UK Netbook Review

NVIDIA is introducing a new technology that allow laptops and netbooks to switch between integrated and dedicated graphics chips. For example, if you’re on Facebook, writing email, or just doing light surfing, you could switch to your chipset’s integrated graphics chip to save power. Then, when you’re watching an HD movie, or playing a graphics intensive game, NVIDIA’s new technology will automatically switch to the higher performance, dedicated, graphics card. The technology, which Nvidia showed off today, is called Optimus, and it’s designed to work with GeForce 200M, 300M, and GeForce M GPUs as well as the soon to be released NVIDIA ION 2 graphics processor. It supports Intel’s Core 2 Duo, Core i3, i5, and i7 processors and Intel Atom N450 CPUs.

While netbooks currently consist of about 10% of the current PC market, ARM CEO Warren East, says that’s about to change.  He states:
“Although netbooks are small today – maybe 10% of the PC market at most – we believe over the next several years that could completely change around and that could be 90% of the [...]

The prototype we’re looking at here is a Nvidia Tegra powered tablet with a resistive touchscreen display spanning somewhere around 15 to 16 inches. It runs Windows CE , the company behind the machine is ICD. This particular unit was built to try and convince T-Mobile to order some units – presumably to fit a 3g modem and bundle with a data package.

RAM manufacturer, Elpida Memory, from Japan, have announced a new, low powered DDR2 RAM module which runs at just 1.2V (as opposed to the current standard of 1.5v-1.8v) while maintaining 800Mbps speed. As a result this new RAM module is claimed to run with as little as 1/16th the power consumption of the conventional chips.

Nvidia has added the new ‘entry-level’ Ion LE platform to the existing Ion platform we’ve already seen on a few netbooks and nettops. The new Ion LE is intended for entry-level netbooks and nettops and will cost less to manufacturers than the full blow Nvidia Ion solution. The main difference between the new Ion LE and the higher cost Ion chipset is that the LE does not have DirectX 10 support. Also, the new Ion LE is specifically aimed at Windows XP on netbooks and nettops.