This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but it looks like Intel is getting ready to phase out its first generation of desktop Atom chips. The  Intel Atom 330 dual core and Atom 230 single core chips should be done by the end of the month. These were the first Atom chips designed for low power desktop and nettop computers, and Intel has pretty much replaced them with the new Intel Atom D410 and D510 Pine Trail chips with integrated GMA 3150 graphics.

Fudzilla reports that come April, vendors won’t be able to order new Atom 230 or 330 chips. That doesn’t mean you won’t still be able to buy a computer like the Acer AspireRevo nettop or Asus Eee PC 1201N with an Atom 330 processor. But once Acer, Asus, and other PC makers run out of the chips they have on hand for those machines, they’ll probably start pushing newer models with the latest chips more heavily.

At first glance, the Asus Eee PC 1201N looks virtually identical to several other 12 inch laptops from Asus including the UL20A and 1201HA thin and light laptops. But while the Asus Eee PC 1201N may have the same chassis as other Asus notebooks, it still breaks the mold in a few important respects.

This is the first notebook from Asus to offer NVIDIA ION graphics instead of the integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics that typically come bundled with first generation Intel Atom processors. Second, this is one of the only laptops on the market with a dual core Atom 330 processor. The CPU was initially designed for low-powered mini-desktop computers called nettops. But the Atom 330 is still a relatively low power CPU. And in the Eee PC 1201N it offers just a little bit of a performance boost, which helps this notebook to outperform other 11 and 12 inch notebooks with NVIDIA ION graphics and single core processors.

On the other hand, the Atom 330 is a bit more power-hungry than a single core Atom chip, and the Eee PC 1201N doesn’t get the same kind of battery life I’ve come to expect from Atom powered notebooks.

The demo unit Asus sent me to review features a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 330 dual core CPU, NVIDIA ION graphics, 2GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, and Windows 7 Home Premium.  It has 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth and a 0.3MP webcam.

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The Asus Eee PC 1201N is the first notebook from Asus to feature NVIDIA ION graphics. It’s also one of the first notebooks from any manufacturer to feature a dual core Intel Atom 330 processor. Normally that CPU is reserved for desktop systems. While a dual core Atom chip is still designed to be a low power processor that favors energy savings over high performance, it should give the laptop a bit of a boost when it comes to multitasking and running programs that can take advantage of the extra CPU core.

Asus sent me an Eee PC 1201N to review, and I’ll be putting it through the paces over the coming days. But in the meantime, you can check out my unboxing video below. The laptop has a nice look and a great keyboard. In fact, it looks virtually identical to the Asus UL20A which I recently reviewed, except that the Eee PC 1201N has an HDMI port and a higher capacity battery.

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The ASRock ION 330 nettop is a small desktop PC that’s not much wider than a typical optical disc drive. It’s a bit chunkier than some nettops from MSI, Asus, and other companies, but unlike many of those models, the ION 330 actually makes room for a DVD burner as well as a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 330 dual core CPU, and NVIDIA ION graphics.

ASRock sells the ION 330 nettop as a barebones unit, which means that it comes with everything but the operating system. The model NVIDIA sent me to review came loaded with Windows 7 RC, but I’m not going to spend too much time dwelling on the software in this review.

The model I tested also had 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, Ethernet and HDMI ports, but no WiFi. Other versions of this nettop may be available with media center remote controls, WiFi, Blu-Ray drives, and other options.

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Even at a time when there are a growing number of 11 and 12 inch laptops with Intel Atom processors and NVIDIA ION graphics coming to market, the Asus Eee PC 1201N is something unusual. That’s because it’s one of the only laptops ever to be launched with a dual core Intel Atom 330 processor. Normally that CPU only shows up in desktop systems. In other words, the Eee PC 1201N should not only have better graphics than most Atom powered netbooks, but it should also have somewhat better CPU performance in some tasks than competing ION-powered laptops from Lenovo, HP, and Samsung.

I’m still waiting for my Eee PC 1201N demo unit to review, as Asus North America is just starting to send them out. But a few European web sites including Blogeee in France and Noti in Hungary have already published detailed reviews of the laptop. Here are some of the highlights.

Blogeee Eee PC 1201N review

• HD video looked great on the 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display
• 1080p Flash video also plays well when using Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta with GPU acceleration
• It takes almost 2 minutes to boot the PC and connect to a WiFi network
• Handled several games smoothly including Torchlight, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 4, and Street Fighter IV demo
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom were also usable, and Pierre could edit photos up to 10MB in size
• The 6 cell, 63Whr battery lasted for about 4 hours, 43 minutes of web-surfing involving reading RSS feeds and watching YouTube videos
• You’ll likely get less than 4 hours when playing games that tax the CPU and GPU

Noti Eee PC 1201N review

• The shiny black plastic case is a fingerprint magnet (but that’s nothing new for Asus laptops)
• The keyboard is large, and features two full sized shift keys and full sized arrow keys
• The battery ran for 2:45 when playing HD video in a continuous loop
• The computer is relatively quiet and doesn’t get too hot during operation

Noti also ran a series of benchmarks comparing the Eee PC 1201N to an HP Mini 311, which has the same ION graphics, but a single core Atom processor. As you would expect, the Asus Eee PC 1201N came out a bit ahead in these tests.

via SlashGear

We’ve been hearing about the Asus Eee PC 1201N for months, and now Asus is finally ready to launch the laptop. The Eee PC 1201N features a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, an Intel Atom 330 dual core processor, and NVIDIA ION graphics, making the 1201N the first ION-powered laptop from Asus. It will sell for $499, and in fact it’s already available for pre-order for $485 to $499 from several online retailers.

