NetbookShow

HP appears to be preparing to refresh its business class netbook line with a new model called the HP Mini 5103. For the most part, this model looks like the HP Mini 5102  I reviewed a few months ago. But the new model will come with a choice of a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 or 1.86GHz Intel Atom N475 processor.

What that means is that unlike the HP Mini 5102, the 5103 supports faster DDR3 memory — although the difference in performance will likely be pretty minimal.

Like other business netbooks from HP, the Mini 5103 has premium features such as a 7200RPM hard drive, an accelerometer to shut off the hard drive in the event of a fall, and a magnesium alloy case. The netbook also comes with a slew of options including an optional Broadcom HD video accelerator, optional touchscreen display, choice of a hard drive or solid state disk, and a choice of operating systems including SUSE Linux, Windows 7 Starter, or Windows 7 Home Premium.

You can find detailed specs at HP Italy. The HP Mini 5103 is also available for purchase in Italy for between €482 and €597.

Toshiba has updated the Mini NB305  10.1-inch netbook, adding models with the Intel Atom N455 processor and DDR3 memory support to the lineup.

Besides the N455 CPU with GMA 3150 integrated graphics and the 1GB DDR3 memory, the Mini NB305 listed at Toshibadirect.com features a 1024×600 LED-backlight display, 250GB hard drive, 6-cell battery for up to 8.75 hours run time, Windows 7 Starter OS, and optional 3G mobile broadband connectivity by Gobi.

The NB305 starts at 2.6 pounds and has a chiclet-style keyboard, web camera and microphone, a “stereo speaker”, multi-touch trackpad, 802.11n Wi-Fi, a LAN port, three USB ports, a memory-card reader, and a VGA port.

Toshiba’s netbook with the N455 and DDR3 is offered at Best Buy for $380 in blue, red, white, and brown color. The listed 3G model – NB305-N444BN – is priced at $469.99, but is not available at the time of this writing.

Acer is reportedly preparing to launch a new 10 inch netbook with support for Intel’s new Atom N455 and N475 processors. The biggest change is that these chips can accept DDR3 memory while all of Acer’s existing netbooks are stuck with plain ole DDR2 RAM.

The folks at Macles note that the upcoming Acer Aspire One 533 also features shiny chromed edges around the touchpad buttons and part of the lid.

DDR3 memory uses a little less power than DDR2 memory, which should help boost battery life a tiny bit. Acer says the Aspire One 533 should be good for up to 10 hours of run time. The netbook features a 10.1 inch display, Intel GMA 3150 graphics, optional Bluetooth 3.0, and either a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 or 1.83GHz Intel Atom N475 processor.

The Toshiba NB305 is widely regarded as one of the best netbooks around – and with good reason.  It’s a good looker, has an amazing keyboard, good build quality and a pretty reasonable price.  It looks as though it’s now due for another update – only around 2 months after it got the new-ish Atom N450 – according to Toshiba’s French website (the page has been taken down now).  It’s being upgraded to the ever-so-slightly-newer N455, which retains the same 1.6GHz clock speed but adds in support for DDR3 RAM.

Aside from that, the other specs look largely unchanged – Windows 7 Starter, 10.1″ screen, 250GB Hard Drive and 1GB (DDR3!) RAM.

The other wonderful side-effect of all these netbook leaks is we now know Intel’s Atom lineup for the near-future – the 1.6GHz N455, the 1.83GHz N475 (both with DDR3 support) any time now, and a little further down the line the dual-core Atom N500.