When it comes to computer processors consumers are used to paying more for each new generation. However, we are also used to seeing some serious improvement in performance from generation to generation as well.

It looks like Intel doesn't have big plans on increasing the performance of its Atom processors, though it does have plans to increase the price. I guess it makes sense for Intel when you think about it; they want us to buy their more expensive processors in full notebooks not the cheap, low margin netbooks.

Intel's latest Atom processor the N280 will carry a price premium of up to 39% more than the N270 netbooks do today. The catch is that the performance of the processor only increases marginally. You get a whopping 60Mhz more on the clock speed, new graphics, and a 667Mhz front side bus compared to the N270's 533MHz. The real benefit is that the N280 is supposed to be more power efficient. One of the first netbooks to use the new N280 will be the Asus 1004DN.

Via Laptop Mag