg, which is towards the top-end of 10-inch models. The Mobii ION 230 should be available in the next few weeks, although pricing has not been revealed thus far. It will be available in three colours, black, red and green.

In what may start to become a trend with netbooks, the Mobii ION 230 is powered by the single-core 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor, normally found in nettops. This follows the Japanese brand Dospara, with its 12-inch Prime Note Cresion NA that uses a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 CPU.

The Mobii ION 230 pairs the 230 processor with Nvidia’s 9400M GPU and comes with 1GB RAM and a 160GB HDD. It has a 10.2-inch (1024 x 600) LED backlit display with other features including a card reader, Wi-Fi (b/g), a 1.3MP webcam, HDMI-out, two USB ports and optional Bluetooth 2.0.

It will come with Linux and a 6-cell 4400mAh battery that should be good for 4 hours of battery life. The bright designs seen in the current line-up of Mobii netbooks looks set to continue with the Mobii ION 230 which will come in white, black, yellow, red and green colours. The ION 230 is expected to be released in the third week of July in Europe for €349.