June 9th, 2008
HP’s Blackbird 002 to be available in retail
HP announced this morning that its Blackbird 002 gaming PC will be available in retail stores this summer. The $3,299 retail configuration includes:
- 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad Q9450 processor
- 4GB Corsair Dominator memory
- 500GB 7,200 rpm hard drive
- Dual Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT graphics cards
- 900-watt power supply
- Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition with SP1
The system will be available at Best Buy, Circuit City, J&R, and Micro Center among other stores, as well as online at Amazon.com and Newegg.com (details at www.hp.com/go/bbretail). Here’s the CNET review of the Blackbird 002.
June 6th, 2008
Netbook roundup from Computex
When Asus first unveiled its Eee PC at Computex in 2007, the industry viewed it as curiosity. One year later, Asus says it has sold more than a million Eee PCs and a new category, the ultra low-cost PC, is suddenly one of the biggest trends at this year’s tradeshow.
The emergence of this category is fueled in part by Intel, which officially released its Atom processors and related chipsets. Atom is designed for two different types of products, Mobile Internets Devices (MIDs), which are essentially powerful handhelds with wireless WAN connectivity, and these ultra low-cost PCs, which Intel refers to as netbooks and nettops. Because of the low price tags, these stripped-down systems are geared toward both emerging markets and mature markets, where they’re popular as a second or third PC for Web browsing and e-mail. Intel believes the category will grow to 100 million units by 2011–the majority of which will be netbooks.
The reason these have succeeded where subnotebooks with similar dimensions have in the past is price. A typical netbook with the 1.6GHz Atom N270, 512MB of memory, 2 to 4GB of flash storage, a 7- to 10-inch display and Windows XP or Linux should cost between $250 and $350. Nettops should be even less expensive–between $200 and $300 with the N270, a 1GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive and Windows XP or Linux. Some are already hitting these prices, such as models from Asus, but others are closer to $500 or $600. There’s a practical reason for this: the volumes need to increase to bring down prices of components. But it is also a strategy for some OEMs to differentiate their netbooks with larger displays, more memory and other features.
Intel says it has 60 design wins for netbooks and nettops. At its booth, I saw netbooks from Asus, Acer, Gigabyte, Haier and MSI, as well as an update to its own Classmate PC. And there were nettops from Asus, EliteGroup, Lenovo, and others. Here are some of the more interesting models:
Asus hasn’t been sitting still. Its two new Eee PCs weren’t much of a secret, but it did launch them at the show. The Eee PC 901 is a refresh of the existing 8.9-inch model with the Atom N270, 1GB of memory, a 12GB SSD, 802.11n, and either Windows XP or Linux. The new Eee PC 1000 has a 10-inch display, Atom N270, 2GB of memory, and either a 40GB SSD or an 80GB standard HDD. The keyboard is also larger–about 92% of a full-size keyboard according to Asus–which addresses one of the knocks with smaller netbooks. Asus also launched an interesting nettop, the Eee Box, which is only an inch thick and rests vertically in a stand. The base configuration includes the Atom N270, 1GB of memory, an 80GB HDD, and Linux for $270 (the same model with Windows XP is $300).
Acer’s Aspire One is a direct competitor to the Eee PC 901 with an 8.9-inch LED-backlit display. The design looks very nice, and Acer is shooting for a low price when it ships in the third quarter. The $380 base configuration will include the Atom N270, 512MB memory, an 8GB SSD, and Linux. You can upgrade the memory to 1GB and select an 80GB HDD in place of the SSD.
The heavily hyped MSI Wind Notebook has a 10-inch LED backlit display as well as the Atom processor, up to 2GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive, 802.11b/g (but not -n). MSI also introduced a nettop, the Wind PC. It’s a bit larger than the Eee Box–but still very compact–and uses the Atom N230, a 160GB HDD, and 802.11b/g. Because it draws only 35W full-out, MSI is pitching it as a green PC that saves on electricity costs and is very quiet during operation.
