Dual Core Atom Netbooks Won't Carry Much of a Pricing Premium

Posted 05/17/2010 at 10:42am | by Paul Lilly

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If you're planning to buy a netbook, you should probably hold off until the dual-core models start shipping. Intel's upcoming dual-core Atom N550 chip is expected to debut in the third quarter of this year, which will feature a 1.5GHz clockspeed, 1MB of cache, and an 8.5W TDP. So what about the netbooks that will be built around this new chip?

According to reports, the recommended price range for these dual-core netbooks is $350-$400. In addition to the N550 part, these netbooks will also sport 1GB of DDR3 memory and either a 20GB-30GB SSD or 250GB HDD. Other specs will be the same as what you've come to expect from a modern day netbook, only you should be able to do more with the addition of a dual-core processor.

It should be noted that Intel-based dual-core netbooks already exist, but the current crop are all built around Nvidia's ION platform. These typically run between $450 and $500 and include a bit more screen real estate (11.6-inch and 12.1-inch panels are common for ION-based netbooks).

Image Credit: Intel