Toshiba has announced that it’s finally catching up to the crowd by launching a netbook based around Intel’s dual-core Atom N550 CPU.
The NB520 takes a slightly more upmarket approach than most, as Intel’s latest low-power processor is joined by 2GB DDR3 and a pair of 2W Harmon/Kardon speakers. Apparently these are the smallest speakers that Harmon has ever produced and even though they’re still pretty weak, they should be much better than what we’ve come to expect from this class of PC.
To help you get the most out of the upgraded sound-system, the NB520 will even let you use them when the netbook is powered down by running a media player through the microphone jack.
Otherwise the specs are fairly unspectacular and include a 250GB HDD, 1,024x600px LED-backlit display, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 – although an upgrade to Bluetooth 3.0 will be made available via software – and a ten hour battery life using the supplied 6-cell power-pack.
The company is also offering a slightly less flashy model with the NB500. The CPU is switched out for a single-core Atom N455, the RAM is downgraded to 1GB and the fancy speakers have been removed. Even the battery-life is downgraded to 8 hours with the six-cell pack or 4.5 hours with the three-cell model. However, the price should be quite a bit lower as well.
Both the NB500 and the NB520 will share the same textured chassis that’s adorned with a rubbery finish in blue, brown, lime green, turquoise or orange, as well as black for the NB500.
Tosh’s netbooks are well regarded for being pretty well built and having fairly excellent keyboards and we’d hope that these new models live up to that legacy. Both should arrive some time in the first quarter of next year, although pricing hasn’t been announced just yet.
