Mio's new Intel Atom and AMD Neo netbooks might help you navigate through a sea of me-too computers at Computex

Sure, it's odd to see Mio churning out a couple of netbooks, but what's even more surprising is that they're at least somewhat interesting. The 8.9-inch Atom N270-powered Mio N890 includes 3G, GPS, Mio navigation software, an accelerometer, and a MagSafe-style breakaway power connector. It all weighs in under 2 pounds, and measures less than an inch thick. Meanwhile, the Mio N1210 (pictured) is one of the few computers we've seen so far running AMD's new Neo MV-40 processor. There's no mention of GPS, but the 12-inch laptop is preloaded with Windows 7 and 3G data, measures under an inch thick, and weighs under three pounds. No word on price for either, but both should be headed to Europe this fall.

Read - Mio N890
Read - Mio N1210

[mullingitover Posted Jun 2nd 2009 9:16PM]

After seeing the Atom with Intel graphics get schooled so hard by Nvidia in that demo last week, I'm not even glancing at non Ion-powered netbooks. I'm holding out for the netbook that'll let me play TF2.

[JeremyBenthem Posted Jun 2nd 2009 9:33PM]

the AMD Neo one has an ATi Radeon HD 3400 GPU, which is fine for TF2

[chispito Posted Jun 2nd 2009 10:06PM]

Being able to run cool games on a netbook is one thing, be able to play them on a netbook is another. My 12" laptop, as I have discovered, is too small for serious gaming, at least for me. WoW was all right, but FPSes and RTSes really taxed my eyesight a lot more than my old 15" laptop did before it was stolen.

However, there are other reasons to have a 3D-capable netbook.

[JeremyBenthem Posted Jun 2nd 2009 10:34PM]

I've played some older games on a regular netbook, and it didn't bother me, being able to play some higher up games is just another plus

[pcorlatan Posted Jun 2nd 2009 9:24PM]

wow sweet i have a very simple mio (c220) GPS and i love it. I'm glad theyre doing this; I'd definitely buy one if the price was right, especially since i'm planning on going to europe later this year.

[chispito Posted Jun 2nd 2009 10:11PM]

Does it have a good wireless chipset for wardriving? I can't imagine buying a laptop with a built-in GPS that didn't have a good wifi card. Then again, if it supports monitor mode, it seems like a no-brainer for some industrious Linux-phile to write a driver for.

[retro77 Posted Jun 2nd 2009 9:37PM]

Now put a decent graphics card in it and I'll buy it to replace my Eee 701 8G.

[htd Posted Jun 2nd 2009 10:01PM]

netbook with accelerometer? how do you use it?

[Cy Starkman Posted Jun 2nd 2009 10:57PM]

Use it?

The point is simply having features if current trends are anything to go by.

Use it... Sheesh

[Teerim Posted Jun 2nd 2009 10:51PM]

Wait wtf it ships with Windows 7? When's this coming out? Next year?

[evilspoons Posted Jun 3rd 2009 12:27AM]

I just saw a small laptop/large netbook (12") with the Athlon Neo MV-40 CPU at Costco today. It was either the HP dv2 series netbook thing or something by Gateway (I wasn't paying much attention).

Is this newsworthy or is this a widely available item?

I'd be interested in seeing some benchmarks on this thing.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 3rd 2009 7:45PM]

From what I've seen, the Neo's being rejected by just about every PC maker. It's because, while they can offer the laptop with way better specs than a netbook, with nearly the same size. The only problem is that the Neo is essentially identical to the Atom, which is much more popular- and when combined with XP runs amazingly.

HP's dv2 runs Vista. I don't have any issues with Vista and have seen worse specs run Home Premium pretty well before, so I don't have a problem with that. It's mostly the fact that the laptop runs anywhere from $750 to $900 depending on where you look. You can get the dv3 for a good bit less...

So yeah, it's pretty newsworthy when anything runs the Neo.

[superhobo Posted Jun 3rd 2009 6:40AM]

omgwindows7win!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 29th 2009 7:06PM]

AMD Neo is the future of netbooks. why settle for Intel Atom?