We've seen a few NVIDIA ION-based netbooks begin to appear, and Taiwan's ASRock is getting ready to claim its share of the pie.
This here system is the ASRock Multibook G22, a 12in netbook that's armed with NVIDIA's ION chipset - complete with GeForce 9400M graphics - 2GB of DDR2 memory, and a dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom 330 processor.
Given the suggested specification, it's essentially ASRock's ION 330 nettop in a netbook form factor, but that's no bad thing.
The Multibook G22 features a 12.1in screen that provides a 1,366x768 resolution, and it's housing a 320GB hard drive, as well as a DVD writer, too. It's a borderline notebook, we reckon, but we're sticking to our guns and labelling it a netbook due to the limited Atom processor as its heart.
Elsewhere, there's a multi-touch trackpad, a multi-card reader, HDMI out, a trio of USB ports, Ethernet, Wireless N and Bluetooth connectivity. And the customary 1.3 megapixel webcam, of course.
It's looking like a very decent netbook, but there's no mention of pricing or availability yet. What do you think, dear readers? Is the ION+Atom combo the way forward for netbooks? Here at HEXUS, we're liking the potential of NVIDIA's chipset, but we reckon it's a mismatch when paired with Intel's Atom. What we'd like to see is ION plugged with an Intel Core 2 Duo CULV processor - that might sacrifice a smidgen of battery life, but it'd make for a potent portable solution, we feel.
*Update* We've spoken to Kevin Moffat, business development manager at Spire - a Dorset-based ASRock distributor - and confirmed that the Multibook G22 is happening. Although unable to provide a time frame for availability, Kevin has provided the following complete specification:
