Pinetrail Atom-based netbooks hit Future Shop
With better battery life and slightly better specifications, getting one of these over an older model would be a good idea.
Looking for a netbook? You’re in luck, as a couple of new products have shown up on Future Shop’s site lately. Some new netbooks. Four of them, running Intel’s new Atom N450 processors. I’ll outline the differences between the old Atoms and this new one for those who are confused.
The older mobile Intel Atom platform (dubbed Diamondville) ran Atom N280 or N270 processors at 1.66 and 1.6Ghz respectively, paired with Intel GMA950 graphics. This new “Pinetrail” platform, on the other hand, runs a new Atom N450 processor at 1.66Ghz and a GMA3150 IGP. For those seeking a giant performance difference between the platforms, you’re going to be disappointed. The Atom N450 is only a tiny bit faster than the older N280 processor. Same goes with the new GMA3150 graphics; you still don’t get any kind of HD video acceleration (at least until machines with accelerator cards come out) and it is still a very bad platform to play most 3D games on.
However, by shrinking the amount of major chips making up the platform from three to two (among other things,) the Pinetrail platform takes up less space on the motherboard and uses less power than Diamondville. You get higher battery life and less heat, both important for netbook systems.
Anyway, back to the main point. The new netbooks include the Gateway LT2102h and LT2107h, and a pair of NB305 models from Toshiba. The Gateway ones offer four and eight hours of battery life respectively, and the pair of Toshibas boast eleven hours of battery life. All four systems use 10″ screens and are in stock. You can check them out here.
So, anyone excited, at all, about the new machines being available? Personally I don’t need an upgrade [yet] as my Eee PC is still working fine, but I know there are people out there who want to replace their current netbook with new hardware. Oh, and Happy New Year!
Definitely looking for a new netbook to replace my EEE 701. I was waiting to purchase the gateway LT310X with an 11.6″ screen. But thos looks promising though I would still prefer to see SDD instead of HDD. Price of $299 for the Gateway LT might still be a better but though.