NVIDIA ION 2: Coming Soon To Netbooks In April!

Folks who want to buy a netbook fitted with NVIDIA graphic processing unit (GPU) in the coming days, weeks or months, please hold up! Asking for you to delay your purchase has its reason: NVIDIA has finally released an announcement on its upcoming next-generation graphic card technology, collectively known as NVIDIA ION v2, due this coming April!

You may wonder what's so special about this upcoming hardware release from NVIDIA. The reason is simple: it is a pretty significant upgrade over contemporary NVIDIA graphic cards you see in the current market, even its predecessor, the NVIDIA ION 1st generation. The biggest difference between the ION 1st generation and the upcoming 2nd generation is that while ION 1 is a combine Northbridge/GPU chipset, the ION 2 is instead, a standalone, independent GPU.

According to the official NVIDIA ION website, NVIDIA ION 2 is developed to be media-savvy, which was supported by statements on which they claim the new ION graphic card can perform lots of media-intensive jobs such as support full 1080p video streaming on Youtube, Blu-Ray disc etc, accelerate popular video and music applications and enhance modern games' gaming experience such as World of Warcraft. 

If you take the above chart as reference, NVIDIA ION easily supercharges netbooks into the ranks of notebooks and desktop. The NVIDIA ION 2 boast a performance of ten times the performance of integrated graphic card, while Windows 7 Home Premium will be the platform on which the NVIDIA ION 2 is run.

However, the interesting news is offered to those netbook fans: NVIDIA ION 2-powered netbooks have integrated NVIDIA Optimus Technology, the solution for common weaknesses of netbooks, which are regarding short battery lifespan and inferior performance compared to desktop rigs or contemporary notebooks. What NVIDIA Optimus Technology offers is the ability to automatically and intelligently manage battery life and performance; a very compelling feature for novice users who does not know how to manually configure their netbooks to optimize performance and battery life.

Here are a summary of how the NVIDIA ION integrated into metbooks will work:


1. Optimus powers down the GPU for basic tasks like web surfing, further extending battery life. Likewise, when more graphic processing is needed for playing graphic-intensive games, streaming videos, or using GPU-compliant applications (for example, Adobe Photoshop), Optimus automatically activates the ION GPU.

2.  No user interaction is required for NVIDIA ION to work: Optimus seamlessly figures out how to best optimize the users' notebook computing experience.

NVIDIA ION's official website listed two netbooks: the Acer Aspire One 532G and the ASUS EEE PC 1201 PN as the first to-be-released netbooks in the market to run the much anticipated NVIDIA ION GPU fitted with Optimus Technology. And it's not just this two product: more than 30 product featuring NVIDIA ION & Optimus Technology are due to debut in the market ranging from desktops to motherboard manufacturers and add-in cards. The first batch of ION 2-powered ASUS EEE PC 1201 PN will go live on sale on April 2010, as well as the 30 different products.

Of course, at the end of the day, this is good news to those who wanted a netbook. Small, lightweight and now with NVIDIA ION 2, netbook can now officially share the same ability as notebooks and desktops in enjoying hi-def media streamings and gaming. Previously, netbook is bad at media-related stuffs and gaming, yet NVIDIA ION's the only thing that will make enjoying media and gaming on netbooks enjoyable. Therefore, if you are thinking about a long-term investment in netbooks, do just held back until April 2010...when the first NVIDIA ION 2-powered product hits the market. It is worth the wait and the money!

*Thanks to eweek.com, engadget,com and the official NVIDIA ION website for the information and pictures.