Gigabyte’s M912 is unusual because it blurs the lines between a netbook and a tablet PC. Like many netbooks, it has an 8.9-inch display, but this one is a touch-screen that swivels 180 degrees and folds flat as on a convertible tablet PC. Specs include the Aton N270, up to 1GB of memory, standard HDDs in capacities from 120- to 250GB, 802.11b/g, and Windows XP or Linux. Though it’s not a netbook, the new M528 deserves a mention. This little MID has a 4.8-inch touch-screen and QWERTY thumb-board, 800MHz Atom processor, 512MB of memory, 4GB of flash storage, HSDPA and a 3-megapixel camera. It should be available in August for $630.
May 28th, 2008
Via has designs on mini-notebooks
In an effort to capitalize on the surprising growth in mini-notebooks, Via Technologies has released a new reference design based on its C7-M processor and chipset.
With all the attention paid to the Intel-AMD rivalry, you may have forgotten about Via, the other company that designs x86 processors. Via hasn’t kept pace with the faster, more powerful processors from Intel or AMD, relegating the company to ultra-low voltage components, largely for small form-factor PCs. But a funny thing happened. The PC industry–or at least a fast-growing segment of it–has suddenly moved toward Via.
Mini-notebooks have been gaining ground party because notebooks, in general, are growing rapidly, but mostly because lower prices have made them a viable choice for e-mail, Web browsing, and basic productivity applications on the go. Via’s ultra low-voltage C7-M is well-suited for these systems, and the company got a big break when HP chose the chip for its 2133 Mini-Note. The goal of the OpenBook reference design is to lure more new customers including not only OEMs, but also carriers that may want to offer mini-notes with built-in wireless broadband.
Like most PCs in this category, the OpenBook has an 8.9-inch display, and is compact (9.4 x 6.9 x 1.4 inches) and lightweight (2.2 pounds). It is based on the Via Ultra Mobile Platform, which consists of the 1.6GHz C7-M processor and Via VX800 chipset. The latter is actually a single chip that combines the functions of the north and south bridges including the DirectX 9.0-capable Via Chrome9 HC integrated graphics. Other specs include:
- Up to 2GB DDR2 DRAM
- Choice of hard disk drives or SSDs
- WiFi, Bluetooth and optional GPS
- Choice of WiMax, HSDPA and EV-DO/W-CDMA modules
- 2-megapixel dual-headed Webcam
- Three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, and audio-in/audio-out jacks as well as a 4-in-1 card reader
- 4-cell 2600mA lithium-ion battery
The OpenBook is available with Windows Vista Basic, Windows XP or one of several flavors of Linux (Ubuntu, SuSe and G/OS). Via’s previous reference design, the NanoBook, was the basis of several mini-notes including the Everex Cloudbook sold in the U.S., as well as systems from Packard Bell in Europe and iDOT Computers in Taiwan. This year, the category could grow to 5 to 10 million units, according to Richard Brown, Via’s vice president of marketing.
Via is also reportedly very close to announcing the release of its Isaiah processor, a project that has been in the works for at least four years. The company will continue to promote the C7-M for mini-notebooks and UMPCs, while the faster Isaiah will challenge Intel and AMD processors for mainstream notebooks. Because Via does not have an IGP capable of DirectX 10 3D graphics, it is also working with Nvidia on discrete GPUs, and eventually a GeForce chipset, that will work with Isaiah.
With its ultra low-voltage products, Via is in the right place at the right time, but it faces stiff competition. It remains to be seen how the new chip will stack up to Intel’s Atom, which is already finding its way into mini-notebooks and so-called Mobile Internet Devices. Ultimately “speeds and feeds” may not matter as much in this category, though. “In the end, it is going to be who gets lucky with a hardware [partner] that comes out with a great product,” Brown said.
May 20th, 2008
The XO-2 laptop looks great, but can OLPC deliver in 2010?
The OLPC project announced today the next generation of its XO laptop. The news was expected–enthusiast sites such as OLPC News have been talking about it for a while–but this was the first time that OLPC has shown what it will look like.
