Samsung N510 11.6-inch NVIDIA Ion netbook coming

Samsung are preparing to launch a new, 11.6-inch netbook, the N510, and rather than Intel's Atom Z5xx series of processors they've picked the 1.66GHz N280.  The N510 will also use NVIDIA's Ion graphics chipset, paired with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard-drive.

The presence of Ion will make the N510 capable of high-definition video playback, which should make the WXGA 1,366 x 768 more usable.  Rival machines such as the Acer Aspire One 751, which have similarly-sized displays but use Atom Z5xx series processors and standard netbook graphics, have proved woefully underpowered for HD content.

Other Samsung N510 specs include WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth and wired ethernet, together with an integrated webcam and microphone, multi-format memory card reader, 6-cell Li-Ion battery and Windows XP Home.  It'll apparently be priced at around €570 ($799), which is mighty-expensive for an Atom-based netbook.