Finally – A Dual Core Atom Netbook

Looks like there is a dual core Atom netbook on the market – finally!

I wrote a while ago that seeing a dual-core atom netbook was only a question of time. I guess the time has come according to this article which features a netboook called the Prime Note Cresion NA with the following specs:

• Dual Core Atom 330
• 2 GB RAM
• 12.1″ LCD 1366 x 768
• 320 GB HD
• Size 302 x 225 x 38 mm, weight 1.92 kg
• Nvidia Ion chipset

I am not familiar with this company, but it can only be a matter of time before we see similar offerings from the mainstream guys such as Asus, MSI and Dell. The manufacturer’s site is in Japanese and I have no real details beyond what is listed here, although there are some popular performance benchmarks on the site. According to the article above, the price is about $609 without an OS.

Based on the specs listed, this product is the “missing link” between what goes for netbooks and classic notebooks. As its specs clearly lie outside the boundaries Microsoft set for netbooks (single core CPUs), there is no way this will ship with a cheapo OS. However, there is also no doubt in my mind that a dual core netbook is SOOOO much more satisfying than the single core whimpy netbooks that this is one I would seriously consider. I’ve used Dell’s mini and the my experience was underwhelming, to say the least.

Of all the specs listed, the LCD at 1366 x 768 is great – most netbooks stop at 600 vertical and it cuts off webpages, leading to less than satisfactory viewing (at least for me). Also note that with RAM at 2 GB, this netbook should deliver very nice performance.

As to inherent Atom dual core performance, check out PC Perspective’s  Intel Atom 330 Dual-core Processor Review – the conclusion:

“The performance results for the Atom 330 processor are actually very impressive – in a lot of our tests the scaling percentages from a single core to the dual-core CPU are approaching or over 100%!”

In my book, if the price comes down a bit, I don’t see how anyone would consider a single core Atom netbook as anything more than a very casual, portable check-my-email PC.