Netbook fans have been craving for more processor power on their devices since these tiny devices made their debut. ATOM processors have made it easier for netbook owners to get hours of battery life and decent performance on the go. But netbooks have still ways to go before they can handle some of the more complicated. So there is always room for improvements in processing power and performance.  That’s why dual-core netbooks are no brainers. We may not have too many of them around, but with the demands that mobile life puts on computers these days, it’s only a matter of time before multi-core processors are released to netbooks.

The challenges of adding multi-core processors to netbooks are real. It’s not as if Intel and AMD have been hiding their dual core processors to play the market. In fact, Intel has already announced its plans to bring dual core ATOM processors to next generation netbooks. Intel has had experience with dual core processors on small desktops (e.g. D510). While its N450 and N470 processors are more powerful than their predecessors, they are by no means processors that you can rely on to complete complicated work on the go.

Size, battery life, and performance all go hand in hand when it comes to introducing a new class of processors for netbooks. Intel wouldn’t want to introduce a CPU that makes netbooks less energy efficient and battery hogs. More sophisticated processes will lead to netbooks consuming more energy, so there need to be a balance there.

Today’s best netbooks are decent and have their own merits. But the future of this market lies with multi-core processors. That’s just a no brainer. Mobile computing should be about convenience and performance. It’s time netbooks delivered on the latter.