The folks at Laptop Magazine got to spend some hands-on time with the new laptop, and they’ve posted some first impressions and a bunch of photos. The laptop looks a lot like other recent Eee PC branded netbooks including the Asus Eee PC 1101HA, Eee PC 1008HA, and Eee PC 1005HA, which is to say the new laptop is part of the company’s “Seashell” line, although it has a chiclet-style keyboard similar to the one found on the now-discontinued Eee PC 1000HE.

Laptop reports that the Eee PC 1201N is 1.3 inches thick and weighs 3.2 pounds, which makes it a little larger and heavier than other recent Asus netbooks. But it’s actually no heavier than the 10 inch Asus Eee PC 1000HE.

The notebook comes with Windows 7 Home Premium. It has a 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, 3 USB ports, an SDHC card slot a VGA output, and an HDMI port. It features 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth. And it’s also one of the only notebooks on the market with a dual core Atom 330 processor.

The Eee PC 1201N should be available in North America in mid-December.

Head on over to Laptop Magazine for more photos.

The Acer AspireRevo nettop has been available in the US for a few weeks now, but you’ve been stuck with a model that runs Windows XP, has a single core Atom 230 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB hard drive. That model also has NVIDIA ION LE graphics.

Now Newegg is taking pre-orders for an updated model that sports a dual core Atom 330 CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium, GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and NVIDIA ION graphics.

The new AspireRevo AR3610 will set you back $329.99, which is considerably more than you’d pay for the $199.99 AspireRevo AR1600. But if you want the modest performance boost that you’ll get from the Atom 330 processor, it might be… nope, still probably not worth it. On the other hand, since the new model comes with Windows 7 Home Premium, you’ll get Windows 7 Media Center. And when you factor in the extra RAM, full ION graphics, and other goodies, the AspireRevo AR3600 starts looking pretty attractive.

via Netbooked

The FunTwist Fiono 330 nettop is a nettop with a dual core Intel Atom 330 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 2.5 inch hard drive. It also features NVIDIA ION graphics, which means that the tiny desktop PC can handle 1080p HD video output.

Netbooked picked one up recently and discovered a few interesting things about the FunTwist nettop. First, the fan is surprisingly loud. Second, there’s a barebones option that comes without RAM or a hard drive or WiFi. The RAM and hard drive are easy enough to slap into place, but when the folks at Netbooked popped the lid and looked for a place to insert a WiFimodule, there was no PCIe slot. Instead, you’re supposed to use an internal USB connector for a USB WiFi dongle. But there’s not really room for that, so you might be better off using one of the computer’s external USB ports.

You can check out a hands-on video of the FunTwist Fiono 330 with its top off after the break. Just for kicks I’ll throw in an unboxing video from Netbooked as well.

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Okoro Media Systems has a long track record of putting out excellent Home Theater PC hardware. The company’s products aren’t particularly cheap, but they tend to come with fast processors, large hard drives, and fancy media doohickeys like Blu-Ray discs, TV tuners, and 7.1 channel audio.

And then there’s the new OMS-Q200. This machine is basically a souped up nettop with a dual core Atom 330 CPU, NVIDIA ION graphics, 4GB of RAM, a Blu-Ray drive, a 320GB hard drive, and a remote control and wireless keyboard. And while that certainly makes it the most powerful nettop I’ve seen to date, the fact is that the dual core Atom 330 CPU is still going to have a hard time performing some tasks like transcoding video from MPEG2 to H.264 or DiVX. In other words, I think most people are going to expect better performance from an HTPC… especially one with a starting price of $1295, not including a TV tuner.

On the other hand, it looks like NVIDIA and Adobe are poised to announce hardware acceleration for Flash video soon, and NVIDIA has already demonstrated some software that can take advantage of the NVIDIA ION GPU for tasks that are normally CPU-killers like transcoding video. So a low power HTPC could be appealing to a select few… it’s just that you could probably put together your own for far cheaper.

Update: This post accidentally pointed to the Okoro OMS-Q100 at first. That model sells for $1395 and includes an Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor. The NVIDIA ION-powered nettop is the OMS-200, which starts at $1295. If that makes any difference to you.

via Engadget

You know how computer products are often announced at one price overseas and then wind up selling for a bit less once they hit the US market? It looks like Viewsonic might have missed that memo. The company is selling a nettop with a dual core Intel Atom 330 processor and NVIDIA graphics for about $514 in China, but when I caught up with Viewsonic this week I was told that a virtually identical PC will cost $599 in the US.

For that price you could get an Asus Eee Top ET2002T which has the same specs plus a 20 inch monitor and a built in DVD drive. Viewsonic charges an extra $100 for a DVD drive module that snaps onto the nettop.

The Viewsonic VOT131 is certainly attractive, and it’s one of the smallest nettops I’ve seen. I’m just not sure why anyone would pay $599 for it. You can check out my hands-on video after the break.

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