Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Last year Computex was all about netbooks; Asus expanded its Eee PC line with bigger screen models, MSI countered with its 10-inch Wind, vendors churned out several cost-effective SSD upgrades for these machines, Canonical talked up its Netbook Remix edition of Ubuntu and more. While netbooks remain hot items in this year’s show, it seems as though chip vendors and PC manufacturers are slowly moving towards a higher-performance “ultrathin notebook” segment, looking to replicate this success but enjoying higher margins.
With this in mind Intel has announced the new consumer ultra-low voltage Pentium SU2700 and Intel GS40 chipset, intended to bring ultraportable designs to comparably low-cost but still reasonably fast systems. The new 45nm chip is clocked at 1.3GHz, uses an 800MHz front side bus, sports 2MB of L2 cache and like others in the CULV family consumes 10W or less of thermal peak power. Both Asus and Acer said they will build laptops with the chip, while Lenovo and MSI have already launched their own CULV-based systems.
Besides continuing the push of its ultra-low voltage platform, Intel also updated its full-size mobile processors with three new parts, including its first to cross the 3GHz mark; the 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo T9900. Also announced today were the 2.8GHz P9700 with 6MB L2 cache and the P8800 which runs at 2.66GHz with 3MB of L2 cache.
Nvidia shows off Tegra and Ion-powered devices
With Computex 2009 currently underway in Taiwan, Nvidia has taken the opportunity to show off some upcoming products for the mobile and low-power segments. The graphics firm unveiled as much as 21 new Ion-based products at the event, with big players like Asus, Acer, Lenovo and MSI all supporting the platform despite a slow start for the past year.
In with the Acer Aspire Revo and Lenovo IdeaPad S12 we already know about, Nvidia highlighted a few other devices built around Ion, including 1080p capable all-in-one systems from MSI and Asus (pictured above) as well as a range of nettops and netbooks from Asian ODMs. Rumors today also point to Ion-based computers from both HP and Dell in the third quarter of this year, according to DigiTimes.
Nvidia also flaunted twelve new mobile internet devices (MIDs) based on the Tegra chip; its system-on-a-chip solution that incorporates an ARM core, a graphics processing unit, a media processor and system memory. The devices, which included both netbooks and tablets, feature up to 1080p HD video together with always-on operation and supposedly up to five times the battery life of current netbooks. The main drawback is that they run on the embedded Windows CE operating system which is not compatible with most PC software
In with the Acer Aspire Revo and Lenovo IdeaPad S12 we already know about, Nvidia highlighted a few other devices built around Ion, including 1080p capable all-in-one systems from MSI and Asus (pictured above) as well as a range of nettops and netbooks from Asian ODMs. Rumors today also point to Ion-based computers from both HP and Dell in the third quarter of this year, according to DigiTimes.
Nvidia also flaunted twelve new mobile internet devices (MIDs) based on the Tegra chip; its system-on-a-chip solution that incorporates an ARM core, a graphics processing unit, a media processor and system memory. The devices, which included both netbooks and tablets, feature up to 1080p HD video together with always-on operation and supposedly up to five times the battery life of current netbooks. The main drawback is that they run on the embedded Windows CE operating system which is not compatible with most PC software
Corsair debuts Obsidian 800D chassis
Corsair’s name is unavoidable in the enthusiast PC industry these days, from a vast selection of cooling products and power supplies to flash drives, RAM and SSDs. As one might expect, their introductory chassis, the Obsidian 800D, targets the fanatics among us. Announced at Computex, the case will be constructed of steel and feature a full-tower design.
With a polished aluminum matte black finish, the case supports ATX, Extended ATX and uATX motherboard form factors. It also has the capacity to house as many as five 5.25” drives, six 3.5” drives and seven fans up to 140mm in size. Being an enthusiast-oriented chassis, Corsair made sure to include various features system builders and upgraders will appreciate.
Among them are four hot swap SATA bays and a hole in the motherboard tray just below the CPU - which we’ve come to love on the Cooler Master HAF series. The Obsidian 800D will also feature a cable management system and standard tool-free design. Corsair’s debut chassis will hit stores in early July for about $300.
