HP has revealed an 11.6-inch HD netbook that supports 1080p movie playback, video editing, and gaming.
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The Nvidia ION is a graphics processing unit (GPU) that works together with a low-power CPU to generate exceptional performance for compact, energy-efficient systems. By processing data-intensive applications in parallel with the CPU, ION-based netbooks offer many of the same capabilities of full-sized notebooks including support for all versions of Microsoft Windows.
The Mini 311 ships with Windows XP and features an 11.6-inch diagonal LED display available in high-definition 1366 x 768 resolution. It includes HDMI and VGA video connectors to output video up to 1080p.
The Mini also includes ArcSoft SimHD, which instantly converts most standard-definition video to near HD quality. SimHD uses the NVIDIA CUDA parallel computing architecture present on NVIDIA GPUs to perform this upscaling faster than on a CPU.
Tim Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies, Inc. said, “Our research shows that most people who buy a netbook expect it to behave like a full-sized notebook, but that has not been the case. With ION-based netbooks like this one from HP, consumers can expect a well-rounded experience and the ability to handle nearly all of their everyday computing needs.”
Nvidia’s Senior Vice President of the GPU Business Unit, Jeff Fisher said, “This is another example how good graphics can transform an entire category of products. Where last month netbooks were considered inadequate, this month HP delivers an amazing product with support for HD movies, games, video editing, and more. Why couldn’t netbooks do this before? They lacked good graphics.”
