OCZ intros 17-inch DIY laptop, Ion-based HTPC / Neutrino netbook

Just as it did with the Z-Drive at CeBIT, OCZ Technology has delivered a few surprises across the way at Computex. Kicking things off the 17-inch DIY gaming laptop, which takes a note from the DIY-styled Neutrino, but gets a much bigger form factor. It's one of the few laptops that actually arrive sans a CPU, hard drive and RAM, but it'll support Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Extreme chips, as many as two 2.5-inch hard drives and plenty of DDR3 memory. Other specs include a 17-inch WXGA panel, NVIDIA's Hybrid GeForce 9600GTS graphics, an optional Blu-ray drive, ExpressCard slot and a full accompaniment of connectors. The 7.9 pound machine ships with an 8-cell battery, though there's no word yet on pricing or availability.

Moving on, we've got the Ion-based HTPC, which is outfitted with a 1.6GHz Atom 230 CPU, Vista Ultimate (64-bit), 4GB of DDR2-667 RAM, an OCZ 120GB SSD, Blu-ray drive, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, HDMI output and a multicard reader. Finally, there's an all-new Neutrino, which is being introduced just weeks after the original shipped here in the US. This new character packs a little more color and a lot more oomph, with NVIDIA's nForce Ion graphics, a 1.6GHz Atom 230 CPU, 10.1-inch display (1,024 x 600), room for 2GB of DDR2 RAM (ships with none), a 2.5-inch HDD / SSD slot (ships with none), WiFi, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, Ethernet, HDMI, two USB 2.0 sockets and audio in / out jacks. As with the 17-incher, there's no word yet on pricing or availability, but we're hoping to hear more on those tidbits soon.

Gallery: OCZ intros 17-inch DIY laptop, Ion-based HTPC / Neutrino netbook

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[schmitt @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:16AM]

Hey, that's kinda neat! (:

[ohsnapitstahj @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:22AM]

indeed! :)

[Tonicboy @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:21AM]

I REALLY love the idea of a DIY laptop. I hope this one is successful.

[AVG @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:32AM]

That looks like THE worst built laptop on Earth.

[Tonicboy @ Jun 2nd 2009 1:24AM]

You seem to be confusing ugly with build quality. Unless you have some sort of superhuman x-ray vision that allows you to tell a laptop's build quality from a press photo?

[AVG @ Jun 2nd 2009 9:01AM]

You can tell shoddy worksmanship from a photo, smartass.

[AndrewNoNumbers @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:39AM]

It's a shame that barebones laptops are always so overpriced and low-quality.

[Mike Cerm @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:46AM]

I hope you're wrong about the Atom 230 in the netbook. That's a nettop part, so when paired with an Ion chipset, the battery should last around 30 minutes (assuming it doesn't set your lap on fire). It's probably actually an N270, like every other netbook.

It won't matter either way, because no one will buy it. The keyboard layout is just as messed up as the old model (are we STILL not sure how to do a proper right-shift key?), and I'm sure that it will be similarly overpriced. The last Neutrino was almost $300 with no RAM, no HD, and no OS. Not a great deal when you get get a fully-equipped Windows netbook for $350.

Hopefully a proper manufacturer will pair Ion with a Z-series Atom chip. Ion uses more power than Intel's GPU, so you have to offset that somehow if you want decent battery-life. And you have to provide the whole package for less than $400, or else it's not worth the premium.

[Piz @ Jun 2nd 2009 1:10AM]

you can only pair the desktop atoms(n230 & n330) with the ion platform

[James Young @ Jun 2nd 2009 4:27AM]

Piz that's incorrect the ion is being made for netbooks, too. In fact, netbooks with ion were the originally announced product.

[Hackettman @ Jun 2nd 2009 11:53AM]

That HTPC is delicious..... Love to see some Ion next to my TV...... Cant wait to see how this DIY laptop goes........