When I was crapping on Atom earlier tonight, this was part of the point I was trying to make. Without some effort from Intel on the software front, Atom as we know it will soon be dead. Windows 7 + CULV will be winning the $500 notebook battle – where many netbooks live these days.
Atom belongs on $200 or less portables running highly optimized software – and it all starts with the OS. Linux (maybe Android) is the best bet.
Intel’s CULV CPU is finding a home in low cost netbook-sized notebooks. And why wouldn’t it? For only a fraction more than a typical Atom-based netbook you get a lot more usablity: more RAM, a contemporary operating system, modern video system (although still IGP) and higher resolution screen. I can tell you that this new platform is exactly what the doctor ordered to clear up that nasty rash known as ‘netbooks.’
Gateway’s EC1803H is essentially the much coveted Acer Timeline 1810T. What makes it special is the combination of size, battery life, quality and price – a regular price of $499 CDN it will garner a lot of attention.
After using it for a couple of days, I can see the appeal. Here are some quick thoughts:
This is a really nice little notebook. It’s tough to find much to complain about. The keyboard layout is a drag. Intel’s 4500 IGP and 5100 wireless card makes installing OS X on it a lot tougher (not that I would ever do such a terrible and evil thing).
Anand has a nice review of probably the best netbook so far, but that really isn’t saying much. Seriously folks, if you came here expecting netbook love, move along. Most of them represent the worst investment you can make – even as a $250 toy, these things are disappointing.
“Subjectively, you know the netbook is slow as soon as you start using it (unless you’re coming from a pre-2004 laptop or something without enough RAM). Launching Internet Explorer (or Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari for that matter) takes noticeably longer. Opening and rendering web pages takes noticeably longer. Interacting with Windows in general is far more sluggish. The detailed PCMark05 explain in numbers exactly what you’ll experience with a netbook. An entry-level $500 laptop is about 50% faster at rendering simple web pages (and the difference increases with lots of Flash content). Loading Microsoft Office is similar in that the initial start times are slower and menus and dialogs are less responsive in terms of popping up. If you have a task start using a lot of CPU time, the pauses become far more common and distracting — in other words, heavy multitasking isn’t a good idea.”
Simply put, netbooks are OK when usage models replicate the manner in which people used computers 10 years ago. For our modern workflows, absorbing information on multiple websites all at once, netbooks are a poor choice.
Slow CPUs are forgivable for all day battery life – but only a few vendors offer netbooks with long lasting batteries. And few are in the magic $200-300 price range where an almost pocketable PC makes sense. In about a month, Intel CULV ultra thin notebooks will be hitting retailers with a much more compelling value proposition, and you’ll feel stupid for buying a $400-500 netbook.
Pretty much the same old specs you’ve come to love/hate – Atom, weak GPU, low RAM, smallish HDD, no optical drive and WiFi. But this one is very thin and well constructed.
Seriously, it’s not quite Macbook Air thin but its close enough.
If you are looking for a netbook – good for you! You skipped all the trash that came out last year and you have this or Toshiba’s N200 to choose from.
I think folks that spend more than $300 on netbooks are nuts. You can get a real computer for that much.
When I say netbook I’m talking about a units with a real operating system, 10″ screen and good keyboard (not the first gen EeePC computers). Those first gen units are junk and are not worth the $100 they go for on Craigslist.
It's the best netbook of 2008 - and at this price it is worth owning
If you need a little notebook for travel or as a second computer (say for example your spouse is addicted to Facebook and shoots you dirty looks when you log onto the family computer) the HP MIni is tough to beat. The Linux (HP Mi) version might be had for even less so keep your eyes peeled for that too.
Better than the Asus Whatsisname?
If you pay the premium for this netbook, then you are an idiot. It is about $200 more than it should be priced at.
I am not too sure how I feel about this. If you need something low power and tiny, Acer’s new AspireRevo computer fits the bill.
But a couple of concerns come to mind:
Nvidia’s April Fool’s press release mentioned running Photoshop on Ion. GPU power supporting Atom for heavy lifting is cool, but unless they are working on postage stamp sized images, I see memory (and the scarcity of RAM in these net-tops and netbooks) as the key limiting factor.
This would make a lot more sense in a netbook. Has Intel got Acer scared to release one?
Not bloody likely. Despite Digitimes claim to the contrary, there won’t be a Mac Netbook any time soon.
It’s easy to dismiss the claim, not only because of the site’s spotty track record regarding Apple but also because the only thing that they have heard is Apple ordering some 10″ touch panels. That could be a number of things - prototyping supplies, Multitouch based peripherals, maybe a touch based Logic interface, who the heck knows?
If Apple addresses demand for netbooks it will be from a different angle and probably won’t be a notebook form factor. It will probably be a lot different than the tablets on the market right now too. My guess is that they will give people exactly what they want in a format that will seem totally obvious after we all see it. It won’t have an Atom or its incomprehensibly bad chipset in it either. I’ll bet that Apple will ARM it with something better.
Netbooks are a stupid race to zero category that deliver poor user experiences, high return rates, and lousy profit margins. Intel has been smart enough to create a bundle of parts with little variation that forces OEMs to bash each other’s brains out on price and limited hardware and form factor choices.
NBR is the number one portal on the Internet for notebook news.
A long running feature of the site is a ‘Most Popular Notebooks’ list along the left hand side of the site. Up until a few months ago, there would regularly be at least one Apple notebook in the list.
Today however it is dominated by netbooks (sorry PSION, you lot had your chance).
This reflects the ecomony to a degree (Apples are not inexpensive), but it also reflects buyer ignorance.
How many folks realize that their new netbook is slower than the 3 year old notebook it replaces?
Sure, the old notebook might be heftier but that seems like a small price to pay for something that costs you nothing to continue using.
HP’s Mini 2133 looked great, but it was let down by a pokey slow VIA C-7 CPU and 4200rpm HDD. I can imagine many people who got to handle a 2133 trying to rationalize how they probably didn’t need too much CPU power because of how well-built and attractive the 2133 was. I know I did, but thankfully I came to my senses before plunking down $500 on what was sure to be a disappointing investment.
We’ll never know why the VIA/Centaur C-7 was picked for the 2133 (everyone loves to cheer for the underdog, and I am sure that the VIA Nano will rock when its released in 2012), but its descendants like the HP Mini 1110NR we are reviewing here come equipped with the much better Intel Atom. Here are the 1110NR Specs:
First Impressions
Even before we get our hand on the 1110NR we can see that HP has really taken their game up a level. Much like their recent Touchsmart and HDX line, the Mini comes in an attractive black box. In terms of packaging, HP is not quite at Apple levels yet. For example the Mini box is much larger than it needs to be, but HP are giving us a better first impression than Toshiba or Acer.
