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
Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook officially announced
November 19, 2009 at 8:34 am
After months of speculation, Asus has officially announced the Eee PC 1201N netbook. This 12.1-inch netbook is powered by a dual-core 1.6GHz 330 Atom processor, Nvidia ION graphics and Windows 7 Home Premium. The 1201N will sell for $499 (in black and white) when it launches in the middle of December.
You won’t find any surprises in the specifications, which are the same that we’ve covered previously. You’ll get a 12.1-inch LED backlit display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Models will come with either 2GB or 3GB DDR2 RAM and a 250GB/320GB HDD. 500GB of free online storage for 12 months is also provided via ASUS WebStorage. Wireless connectivity is taken care by Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1. Other features include HDMI out, a 0.3MP webcam, card reader and three USB ports. Read more
Asus Eee PC 1201N hits US pre-order
November 12, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Surely there must be some official news on the dual-core ION-powered Asus Eee PC 1201N soon. Just last week it appeared for pre-order in Italy and now it has hit pre-order in the US. Excaliber PC has the 12.1-inch netbook listed for $499 including free shipping. The model listed (1201N-PU17-BK) confirms what we’ve previously heard.
It has a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor, ION graphics, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD & Windows 7 Home Premium. Other features include a 0.3MP webcam, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), HDMI and a 6-cell battery.
This certainly looks like the netbook that many have longed for, the only thing that may work against it is battery life. Asus UK said an official announcement on the 1201N was expected this week, but we’ve not heard anything so far.
Thanks Bob!
Nvidia Tegra 2 details emerge
November 5, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Details of the second generation of Nvidia’s Tegra platform are starting to emerge. Fudzilla is reporting that the new chip will arrive in 2010 and will use the dual-core ARM 9 processor. This will give it twice the computational and graphics power of the current Tegra chip according to “high ranking industry sources”.
Nvidia CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, wants Tegra to account for over half of the company’s revenues in the next few years. Whilst it’s presence is likely to end up in high-end smartphones, they will also feature in smartbooks too.
Asus’ dual-core ION Eee PC 1201N netbook hits Italian pre-order
November 4, 2009 at 3:43 pm
It looks like the monstrous Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook, armed with a dual-core CPU and ION chipset, may be hitting European retail pretty soon. The 12.1-inch netbook has just appeared on pre-order from an Italian retailer for €510. No release date was given but the specifications listed match what we’ve already heard.
The listing suggests the model will come with a 1.6GHz dual-core Atom 330 processor, 3GB RAM and a 320GB HDD. The display size is listed as 11.6-inches although we suspect this must be a typo, as the 1201 series is reported to come with a 12.1-inch (1366 x 768) display. Other features include Windows 7 Home Premium, 0.3MP webcam, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), HDMI and a 6-cell battery.
Via Netbook Italia.
Compaq Mini 311c gets video unboxing
October 29, 2009 at 9:40 pm
If the name sounds familiar then that’s because the Compaq Mini 311c is essentially the European version of the ION-equipped HP Mini 311. The differences appear to be mainly cosmetic, with the Compaq having a ‘Q’ logo on its matte lid. Pierre from Blogeee has given his thoughts on the device as well as a video unboxing.
The Mini 311c comes with an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display and is armed with an 1.6GHz N270 Atom processor, ION LE, 1GB RAM and a 160GB HDD. Other features include Wi-Fi (b/g), Bluetooth, a 6-cell battery, 5-in-1 card reader and XP Home.
It is a very keenly priced netbook, expected to hit the UK for £319.99
Nvidia ION LE chipset hacked to enable DX10 support
October 29, 2009 at 11:30 am
It always seemed a bit strange that Nvidia would release an entry level ION chipset targeted exclusively to Windows XP netbooks. The ION platform combines an Intel processor and a GeForce 9400M graphics based MCP79 chipset. The cost of producing two chipsets seemed prohibitive, especially as we’re likely to see fewer and fewer netbooks sporting XP as time goes on.
However, it appears that the ION and ION LE chipsets are physically the same after all. The only difference is that ION LE has had DX10 disabled according to some investigative work by MyHPMini member runawayprisoner. He basically added the device id of ION LE into the INF for the full ION HP drivers. The end result gives you DX10 support for the ION LE. Read more
Nvidia ION 2 set to launch by end of year?
October 27, 2009 at 2:55 pm
We are only now just starting to see Nvidia’s ION chipset hitting netbooks and the general consensus appears to be that it was well worth the wait (despite a hit to battery life). However, Fudzilla is reporting that ION 2 is scheduled to launch before the year is out and will deliver twice the graphical power of its predecessor.
I’d take the news with a pinch of salt as Nvidia would no want to cannibalize sales so soon after ION’s launch. Personally, I’d be surprised if we saw ION 2 netbooks before Q2 2010. The interesting part is that we are expected to see switchable graphics next year that will allow you to disable the Nvidia GPU to preserve the battery when not needed. That could be a real killer feature for netbooks going forward, marring an uncompromised computing experience with strong battery life.
In other news, Fudzilla is also reporting that netbooks based on 1.66GHz Atom Pineview processors will see their Intel suggested retail price drop from $299 to $249-$299. Whether this translates to cheaper netbooks for the end-consumer remains to be seen.
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