
1004dn with optical drive
Digitimes is sharing the news about a new Intel netbook platform and says we’ll see products between Q2 and Q3 this year. Instead of the now standard N270 Atom, new devices will see the N280 which will cost around $60 to $65 as opposed to the $40 or so that OEMs pay for the N270 platform. There’s a very slight clock speed boost, going from 1.6GHz to 1.66GHz, but the front-side bus gets over a 20% speed boost. Instead of 533MHz, data will travel from the CPU to the memory controller hub at 667MHz.
The new N280 won’t be paired with the Intel 945GSE chipset though. Digitimes says that a new chipset, the GN40 will take its place. At the moment, I don’t see any official info on the GN40 from Intel, so we’ll have to see what the ramifications are. Interestingly, the new platform is expected in the Asus 1004DN, which we peeped at CES last week. That was the netbook with the integrated optical drive in our booth tour, shown above. Obviously, I didn’t read the placard (who does, when there’s hardware to be touched?) since it lists the new chipset platform. ;)
Lately folks have been asking me if they should buy a netbook or wait. For the most part, I tell them not to wait if there’s a product available that meets their needs. I still believe that’s the best advice for most people, but if you can wait, we should have more info on the updated platform in the new few months. Plus, during our conversation with VIA’s Richard Brown, we were told that we’d hear some product announcements in the next month or so for VIA Nano-powered netbooks. I’m still not suggesting that most people wait, but if you can wait and want something newer than what’s out today, you might not have to wait long.
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