Mini Notebook ComputersNew platforms for mini notebook computers have come out. New mini laptops with NVidia's Ion platform and Intel's Pine Trail are on sale. While the processor may be the same in the NVidia machines, the performance is different.The Ion includes a graphics processor. Originally the processor was a GeForce 9400M (G). Now the processor is an "Ion 2" processor. The two processors are about equivalent and reasonable. A 9400 is the upgrade in some of the thin and light or ultra-portable 13 inch laptops. The Ion platform uses a different chipset than the integrated Atom motherboard and processor Intel originally sold. It also supports more memory than the original Intel motherboard. Pine Trail is a rebuild of the Atom platform. It is essentially the same thing Intel has done with the Core i processors that were announced at the Consumer Electronics Show. The new Atom processors have been shrunk to 45 nm. and have an integrated graphics processor and memory controller on the processor and have eliminated one of the motherboard chipsets. The Intel graphics are not as good as the NVidia card. It is called the GMA 3150. The number would lead you to believe this is a faster graphics card than the GMA 3100 that was in laptop computers in 2008. It isn't. It is faster than the GMA 900 or GMA 500 from the old Atom motherboards, but not much.Intel claims it will support low level gaming. The real advantage of Pine Trail is that it reduces energy consumption like the Core i chips because of the eliminated chip set. The processor is cooler and faster because of its smaller size. return to best-processors-for-laptop
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