Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Samsung, NC20, Netbook, Nano, Via | Themes: Laptops and Notebooks, Business Notebooks
Leaked information regarding Samsung's upcoming NC20 netbook indicates a release date sometime within February.
We have seen plenty of netbooks released this last year, but with few exceptions they have all been based on the Intel Atom processor, as well as including a 7-inch to 10-inch display. An early leak though reveals Samsung's upcoming NC20 will take a different approach to the netbook design, including a larger 12.1-inch display and a Via Nano processor.
According to the source, the Samsung NC20 will be featuring a 1.3 GHz Via Nano U225 processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive, 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, a media card reader and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. Considering the specifications, the Samsung NC20 will not be as powerful as a traditional notebook, but unlike Samsung's X360 ultra-portable, it should be rather affordable. The source claims the price will be around $642, which seems too specific to be just a guess.
Other details about the Samsung NC20 include that it will look similar to the 10-inch NC10 netbook that recently was released and that it will weigh in at roughly 3.3-pounds. As for expected performance, according to an online demonstration earlier this year, the Via Nano 1.3 GHz processor beat out the Intel Atom 1.6 GHz in HD playback performance.
Although the Samsung NC20 is not the first 12-inch netbook to be released, 12-inchers still are a rarity, although that might change in the New Year. With Nvidia recently announcing its new Ion platform, which is expected to greatly increase the graphics capabilities of netbooks, expect the line between netbook and notebook to be further blurred in the New Year. Aided by increased system performance, larger screen sizes seem like an all too natural direction to take netbooks.
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Kinda think a larger netbook kinda defeats the purpose of a netbook. With a 12" screen and being priced at $650, you might as well buy a full size laptop. That way you at least have a built-in optical drive.
So the nano really does exist?
color me surprised
$650 for a netbook and I thought only crappy companies like HP had the balls to do that
I want to know what the screen resolution is. The 600 wide of standard netbooks is just too small to have 2 Word pages side by side, rendering it useless for many folks, who otherwise love the formfactor. By having a more traditional screen size, could it have a more traditional resolution?
Having a bigger screen is a plus, but what about battery power?
Seems like a nice machine for users who do alot of business travel. No optical drive? Meh, corporate users don't install software from DVD media anyway... I haven't used a CD or DVD disk in a machine in years. Seems as lightweight and small as possible, before you hit a point where size actually destroys functionality (I hate 10" netbooks, due to the baby size keyboard and horrible screen res+size).
Overall, interesting machine. I wonder how the 1.3 GHz Via Nano U225 processor performs.
i agree, 12inches is quite far end of the netbook market though i like the huge HDD they put on this one, quite too big actually.
also think using an intel atom is cheaper.