Samsung NC20 Netbook Leaked; VIA Nano CPU

Leaked information regarding Samsung’s upcoming NC20 netbook indicates a release date sometime within February.

We have seen plenty of netbooks released this last year, but with few exceptions they have all been based on the Intel Atom processor, as well as including a 7-inch to 10-inch display. An early leak though reveals Samsung’s upcoming NC20 will take a different approach to the netbook design, including a larger 12.1-inch display and a Via Nano processor.

According to the source, the Samsung NC20 will be featuring a 1.3 GHz Via Nano U225 processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive, 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, a media card reader and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. Considering the specifications, the Samsung NC20 will not be as powerful as a traditional notebook, but unlike Samsung’s X360 ultra-portable, it should be rather affordable.  The source claims the price will be around $642, which seems too specific to be just a guess. 

Other details about the Samsung NC20 include that it will look similar to the 10-inch NC10 netbook that recently was released and that it will weigh in at roughly 3.3-pounds.  As for expected performance, according to an online demonstration earlier this year, the Via Nano 1.3 GHz processor beat out the Intel Atom 1.6 GHz in HD playback performance.

Although the Samsung NC20 is not the first 12-inch netbook to be released, 12-inchers still are a rarity, although that might change in the New Year.  With Nvidia recently announcing its new Ion platform, which is expected to greatly increase the graphics capabilities of netbooks, expect the line between netbook and notebook to be further blurred in the New Year.  Aided by increased system performance, larger screen sizes seem like an all too natural direction to take netbooks.