Monday, November 9th, 2009 Intel Atom processor die Intel’s next generation Atom platform, codenamed Pine Trail, will be moved up and is expected to announce on December 21st, in time for CES in January. If you’ve been in the market for a netbook, you might do better to wait for Pine Trail or even the rumored ThinkPad netbook. Pine Trail offers a number of improvements over the current Atom platform, but the benefits a more tangible for Intel and its partners than consumers. The biggest change is moving the memory controller and graphics core onto the processor itself. While this doesn’t yield much in the way of performance improvement, it should reduce power consumption noticeably and most importantly reduce system cost. Intel and partners should see an increase in profit margin on the typically razor-thin profits that netbooks currently see. On the mobile side of things, the single-core 1.66GHz Atom N450 is expected to announce with 512KB L2 cache, Hyperthreading, and 64-bit support. Desktops, aka nettops, will get the dual-core D510 which is identical to the N450 save for 1MB L2 cache. A single core, 512KB L2 version of the D510 will be called the D410. Down the road we should see a 1.83GHz mobile chip dubbed the N470. Source: [The Register] Tags: intel atom, Netbook
Posted in Tech News | No Comments » Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Coming early next year will be a much welcomed upgrade to the diminutive Intel Atom family, in the form of a faster, more efficient chip. In the first quarter of 2010 Intel will unleash the N450 and N470 Atom processors. Both processors are based on Intel’s new “Pine Trail” platform, which brings the integrated graphics onto the processor chip. Clock speeds go up from the standard 1.6GHz N270 to 1.66GHz on the N450 and 1.83GHz on the N470. While these processors still single-core only, they will offer hyperthreading which should help multitasking a bit. The maximum power consumption of the new Atoms is rated at 6.5 watts, quite a bit more than the previous 2.5 watt models, but considering this now includes the graphics core as well you should expect better overall battery life. Source: [Lilliputing] Tags: intel atom
Posted in Tech News | No Comments » Monday, August 17th, 2009In a surprising move, Lenovo has put out word on their Twitter account of two new products to announce later this week: the IdeaCentre Q100 & Q110 nettops and the IdeaCentre D400 home server. 
In their 140 character limited messages, LenovoPress identifies the Q100/Q110 nettops as some of the thinnest in the world. Looking at the pictures, we’d have to agree. These things truly look like a netbook with a slick table stand. Since these have been identified as nettops, we can expect the pokey, but cheap and power sipping Intel Atom platform. While it is possible these models could be based on Intel’s forthcoming Atom refresh, it is more likely they will feature the existing and ubiquitous N270 1.6GHz single core version, or perhaps the less common Atom Z520 which runs at a bit lower clock speed, but sports dual cores. 
The D400 is a bit more of a conundrum. We don’t really have any perspective on size, but it’s a safe bet to assume this beast will be smaller than your ottoman. Given the use of the low cost, but plenty fast Pentium Dual Core processors in the IdeaCentre Q700 Home Theater PC (HTPC), they would be a logical choice for this entry-level home server. It looks like it could have room for 3.5-inch hard drives, which would be a must to offer sufficient storage. Hopefully this IdeaCentre won’t be limited to 4GB RAM like the Q700 HTPC, but the biggest hurdle Lenovo needs to overcome is making file serving an easy affair for the average home user. Oh, and effectively market to them about WHY they need this black cube. I know it’s a bit early to pass judgment, but the D400 just does not strike me well. The face is interesting and the LED’s & subtle stripe a nice touch, but it looks like an 80’s reject. Time will tell I suppose. Tags: ideacentre d400, ideacentre q100, intel atom, nettop
Posted in Lenovo News | 3 Comments » Monday, August 10th, 2009
It has been known for some time that Intel is developing the next iteration of the Atom platform, but some leaked prices point to a thirst for more margin in the netbook market. Code name Pine Trail, the next Atom platform promises to bring the graphics processor onto the CPU itself and improve overall power efficiency, maybe even performance a bit as well. However if a leaked report is accurate, the forthcoming Intel Atom N450 is expected to sell for about $64 per chip, which is about $20 more than the current version. Not only is this 45% more just in dollars, but integrating graphics into the CPU will yield not insignficant manufacturing efficiencies as well. Intel has already been in the spotlight, and not the good kind, over pricing of their Atom platform that powers most netbooks today. And indeed, Intel may have its own regrets over the success of the Atom platform, due to the unexpectedly high sales of the low margin chips. With a fairly significantly revised platform, they have a leg to stand on when it asks for a 45% pay increase from PC OEM’s. In fact, there have already been reports that some manufacturers aren’t in a hurry to build systems around the new platform. If it does basically the same thing on a system that isn’t designed to do much, why pay more for it? Oh, because Intel is wishing more people bought a Core 2 Duo. Source: [Lilliputing] Tags: intel atom, Netbook
