iiView A2 12.1' Netbook Preview

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Product: A2
Manufacturer: iiView
Supplied by: House of Notebook
Price: 489USD/RM1700
Launch Date: July 2009

If you are paying attention to the computer industry then you will probably notice that there are plenty of netbooks were launched lately. Hence today let us bring you a quick preview on one of the new brands that you may not aware; iiView which was founded at Hong Kong in 2006. A2 is iiView first attempted netbook with 12" display, decent specifications, stylish design as well as competitive price.

Company Profile

iiView is a Hong Kong company founded in 2006 by inventor and businessman Mr.Cyril Alonzo. iiView designs and builds one of the first true hybrid computer / televisions to enter the commercial consumer market. This media system is designed and built to run on Microsoft's Ultimate Vista software. Web presence at www.ii-view.com

Features

- The beauty of unibody
This revolutionary unibody design replaces many parts with just one and results in a clean, seamless appearance.

- A no-compromise display
The moment you open iiView A2, you're greeted by instant full screen brightness. Its slim design doesn't compromise on size: The glossy 12.1-inch, widescreen LED-backlit iiView A2 display offers the same viewable size as the screen on the new 12-inch iiView A2. The 1280-by-800 resolution gives you vibrant images and rich colors, making it perfect for watching your own in-flight movies. And LED technology makes the display more power efficient, which translates into longer battery life.

Overall Specifications

Technical Specifications

Package & Content

Let us find it out what are accessories that are bundled together for iiView A2. Basically there are iiView A2 netbook, 45W MagSafe power adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, install/restore DVDs, display cleaning cloth, printed and electronic documentation. Besides that, two more adapters aren't mentioned in the specifications are USB to Ethernet port (LAN networking) and HDMI to VGA adapter (display extension).

A Closer Look - iiView A2

iiView is definitely a new brand to us and we just knew it last week through one of our close working partners. Hence we have decided to give this product a closer write-up especially for those are not affordable to get a MacBook Air since iiView A2 is a pretty cheap replacement. Unfortunately we don't have any sample on hand with us now else we can give you a full review of iiView A2 especially its exterior design and build quality. Let us deep-dive this product in detail without further delay.

Basically iiView A2 was just launched 2 months ago and it is the second attempted product that iiView has. TV media center is iiView first product; covering from 17" till 47" all-in-one media system and there are two 17" models come with touch screen feature which is another upcoming hot cake product in PC industry. For more detail regarding iiView media center, please visit here.

As we mentioned previously iiView A2 looks exactly same with MacBook Air but it is a 12" netbook rather than 13" notebook (MacBook Air isn't using Intel Atom so we don't name it as netbook since its has greater capability). The overall dimension and weight of iiView A2 are 27 x 302 x 276 mm (H X W X D) and 1.36kg; basically iiView A2 is just exactly same size with a A4 sheet in term of width & length but its weight is a bit heavier than other netbooks but it is expected since it is a 12" netbook.

Most of the netbooks will either come with 9", 10" or 11" display but with iiView A2 is a 12" netbook so now consumers have another choice when selecting a netbook especially for those are looking for a larger viewable netbook. For better power consumption and brightness reliability purposes, iiView A2 is equipped with LED-backlite display (glossy wide screen) which is much better than CCFL technology. The native resolution of iiView A2 is 1280 x 800 at 16:10 aspect ratio which is pretty good for a 12" netbook.

iiView A2 is equipped with Intel Atom CPU for lower product cost purpose and Atom N270 single core CPU was selected where its overall specifications are 1.6GHz frequency speed, 512KB L2 cache, 53MHz FSB and 2.5W TDP (total dissipated power). Basically Atom N270 is not a new Atom CPU as most of other new netbooks already started shift to N280; dual core CPU with 1.66GHz frequency speed and 667MHz FSB.

In term of memory and storage, iiView A2 is pretty good as it comes with 2GB memory and 320GB HDD while other branded netbook only comes with 1GB memory and 160GB HDD which are the top-down direction from Microsoft for XP Home OS netbook. No detail specs are given for these two commodities but we predict they are 2GB DDR2 667MHz SDRAM and 5400RPM SATA HDD; please correct us if you know the right specs of these two hardware.

