VIA Nano "FreeStyle" netbook hands-on
The ‘book in question is a Nano-driven model that will be sold under the “Dr. Mobile” brand name and dubbed the “FreeStyle.” The system boasts a 1.3GHz CPU (which can be clocked to 1.6GHz), runs atop the VX800 chipset, features an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display, a proper trackpad with two real buttons, and sports 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, and optional onboard mobile broadband. Besides having a truly healthy amount of screen real estate for such a small display, the laptop was surprisingly stylish and lightweight — a welcome change from the stream of generic netbooks we’ve seen as of late. The company expects it to clock in at $500 when it hits around February, and says that the CPU outperforms similarly-spec’d Atom chips, with decent support for Vista. We should see a working model on the floor at CES, so keep your eyes peeled for a followup. For now, enjoy the hands-on! Read
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VIA Nano 3000 to rival Intel Atom
Not that we didn’t already have a hunch that VIA was working up a dual-core Nano, but it seems that details are beginning to firm up just a bit. According to a new report over at China-based HKEPC, the dual-core Atom-killer will be dubbed the Nano 3000, and while it will still rely on a 65-nanometer manufacturing process, the power consumption should be much lower than existing Nano chips. Furthermore, it’ll reportedly boast SSE4 instruction support, integer / floating point enhancements and improved internal cache performance. The writeup has it that samples could begin shipping out as early as this quarter, with mass production expected to get going in Q3. So, is it safe to say this whole “netbook” thing has grown some legs, or is the Tamagotchi-like crash just around the bend? Read
Josh’s Verdict: Fail. No one can seem to beat Intel.
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VIA debuts Trinity Platform for netbooks
Not to be outdone by NVIDIA’s move to accelerate netbook graphics with its new Ion platform, VIA just debuted its “Trinity” platform, which pairs a VIA Nano chip with a Media System Processor like the VIA VX800 and a discrete S3 Graphics PCI Express GPU. VIA is aiming this lineup at netbooks and mini-PCs, and are planning to power DirectX 10.1, HD video, Blu-ray playback and Windows Vista. Sounds fine and dandy to us, but unfortunately, like with NVIDIA, we’re at the mercy of the manufacturers who will actually be stuffing this into their product — and they’ve sure seemed gun-shy with Nano so far. Hopefully this can change some of that, Christian Bale is only half as badass at 15 fps QVGA. Read
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