What Happened to Netbooks with NVidia Ion ?!??!

Ok...Earlier today I made the decision to seek a new system that has a few characteristics that would be appealing (11.6", NVidia Ion, Win 7, Atom 2 or Intel Core 2 Solo, 3-4Gb RAM).

My goal would be to get Win7 Ultimate 64 Bit into it.

I have searched high and low for a system with the Ion and Win 7 and, in this search, found tons of articles of systems being held for release with the Ion to Q3 2009 when Win7 is released.

Samsung was releasing a netbook.
Dell amd Acer were releasing netbooks.
Asus and HP...and on and on....

So I spent the day hunting and cannot find one single system released as of yet with Win 7 (not starter) and the Ion.

Has anyone any information as to why? Are we waiting for a certain date? Is there something I am missing here?

Thanks ahead


Les

 

Nvidia has not yet released a compatible Ion design for the new Intel Atoms, and Intel CULV does not work with Ion. (9400m).
But they should release something soon i guess, but for now the only solution is to get either the older generation or wait for Nvidia to release some info.

 

NVIDIA Ion 2 coming in early 2010, compatible with Pine Trail

NVIDIA Ion 2 already ordered up by Acer?

So you have to wait a month to get a Ion 2 Netbook.

But PineTrail isn't that much better and how much better Ion 2 with Pine Trail is compared to Ion 1 with the older Atom chips is unknow.
Maybe not worth the extra wait. Just read the comments on engadget.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220659&Tpk=1201n

sold out right now. it was in stock a couple of days ago. doesnt say when they expect more.

 

Exactly what I have been looking for and.....what I haven't been looking for.

In the end, it appears the Ion was a failure simply because it could not team up with the timing of Win7. I seems to be hitting the roadblock of tech advancement right now to try and work itself in at some point.

Its one point to find reviews from unreleased notebooks which there are plenty of but to find a stable released notebook wold be nice.

 

Hi Les, I'm confused by what you are looking for.
From what I understand there are 4 different Ion/Atom netbooks out there.
Asus 1201N Dual core Atom N330 Win7
Lenovo Ideapad S12 Single core Atom N270 Win7
Samsung N510 Single core Atom N280 Win7
HP Mini 311 available either Ion LE, N270 and WinXP or Ion Full, N280 Win7 both come with DDR3.

Is there some other Atom CPU that you are looking for? Since the only other one I can see mention of is the N450 that hasn't been released yet.

If you are looking for a CULV or other processor paired with an ION chipset then you wont find that since the ION chipset was designed to be used exclusively with the Atom.

 

Nvidia says Ion 2 is expected in Q1 2010

 

Here's a very nice comparison of the current ION netbooks:
Shootout: What's The Best Ion Netbook?
http://blog.laptopmag.com/ion-netbook-shootout

 

Ok heres the problem... I just cannot find any for sale at all. I have gone through sites and stores and find nothing or little with the Ion...

I even went to Lenovo and couldnt get a link to the S12... maybe its because I keep getting knocked over to the Canadian site.

I would prefer the CULV with the Ion but the Atom 2 might be acceptable if I could find somewhere to price and order.

Can anyone find me a link to store or online retailer with a 11.6"/Ion/Win 7? That would be a great start...

Maybe I just may have had too much Xmas cheer but I cannot find any retail sale with the Ion/Win7 (full).

Oh and tx for the comparison site. I would love to find the Asus described but, then again, the site doesnt bring me to the system for some reason... Where can I buy one?

Ok wait...now Im finding what I am looking for...

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF25a/321957-321957-3832382-3832383-3832383-4011350.html

Only prob with this is that it is only avail with the n270....

Can anyone offer somewhere on line I can buy the Asus system??? In Canada we have this thing called a bilingual keyboard that makes you want to throw the system through a window... I would love to find one of these in the Niagara Falls/Buffalo area.

 

if you go to google product search, alot come up but all say avail jan or backordered except provantage: http://www.provantage.com/asus-1201n-pu17-bk~7ASUL0Q4.htm

it says they have 20 in stock right now.
i have order from them before and was satisfied.

 

Thats a nice find tx.... I was thinking while out and wondering what would be a better setup, the Atom or CULV...

I just recently got my son the Gateway 11.7", Intel Core 2 Solo 1.3Ghz, 3Gb, 250GbHD and I am awaiting the Win 7 upgrade. I must admit I became quite addicted to that system until he took off to Afghanistan again (Military), leaving me with his much larger Asus G71 which is in the process of being replaced by a new G72 in the mail from Asus in Tremont, CA.

I would love to stay with something small and compact, netbook def without a DVD. The Gateway had HDMI and the only downfall of the whole system was I would like to see better graphics capabilities...

So....a CULV system it may be if I can find something similar to that Gateway...

 

Les by Atom 2 do you Dual Core Atom aka N330? or do you mean the newer atom at the 667 FSB aka N280? I ordered my Asus 1201N (the only one with the N330) from laptopsinc, not sure if they have any left in stock. If you are looking for the N280 then Newegg has the Samsung N510 in stock.
P.S. How much you willing to pay? My Asus 1201N runs pretty well at 2.0GHZ with 3GB Ram.

 

Doesnt matter... At the end of the day, I would like to have an ultraportable with as much power and graphics ability as I can which won't break my bank. Im hoping to be able to get Win64Ult into it and maybe an ssd.

Your 1201n...are u saying you have a Intel Core2Duo@2Ghz in there??? Is it an ultra portable/netbook...no dvd??? Heat? Fan use? Graphics card?

