With ASUS'
Eee PC 1000HE up for pre-order, it's clear that netbooks are ready to make the jump from Intel's lowly 1.6GHz Atom N270 to the suped-up 1.66GHz N280. In fact, Intel just confirmed shipments of its new Atom processor to PC makers. Now don't let us hear you bellyaching about that being a meager 0.06GHz jump -- the magic isn't in the clock but in the faster 667MHz (up from 533MHz) front-side bus and new
GN40 chipset with hardware-based 720p video decoder. That easily bests the Atom N270 pairing with the customary 945GSE chipset without any increase in power consumption. Think about that when trying to make a 10-inch netbook choice between
ASUS' Eee PC 1000HE (with new N280 proc
and GN40 chipset) and Acer's new
N270-based Aspire One. Then again, maybe you're waiting for the first netbook to ship with
NVIDIA's Atom-based Ion platform with full 1080p playback? Might as well, who knows, maybe you'll land a production version of Windows 7, a swiveling touchscreen, and a finger-optimized UI in reward for your patience.
Update: Looks like the Eee 1000HE doesn't have all the new bits -- Laptop did some digging and found that
it's still got the same old 945GSE to go with that new proc, although it is still capable of doing 720p video playback. Boring, we'll wait for the real GN40 machines to show up soon.
posted February 6th 2009 3:57AM
Sad that we never got any TI OMAP 3430/3530 based netbooks. 720p capable and way better power consumption than the Atoms. I looked into building my own, but beagleboards have no LVDS.. :(
I ended up ordering an gigabyte m912m from Europe. Very happy with it.
Nokia N900 is coming, but when??
Interesting, but I am more interested in when Asus will ship those Eee Box B204's with the HDMI out on them.
the place i preordered it from, told me that the 1000he still uses intel's 945 chipset.
So its sorta of a waste for people looking to upgrade.
be forewarned that it has not be been confirmed that this netbook will be using the GN40 chipset.
um I think everyone is forgeting that the fore mentioned netbook already exists albeit not on the ion platform. The Asus N10 has an nvidia9300m atom 270 and HDMI out. It CAN handle 1080p quite smoothly!
it also costs 649 dollars. At that price range. It shouldn't be called a netbook lol.
Also i called asus to find out what exactly is going on the graphics chipset. It is not using the gn40 chipset. Its using the regular old gma 945.
Will GN40 run Mac OS X?
I am waiting for a netbook that will play 720p (on a NOT GLOSSY, NOT TOUCHSCREEN 10" 720p display please). Better than an iPod, cheaper and easier than lugging my MacBook pro around, not as inconvenient as watching it behind a desk.
(Don't have a HD tv, don't want one.)
Oh and I want both a fast but small (32G) (pci-e) SSD for the OS, so it will run absolutely quiet and maybe save some battery, *and* a regular SATA 2.5" HD of at least 160G. When I'm not busy lugging it around, it could play my iTunes library.
Oh, oh, and the keyboard and looks from the HP 2140 please. including the expresscard slot. and a flat six cell battery. and not running too hot. and no OS, or linux. and no stupid "free" external drive either. and a pony.
I'd pay €400 for it, but it'll prolly cost way more.
I'll wait for that one that was mentioned on the last sentence. Even though my hands are itchy to start buying a netbook now...
Take a look at the gigabyte M912. It has the swiveling touchscreen. according to reviews, the screen is dull and grey-looking. Would you sacrifice colors for touch?
So what was really the point of that post, Engadget?!
Where are the Celeron-M Netbooks? Or dual-core Atom?? Or AMD?
I learned my lesson after buying a 1080i plasma just before the 1080p plasmas arrived, and doing the same thing with a 1080i camcorder just before the 1080p versions showed up.
NOT THIS TIME! I shall wait for the Full 1080p / HDMI goodness before I make my netbook purchase.
Btw, my plan is to use it in a dock as a HTPC front-end... so... I can wait.
netbook + dock + NAS = portable and HTPC in one! ;)
Unfortunately, I can't wait any longer. I'm getting the Samsung NC10.