The concept is pretty interesting. In place of the typical clamshell design with a physical keyboard, the XO-2 has two 16:9 touch-screens, one of which can be used as a touch-sensitive keyboard (think of a cross between the iPhone and an overgrown Nintendo DS). OLPC will market it to developing nations as an e-book reader, capable of holding up to 500 books, that also happens to be a simple notebook PC. (This raises the question of how e-books in many different languages will be produced and distributed.) The XO-2 will also fold flat so the two displays form a large tablet.
In the presentation, Nicholas Negroponte conceded that the current XO was “too big and heavy,” and said the XO-2 would be about half the size and weight. OLPC is also working to improve the power consumption (no sign of the XO’s maligned crank-handle).
So far, so good. Negroponte also said the goal was to sell the XO-2 for $75 beginning in 2010. The rationale for this seems plausible (sort of): The screen size and widescreen format will allow OLPC to take advantage of the cheap, high-volume displays manufactured for portable DVD players. But given the track record with the $100 XO laptop, which was late, reportedly costs $188 to manufacture, and has fallen far short of its sales goals, a “no comment” might have been in order here.
Last week, OLPC and Microsoft announced a version of the XO laptop running Windows XP, a project that had been in the works for a year. The move was controversial because some XO fans–including some former OLPC executives–think the foundation has abandoned its focus on developing educational software, built on top of Linux. (Or, as Fake Steve Jobs put it, Borg launches sinister plan to bring even more misery to Third World children.) In reality, it seems like a practical move to convince prospective customers, state governments that may be more comfortable with Windows, to get laptops into the hands of as many school kids as possible.
OLPC also announced that it would bring back its Give One, Get One program for XO laptops in the U.S., and also offer it in Europe, starting late summer.
May 19th, 2008
Samsung: OLED laptop in ‘09?
At an industry display conference this week, Samsung will unveil a prototype laptop with a 12.1-inch active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display.
If you have ever seen Sony’s XEL-1 11-inch OLED TV, then you know just how cool an OLED laptop could be. On the other hand, if you’ve seen the XEL-1’s price tag–$2,500–then you realize odds are we won’t see this laptop in 2009, even though several sites reported that Samsung may release commercial versions sometime next year.
OLEDs use light-emitting diodes (hence the name) made up of electroluminescent organic compounds to produce different colors. Because OLED displays do not require a backlight, they are thinner and use less power, and the images are bright, colorful, and visible at an angle. The disadvantages are that they have a shorter lifespan than LCDs, and currently are very costly to manufacture.
For a company that is a virtual unknown in laptops here in the U.S, Samsung has been making a lot of news lately. Last week, a company executive told journalists at an event in Seoul that Samsung needs to triple laptop shipments to 11 million units by 2011 (5.7% worldwide market share), or it would exit the business altogether. Samsung reportedly plans to expand sales by entering the already-crowded markets in U.S. and Europe. Samsung later stated that 11 million units was an “ambitious goal” but it had no plans to get out of laptops.
[Via Hexus.net]
May 14th, 2008
Dell Inspiron desktop now $300
Dell has cut the price of its budget Inspiron 530 by $140. The $300 configuration includes a 2.0GHz Pentium E2180 dual-core processor, 1GB of memory, a 320GB hard drive, Intel GMA 3100 graphics, and Windows XP.
The deal is part of a Dell tax rebate marketing gambit that also includes an Inspiron 1525 15.4-inch laptop starting at $600 and a XPS M1530 15.4-inch notebook starting at $1,200. The rebates are good for two weeks.
How good are these deals?
For comparison, the HP a6400z desktop also starts at $300 with a 1.8GHz AMD Sempron dual-core, 1GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce 6150 SE graphics, and Windows Vista Home Basic SP1. Gateway lowest-price desktop, the DX442B, is $450 after a $100 rebate. But it has better specs including a 2.20Gz Pentium E2200 dual-core processor, 2GB of memory, a 320GB hard drive, Intel GMA 3100 graphics, and Windows Vista Home Premium.
