Ubuntu Linux includes support for most netbook hardware out of the box. But if you happen to have a computer with Intel GMA 500 graphics, you may run into problems using the latest version of Ubuntu, since Ubuntu 10.04 doesn’t include drivers for that hardware. That’s not to say that drivers aren’t available. They just don’t come preloaded, and configuring…

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Adobe has just released Flash Player 10.1 beta 3. And for netbook owners, one of the most exciting updates is that there’s hardware acceleration support for some netbooks. Basically, if you’ve got a netbook with an Intel Atom Z5xx series processor and integrated GMA 500 graphics, you should be able to watch 720p, and maybe even 1080p HD Flash video…

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We’re about to be hit with a flood of netbooks sporting Intel’s new Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics. But there are already a ton of netbooks with Intel’s older chipset on the market. And for the most part that means Atom N270/N280 and GMA 950 graphics. But there’s also a marginally less common combo: Atom Z5xx series processors…

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As I mentioned the other day, the folks behind the netbook-friendly Jolicloud operating system are in the process of adding support for machines with Intel Atom Z5xx processors and integrated GMA 500 graphics. For the most part, systems with GMA 500 graphics don’t perform as well as laptops with the more common GMA 950 graphics chipset. But GMA 500 does…

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So many Intel Atom powered netbooks have been released over the past year and a half that it’s easy to forget that not all Atom chips are created equal. There are the Intel Atom N270/N280 chips that have found their way into the vast majority of netbooks. They’re pretty speedy for a low power chip and they tend to be…

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Most netbooks released over the past year have shipped with Intel Atom N270/N280 processors and GMA 950 graphics. But a handful use a different chipset designed to provide longer battery life and enhanced graphics performance. While the Intel Atom Z520/Z530 processors are noticeably more sluggish than their N2xx counterparts, the GMA 500 graphics chipset shows some promise, and some netbooks…

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Last week we noted that Asus had created a support page for a new model called the Eee PC 1201HA. At the time, there weren’t any drivers or other downloads available, but Asus has thrown a few items up on the download page including a graphics driver for the US15 chipset, which would seem to imply that the laptop will…

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Jolicloud is a custom, Linux-based operating system designed for netbooks. And it supports most netbooks that use Intel Atom N270/N280 processors and GMA 950 graphics, which covers an awful lot of netbooks. But a handful of netbooks and other mini-laptops and handheld devices use Intel Atom Z-series processors and integrated GMA 500 graphics. And right now Jolicloud doesn’t play so…

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[/caption] One of the biggest complaints I had with the Asus Eee PC T91 was it felt rather sluggish thanks to its low power 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 processor and integrated GMA 500 graphics. But it looks like Intel has released an updated GMA 500 driver for Windows XP which some users are reporting improves streaming video performance on the…

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While a huge number of netbooks released over the past year are equipped with Intel Atom N270 or N280 processors and integrated GMA 950 graphics, Intel also offers another chipset that shows up in a handful of netbooks and mini-laptops. For instance, the Dell Inspiron Mini and Sony Vaio P both use Intel Atom Z520/530 processors and integrated GMA 500…

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