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There’s very little to differentiate one netbook from another these days. Manufacturers are basically just putting different enclosures around the same hardware. That’s largely a result of restrictions placed on netbook specs by Intel and Microsoft. With the upcoming Atom N470 (Pineview), the spec requirements will be lifted a bit, but they’ll still be there.
Currently, netbooks are limited to 1GB of RAM in most instances. When the N470 is released around March 2010 that limit will be raised to 2GB. Manufacturers will also be able to include a 32GB solid state drive if they so choose. Intel boldly pointed out that they could totally put Intel’s Moblin OS on them too… no pressure though.
While it’s nice to see some movement here, is it anywhere near enough? Don’t most users that want more RAM just add it anyway? So, good news, or just plain depressing?
Comments are closed on this article
xchrissypoox
October 27, 2009 at 9:37am
@bart3385
you had to put in that memory yourself though, they put restrictions on what can be sold with the atom. Intel wants netbooks weak so that people will buy more exspensive laptops and desktops. Thats why intel doesn't like the ion and won't support it, because if a netbook is powerful enough for most people, then people won't go out and buy a computer that isn't $400.
win7fanboi
October 27, 2009 at 10:26am
...agree
In the pre netbookera if people wanted a light weight laptop they would have to shell out top $ for it... netbook has eroded a big chunk of that market. Btw I didn't know Intel is not going to support nVidia's Ion...
tkddan87
October 26, 2009 at 8:22pm
ya i dropped a 2GB DIMM into my netbook about a week after i got it, and reformatted it to dual boot xp and ubuntu. What would be really nice is if they redesigned the layout of the motherboard in the netbooks to allow a second RAM DIMM so we can take advantage of the dual channel ability of DDR2.
Peanut Fox
October 27, 2009 at 7:27am
That's not a bad idea, but you have to ask. Is it worth the added cost that customers will be paying? More importantly, is a Intel Atom 420 going to be fast enough to benifit from dual channel memory? Just look at trichannel memory in the home market. It barely has any effect on performance.
