It is a fact that netbooks don’t have the power to processes high-definition video and generally fall flat in terms of HD video playback capability. The Intel Atom processor and the Intel GMA950 graphics chipset struggle to deliver even 720p videos. Primarily the reason for this is that the netbooks aren’t actually built with HD in mind but, jack it up a bit and your netbook is ready to deliver HD content as high as 1080p which is off course limited by the resolution of the netbook (that can be taken care of by connecting it to an external HD display).

Terracode, a provider of custom hardware and software solutions, has just done that by jacking up an Acer Aspire One A150-1706 netbook with a Broadcom mini PCI-e based HD video accelerator card (model BCM70012), 64GB Kingston V series SSD, and an additional 1GB DDR2 memory. The Broadcom HD video accelerator can handle 1080p video without putting much strain on the system and moreover it is capable of decoding all major video formats like:

·         H.264/AVC HP at L 4.1 1080p/1080i, 40 Mbps

·         SMPTE VC-1 AP at L 3 1080p/1080i, 40 Mbps

·         WMV9 (VC-1 SP and MP)

·         MPEG-2 MP @ ML and MP @ HL

·         QVGA to Full HD (1080p) support

·         Streaming Media playback on netbooks/nettops

·         Blu-ray disc playback on netbooks/nettops

There are not many netbooks out there which give users an option to add in the Broadcom HD video accelerator. HP offers it as an optional upgrade to its Mini 110XP which costs $444 (including Broadcom device). Terracode not only managed to add the Broadcom HD video accelerator card for $442 but also managed to slip in an extra 1GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD alongside. Although, the Acer Aspire One has a screen resolution of 1,024x600 one can always connect it to an external source through the VGA output so as to obtain videos with resolution up to 1,920x1,080.

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