I blame my son because this all started with this system which I instantly became addicted to:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article974-page1.html

Picked it up for $340 Cdn and am pissed I didnt grab 2 at the same time as there is ) stock anywhere around with them now.

Found this article....

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/asus-1201n.aspx?page=1

Very impressive except for the battery life which is close to 1/2 of a normal netbook....necesaary tradeofs eh...

 

Now my next thought....can I get an ssd in there ehehe? Think Asus would sell one with their new 512gb ssd inside er?

 

I have the Asus 1201N that comes with the Atom N330 Dual core at 1.6GHZ stock but I have it overclocked at 2.0GHZ. I believe it is probably the fastest all round (there maybe better faster CPUs out there but they will come with the 4500M/MHD) for under $500 (USD). I believe the Asus 1201N is the only netbook with the Dual Core N330 and that pretty much everywhere is sold out, but if you can live with the single core N280 it is configurable on HPs website. Here is one I configured with the N280 for $475

 

Any SSD should go in there assuming it is standard notebook HDD size or smaller. Tho I would have a hard time spending more on the SSD than the netbook was.

 

I am def going to take you up on overclocking...quite impressive. I am thinking that the netbook would take a 1.8 rather than a 2.5 standard notebook ssd....

I am trying another avenue as well....For the last two weeks I have been back and forth with Asus Customer Support over having my sons system replaced which is a 3 month old G71. They have a brand new G72 with a few upgrades on the way as we speak. I have an email in and am going to try the direct avenue...possibly see if I can get them to throw that 512gbssd they ave been bragging about into the 1201n and workout a deal perhaps...One never knows right?

 

Well, my Nettop ASRock Ion 330 is specced very similar to the ASUS Eee PC 1201N.

Intel Atom 330 1.6 GHz (OC 2.1 GHz)
4gb ddr2 ram (3gb usable, 512mb dedicated to Ion and 512mb wasted)
Nvidia Ion (Geforce 9400m)
80gb ssd

It handles gaming and hd decoding nicely thanks to the extra power the Atom 330 gives, but its still crippeled compared to a CULV based notebook.
But its main usage is to act as a small media center pc.

Then new Intel Atoms Pine View is not that faster than the older Atoms, but they offer lower power usage.

 

Keep in mind the ION platform for portable Netbooks are actually HUGE power hogs. You can find Nettops with ION readily, but Netbooks that are supposed to be small, with low power consumption, throwing an ION in there kills it.

In terms of games, the only thing you can say about ION is it's better than the GMA950 that comes in current netbooks. If your intention is to buy a netbook to game, you're going to be disappointed. Why do you want ION over current Atom offerings?

 

Thats why Intels Atom Pine View would be awesome with Ion 2.
The Atom saves power so the Nvidia gpu can use it.
And since the cpu has a Intel GMA 3150 integrated we may even get swichable graphics.

 

The reason I bought mine was 2-fold:
1. For an experiment, I currently have an old xbox doing my media center duties and it handles everything but HD very well, I figured a cheap nettop with ion and N330 would be a good replacement, but before laying down the cash for something that would only have one use I decided to test drive with my similarly spec'ed 1201N.
2. Secondly I love new gadgets/toys and while this isn't a gaming rig I still believe it to be the best all round performer for under $500 and at 12" or less. Plus I have a HD media player that I can game on and drag around anywhere with me that has mediocre battery life (4-5 hours, not as good as a regular netbook or CULV system, but way better than a sub $500 budget full laptop).
Granted I would love to see a CULV dual core paired with an ION/ION2, but I doubt there will be one any time soon and probably not in a 11-12" form for sub $500. Maybe I'm unique with my need of portability not being affected by battery life, I love how I can throw this thing in my back back, it feels like I'm not even carrying it and then when I get to work, home, bar, etc I have a power socket I can plug into so battery life is of little matter.

 

Wow....love this response and the types of builds we are seeing. I am not alone in my venture to have the lightest most powerful system I can have...

A few years ago it was the 1210..followed by the 1330....1340 which I am now selling and hoping for something like I am seeing here...

 

I just ordered a Lenovo S12 ION before xmas (and ended up cancelling the order)... it's on Lenovo.com.

The HP mini 311 is also an ION platform.

They're out there and they're available....

 

K then.....

Wonder how long to see.... this....

11.6 system
Pineview 1.66
Ion/Ion2
2Gb
Win7 Full version
hdmi

 

How fast will ION2 be?

 

How exactly do you overclock the 1201N? I just ordered one of these, and I'd be interested in running mine at 2.0GHz. Did you use SetFSB, or are there BIOS functions for that?

 

Asus 1201N & 1201HA Leaked Specs

 

Yep that is exactly how I did it. Also I did pick up a Revo1600 (Ion with Single Core N230) for a media center and managed to OC that to 1.8GHZ and do the hack to enable DX10. I have my netbook stable at 2GHZ, I could have maybe made it a little higher with tweaking memory timings but the stability issues werent worth the extra few MHZs. I left my GPU at the standard 450MHZ since the N330 still seems to be the bottle neck.

 

Having said that....there are Pineview systems released...any with the Ion?

 

Nvidia Ion 2 news!

 

What we need is a thread to keep us up to date on the most powerful and best priced netbooks as they are released...

I am in the market now and just found a few Pineview netbooks out but with basic configs which I am not looking for.

Looking for that one to jump on!!!!