Netbooks have settled into a comfortable set of stock components, offering basic PC functionality for prices unheard of even a few years ago. The typical setup of a 10-inch display, Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Starter is easy to find for as little as $299, and more than adequate for many tasks, from e-mail to surfing the Web.
Gateway LT3201u
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But those low, low prices mean that PC makers are eager to upsell, and a handful of similar systems have turned up, with larger HD displays, more RAM, and even better CPUs and graphics capabilities, such as the Asus Eee PC 1201, which pairs a bigger screen with Nvidia's Ion GPU for what we sometimes call a "premium Netbook" experience.
A recent system to offer this mix of a little more Netbook for a little more money is the Gateway LT3201u. This 11.6-inch laptop skips the typical Intel Atom for an AMD Athlon Neo II K125 processor. Though still a single-core chip, AMD has always positioned the Neo as a better performer than the Atom, and during initial anecdotal hands-on use, that certainly seems to be the case. The LT32 also includes ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 graphics--still not a discrete GPU, but a small step up from the integrated Intel graphics found in most Netbooks.
Almost as important to the end-user experience is the 2GB of RAM (double what's in a typical Netbook) and the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system instead of the more common Windows 7 Starter Edition.
Note, however, that we're also starting to see dual-core versions of AMD premium Netbooks, including the Dell Inspiron M101z, which is even faster, but also more expensive, crossing that important psychological barrier of $500.