Unfortunately I don’t get to do reviews here, I just can’t afford the toys. The people at PCMag aren’t as unfortunate. They have got their hands on the damn powerful VGN-SZ791N, and they really liked it. They gave it a hefty 4.5 out of 5 circles. It even earned the Editor’s Choice branding. Unfortunately, even the best can’t run Crysis, with a lousy frame-rate of 6 at 1024×768.
For the compete review, click over to PCMag.
I’ve been negative about technology for the last couple of days, but that is all set to change with MSI announcing the Wind. It is MSI’s competitor to the EeePC, with a few small differences.
It will feature a 10-inch display, a inch and a bit larger then the upcoming EeePC. It will use Atom architecture, and though the tests have shown it isn’t lightning, I’m confident the battery tests will be impressive. It will feature a 2.5-inch HDD, meaning the user should be able to put any size drive they want in there, as long as it fits. OS wise it features other Windows or Linux.
Some people are saying that “those features are for a notebook not a UMPC”, but the EeePC is a notebook.If the EeePC could do the same thing it would be an even more attractive package. If you consider what you gain, especially with an expected 7 hour battery life, the Wind will be more complete for the mobile user.
The price range is pretty crazy, with it being as low as $US450 and going to around $US1000. It really excites me to imagine a device that I could charge and use for a whole day without needed a second battery. No date as yet, but expect a rant when the product is released and reviewed.
For more info, hit up Gizmodo.
The Atom AKA Silverthorn is set to be in every upcoming MID device, and has already been demoed on a bunch of devices.I want to know how it will perform against other processor’s in its class? The people over at XTReview were lucky enough to sneak some benchmarks of a demo Asus MID device.
The results aren’t fantastic, with the 1.6GHz Atom in review doing very average on 1MB Super Pi benchmarks. It was beaten by the 900MHz Celeron, which could mean the EeePC will be faster then the upcoming MID’s. On the other hand, the Pi tests aren’t the bases of all results, and will have to wait for a complete benchmark to be completed (will it run Crysis?).
The advantages of the 45nm processors are the power savings, but considering that a lot of companies are expecting to be running Vista on these little devices, they may encounter some performance issues. Until I have seen all round benchmarks, including battery life, I will reserve my all mighty judgement.
For the benchmarks, click over to XTReviews.
P.S. A little less advertising and a little more design goes a long way XTReviews.
It has been used for hundreds of years to explain things that are small (as well as collection of neutrons, electrons and protons). The name that the Silverthorn collection of Intel processors will hold is Atom. Menlow will also get a name change following the shrinking of the core down to 45nm (see the Apple Air) to Centrino Atom. Now all we are waiting for is the collection of fast and low powered MID’s and UMPC with Atom’s Inside (TM Intel).
For more info, click over to Engadget.
Hot Hardware have ran the brand spanking new Intel E8500 Core 2 Duo through its paces. They liked the chip, saying “If you’re a gamer, the Core 2 Duo E8500 will deliver better performance compared to a low-end quad-core.” The things they didn’t like were mainly price related, which is fair enough for a brand new processor from Intel. If you wanted a budget Core 2 Duo, look at the 6 series. If you want kick arse you can’t go past the E8500 (unless you can afford the E8650).
For the complete review, click over to Hot Hardware.
Everex have been getting a lot of media time of late. They seem to make really check PC’s that give pretty good value. The latest computer to be released is the mini gPC, and is focused directly at the Mac Mini.
Inside you get an 1.86GHz Intel Dual-Core Mobile Processor T2130 (1MB L2 Cache, 1.86GHz, 533MHz), 120GB Hard Disk Drive, 512MB DDR2 667 SDRAM, DVD+/-RW, Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator GMA950, Realtek ALC268 High-Definition Audio, 10/100/1000 Ethernet Port, DVI-I Port, S-Video Port, IEEE 1394 Port, USB 2.0 Ports, 4-in1 Media Card Reader, Headphone/Line-Out Port, Microphone/Line-In Port. All this for as little as $US499.
It also comes with the custom Linux OS, that they seem to put on all the Everex gear, but considering you can get a notebook with better hardware for around the same price, it isn’t as sweet a deal as the other Everex PC’s. To top it off, it isn’t very attractive to look at, which is a small thing, but if you pay the cash you’d expect a little nicer design.
For more info, click over to Gizmodo.
I have a bad habit of making up words, when I don’t know a better one to place there. Today it is Stupidism (stew-pid-ism) meaning Too worship a product because it is very well marketed and not because it is very well designed.
The guys and girls over at The Inquirer believe that Apple fanboys are stupid and that the Macbook Air is actually not an Apple achievement at all. There argument is flawless in a lot of ways. In other ways maybe not.
The Macbook Air, doesn’t really do much. It doesn’t have anything amazing and unique other then its track pad and size. Steve Jobs made it quite clear that the Air would redefine Apple, and is the greatest device they have made. Wait a second, did Apple make it? Has the Apple logo, the keyboard, the signature good looks.
The truth is that all the Macbooks have that, and the only difference is the innards. The gutsy Intel processor. The efficient Intel video chipset. The tiny pencil sized Intel motherboard. Wait a second, is this an Intel product or an Apple product? That is the whole argument The Inquirer are offering, and for most of it I agree 100%.
