The Asus Eee PC 1201PN may look just like the Eee PC 1201N that was released last year, but the new model has a new processor and graphics chip. And it turns out there are pros and cons to those changes. The folks at Laptop Magazine have posted a review of the Eee PC 1201PN and it looks like while the new model has better battery life and graphics performance than the original, overall performance suffers.

That’s largely because while the Eee PC 1201N shipped with a 1.6GHz dual core Atom 330 CPU, the Eee PC 1201PN has a single core 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 chip.

The second generation NVIDIA ION graphics chipset really does provide higher performance than the first generation, particularly when it comes to 3D performance. To be honest, it’s not clear if you need better performance if all you want to do is watch HD video, since the original ION chips could handle 1080p HD video playback without breaking a sweat.

But by switching to a single core processor, Asus managed to both improve battery life and decrease general performance for tasks that don’t rely on the graphics processor. That’s not to say that the Eee PC 1201PN is unreasonably slow. It can handle basic tasks and multitasking reasonably well, but Laptop Magazine did say it felt sluggish at times, such as wehn starting a video call in Skype.

You can find more details at Laptop Magazine.

Update: Acer USA has confirmed that it has no plans to launch the Aspire 532G “in the upcoming back-to-school cycle,” although future plans are still being determined. So it sounds like it’s possible the netbook may see the light of day eventually… but it might not.

The Acer Aspire One 532G was on track to be the first 10 inch netbook to ship with second generation NVIDIA ION graphics. But now it loks like the project could be canceled or postponed indefinitely.

French site Blogeee reports that Acer has canceled the Aspire One 532G, although it’s not clear whether the cancellation is global or if it just affects Acer’s French or European divisions.

The Acer Aspire One 532G was first introduced in February, although NVIDIA didn’t officially launch its new ION graphics platform until March.

The netbook was expected to ship with a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, and a stripped down version of the NVIDIA ION chipset designed for smaller laptops which would likely overheat if you stuffed the full graphics card into such a tight space. The laptop was expected to have a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 6 cell, 4400mAh battery, and Windows 7 Starter Edition and sell for less than $500.

I’ve put in a request for comment from Acer. NVIDIA has already told me that they cannot comment on rumors regarding partners’ products.

The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150 is a small form factor desktop with an Intel Atom processor and NVIDIA ION graphics. The company introduced the nettop last month, and now it’s available for purchase from Buy.com, where you can find a $220 model and a $350 model.

The pricier model has a 1.66GHz Intel Atom D510 dual core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, NVIDIA ION graphics, Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit), 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and a handheld wireless keyboard/mouse/remote control.

The $220 version comes with a 1.66GHz Intel Atom D410 single core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, Windows XP Home, and 802.11b/g/ WiFi. This model doesn’t include the higher performance NVIDIA graphics or the wireless controller.

via Netbooked

Yesterday the first US retailer started taking pre-orders for the Asus Eee PC 1201PN. Today, Asus has added an official product page for the 12 inch laptop with next-generation NVIDIA ION graphics. It’s also starting to show up at additional retail web sites.

There aren’t a lot of surprises on the product page, but there are some pretty pictures if you go for that sort of thing.

The Eee PC 1201PN has a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, and NVIDIA ION 2 graphics. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium, and features both HDMI and VGA output. The laptop comes with 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive and has a 6 cell, 47Whr battery.

The ION graphics should give the Eee PC 1201PN enough graphics prowess to handle 1080p HD video playback and some 3D video games. But don’t expect this laptop to be a speed demon. The Intel Atom N450 processor is designed to give you long battery life, not super speedy performance, and for tasks that don’t take advantage of the ION graphics, you shouldn’t expect this notebook to be any faster than a typical netbook.

The going price for the Eee PC 1201PN seems to be abut $499.

via Eee PC.it

Asus is preparing to launch yet-another-nettop that looks more like a Nintendo Wii than a full fledged PC. The company has been pumping out minor variations on this theme for the past year or two, but there’s one major feature setting the Eee Box EB1012P apart from the rest: Support for next-generation NVIDIA ION graphics.

The mini-desktop also sports a 1.66GHz Intel Atom D510 dual core processor, HDMI output, 5.1 channel audio, VGA, 6 USB ports, an eSAA port, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and Windows 7 Home Premium. It has a 2.5″ hard drive and supports up to 2GB of DDR2 memory.

There’s no word on pricing or availability yet.

via Notebook Italia

The Asus Eee PC 1201PN is the first of several 12 inch laptops from Asus that will succeed the company’s Eee PC 1201N. And it looks like you should be able to pick one up for about $499. ExcaliberPC is now taking pre-orders for the Eee PC 1201PN, with an estimated ship date of June 11.

