[Dunhamzzz]

As far as I can see its not possible to get the HD version in the UK. Bummer.

In the US, the only version with HD is the original Mini 10 and not the 10v? I really would have thought it'd be the 10v, with the superior Graphics chipset + processor...?

It really seems like there is still something in store for the Mini 10...? You can get the sluggier-but-hd version or the faster-but-standard screen version.

Really doesn't sell IMHO.

[somms]

I’ll close with this. In the near future my colleague Lionel will post a “Dummy’s Guide to the Atom Processor� as there are two versions out there: the Zxxx series (a.k.a. Silverthorne) and Nxxx series (a.k.a. Diamondville). In general, if you are planning on using a netbook device for video playback you should look for a device powered by the Z-series processor family, as it can handle hardware decode of 720p content and with Cyberlink codecs (which we do include on the Mini) can decode most of the more popular video formats. It also, surprisingly enough, contributes to better battery life because of lower power consumption. Both the Mini 10 and the Mini 12 are based on the Z-series Atom processors, and that’s all I’m going to say about that – stay tuned for Lionel’s post with more details.

Direct2Dell - Direct2Dell - DELL COMMUNITY

Dell has stated in not so many words that they don't consider the Mini10(v) to be HD worthy...just the non-OSX capable original Mini10. Doesn't look good for any hope of future upgrade for Mini10(v) to HD display!

[jor]

Originally Posted by Dunhamzzz

As far as I can see its not possible to get the HD version in the UK. Bummer.

In the US, the only version with HD is the original Mini 10 and not the 10v? I really would have thought it'd be the 10v, with the superior Graphics chipset + processor...?

It really seems like there is still something in store for the Mini 10...? You can get the sluggier-but-hd version or the faster-but-standard screen version.

Really doesn't sell IMHO.

OK. Let me get this straight. N270+GMA950 is not any faster/superior than z530+GMA500. Actually, when new drivers roll out, the latter has the potential to perform better.

RAM is the concern. Mini10 with 2gb RAM will be available later.

Mini 10v has the potential to run OSX smooth as Mini 9. But it's still in the air.

GMA950 and GMA500 are equally bad in terms of performance. What's one more frame per second gonna help?? HD is still choppy, let it be 5 fps or 6 fps...

Ion is coming out soon, with Lenovo's s12 as the frist in Aug.

[zrtom]

Originally Posted by jor

GMA950 and GMA500 are equally bad in terms of performance. What's one more frame per second gonna help?? HD is still choppy, let it be 5 fps or 6 fps...

IMHO the GMA500 (well, actually the Poulsbo chipset that it is part of) is much worse because of the I/O controller. It will not help an SSD very much, like the ICH7 will on the N270/GMA950.

[jor]

Originally Posted by zrtom

IMHO the GMA500 (well, actually the Poulsbo chipset that it is part of) is much worse because of the I/O controller. It will not help an SSD very much, like the ICH7 will on the N270/GMA950.

is this a driver issue or some sort of hardware limitation?

I am betting on intel's new driver.
Isn't gma500 supposed to be a 'newer' or 'better' technology?

[zrtom]

Hardware limitation, plain and simple. The Poulsbo uses an all-in-one single chip to conserve power (stripped-down I/O controller vs a regular South Bridge, etc.) and is just plain slow. I've spent quite a bit of time on the OCZ forums since getting a couple OCZ Vertex SSDs and I doubt that drivers will do much to salvage 40-50 MB/s reads and writes on the Mini 10 when an ICH7 controller should produce double or triple that.

Here's a quote about the Poulsbo from a pretty good AnandTech article:
In order to conserve power things like SATA and some of the USB ports were ripped out of the design.

Here's the article:
AnandTech: Intel's Atom Architecture: The Journey Begins