With a polished aluminum matte black finish, the case supports ATX, Extended ATX and uATX motherboard form factors. It also has the capacity to house as many as five 5.25” drives, six 3.5” drives and seven fans up to 140mm in size. Being an enthusiast-oriented chassis, Corsair made sure to include various features system builders and upgraders will appreciate.
Among them are four hot swap SATA bays and a hole in the motherboard tray just below the CPU - which we’ve come to love on the Cooler Master HAF series. The Obsidian 800D will also feature a cable management system and standard tool-free design. Corsair’s debut chassis will hit stores in early July for about $300.
Acer delivers "all day computing"
Acer has announced that it will be introducing “all day computing” to the US market with the launch of their Aspire Timeline thin and light notebook family. With its unique design, the company claims the new series averages more than 8 hours of battery life. As such, they will be targeting the road warrior and those constantly on the move.
Remaining conscious of the invaluable balance between portability and power consumption, the company has employed a standard high-capacity 6-cell battery. Naturally, as battery-oomph has been sacrificed, the Timeline series will instead conserve energy with low power components and Acer’s PowerSmart features. Technology assessment firm Principled Technologies concluded that the Aspire Timeline AS3810T and AS3810TZ’s life averaged 9 hours 7 minutes and 9 hours 48 minutes respectively.
The family will host a spectrum of models starting at $598. The models vary between offering an Intel Pentium, Core 2 Solo and Duo ULV processor, 3 to 4GB of DDR3 800MHz RAM, 320 to 500GB HDD, 13.3” to 15.6” 16:9 LED backlit display, 3 to 4 USB ports as well as an 8x DVD drive, Bluetooth 2.0/HDMI support and some without. Common specifications include Intel’s GS45 chipset with GMA 4500MHD, 802.11b/g/n, a webcam, multi-in-1 card reader and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.
Remaining conscious of the invaluable balance between portability and power consumption, the company has employed a standard high-capacity 6-cell battery. Naturally, as battery-oomph has been sacrificed, the Timeline series will instead conserve energy with low power components and Acer’s PowerSmart features. Technology assessment firm Principled Technologies concluded that the Aspire Timeline AS3810T and AS3810TZ’s life averaged 9 hours 7 minutes and 9 hours 48 minutes respectively.
The family will host a spectrum of models starting at $598. The models vary between offering an Intel Pentium, Core 2 Solo and Duo ULV processor, 3 to 4GB of DDR3 800MHz RAM, 320 to 500GB HDD, 13.3” to 15.6” 16:9 LED backlit display, 3 to 4 USB ports as well as an 8x DVD drive, Bluetooth 2.0/HDMI support and some without. Common specifications include Intel’s GS45 chipset with GMA 4500MHD, 802.11b/g/n, a webcam, multi-in-1 card reader and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.
Acer sees poor sales of 11.6-inch netbooks
Is Acer still planning on being crowned king of netbooks this year? They might be facing a small setback in achieving that goal, following news that sales of their larger 11.6” Aspire One netbooks aren't doing as well as they'd have hoped. In particular, the Aspire One AO751h netbook has had “unsatisfactory” sales, causing Acer to react by reducing the number of units they are ordering to Quanta Computer.
The reasoning cited is customer preference for 10” models. It seems a bit confusing, as many in the industry predict the larger units will ultimately win out – that was part of the justification behind Acer’s decision to drop the 8.9” model. Does this indicate a preference for a smaller 10-inch netbooks, or that people don't want to pay the higher price for a larger unit? Maybe bigger is better, but there may be a limit to how far that goes. We'll know for sure as prices for netbooks continue to drop, and find out if it is price or size that truly matter most. My bet is on price – what's your take?
The reasoning cited is customer preference for 10” models. It seems a bit confusing, as many in the industry predict the larger units will ultimately win out – that was part of the justification behind Acer’s decision to drop the 8.9” model. Does this indicate a preference for a smaller 10-inch netbooks, or that people don't want to pay the higher price for a larger unit? Maybe bigger is better, but there may be a limit to how far that goes. We'll know for sure as prices for netbooks continue to drop, and find out if it is price or size that truly matter most. My bet is on price – what's your take?
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