In retail, Best Buy offers an eMachines T3646 for $300 with a 2.2GHz AMD Sempron dual-core, 1GB of memory, a 160GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce 6100 graphics, and Windows Vista Home Basic with SP1.
May 13th, 2008
Microsoft’s plan to block Linux on laptops
Details of Microsoft’s recently announced plan to extend the life of Windows XP for ultra low-cost PCs are trickling out. IDG News got its hands on what it says are Microsoft documents outlining the program for PC manufacturers.
Until now, the big question was: What exactly defines an ultra low-cost PC? According to the documents, Windows XP Home will only be available on systems with the following specs:
- A 1GHz or slower single-core processor (with exceptions for the Via C7 and Intel Atom N270)
- Up to 1GB of memory
- Hard drives up to 80GB
- Displays that are 10.2 inches or smaller
- No touch-screen
For companies manufacturing PCs that meet these specs, Windows XP will be available for $26 in emerging markets and $32 in developed markets, though a marketing agreement knocks another $10 off the price.
Ultra low-cost PCs pose a dilemma for Microsoft and PC manufacturers. Windows Vista won’t run on most–though not all–of them, and it costs too much anyway. But a freely-available, cheap Windows XP might cannibalize sales of traditional budget PCs with the full-priced version of Windows Vista. The narrowly-defined Windows XP extension seems designed to get around those issues, and to prevent Linux from gaining a toehold on the desktop.
The cut-off date for selling Windows XP on all other desktops and laptops is still June 30, though many manufacturers will continue to sell Vista systems with downgrades to Windows XP. Reading between the lines of Bill Gates’ recent speeches, Ars Technica concludes Microsoft learned from mistakes in Vista, and will make Windows 7 all about performance.
Related: The Asus Eee PC 900 is now shipping in both Windows XP and Linux versions. Here are some of the first full reviews:
May 7th, 2008
New Gateway desktops, more 64-bit Windows Vista
Gateway has overhauled its desktop line with new models ranging for the $550 budget DX series to the over-clocked FX gaming rig, which tops out at around $3,800. Some models are retail only; others are available direct from Gateway.
The most noteworthy part of the announcement is that several models (including some retail ones) are now available with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium. HP already offers several models with Vista 64-bit, and with more systems shipping with 4GB of memory, hopefully this is the start of a trend. Currently Dell only offers 64-bit operating systems on its Precision workstation laptops and desktops.
Here are the details on the new Gateway models:
Gateway FX7026
- 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q9300
- 4GB memory
- 640GB hard drive
- Nvidia 8800GT graphics with 512MB
- Vista Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
- $1,100 (retail)
Gateway GT series (GT5670, GT5674, GT5676 and GT5678)
- AMD Phenom triple-core and quad-core, or 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
- 3GB or 4GB of memory
- 320GB to 750GB hard drives
- Integrated Nvidia graphics or ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics (GT5678 only)
- Vista Home Premium 32-bit and 64-bit with Service Pack 1
- $550 to $850 (retail)
Gateway FX541 series
- Intel Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme quad-core processors (over-clocked)
- 3GB to 4GB of memory
- 500GB to 1TB hard drives
- Nvidia GeForce 8000 series (dual GeForce 8800GTX cards with 768MB on FX540XT)
- Vista Home Premium 32-bit with Service Pack 1
- $1,150 to $3,800 (direct)
Gateway DX442 series
- 2.2GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200 or2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
- 2GB or 3GB of memory
- 320GB or 500GB hard drives
- Intel integrated graphics
- Vista Home Premium 32-bit with Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Professional Edition
- $550 to $1,000 (direct)
May 2nd, 2008
Dell XPS 730 reviews: A Ferrari stuck in traffic
Dell has released a new version of its top-of-the-line gaming desktop, and it is a major update. The XPS 730 series is the company’s first gaming rig to come–in some configurations–factory over-clocked, and Dell says it is capable of playing Crysis, a notoriously demanding first-person shooter, at a resolution of 1,920×1,200 at 30 frames per second.
