Dual-core Atom Netbooks coming out of the woodwork

Darius Chang | Aug 24, 2009

The Prime Note Cresion NA with dual-core Atom processor.
(Credit: Dospara)

While the rest of the world is waiting for the new Pine Trail platform to add HD video playback capability to Netbooks, a couple of manufacturers in Japan and China have made do with what is already available to produce powerful dual-core minilaptops.

In the land of the rising sun, the 59,980 yen (S$910.13) Prime Note Cresion NA is one of the first 12.1-inch Netbooks with a dual-core Atom 330 processor based on the Nvidia Ion chipset. But unlike the majority of its ilk, this machine comes with an integrated optical drive and looks more like a laptop than a Netbook.

Prime Note Cresion NA specifications

Intel 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor

2GB RAM

Nvidia Ion chipset

12.1-inch 1,366 x 768-pixel display

320GB HDD

DVD writer

4-in-1 memory card reader, three USB 3.0, VGA and HDMI-out, Webcam

Gigabit Ethernet, modem, 802.11n and Bluetooth connectivity

Dimensions: 305 x 225 x 37.5mm

1.92kg

3.2-hour battery life

The Weibu N10a from China comes in a more conventional 10.1-inch form factor and goes for 49,800 yen (S$755.66). The guts of the machine are similar to the Prime Note Cresion NA in that the N10a also sports an Atom 330 chip on an Nvidia Ion platform. Specific hardware details are not available at this time.

The Weibu N10A.
(Credit: CNET Taiwan)

One may be tempted to treat these machines as full-fledged laptops, especially since the dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor comes with 1MB cache, while the Nvidia Ion mainboard provides HD video playback capabilities. However, the Atom chip cannot execute instructions out of order, a feature that even a budget Celeron chip can. This makes a significant difference in performance, hence creating multimedia content may be a stretch for these dual-core Atom Netbooks. But if expectations can be managed, these two minilaptops should offer a significantly better computing experience than most of their single-core Atom competitors.

Via CNET

Filed under: Notebooks
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