14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that the times of netbooks being mostly limited to a form factor and hardware parameters dictated by Intel is drawing to a close now that a newer and stronger generation of CPUs is approaching.
End-users following the events on the laptop market, and the netbook segment in particular, are probably aware of the fact that pretty much every low-end model out there has a screen size of 10.1 inches.
Some may have also seen that models powered by the AMD Fusion architecture actually come in different form factors as well.
Simply put, when it developed the Atom series of central processing units, the Santa Clara, California-based chip giant placed some restrictions.
Among them was that all netbooks would have the aforementioned 10.1-inch size, with another condition being that the memory be lower than on notebooks (2 GB tops at present).
The purpose of this was to ensure that netbooks always remained distinguishable from all other laptops on sale, so that shipment levels didn't fluctuate dangerously.
Now, however, it is reported that these restrictions will, if not disappear, at least be loosened once the Cedar Trail series of Atom chips arrives, later this year.
Some of these changes were made clear when the details on the D2500 and D2700 were exposed, complete with the built-in, DirectX 10.1 graphics.
Apparently, netbooks will be able to have more memory than before, 4 GB to be exact, which is quite a lot, considering that it is of the DDR3 variety.
Another thing of note is that the screen size will now be allowed to range between 7 inches and a full 12.1 inches.
What's more, netbooks will be able to get 32 GB SSDs or HDDs of up to 250 GB, while prices will go as high as $399.
As for operating systems, Windows 7 Starter/ Home basic, MeeGo and Chome OS (whenever it debuts) are supported.