The Eee PC 1201N was the first notebook from Asus to feature NVIDIA ION graphics. it also happened to have a dual core Intel Atom 330 CPU. The Eee PC 1201PN sticks with a more conventional single core Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz CPU, but swaps out first generation ION graphics for a more powerful second generation ION chip.

The laptop has 2G of RAM, a 250GBВ  hard drive, HDMI output, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, and Windows 7 Home Premium. It has a 6 cell, 47Whr battery and should be more than capable of playing 1080p HD video as well as some 3D video games.

What’s not entirely clear at the moment is whether the laptop will feature NVIDIA Optimus technology for automatically shifting between integrated and dedicated graphics depending on what you’re doing with your PC. We’d heard that this model would ship without that feature enabled, but I’ve heard some inklings that a demo unit on display at Computex last week had Optimus capabilities.

via Netbooked

Were you disappointed to learn that the Asus Eee PC 1201PN wouldn’t have NVIDIA Optimus technology as had originally been promised? Don’t worry, it turns out Asus will be offering 10 and 12 inch mini-laptops with Optimus, and Acer’s upcoming 10 inch netbook with next-generation NVIDIA IOn graphics will as well.

NVIDIA Optimus is a system that lets computers with NVIDIA ION graphics and integrated Intel graphics automatically and seamlessly switch from one to the other. If you’re surfing the web, your PC will use the lower power Intel graphics to prolong battery life. When you click on an HD video, the ION graphics will kick into gear to give you a performance boost — even on a computer with a low power Intel Atom processor.

Laptop Magazine stopped by the NVIDIA area at Computex this week and found 13 notebooks on display that were using Optimus technology. That includes the Acer Aspire One 532g, the 12 inch Asus Eee PC 1215PN, and the 10 inch Asus Eee PC 1015N.

Hopefully we’ll start to see these computers hit the streets in the coming months.

It looks like we should start seeing netbooks with NVIDIA’s Optimus technology soon. The Optimus platform allows netbooks with both integrated Intel graphics and dedicated NVIDIA ION graphics chips so shift seamlessly from one graphics card to the other depending on what you’re doing. Surfing the web? The lower power Intel graphics will kick in to extend your battery life. Watching an HD video or playing a 3D game? The ION graphics kicks in.

The folks at NetbookNews.de spotted an Asus Eee PC 1015N netbook at the NVIDIA tent at Computex. There aren’t a ton of details about this model yet, but it does have a sticker pointing out that it supports Optimus graphics switching.

The netbook also has a matte display and lid, a 6 cell battery, and a single access panel on the base for swapping out RAM. The Eee PC PC 1015N has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display and a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor. It runs Windows 7 Starter Edition and comes with 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive. Netbook News.de reports that it should sell for around 400 Euros, or roughly $490 US.

We’d already heard that Asus may be launching a 12 inch notebook with NVIDIA Optimus technology called the Eee PC 1215N. It’s good to see that the company may have a 10 inch option as well.

Update: Netbook News has posted a hands-on video with the Eee PC 1015N and a brief look at some of the other crazy stuff going on at the NVIDIA tent. You can check it out after the break.

Update 2: The folks at Notebook Italia noticed something else intriguing about this netbook: It’s one of the first to use Intel’s new 1.5GHz Atom N550 dual core processor.

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Sure, Intel is expected to introduce a dual core Atom N550 processor built for netbooks any day now. But some folks just don’t want to wait. Take Asus, for example. The company has apparently crammed an Intel Atom D510 dual core processor in its upcoming Asus Eee PC 1215N notebook. The D510 processor is designed for desktop computers, rather than netbooks, an the 1215N is one of the first laptops to use the chipset.

The Asus Eee PC 1215N also has second generation NVIDIA ION graphics for handling 1080p HD video playback and some 3D graphics performance.

The laptop has a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel HD display, HDMI and VGA output, 3 USB 3.0 ports, and a flash card connection. It will also be one of the first laptops to feature NVIDIA’s Optimus technology, which will support automatic switching between the NVDIA ION graphics and the integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics, depending on the task you’re performing. If you need higher performance graphics, it will kick in. If you don’t, the computer will use the lower power integrated graphics to help prolong battery life.

The folks at Netbook News.de snagged some hands on time with the Eee PC 1215N recently. It’s possible that while the pre-production sample uses the Atom D510 processor the final version could swap it for an Atom 550 chip once Intel officially launches that version. But really, anything’s possible at this point.