A week ago, Samsung’s Ion-based N510 netbook (Ion is the name for NVIDIA’s chipset and integrated GPU for the Intel Atom processor) became available for preorder in France, and some fancy math suggested it would cost $560 in the USA. The real situation is worse, as a USA MSRP has just emerged, pricing the N510 at $599 stateside beginning in September. This news should invite some serious conversation about the price premium Ion carries, especially since new information indicates the N510 will carry the gimped Ion LE chipset, raising the possibility that the full-blown Ion chipset could be even more expensive.
The N510 is an 11.6″ model with premium features like HDMI output and 1366*768 resolution enabled by its Ion platform and extra size. Advertised battery life is somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5 hours, but it’s likely to be only slightly shorter than Menlow alternatives. As a netbook product without any pricing data, it’s clear that the N510 is relatively appealing.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Ars Technica – News