In term of peripheral connections; iiView A2 comes with better spec than MacBook Air as mini DisplayPort (DP) was replaced by HDMI which is much popular among all the new connectivities although DP is also one of the latest video connectivities as well. Besides that there is a single analog audio/headphone minijack and one USB 2.0port which support up to 480Mbps. All these three ports are protected by a lid and there is one more USB port on the right of the system; right beside the power adapter port.

For the keyboard, iiView A2 comes with built-in full-size keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys (inverted "T" arrangement). While the touch pad is a large solid-state trackpad with gesture e. Unfortunately the keyboard is not backlit keyboard and the trackpad is a standard trackpad without multi-touch gesture support like MacBook Air. Anyway these are expected for a value netbook since such features are not available for other branded netbooks as well.

Other graphics and video support of iiView A2 are built-in 1.3 mp webcam and VGA output (with mini HDMI to VGA adapter). For wireless, iiView A2 is equipped with 802.11 a/b/g/n which is the fastest and latest wireless connectivity but sadly to tell no Bluetooth is integrated for iiView A2. For the battery and power, iiView A2 is using six cells battery which is able to last up to three hours with wireless productivity. Besides the minijack, iiView A2 is also integrated with a mono speaker and a omni-directional microphone.

Most of the netbooks will come with Microsoft Window XP Home SP3 but iiView A2 is preinstalled with Microsoft Window 7 RC1 (release candidate) with Vista Home premium license which is pretty interesting where consumers are allowed to upgrade to Window 7 for free for those purchase a Vista-based system on or after June 27.

In term of environment user friendly, iiView A2 is designed with the following features to reduce its environmental impact such as Arsenic-free display glass, BFR-free, PVC-free, ENERGY STAR 5.0 and rated EPEAT Gold.

BabyPC.com.au Video Review

Since we don't get the physical unit for real physical inspections and some benchmarking on iiView A2, we have attached some of the online video reviews of iiView A2 (BabyPC.com.au) and CNET (here). Overall the build quality of iiView A2 is pretty impressive and sturdy for such cheap netbook although it comes with plastic chassis but the finishing is still up to expectation; glossy surface for exterior panels while non glossy surface for interior panels. The LCD panel is not glossy type which is definitely good for long hour of working but most of the consumers will prefer glossy type since it is much more charming; anyway the LCD display is bright enough and hopefully it is as lasting as possible since some of the low end LCD panels are getting dimmer and dimmer after sometime. Besides that iiView A2 comes with some preinstalled software as well such as RocketDock Launcher, Skype, Avast Antivirus, WinRAR, Adobe Reader, Super Internet TV and Google Earth; they are freeware but still good to have them preinstall.

For better comparison between iiView A2 and other netbooks & MacBook Air, we have summarized them in a single sheet of table for easier and clearer comparison.

Pre-Verdicts

For the first attempted netbook, iiView did a very good job here by creating a stylish netbook with decent specifications and more important is the keeping the cost as low as possible. If iiView A2 is a branded product, we believe the respond and demand will be much higher and hence iiView has provided two years warranty to gain more confident from potential customers on this product. We can't really comment on the build quality of iiView A2 since we never touch it before but based on the feedback from other reviewers, it seems it is pretty sturdy and solid. Hopefully we will have a chance to bring you a full review with plenty of clearer pictures and full benchmarking results soon. Overall we are pretty impressed by iiView A2 especially with its MSRP 489USD and it just falls in between a Macbook Air and other 9-11" netbooks in most of the aspects.

Pros:

+ Value with decent specs
+ Stylish & awesome design
+ Slim & light weight
+ 2GB DIMM + 320GB HDD
+ 802.11a/b/g wireless
+ 1200x 800 resolutions
+ 1.3 mega pixels camera
+ HDMI port, VGA & Ethernet adapters
+ Window & RC1 with Vista Home Premium License
+ 2 years warranty