Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"Does it make more sense to purchase a cheap Atom-based computer or to recycle and/or continue to use an existing Pentium 4 machine? Both run at decent clock speeds and come with 512 KB of L2 cache. Both can be considered above average if you have modest performance expectations. And both have a comparable transistor count: 55 million for the Pentium 4 (based on the Northwood design) and 47 millions for the Atom 230."

I am sure that one can pick hairs about the differences between the two different CPUs and that the benchmarks Tom's Hardware has made do not mean much. I personally think they do. First, I'm surprised at how far we have come in that Intel has come out with a CPU that uses a fraction of the power of a Pentium 4, admittedly an easy task, but still give comparable performance at a low cost. Second, I do think it has shown how much computing has stagnated over the past 8 years. With the wide adoption of netbooks and to a lesser extent, nettops, they perform no better than 8 year old computers. It does say that we are probably entering an era of diminishing returns for computing, since netbooks seem to be just enough for a lot of people, but it also means that we have this lower barrier that will stick with us for years to come, possibly limiting what we can do with computers in the future. Of course, even then, I will not admit that I have one or two Pentium 4 computers still running. Anyone still using their old computers? Any problems in using them in the "modern" world?

"Otellini said that Intel was on track to introduce a dual-core Atom processor this quarter. He was vague on details, however, and did not specify whether the upcoming dual-core Atom would be for netbooks or small desktops. Intel already offers dual-core Atoms for entry-level desktops, and a dual-core chip could provide a much-needed speed boost to netbooks, which have been described as underperforming at times."

This is a bit confusing. There are dual-core Atoms out there, yet Intel believes that launching dual-core Atoms will help sales. Maybe they mean dual-core Atoms that have the same power and heat characteristics as single core Atoms. If that is the case, then that is exciting news! Of course, with Microsoft's restrictions on certain versions of Windows 7, the dual-core netbooks would be a bit more expensive, but they are already there! Netbooks certainly are "good enough" for a lot of tasks, but I welcome more power if it does not, or only marginally compromises its battery life and design. A dual-core Atom would go a long ways towards preventing netbooks from stuttering when a runaway process takes over. It looks like netbooks are not going gently into the good night!

"NVIDIA’s ION platform combines an Atom processor with NVIDIA GeForce graphics. The result is a computer platform that gives you notebooks and desktops with low power processors and the ability to handle 1080p HD video playback, Blu-Ray decoding, and a fair amount of 3D graphics processing for modern video games."

So Intel considers the ION platform as too much for the netbook platform. This certainly explains the incremental improvements seen in PineTrail. One the one hand, one could argue that Intel is just protecting their more profitable streams with the CULV line of CPUs. After all, Intel is a business, and they like profits. However, the idea that Intel is telling what I, the customer, wants and being put into a particular cubbyhole just rubs me wrong. The concept of a small, lightweight, powerful, long lasting computer appeals to be for some reason, and I see the NVIDIA ION as a step in that direction. It is the march of progress. I remember over a decade ago, the equivalent of the netbook, while really expensive, were considerably slower. The NVIDIA ION is just pushing the limits to what will be considered normal in a couple of years.

"Intel renewed its netbook push Tuesday with the formal announcement of its next-generation Atom platform, codenamed Pine Trail. The details of Pine Trail, including the late 2009 launch date, had already been widely leaked, and today's disclosure provided little new information. But for those who haven't followed the Pineview leaks, I'll break down the details of what was announced."

Ars Technica provides a good glimpse on what we can expect from Intel in the netbook market over the coming months and to be honest, I have to say that I am disappointed. The changes Intel is making smells more of protecting their netbook marketshare instead of pushing for innovation. What really surprised me is how Intel is pricing their solution, making more powerful solutions such as the NVidia ION far more expensive. I was hoping that Intel would come up with something dazzling which would help shake up the netbook market, but now I think that the only netbooks I'll be considering or recommending for the next year will be those based on ION. While 3D performance is not required for most of what netbooks do now, I'm finding it becoming increasingly important. From casual games to Google Earth, the 3D boost is definately worth the extra power consumption.

"The Fit-PC2 is quiet, or even noiseless when ordered with the solid-state drive (SSD) option, says the vendor. The nettop is said to be capable of withstanding a high level of shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures. As a result, CompuLab is pitching it for a wide range of applications, from ruggedized industrial, automotive, and nautical devices, to applications where silence counts, such as a library PCs, desktop replacements, and point-of-sale (POS) PCs. With its IR receiver, DVI (via HDMI) interface, and 1920x1080 video capabilities, it is even pegged for home theater PCs."

