After almost two years of writing about netbooks with 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processors, GMA 950 graphics, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drives, and Windows XP, the last few months have been pretty exciting. The low cost ultraportable space has expanded to include machines with CULV processors, NVIDIA ION graphics, and there are even a few models with AMD processors…

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Yet another Ion-powered netbook is now on sale – this time it’s Samsung’s N510-4B and Newegg.com has it listed at $599.99. It’s a solid performer, but what are you getting for just South of $600? Intel Atom N280 at 1.66GHz 2GB DDR2 memory 250GB SATA-II hard drive 802.11 b/g/n wireless Bluetooth 2.1 1.3 megapixel webcam 11.6″ 1366×768 LCD display 6…

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The Asus Eee PC 1201N isn’t the only NVIDIA ION powered ultraportable to hit the pre-order phase of its life cycle this week. Several stores also began taking pre-orders for the Samsung N510 recently. The Samsung N510 has an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU and NVIDIA ION graphics. It also features 2GB of…

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A lot of folks have been worried about the performance of the NVIDIA ION LE chipset. In a nutshell, NVIDIA ION is what you get when you bundle an Intel Atom processor with NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics. ION LE is what you get when you disable DirectX 10 support on the same chipset. But Blogeee reports that’s pretty much the…

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I got a chance to check out the new Samsung N140 netbook at Pepcom holiday show in New York last night. Samsung’s newest netbook is due out in the US in early November and it will ship with Windows 7 Starter Edition for $399. The company is positioning the N140 as the replacement for the Samsung NC10. So forget about…

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[/caption] A little over a month ago, my contact at Samsung told me that the Samsung N510 laptop with NVIDIA ION graphics and an 11.6 inch display would be available int he US in September. Now that we’re halfway through the month, things were starting to look a bit shaky… until Netbook Choice noticed that Samsung has posted a UK…

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We’re seeing a growing number of companies push out laptops with netbook-like specs and prices but larger screens. But what’s the optimal screen size for an ultraportable? Some folks say netbooks should have 9 inch screens, while others prefer 10. If you go up a size grade, the battle seems to be between 11.6 inch and 12 inch displays. The…

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Sure, the Samsung N510 isn’t available in the US at all yet, but not only do our European friends get to play with this NVIDIA ION-powered 11.6 inch laptop, they also get a choice of lids for the laptop. Notebook Italia spotted a version with a red lid covered with a textured pattern that kind of reminds me of a…

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time covering the computer industry, it’s that when a PC maker makes an announcement in one country, it doesn’t necessarily hold true across the globe. Case in point: Yesterday a Samsung USA representative informed me that the company was waiting until after Windows 7 is released in October before launching the Samsung…

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Yesterday Lenovo announced it would postpone the launch of the NVIDIA ION powered version of the IdeaPad S12 laptop until after Windows 7 was available. Now I’ve confirmed that Samsung, the other major company with an NVIDIA ION laptop in the works, is making the same call. The company decided that the Samsung N510 performs better with Windows 7 than…

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The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is a 12.1 inch laptop with a 1280 x 800 pixel display. Right now, it’s available either with an Intel Atom CPU and integrated graphics or a VIA Nano processor and integrated graphics. But Lenovo has been promising since day one that the laptop would eventually be available with the NVIDIA ION platform as well, which…

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[/caption] The Samsung N510 netbook is expected to begin shipping in a few weeks. And today Netbook Choice discovered that Samsung has posted the user manual for the laptop on its website. You can click this link to download it. For the most part, the manual confirms what we already knew, but it is nice to see that the RAM…

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