Packard Bell unveils AMD VISION-powered dot a netbook

by Parm Mann on 24 May 2010, 13:40

Tags: dot a, Packard Bell (TPE:2353)

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AMD's revitalised VISION has already resulted in supporting systems from the likes of Dell and Acer, and it looks as though Packard Bell - an Acer subsidiary - is now getting in on the act.

Unveiled today is the Taiwanese manufacturer's latest addition to the dot line of netbooks, dubbed simply the dot a.

The 11.6in ultra-portable AMD-powered system measures less than 25mm thick and weighs 1.35kg.

Available in a choice of Black, Silk Silver or Cashmere Red finishes, the netbook features a patterned outer cover that Packard Bell reckons "enhances the visual richness and adds a soft and warm touch".

The keyboard looks a decent size, and there's a multi-touch trackpad for all your usual gesture controls. What helps the dot a stand out amid an Intel Atom-based crowd, however, is the choice of internal components.

Dot a can be configured with a choice of three AMD processors; the 1.2GHz V Series V105 (single-core), the 1.7GHz Athlon II Neo K125 (single-core) or the 1.3GHz Athlon II Neo K325 (dual-core). Your choice of CPU is then paired with AMD's M880G chipset and accompanying Radeon HD 4225 graphics, as well as 4GB of memory and a 640GB hard disk.

A useful-looking combination for an 11.6in system, and Packard Bell rounds off the spec sheet with a multi-card-reader, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, HDMI out, Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system and Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, which is no doubt bundled to highlight the fact that dot a's graphical prowess is beyond that of a regular netbook.

As for battery life, a six-cell pack is used to power the device and we're told it'll deliver up to seven hours of usage from a single charge.

Packard Bell's dot a will reach stores in "summer 2010" priced from £399, putting it right up against the ASUS's Eee PC 1201N. Question is; dual-core Athlon and Radeon HD graphics or dual-core Atom and NVIDIA ION graphics?



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Packard Bell's dot a will reach stores in “summer 2010” priced from £399, putting it right up against the ASUS's Eee PC 1201N. Question is; dual-core Athlon and Radeon HD graphics or dual-core Atom and NVIDIA ION graphics?
Looking at the spec, how is this different from last year's Acer Ferrari One netbook? The only difference I see, is the GPU has been clocked down a bit and the 256mb discrete gfx memory has been removed - but didn't the Acer Ferrari also cost around £400?

Am I missing something?
Covenant
Looking at the spec, how is this different from last year's Acer Ferrari One netbook?

Newer processors based on Phenom II rather than Athlon 64, newer chipset (880G vs 780G), and afaik the Acer Ferrari One didn't have discreet graphics or dedicated graphics ram (unless I've missed a particular revision of it). The new platform has a wider range of CPU options (single and dual cores), and noticably better battery life.