Netbooks that use an upcoming Atom chip from Intel will no longer be restricted to 1 GB of RAM.
Fudzilla reports that netbook manufacturers will have to wait for Intel's Atom N470 processor, due to arrive in March 2010, before they can start fitting the mini-notebook computers with twice the RAM as before. That means the very next processor in line, the Atom N450, will still be restricted.
This is good news, because right now all netbooks tend to read exactly the same for specs. You generally get an Intel Atom processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive (or in some cases, a 32 GB solid state drive) and very little in the way of graphics performance. On such low-end machines as netbooks, even a little more RAM can make a big difference.
Still, I've got some questions about Fudzilla's report (aside from its sources being unclear). It says storage guidance will top out at 32 GB for SSD and 160 GB for HDD, but TechARP's oft-cited Windows 7 netbook restrictions say 64 GB SSD and 250 GB HDD are allowed.
Fudzilla believes that screen sizes will stay in the range of 7- to 10-inches, while batteries will be four cells or less, though we've already seen a better battery in Nokia's Booklet 3G, which packs 12 cells.
And there's no mention of TechARP's finding that Microsoft restricts Windows 7 netbooks to 1 GB of RAM. If Intel is willing to double that, will this be a source of friction between the two companies? Or will netbooks with 2 GB of RAM be considerably pricier because they don't qualify for cheap Windows licensing? I suppose we'll find out in March, but I'm not ready to celebrate the rejuvenation of netbooks just yet.
