Today VIA announced the VIA Nano processor family based on the VIA Isaiah Architecture.

Building on the market-leading energy efficiency of the VIA C7 processor family, the VIA Nano processor family offers as much as four times the performance within the same power range to extend VIA’s performance per watt leadership, while pin compatibility with VIA C7 processors will ensure a smooth transition for OEMs and motherboard vendors, and provides them with an easy upgrade path for current system or board designs.

The chip is going to be offered with a 800Mhz front side bus and clock speeds from 1.0GHz to 1.8GHz. The release also states the Maximum Power requirements (TDP Max) from 5W to 25W depending on the clock speed. The release also contains some of the additional features including 64-bit Out-of-Order MicroArchitecture, VIA Padlock Security Engine, and PowerSaver Technology. Click the link above for the full release.

Hp2133guide.com is reporting some interesting news on the isaiah chip, snippets from the article.

Isaiah will consumer more power than Intel’s Atom processor

I wonder if it requires the same amount of power as the C7.

“It’s (Isaiah) between two and four times the performance of C7. So, it’ very, very close to (Intel’s) Core 2. Core 2 solo (single core)”

Read the full article at hp2133guide

Ubuntu boot comparison;

HP has posted the image to the SuSE Linux 10 installation files on the HP Support Page. An excerpt from the release notes below:

EEE 900 and HP 2133 Boot comparison with default linux setups (I know, I said EEEPC instead of EPC…)

Misco.co.uk Delivered my hp 2133 mini-note KX872AA today over a month early (compaired to the june rumors)! As you’ll have to understand I’m eager to mess around with it. It’s also available and listed as in stock on other online retailers. I’ll leave you with the un-boxing pics;

First Impressions :

I don’t care about the cpu speed I just think this is a great machine, heres what I like most about it;

• Stunning High Resolution screen
• Best Keyboard that I have ever had on a laptop
• Looks better than in the photos I’ve seen
• It belongs to me

Thanks Misco.co.uk

Hp2133Guide is reporting that HP has got some new configurations for the Mininote and xp as of tonight, from the article;

HP’s got some new 2133 configs out as of tonight, including options for “downgrading” to Windows XP on models over $700 — more or less as expected. They’re up to eight base configs ranging from $500 to $820, so if you’ve been thinking of picking one up you’ve certainly got plenty of options to choose from.

This is great news as we all know that the mini-note runs far better under windows XP than it does under Vista

The Forums will be updated to include these models later today.

Engadget is reporting on new rules for the UMPC XP market, From the article;

While Microsoft has seen it fit to keep XP around as its “relatively non-bloated OS” alternative to the Linux that has dominated this new category of “ultra low-cost PCs” (ULPCs), they’re certainly not giving away the farm. Microsoft doesn’t want this version of XP Home creeping into mainstream laptops and desktops, where it might compete with Vista sales and high-margin machines from PC manufacturers. To that end, Microsoft is setting the limits for ULPCs at 10.2-inch screens, 80GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, 1GHz processors (with some exceptions) and no touchscreens. The upshot is that licenses for XP will go for $26 in developing nations and $32 elsewhere. Too bad the XP faithful among us will need to try a bit harder to wrangle XP onto new machines of theirs that don’t fit these narrow specifications.

What does this mean for the Mininote if it gets the new VIA Isaiah CPU?

We all know that being able to replace the HDD/SDD drive in the mini-note is a big plus and today I have lots of news about that. First of all Chris posted a blog entry (with pictures) on how you replace the mini notes hard drive. This has been added to the wiki;

Earlier in the week Tigger1 posted about replacing the HDD with a 10,000 RPM Drive and I’m pleased to say that he has reported a big improvement in the overall speed of the mininote;

About the same time Biohazard reported that A new Compact Flash drive that is compatible with the SATA interface (used in the mininote) is coming out. The key thing with this is as many forum members pointed out, it’s small and makes more space in the HP2133. Space that could be used for hacks.

Laptopmag.com and hp2133guide.com have reported that the 2133 Mini-note will be coming with XP pre-configured soon. Others have reported speaking with HP sales reps and have heard the same. While no specific date is given, the general consensus is that it will happen sometime in May and maybe as soon as next week!