The Intel Atom CPU may be designed to provide decent performance at a low price, while using less power than similar chips. But it turns out the “low price” part of that equation is a bit muddy. Network World reports that the desktop version of the Atom, the N230, costs $29, while the N270 laptop version costs $44. While both are pretty cheap by CPU standards, you’re paying a premium to get pretty much the same performance out of the laptop version.

What makes the laptop chip more than 30% more expensive than the desktop chip? Heat. There’s more room in a desktop, even a tiny desktop like the Eee Box than in most laptops. And that means you have more room for fans and other cooling systems to keep the computer from overheating. So you can build cheaper parts into the processor. The inside of a laptop, on the other hand, is a pretty crowded place. So the Atom N270 would overheat if Intel didn’t include some slighlty pricier components to help keep things cool.

In the grand scheme of things, a $15 price difference might not seem like a big deal. But when laptop makers are selling mini-notebooks for as cheap as $300, every dollar counts. The New York Times has an article this morning suggesting that many PC manufacturers are less than pleased that the netbook market segment is doing so well. On the one hand, tens of millions of tiny laptops are expected to sell this year. On the other hand, since the prices are low, so are the profit margins.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers