NVIDIA Ion platform review roundup

A handful of sites have managed to get their mitts on a miniature test PC equipped with NVIDIA’s Ion platform, and it looks like the line between netbook and laptop just got a whole lot blurrier. According to the testers, the setup delivers smooth HD video playback and could be a boon for the Home Theater PC market. It won’t play Crysis, but the DirectX 10-compatible chipset should do World of Warcraft and Left 4 Dead justice. Though the company claims it’ll only use 12% more power than comparative Intel 945GM/E-based solutions, PC Perspective found the test units to consume twice the wattage — of course, it might be a different story when Ion-equipped PCs hit retail channels. NVIDIA says the platform will tack on about $50 to $100 compared to similarly-spec’d 945GM/E models, and the first two computers to use it — one desktop and one netbook — should be out early summer.

Read – PC Perspective
Read – Laptop Magazine
Read – Hot Hardware

Filed under:

NVIDIA Ion platform review roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rumored Mac Mini refresh said to be Ion-based

People trading in salacious gossip have been counting on an update of the Mac mini for ages now, with most of the rumors centering on it making its appearance at Macworld. Well, the festivities came and went without a peep about the mini — but that hasn’t stopped the rumors from swirling. The latest we’re hearing is that the refresh will be built upon NVIDIA’s new Ion platform, which houses a 9400M GPU — the same graphics processor as the new unibody Macbooks — and could mean an even minier mini than the one we already know. Tom’s Hardware, the source of this newest rumor, also speculates on a March release date, though they’re not guessing on the price just yet.

Filed under:

Rumored Mac Mini refresh said to be Ion-based originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments