Kemper_Boyd wrote:I don't see Isaiah being very successful. It looks like it will be beaten
by Silverthorne at the low-end and Penryn at the high-end. Via has
done okay in recent years because Intel didn't care about the niche
Via is in, that is no longer the case.
We'll have to wait and see some benchmarks.
Veering off topic, I was thinking the Isaiah would be a nice CPU to build myself a new always-on desktop with a bit later on in the year. I don't really need much more performance, but I could really do with fitting *scads* of memory, so I'm thinking Isaiah's 64-bitness coupled with its cool + very quiet running would be a good fit.
But if Silverthorne turns out to be better, that's good too. I'm happy to buy whichever turns out to be best for my needs.
"I am a very considerate person. If I want to go out all night on my miniature golf course and shoot lizards, well, no reason to keep the neighbours awake..."
There's a Silverthorne derivative for the desktop called Diamondville.
It will be a 4W 1.6GHz fanless part. They also have an 8W dual core
version coming. I don't know if it will have the multi-threading enabled
that Silverthorne supports, it'd be very nice if it did.
"I am a very considerate person. If I want to go out all night on my miniature golf course and shoot lizards, well, no reason to keep the neighbours awake..."
So where do we reckon the next-gen eeePC will go? Silverthorne CPU, transflective display, larger SSD ? Eliminating the backlit would give it a significant boost in operating time.
everklear wrote:Dell regularly has laptops on for $500 (or less), and the eee's are $400. (After searching around I see the 2GB ones are $300.) I stick by my original point; once you outfit these little guys with accessories you're in laptop country.
What accessories do you need that turn it into a big laptop? I think you're talking at cross purposes. The Eee is effectively a solid state ultraportable. A $500 laptop compared to it is huge. Try and get a look at one in the flesh. They're tiny. They won't fit in your pocket but they sure as hell won't take up anywhere near the space of a $500 laptop.
I suppose the size is ultimately the point. I just have a hard time spending a lot of money on something that is the form factor of a PDA. I'm obviously not the target audience.
I do wonder about the relative price points though.
What is the UK price of the eee and what is the entry point for laptops?
"Ask not for whom the bone bones; it bones for thee."
--Bender
Dio wrote:£200, and about £250ish. But they're completely different markets - this isn't about being comparable to a low-spec 15" machine.
It is and it isn't. I do similar things with a PDA and a laptop, when it comes to entertainment. When it comes to "tools" like address book/contacts and calendar/daytimer, I prefer a PDA. I also prefer to read books on a PDA these days. Oddly enough, I'm not willing to spend a bucket of money on a PDA.
I understand that to pack a bunch of function and power into a palmtop (to use a mostly extinct word) is an engineering challenge and that manufacturers can command a premium price for these things until the next generation comes along. For myself, I'll most likely wait until the "fff" is released and buy an "eee" from the bargain bin. Maybe I'll get a Nokia n800 when the n810 is pushing the prices down.
"Ask not for whom the bone bones; it bones for thee."
--Bender
Dio wrote:£200, and about £250ish. But they're completely different markets - this isn't about being comparable to a low-spec 15" machine.
Thanks for the numbers. It's also interesting to me that prices are virtually the same here in Canada, once the currency conversion is done. I wonder how prices compare in terms of "real cost" - if you could ever effectively compute such a thing.
"Ask not for whom the bone bones; it bones for thee."
--Bender
Just got myself a white 2G for £200 from play.com. Shockingly I haven't had chance to play with it this weekend (only just now started charging it!)
I'm very impressed with how well built it is, though. Quite satisfyingly weighty for its size, and the hinge action is nice and solid. I tried typing on one on a demo unit in Toys 'r' Us (which hasn't had any actual stock for months), so I already know I can get on fairly well with the miniaturised keyboard.
I'll be carrying it around with me when I'm on site this week, so we'll see how well the whole ultraportable thing actually works...
"I am a very considerate person. If I want to go out all night on my miniature golf course and shoot lizards, well, no reason to keep the neighbours awake..."
everklear wrote:Thanks for the numbers. It's also interesting to me that prices are virtually the same here in Canada, once the currency conversion is done. I wonder how prices compare in terms of "real cost" - if you could ever effectively compute such a thing.
PC bits are rare amongst consumer electronic devices in that UK prices are usually pretty much the same in real terms in the UK compared to the rest of the world, as long as you go to one of the warehousing suppliers. I certainly can't save that much on anything PC by buying in the States. Except, of course, Windows.
The price for Vista is nuts here. Last week Dell had a quad core,
4GB RAM, 1 TB disc (2 x 500 GB) box for less than the price of a
retail copy of Vista Ultimate. Even the reductions coming soon
make fuck all difference, it is nearly double the US price, which
isn't that cheap itself.
everklear wrote:I suppose the size is ultimately the point. I just have a hard time spending a lot of money on something that is the form factor of a PDA. I'm obviously not the target audience.
Kemper_Boyd wrote:The price for Vista is nuts here.
It's a really major issue for these small boxes. The idea of sticking on a (locked to device) piece of software that costs more than the platform is just crazy.
The Menlow platform and Silverthorne have an official name now.
Intel Atom.
I guess they must have bought more IP from ARM than just the core .
.
