Man, this might just do it for me. $549 for a netbook I can read and write on, and actually use on a daily basis comfortably? I wasn't sure it could happen.

Considering this is the same size as the MacBook with half the weight for half the price, Apple's going to be getting some serious competition. Not to say the two computers compare, but you can't deny the fact that 80% of the computing populace doesn't need more than just Word and Firefox. Either way, you still stand to save a lot with it online.

So much for the Nano being the saviour of the netbook class. I know its clocked 300mhz less, but Via made it sound like this thing was gonna wipe the floor with Atom, and all the Atom/Netbook haters talked about how they were gonna wait until the Nano came out and yadda yadda ya. Turns out, Atom is just as fast, if not faster.

Scott,

Even though the graphics aren't so hot, the most important question (to me, at least) is: will it play AudioSurf? :)

At the very least, some genuine currently available cpu competition at the netbook level. This could bode well if it leads to performance boosts while keeping price, power requirements, and heat down. And overall, the specs look pretty good on this system. I'd love to know how Windows 7 will run on this. And add an hdmi output along with an optional dvd player.

Quicktime!!! You tested with that POS really!!! Come on QT even on OSX is poorly optimized for CPU's and doesn't even have proper GPU acceleration the Windows version is even worse than the OSX version.

Why didn't use you a proper media player with DXVA support for H.264 like Media Player Classic Home Cinema (make sure you use EVR custom mode as output).
http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/

Rename your QT test videos to .mp4 as otherwise MPC-HC will invoke QT to playback any .MOV video.

No testing of 1080p MKV either seriously bad testing guys, you need to re-do the review.

If a single 2GB module works, I'm wondering if a single 4GB will. After all, the Nano is 64-bit capable, but that's not worth much if the system maxes at 2GB.

Ion 2 platform and Via Nano dual core are where to really look for someone to enter anything near the segment with specs anything like those. Intel and AMD will have to counter when/if Via does something like that. And I suspect that they're bright enough to do so and to have something in the works already. But even so, getting manufacturers to push it out the door quickly will be their issue.

Still, since I suspect they will get leaked information as soon as someone starts putting together a cheap Ion 2/Nano dual core, Intel and AMD will have a chance to respond. That's when the ultraportable segment is going to get very interesting...particularly if Via and nVidia are willing to cut their profit margins for market penetrations. If an Ion 2/Nano dc platform can sell at $150 over the competition's single core Atom/GMA950 setup, it should eat them for lunch. And, I think that's not an unreasonable pricing expectation if Via and nVidia get aggressive -- which they should.

Of course by the time that a dc Nano comes out, the Neo X2 will also be available. So, one can also imagine a tweaked dv2 or similar system with a Neo X2 in the $800-range. I think that the Ion 2/Nano dual core will be the cheaper platform and will offer be able to offer better performance per watt at a significantly lower price point...two very important factors in the segment. But that's speculation.

I would have liked to see some video playback tests in either Media Player Classic Home Cinema, or Windows 7's Media Player 12, because both support DXVA for various video formats. Of course, as long as Flash doesn't support DXVA, most web video will be unaccelerated.

Me so very want. The size of an ultraportable with just enough hardware to make it work as an office machine & video player.

But unless either my laptop or my Aspire One goes up in a ball of flame, I won't be able to justify the cash outlay. So goes life...

Yeah, given the intended usage of this class of machine -- and VIA's claims about the abilities of the Chrome IGP -- more extensive video tests like a couple of people have asked for (YouTube, Hulu, Netflix) make sense. Doing it in a controlled way may be a problem though. You'd probably want to test a local, or local-network, FLV (ec) to factor out internet-originating hiccups. Though an interesting battery test might be to play a long video streaming over WiFi.

I'm very pleased with the overall showing of the NC20.

How do the hard drives compare between the units? It seems to me like the Nano's 7-zip scores should have been a little higher.

However, I was fully expecting the gaming results to turn out how they did.

What about Hulu or Netflix Watch-Instantly?

I'm reading this on my T60 laptop right now, so great comparison.

What about Vista? Is there any reason that it wouldn't work great on the machine?

I can't help but think the color scheme is some sort of jab at Apple...

Quick question : What about flash video playback?

Can you test whether it plays the HQ and HD youtube videos properly? Another flash video test might be cnet tv. The HD version of Cnet TV stutters a lot on Eee 1000H. I wonder if the NC20 can handle it?

Great review, Scott.

I still have to go back to my one demand for a netbook and/or ultra-port, though, which is... erm... quite simply...

GeForce 9300M/9400M chipsets and a ULV Core2, puhlease. They can do it, but they just don't want to because it will render everything else on the market obsolete.

Now I'm going to go find Butters and have him freeze me in snow and ice until that day comes.

:)

In that side-view pic on the second page with the Eee on top of the NC20, it looks like the Eee is dominating the NC20. :-)

I suspect that in 12 to 18 months time when Intel has Dual Core Atoms on a 32nm process and hopefully VIA and AMD have improved competitors too, that the Netbook market will then be one I am prepared to enter.

Performance and/or battery life is still too lacking for mine in current offerings

Not bad. One of these days I'd really like to have the opportunity to toy around on an Atom / Nano system to see how fast they "feel". I'm going to have to get over my performance hang up. From the outset, these aren't meant to be workhorse machines.