Posted in Tech News | No Comments » Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 Lenovo IdeaCentre C100 nettop - image courtesy Gizmodo At the gdgt launch party, Lenovo was showing off a new product to be released in the near future. The IdeaCentre C100 is an all-in-one nettop, aka a desktop chassis with Intel’s Atom platform. Despite the expansive 20-inch LCD, Lenovo was able to keep the starting price at just $400, although with options you can scale that quite quickly. You get the standard 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1-2GB RAM, DVD burner, and 80-160GB HDD. An integrated webcam and WiFI, two must-haves on this machine, are kept optional to lower the starting price. Slated for release later this month, the C100 will come with Vista initially, but a Windows 7 version will come in October with an optional touchscreen. This is very neat and lets people get into the all-in-one space at a lower price point than the slick A600, but Atom really just isn’t suited for any type of multimedia use. Having used several netbooks and a non-Lenovo nettop, Atom is okay for web browsing and MS Office activities, but little else. Multitasking, using heavyweight programs like Photoshop, and watching hi-def video are all a no-go on an Atom-based PC. This machine needs a higher power AMD or VIA chip, which would keep the price low while making up for some performance. There is no mention on the graphics chip, but I’m expecting the defacto craptastic Intel integrated solution on all netbooks/nettops. Source: [Gizmodo] Tags: all-in-one, ideacentre c100, intel atom, nettop
Posted in Lenovo News | 1 Comment » Monday, July 13th, 2009
This really isn’t a surprise, but PC World recently confirmed that Intel and Google are very closely involved on the Chrome OS project. Atom support was a given, with the low cost free aspect of Chrome OS and primarily web-use nature of netbooks. Catch up on Chrome OS in our previous post. On a semi-unrelated note, am I the only who thinks a Chrome logo on a notebook would look friggin’ sweet? Source: [PCWorld] via [Engadget] 
Tags: chrome os, google, intel atom
Posted in Tech News | No Comments » Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Intel has released an updated version of the graphics driver for netbooks equipped with the Intel Atom platform. What’s significant about this release is that initial reports show it noticeably improving video playback, Vista Aero performance, and even web browsing. Most of the users reporting significant improvement are using Sony’s Vaio P “not a netbook,” but others are chiming in with good reports on other Atom systems. The new driver is good for Vista and Win7 only and can be downloaded here. It seems the Vista driver for Atom’s graphics was substandard, not surprising given the limited number of Atom-based machines running Vista. Source: [PortableMonkey] Tags: intel atom, Netbook, sony, vaio p
Posted in Tech News | No Comments » Friday, June 5th, 2009 TMCnet shares with us that Lenovo recently placed an order with VIA Technologies for some of their new Nano processors. These CPU’s should boast better performance than Intel’s Atom on the whole and use around the same amount of power.
Why is this important? Remember the Tongfong S30A, or as I like to call it the ‘Generic ThinkPad X30#’? That full featured, low cost notebook is also using VIA’s Nano. So where will the new Nano end up? A while back we posted about how the X200 was rumored to be receiving a CULV chip, which would make it more cost effective and reduce power consumption/heat at the same time. Could this be that solution? Maybe, but I’m not expecting a non-Intel chip in a flagship ThinkPad. Besides, Intel’s CULV chips would be better suited for the X200. One might think a new IdeaPad might be on the way, but Lenovo just refreshed the S10-2 and introduced the S12 12-inch netbook. They seem to be perfectly happy with Intel Atom’s. The one glimmer of hope, albeit a dim one, could be traced back to a blog post by Lenovo’s design chief David Hill. To properly introduce a premium ThinkPad netbook and maintain certain chassis, performance, & battery life standards, it could be that the Intel Atom just didn’t cut it. VIA’s Nano might allow for a thinner, lighter system with improved performance. But at this point it’s all conjecture. For all we know it could be going to Lenovo’s China division where all kinds of neat MID’s and phones are produced that never see Western shores. Source Tags: intel atom, Netbook, via nano
Posted in Tech News | No Comments » Monday, May 11th, 2009
Notebooks are terribly popular these days, but those who don’t need portability generally get more features, performance, and expandability with a desktop. Lenovo has just the ticket for you, and at bargain basement prices. The Lenovo H200 is a “nettop” or Atom based desktop, based on the same premise as a netbook providing basic computing needs and consuming very little power. The H200 is on sale for $251 without monitor and the following specs: - Atom 230 1.6GHz; 1GB DDR2; Multimedia Keyboard & Mouse
- mATX; Sleek design; Glossy finish; no Monitor; GMA 950; DVD+/-RW
- 160GB Hard Drive; 1yr warranty; Windows XP Home SP3 OS
Get the H200 deal details here The H210 is the same chassis as the H200, but with better internals and features including a 16-in-1 card reader and 8 USB 2.0 ports. The price for this one starts at $359 for a Pentium dual-core chip: - Pentium Dual-core E5200 2.5GHz; 3GB DDR2; 500GB Hard Drive
- DVD Burner; GMA 3100; 1yr warranty; No Monitor; Vista Premium
Get the H210 deal details here Tags: h200, intel atom, lenovo, nettop
Posted in Deals & Coupons | 1 Comment » Monday, April 20th, 2009
Photo from umpcportal.com
It appears Intel’s Atom is making its way into more than just netbooks, now in the much heralded Viliv S5. Whether you call it an MID (Multimedia Internet Device) or UMPC (Ultramobile PC), this thing has some impressive specs. You’ll get a 1.3GHz Atom chip, 4.8-inch screen running 1024×600 pixels (yowza!), 1GB of memory, 60GB hard drive, and Windows XP Home. Weighing only 0.87 lb and measuring 6 x 3.3 x 0.94 inches, it is definitely in the ultramobile category. If you are interested in the device and all early impressions have you reaching for your wallet, you might want to look at the pre-order option at Dynamism. For $599 you will get a car mount, car charger, carrying case, and a second battery. Pair your Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to this petite PC and you’ll have a ridiculously portable machine. Hit the link below to check out jkOnTheRun’s initial impressions of their Viliv S5. There have been some Lenovo concepts like this in the past, although we never got any real details around them. If only one could fit a red nubbin somewhere on there… Specs
First Impressions Tags: intel atom, mid, umpc, viliv s5
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