14 DAY TRIAL // Last month, VIA was reported to have received Nano CPU orders from leading notebook vendor HP, which was supposedly planning a new Mini-Note PC that would be powered by VIA's flagship processor. Recent speculation indicates that HP is indeed getting ready to finalize the rumored netbook, and that it will showcase it at next year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The latest reports are coming in from the German-language NotebookJournal, which has it that HP's upcoming Mini-Note PC will be put on public display at the 2009 edition of CES, scheduled to take place on January 8-11. The interesting thing about the company's next generation Mini Note is that will be powered by one of VIA's Atom competitors, namely the Nano processor. Unfortunately, there aren't any details available regarding the system's technical specifications but, despite all that, this could turn out to be one of the most anticipated products ever designed by HP.
A Nano-powered Mini-Note PC would certainly be received as a welcome change on a market that is almost saturated with netbooks that are powered almost exclusively by Intel's successful Atom processor. Despite no particulars on the new Mini Note itself, we can only presume that HP will try to come up with a product that is at least as attractive as the company's current Mini Note. This one too is powered by a VIA processor, namely the C7-M ULV CPU.
Currently, the Mini Note can deliver a maximum storage of 160GB on a 7200RPM SATA hard drive, 1GB of DDR2 667MHz memory, and support for either a Windows or a Linux-based OS. Weighing in at approximately 1.20kg, it can be offered with either a 3-cell or a 6-cell battery.
If HP's Nano-powered Mini-Note PC manages to better all those Atom-powered netbooks now on the market, VIA could just become a major CPU manufacturer – and all thanks to its Nano processor.