There are a few problems with the argument, and that’s they don’t really who contacted who? Perhaps it was Apple who approached Intel with the design and said “make this”, or perhaps Intel showed Apple a new product and Apple said give I’ll take it?
Either way you will probably never know, and there is a good chance that there will be very similar devices announced by Apple competitors before the end of this year. The question is, will the competitors designs be so similar that you will know it was Intel’s concept all along, or will Apple stay unique to the rest?
For a good read, and a little bit of a rant, go over to The Inquirer.
I was Digging as I usually do when I’m extremely bored, and I came across a front pager about why an assortment of technology companies dislike Asustek. Normally I wouldn’t waste my time pointing out articles that only focuses on drawing in traffic, but this time I have to. The article is a very ridiculous call from a person who is supposed to be informative, not misleading them.
The article can be found on Datamation, and is titled The Most Hated Company In The PC Industry. To sum it up the writer discusses how Asustek and Intel are now chums, owing to the success of the EEEPC. He also states that the new technology is negatively effecting companies like Microsoft, Apple, Palm and Dell.
Firstly i would like to say the EeePC will have a minimal effect on Microsoft. The EeePC supports Windows XP and has even been seen running Vista. Xandos is a very powerful OS, and is known to be user friendly and intuitivel, but it has been around for years and hasn’t affected Microsoft’s OS market share in the slightest. Also, if you didn’t already know, Microsoft and Xandos have a collaboration, meaning it would be to Microsofts advantage if Xandos was to take market share from other Linux distro’s.
In the article the writer compares the price of an Apple iPod Touch (16GB model) to the 8GB EeePC, and concludes that the EeePC is slightly cheaper ($US69). Considering the devices are completely different and designed for such different functions, comparing them is just crazy. To even debate the comparison is a waste of the readers time.
It is true that Dell and other PC manufactures, who have a series of flash drive based notebooks, could be affected by the EeePC. That is, if their notebooks had not been designed for a completely different market. Ultra Mobile Personal Computers are usually designed to be used without a desk or while standing. Wrap your hands around the EeePC and you will quickly discover it is merely a tiny laptop. Examples of true UMPC’s are the Samsung Q1, Sony UX Series and Gigabyte U60, which all feature a QWERTY keyboard, and are engineered to be used on the move.
To further elaborate on Apple’s position, consideration must be given to their pre-established advantages over Asus. Apple have this thing called MacOSX which doesn’t natively run on anything but an Apple computer. Apple also get very good deals on NAND memory due to the fact they use over a quarter of the NAND memory produced worldwide. Apple also have this little program called iTunes, and does that run on Linux natively? No unfortunately it doesn’t .
Palm had to cancel their Foleo, not because of the Asus EeePC (though it could have been part reason), but because the Foleo had no way of reaching the hype that Palm had created. Match that with their ageing Treo series of smart phones, and financial difficulties and you get a cancelled product. Palm should hate themselves if anyone, because for a long time they were the best at what they did.
To me it seems that none of the companies in the article will be threatened by the EeePC. If anything Asus should be thanked for discovering another niche market. No doubt by the middle of the year you will hear about EeePC competitors that are all similarly priced and spec’ed.
The companies who could hold a grudge against Asus are Nokia and OLPC. Nokia have their N810, which is probably the closest thing to an EeePC (when you consider features and price). The OLPC should also be envious as the EeePC does more for the same price or less (though the OLPC is more technically advanced).
Intel and Asus have had a relationship for a long time, but Asus also has relationships with many of Intel’s competitors. Also, Intel have nothing to lose, because all their competitors (with the exception of OLPC and Nokia) use Intel insides to do a very similar thing.
Mike Elgan, if you’re reading this, I would like you to know your other articles are fantastic and you are usually right on the mark with your conclusions. Had you done a little more research behind the scenes I am sure you would have come to the same conclusion I have.
For the original article, click over to the Datamation Website.
If you aren’t familiar with Penryn, don’t worry neither am I. I had a quick look up on good ol’ Wikipedia, and they said it is basically an upgrade from the Merom of old (basically the T5000 and T7000 series of mobile processor’s). So if you haven’t worked it out, this is pretty big business for Intel. The Merom’s are freaking awesome (poor AMD never had a chance) and will be dearly missed (though they will probably be seen in notebooks for months/years to come).
You can’t pick one up in a store quite yet, but soon you will see offering from HP, Sony, Fujitsu, Acer and surely many more (Asus will release info any second now). From HP you will see the 6820s (17-incher with a Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU at 2.1GHz or T8300 at 2.4GHz), Sony will have their FZ31, SZ71, CR31 and AR61, Fujitsu will have Amilo Xi 2550 and 2428 and Acer will have an array of five with the 2920, 4920, 5920, 7720 and 9920.
The new processors will use less power and run cooler, meaning thinner quieter notebooks with longer battery lifes. When the benchmarks start coming in it will be interesting to see if the new Intels can create as much of a storm as the old. I will try and keep you up to date as more companies announce more notebooks.
For more info, click over to the Gizmodo and Laptoping Websites.
Titled the G35 chipset, it is the latest offering from Intel and will be the first integrated motherboard to support DirectX 10. The first motherboard to feature this technology will be the Asus P5E-VM HDMI. The graphics chipset that will power this is called the GMA X3500 (up from the X3000), and will feature HDMI with HDCP support with output of up to 1920×1200 (and 2048×1536 under normal circumstances). Can’t wait to see what the benchmark gets on this one.