The the original Fit-PC was released, CompuLab claimed it was the smallest full functioning PC. While that could be argued, depending on what your definition of a full functioning PC is, the Fit-PC is still a marvel of technology. Now the Fit-PC2 updates the line by using the seen-everywhere-now Atom CPU. The specs indicate that it'll do fine for light PC duty, but the kicker is the power consumption of 8 watts under load. It'll run both Linux and Windows XP and starts at $245. I'm unable to find any details if its VESA mountable, which would make it even better, but it does include an IR port. I really hope that's consumer IR. In all the years that I saw IrDA on laptops, I never found a use for it. It's got to be one of the oddest additions I've seen on a current generation PC. Still, I can see this as a great low power computer for the kids, kitchen, or bathroom. At 8 watts of power, I can leave it running doing little tasks without starting up big bessie. Anyone else see great potential in a PC that sucks just a bit more power than a nightlight?

"NVIDIA’s Ion comes in as an alternative two-chip solution. The GeForce 9400M is a single chip, the other chip is the Atom, the two make up Ion. You get a modern memory controller as well, supporting both DDR2 and DDR3 memory (up to DDR3-1066). Graphics performance is better than Intel and you get full HD video decode support."

Anandtech has their hands on an NVidia ION reference platform and put the wee board through a quick set of benchmarks and tests. NVidia ION looks like it will give netbooks a chance to be more than a light duty computer. The pairing makes it possible to watch Bluray movies and play games, albeit with very low settings. Currently, Atom based netbooks run off of the aging 945G chipset. While capable, it doesn't take advantage of advancements over the past few years like faster memory. The tests Anandtech go through shows how much the Atom is hobbled with its current partner. Is the potential enough to make you wait on your ultra-portable purchase?

"The Mini 1000 I reviewed is an excellent choice and value for someone that understands the limitations of a netbook. It’s highly portable and its keyboard makes it much more useful than netbooks with smaller keys. The configuration in this review has a retail price of $464.99 and will provide the vast majority of consumers a solid portable web, email and productivity experience. Business professionals looking for an enterprise-class computer should avoid the Mini 1000, along with all current netbooks."

Notebooks.com puts the HP Mini 1000 through its paces, and finds a lot to like. From the touch-typable keyboard to the stylish looks, the Mini 1000 addresses many of the complaints of first generation netbooks. They do recognize that this netbook is targeted towards the consumer market. It definately sounds like netbooks have found a sweet spot in terms of size and usability which closely matches the ultraportable segment. Thankfuly, they're much cheaper! Now HP is looking to make Netbooks fashion aware. While their styling doesn't quite suit my tastes, I'm sure some people covet their dark copper look, or the soon to be released Vivienne Tam edition.

"Dell just dropped the new tiny-tower OptiPlex 160 for businesses and educational markets looking to save space and "go green." This 1.85-inch thick machine packs the usual assortment of ports, and an integrated power supply (no brick!), but unfortunately forgoes the integrated disc drive. The $563 base model incorporates a single-core Intel Atom processor, 80GB HDD, 1GB RAM, integrated video, and Vista Home Basic SP1 -- most of which reminds us of the Eee Box, other than the extra two Benjamins Dell's asking for. "

I remember the time when Nettops weren't called Nettops, but just really expensive, tiny desktop PCs. The first one that comes to mind for me is the Compaq iPaq Desktop, which came out sometime in 2001. With the Dell joining the recent Nettop explosion, it does suggest that it is now a serious market. The Optiplex is definately targeted towards the business segment, and the space freed up and power savings combined makes this quite attractive. It's still a tempting purchase for home as well since all its benefits still apply for home use, especially for somewhere like the kitchen, where it can be mounted to the back of a monitor.

"HP recently used an event in Taiwan to unveil its first-ever nettop PC, the mini-Q 2030, that is powered by Intel's 1.6GHz dual-core Atom 330 processor and 2GB of DDR2 RAM. Other hardware includes a 160GB 7,200rpm SATA hard-drive with Windows Vista preloaded and a dual-layer DVD burner. It also has four USB 2.0 ports, two PS/2 ports, an Ethernet port, a VGA jack for connecting to monitors and an audio and microphone jack."

Asus may have started both the netbook trend and the nettop box trend, competition is definitely heating up. The HP mini-Q is a shot against the ASUS EEE Box. It comes in two models with the mini-Q 2020 being the single-core variant with 1GB of RAM and Windows XP. None of these nettop PCs will ever be a powerhouse, but the attraction for me is that they'll get most of the light work done while barely sipping power. I used to have almost a dozen computers, each only dealing with a light load so I can appreciate desktops that could easily cut my PC power consumption in half, if not more. I've invested in virtual machines, but I'm tempted to make the jump to using nettops so I don't have to shut down everything when my main server needs a reboot. Anyone try out any of these nettops yet? Are they powerful enough for you to do your everyday tasks?