UPDATED: Dual-Core Netbooks are Coming, Eventually
Image courtesy of CNET
UPDATE: The report in Japanese that the Weibu N10A sports a dual-core Atom 330 processor has been corrected. It is now being reported that the N10A actually has an Atom 270 processor, which is a single-core configuration. We may still see dual-core processors make it into the netbook, just not yet.
The netbook market is still growing by leaps and bounds with new models appearing all the time. The one consistent feature of these netbooks is Intel’s Atom processor. The Atom is cheaper to put into these netbooks, and that makes the low prices possible, which drive sales. The Atom processor has ample performance for simple tasks, but it does fall down when compared to “real” laptops. That performance gap may close when dual-core Atom processors begin appearing in netbooks. One such netbook is set to appear in Asia.
The Shenzhen Weibu Electronics N10A will have the dual-core single-core Atom processor, paired with the Nvidia Ion 9400M graphics. The combination of the dual-core single-core Atom and the Ion graphics could produce graphic performance much better than existing netbooks can provide. The N10A is expected to retail for around $500 when it is available and interestingly, reports indicate it will not ship with an installed operating system.
(via CNet) (Revised report via Liliputing)
Actually, the source CNET cites in its article has updated the original article. The netbook has a single core Atom N270 CPU, not a dual core Atom 330.
I just checked back and they updated an incorrect cache size but it still indicates it’s a dual-core processor.
Checking into the translated source (original in Japanese) there is a caption to a photo showing dual-core that indicates this really has a single core Atom 230 processor. We’ll verify what we can and change the post to reflect that this doesn’t look like a dual-core netbook, despite CNET’s article.
Is this suggesting that most existing atoms are not dual core? when I check my acer aspire one or any of my friends net books with hard drives task manager always shows two cpu’s. Is this hyper-threadig ?
Yeap, the Atom N270 is a hyperthreading processor, so Task Manager will show two logic processors. However, this is just single-pipeline multithreading.
I’m interested to see how the dual core does inside a netbook – the 330 thermals were not designed for netbooks, so heat-related issues will be something to watch out for, especially with an Nvidia IGP on the side.
I hope they´re really going to release this, I´d buy one. Netbooks are cool and offer a lot of usability for a relatively cheap price, but I´ve often found myself getting impatient because of lags or general slowness. I have used an HP Mini 2133 and a newer Asus EEE Pc with the 1.66 GHZ Atom (which a friend of mine had bought), they were both good, but they could be better.
My dream conifguration for a netbook would be the HP Mini 5101 (nice videos from James, as always), with a high-res screen, the dual core atom processor and the nvidia IGP, plus it mustn´t run hot…I´d buy that immediately. Anybody at HP reading?
Dual-core Atom + GeForce 9400M would be very intriguing, so long as they can keep the battery life up.
Top off with N-Trig (or, better yet, Wacom + Synaptics ClickPad for multi-touch) and Windows 7, and I’m sold.