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Lot’s of web chatter about the new NC20:
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-nc20-121-inch-netbook-expected-february-2009-2227330/
“The NC20 is said to have a 160GB hard-drive, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 and an integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam. It will weigh around 1.5kg and have a 3-in-1 memory card reader. Although no battery details are known, nor predicted runtimes, it’s tentatively expected that the well-publicised frugality of VIA’s Nano CPU will help boost the NC20’s battery life.
It certainly has a hard act to follow; the NC10 performed well in reviews, scoring top marks for the quality of its keyboard and managing seven hours from its battery. The Samsung NC20 is expected to drop for around $642 in February next year.â€
“The only downside would be the weight, as the NC20 is expected to come in at about 1.5kg which is quite heavy, but we’re sure it’s a trade-off some are willing to do to get the larger screen. We’re also curious as to which chipset Samsung will use, as VIA doesn’t have very good solutions when it comes to graphics and video performance.â€â€œA Nano-based laptop would give Samsung an affordable laptop that sits comfortably between a smaller Atom-based netbook and a more powerful laptop, and that’s an option that might appeal to consumers given the current economic environment.â€
So, the NC10 may have a big brother in February. Lot’s of questions without answers, including the what the switch to the Via Nano will do to performance, what a 12″ screen will do to battery life, the screen resolution, etc. Stay tuned…
Pugrider
Sounds interesting, but 12″ screen kills it for me. I wanted something smaller so I am happy with the NC10
yep as I’ve said before, if the screen is more then 10″ it become a notebook and not a netbook. People don’t want bigger screens, there a 101 other options for that. What we want are portability and connectivity so that’s w-fi, bluetooth, HSDPA and possibly wimaxx.
I agree, the 12 inch size is like carrying a laptop around, an 11 inch boarderless screen may have kept the machine at a netbook size… and for the price there are lots of laptop options out there… Just hope it compliments the NC10 and not replace it… It would seem silly to discontinue such a popular model… No mention of operating system…. I am sure MS is pushing vista on the OEM’s
Samsung may beat Ion to the punch:
“What’s interesting is that Samsung is believed to be equipping the NC20 with VIA’s low-power 1.3GHz Nano processor. Judging by the size of the system, and its 1.5kg weight, there might just be room for VIA’s entire Trinity platform – that’s a Nano processor, VIA chipset and S3 graphics GPU.”
I could live with a 12″ screen if it came with high resolution and did not greatly diminish the battery life.
Pugrider
I’d like a 12″ screen (1280×800) if the width of the bezel around it could be reduced a bit so the overall size is still close to the NC10. Weight is a big factor too. I’d hesitate to get anything much over three pounds. 1.5 kg is about 3.3 pounds. Does the VIA run as cool as the Atom? Sounds interesting!
Only thing I am sceptical about is having to use Vista. Not always compatible easily with alot of networks, trust me.
Do you think that’s an actual picture of the NC20 on the SlashGear site? Or is it some other Samsung notebook?
I have a 12″ laptop (an old Dell C400), which is great for portability (and pretty light).
If it had had a battery life better than 1 hour I may well never have bought a NC10, so a long life 12″ NC20 sounds interesting to me, although only if they company want to buy one to replace my luggable HP 🙂
That said, I find the NC10’s screen fine for day to day to use, so the NC20 would need to be competitively priced (Dell’s Mini-12 isn’t imo).
M
FYI, more on Via Trinity:
“Get ready to see the netbook war intensify as manufacturers launch new platforms in this segment. With Nvidia’s recent announcement of its Ion platform, VIA Technologies has countered Nvidia with a new 3-chip silicon platform that brings HD performance to ultra compact systems. Codenamed “VIA Trinity”, the new platform is set to provide compact devices with powerful processing, video and graphics capabilities within a comparably low power envelope.
The VIA Trinity platform provides all the Hi-Def performance and latest x86 technology support in three chips that other vendors require in four, yet uses less power. The three chips that make up the Trinity platform are a VIA Nano processor, a VIA VX800 Media System Processor, and an onboard S3 Graphics PCI Express discrete GPU.
The VIA Nano processor are the foundation of the VIA Trinity Hi-Def platform. It’s the first 64-bit, superscalar processor in VIA’s portfolio. The VIA Nano is coupled with a VIA VX800 Media System Processor, an all-in-one, highly integrated digital media IGP chipsets featuring the 800MHz VIA V4 FSB.
The S3 Graphics Chrome onboard graphics accelerator supports the latest DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL graphics architectures. In addition it also supports HDMI output and playback of the latest Hi-Def content with the Chromotion HD 2.0 video engine. The S3 Graphics Chrome is set to delivering the full add-in card graphics experience in an extremely low-power onboard package. Chrome provides hardware acceleration for all leading video standards including H.264, MPEG-4, VC-1, WMV-HD and AVS.”
No, it’s a picture of the Samsung X360.
[quote1229968300=undo]
Do you think that’s an actual picture of the NC20 on the SlashGear site? Or is it some other Samsung notebook?
[/quote1229968300][quote1229968340=undo]
Do you think that’s an actual picture of the NC20 on the SlashGear site? Or is it some other Samsung notebook?
[/quote1229968340]it’s the X360, which is available now and by no means a netbook….
what’s the TDP of the trinity chipset? i think the atom+945 is around 12W (but feel free to correct me). i think the nc10 has set the benchmark for battery life in netbooks it will be hard for competitors to keep up.
