Does having a single-core CPU matter? You'd think so looking at the PCMark results, but our Gimp test results tell a slightly different story. Yes, the C7-M isn't on a par with the Atom, but it doesn't fare so very badly, and running classic netbook apps, you'd probably not feel much of a difference.
The Gimp Results
Time in seconds
Shorter bars are better
But then this is a Windows machine, and because of that we can see people attempting to run other kinds of apps on it, potentially less happily. The undoubtedly sub-par hard drive speed doesn't help.
The Pro's battery life is a little sub-par too, even falling below some Atom-based machines set to run at half clock-speed. That said, it has the same capacity as, say, the Acer Aspire One, but delivers a much longer runtime. But there are longer-running netbooks out there.
Battery Life Results
Time in minutes
Longer bars are better
Our test is a worse-case scenario - for most other tasks, the battery will last longer. But it does give an indication of how well each SCC can eke out its charge.
COMMENTS
Hardware choices
Do you folks (hardware reviewers/pundits) regard devices like the Nokia N810 in the same class as these devices?
It's a great deal lighter (which to me seems like a huge advantage in the market for smaller-than-a-macbook devices), and I expect an important reason is that the ARM processor means it can get away with a much smaller battery. I'd love to see some comparative reviews of devices in this class, to see whether I'm losing anything that matters by choosing an ARM-based device, or whether it's a no-brainer.