The XPS 730 is essentially a test of whether the gaming world is ready for all of the latest hardware technology–quad core processors, quad GPUs (either CrossFire or SLI) built on the latest Nvidia nForce chipset, and DDR3 memory–crammed in a single, pricey box.
Based on the first reviews (honors go to CNET.com’s Rich Brown and PC Magazine’s Joel Santo Domingo), it would seem the answer is: not quite yet. Sure, the XPS 730 H2C has loads of raw power–as its 3DMark06 scores attest–but the latest DX10 games don’t seem take advantage of quad graphics yet, and you can get similar performance on older titles, and other applications, with less expensive hardware.
The XPS 730 base model starts at $4,000 with a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450; 4GB of DDR3 memory over-clocked to 1,600MHz; a 7,200rpm 500GB hard drive; dual ATI Radeon HD3870s with 512MB; dual-layer DVD burner; Sound Blaster XtremeGamer sound card; and Windows Vista Home Premium.
Throw in another grand and you can step up to the XPS 730 H2C with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 over-clocked to 3.67GHz; 2GB of DDR3 memory over-clocked to 1,600MHz; a 7,200rpm 500GB hard drive; a single ATI Radeon HD3870 with 1GB of memory; 22-inch widescreen display; dual-layer DVD burner; Sound Blaster XtremeGamer sound card; and Windows Vista Home Premium. And if money’s no object, the $6,000 model gets you dual ATI Radeon 3870X2s–a total of four GPUs– with a gig of memory, among other options.
H2C refers to a ceramic cooling unit designed by Dell, Intel, Delphi, and CoolIT. Though previous XPS systems have offered this feature, Dell reworked the H2C cooling in this model for the new ATX motherboard (the XPS 720 uses a BTX motherboard). If you’re interested, here’s a Dell video on how the new cooling works.
CNET.com: Dell’s brand-new XPS 730 H2C high-end gaming PC ticks off all the right boxes and even manages to pull off a few new tricks, at least for Dell . . . but the problem is that Dell loses out on price and performance to its boutique vendor competition.
PC Magazine: So far, the promise of quad graphics is elusive. . . The XPS 730 holds a lot of promise, yet at this point in time there aren’t many arguments for getting the latest hardware to play the latest games at the highest resolutions.
Hot Hardware: Our XPS 730 H2C with its 3.8GHz, factory overclocked processor and dual Radeon 3870 X2’s in Crossfire X was able to score nearly 20,000 3DMarks right out of the box . . . So far, the XPS 730 H2C is shaping up to be a very impressive machine. However, we’ve barely just started to explore this system.
April 29th, 2008
Lenovo’s 11-inch laptop now available
Lenovo announced today that its new 11-inch widescreen laptop for consumers is now available online.
The IdeaPad U110 was one of three notebook models Lenovo announced at CES in January when the company rolled out its new consumer brand, which includes IdeaPad laptops, and outside of the U.S., IdeaCentre desktops. The other two models, the 17-inch IdeaPad Y710 and 15.4-inch IdeaPad Y510, are already shipping.
But the U110 is the far and away the more interesting model because of its size and weight (only 2.4 pounds), a “frameless” display with a novel hinge design, and a textured aluminum case available in bright red or black. It starts at $1,899 with a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 processor, 2GB of memory, a 120GB hard drive, Intel integrated graphics and Windows Vista Home Premium. Right now, there are no configurable options–unless you count accessories–though it does appear that retailers will be offering a $1,999 model with 3GB of memory. All of the IdeaPad laptops also have face recognition software (using the integrated Webcam), Dolby Home Theater Audio and stereo speakers, and touch-sensitive multimedia controls.
The U110 also includes an external, dual-layer DVD burner. The slightly larger, business-oriented ThinkPad X300, however, has an internal optical drive, and other features not found in competing ultraportables such as the Apple MacBook Air–the subject of a YouTube video that got the Fake Steve Jobs treatment today.
John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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