Here is more information on Via Trinity TDP and how it compares to the Atom. Both are about the same on power usage, but with 64 bit processing and a much better integrated graphics chipset the Nano is much better than the Atom. That will change with Ion, but only if the manufactures use it. Should be interesting if Samsung really does adopt the Via Nana within the Trinity chipset. Also, the HP Mini Note 2133 is supposed to get a makeover with a January release, and it will be interesting if HP sticks with Via rather than going with the Atom as they did for the Mini 1000.
One last thought before you read what you are actually interested in – Microsoft has extended the sales of XP licenses through the end of January 2009, but then that is it. I think the major manufactures are getting ready for Windows 7, which means they need to have a better graphics solution than what the typical Atom chipset provides. If I am correct that would explain the flurry on new netbook releases in January and February of 2009. Even Apple may take the plunge, although it is likely to be a glorified IPhone…
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/40678/135/
“Taipei (Taiwan) – VIA’s announced their Mini-ITX 2.0 form factor three-chip HD solution called Trinity. It marries VIA’s latest Nano x86-64 processor, VX800 IGP chipset and discrete S3 “Chrome” graphics on an 800 MHz FSB into a single package, providing DirectX 10.1, HD video, Blu-ray/h.264/MP4 hardware acceleration and HDMI output on less than 70 watts max (50 watts typical).
VIA’s Nano 64-bit CPU – VIA produces their 64-bit CPU in two forms, the “L-series” for high performance and “U-series” for power savings. Nano-L operate at speeds (in GHz) of 1.0, 1.2, 1.3, 1.6 and 1.8 with all except 1.8 GHz model using only 0.1 watt of power at idle, and 5 watts max at 1.0 GHz with 25 watts max at 1.8 GHz. Its die size is 7.65mm x 8.275mm (63.3 square mm).
VX800 IGP Media System Processor/chipset – The VX800 is an integrated northbridge, southbridge and media processor providing built-in support for DirectX 9.0, high definition video and audio playback, and support for 4GB of DDR2 memory. A low-voltage version also exists, the VX800U. They work with C7, C7-M, Eden and Nano.
S3 Chrome Discrete Graphics – VIA’s S3 graphics solutions come in a range of options, but at their baseline provide PCI Express support for DirectX 10.1, OpenGL, with HDMI output and the Chromotion HD 2.0 video engine. It provides hardware support for h.264, MPEG-4,VC-1, WMV-HD and AVS.
Comparing to Intel’s Atom
Atom and Nano at the high end are comparable in power consumption at around 25 watts max. Atom has a 1.866 GHz model, which exceeds the raw clock speed of Nano. However, benchmarks have shown this is not a significant advantage (if any at all). Atom does come with HyperThreading, which can provide greater performance though at a small increase in power consumption.
Tests have also shown the Nano runs as much as 10 degrees Celsius cooler than Atom, and its chipset up to 20 degrees Celsius cooler. Nano’s package at 21mm x 21mm is slightly larger than Intel’s Atom at 15mm x 15mm, which may account for the greater cooling.
Atom has been launched in various models ranging in price from $20 for the 800 MHz and 1100 MHz models, up to $135 for the 1.866 GHz in single-core. Dual core models at 1.6 GHz have sold for $29 for 512 KB L2 and $43 for 1 MB L2.
Nano CPUs aren’t yet for sale so no pricing information is available. However, they are pin compatible with the existing C7 line and extend CPU computing to 64-bits.
Atom’s i945GM chipset has a built-in GMA950 IGP, and is not the best solution for graphics performance or power consumption. The platform itself consumes 20-25 watts depending on load, bringing the total maximum system consumption to around 60 watts in operation, and without spectacular graphics performance. Temperatures as high as 38 degrees Celsius have been seen on i945GM’s Northbridge, compared to 18 degrees Celsius (room temperature) on VX800 predecessors.
We’ve seen VIA’s Nano reviewed and we’ve seen its performance notably better than Atoms. On most benchmarks, Nano exceeded Atom by 5% or more (sometimes 30%). And with the Trinity package now being offered this may pose a real threat to Intel.
Nvidia has recently tried to get Intel to open up the Atom platform to allow other players (Nvidia) into the mix and create several solutions for Atom. Intel’s next iteration for Atom is supposed to be more of a system-on-chip, and that may be part of the reason Intel is not opening up very easily.
Opinion
Variations of VIA’s Nano platform have already been nipping at Intel’s heels, at least from a design and performance point of view (not sales). With Nvidia now going directly to makers trying to get Intel to open up the Atom platform, Intel had better deliver something notably better for Atom in the near future or it may be surpassed by Nvidia’s alternate lower-power solution Tegra or other competing products like Trinity from VIA.
This kind of David/Goliath battle has me wondering: If a smaller company produces something better than a bigger company (like VIA or Nvidia against Intel), will it be adopted by the market? Or does the bigger company’s products, so long as they’re somewhere in the ball park, always win out?”
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/244311/xp-dodges-another-death-sentence.html
XP for netbooks until 2010…. i think basically until they can design and release a lited version of Windows 7 that will work properly on netbooks. But then netbooks in 2010 will be Core i7 atoms or something like that!!!!
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