News Bits: Gigabyte Low-Cost PC, Asus Lamborghini VX3, Windows XP Dead For Sure ... Maybe

Gigabyte to launch low-cost PC in June

Gigabyte is planning to launch its M912 low-cost PC in the beginning of June according to channel sources. It will feature an 8.9-inch display and support both Linux and Windows XP. The machine is being designed entirely in-house.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com)

ASUS introduces Lamborghini VX3 notebook

Image Credit: HEXUS

ASUS today officially launched its new Lamborghini VX3 notebook. It has the following specifications:

• 12.1-inch WXGA widescreen display
• Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz/6MB L2/800MHz FSB)
• 4GB DDR2-667 RAM
• 320GB HDD
• Nvidia GeForce 9300M video card
• Dimensions: 12 x 8.66 x 1.22 in.
• Weight: 3.6 lbs

The VX3 carries a hefty price tag of $3,299 and is available in black or yellow. Special features of the Lamborghini VX3 include leather palmrest, sapphire crystal webcam, and titanium alloy hinge backbone. EXcaliberPC has done a picture preview of the VX3 in the forums.

Full Story (HEXUS.net)

Windows XP to be killed off for sure, Dell to continue selling it

Although Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave customers some hope that it may still sell XP after June 30, the company is clarifying his statements. In a nutshell, XP is definitely headed for the chopping block on June 30. However, Dell plans to still sell XP after that date by taking advantage of the "downgrade" licensing, which allows them to sell a copy of Vista but preload a copy of XP instead. The program will be offered on the firm's Latitude, OptiPlex, and Precision systems at no charge, and will be offered on some Vostro and XPS systems for a small fee. Dell says it will support the program as long as Microsoft supports the "downgrade" program.

Full Story (XP) (PCWorld.com)
Full Story (Dell) (PCWorld.com)
Via (Engadget.com)

Fujitsu introduces 256-bit AES notebook drive

Fujitsu recently introduced their first 2.5-inch hard drive with hardware encryption, the MHZ2 CJ series. The drive is targeted at consumers and features full 256-bit AES encryption. Capacities range from 80GB to 320GB. Performance is definitely a selling poing of these drives, as they have 7200RPM rotational speed, 16MB of cache, and SATA 150/3.0Gbps interfaces.

Full Story (WarePin.com)
Special thanks to forum member gaming_zedman for submitting this bit

Kingston introduces HyperX low-latency notebook memory

Kingston Technology has introduced a new HyperX line of notebook memory featuring low latencies. It features PC2-5300 (667MHz) speeds with latencies of 4-4-4-12. The HyperX notebook memory is offered in 2GB (2x 1GB) and 4GB (2x 2GB) kits with MSRPs of $84 and $132 respectively.

Full Story (Kingston.com)
Via (Laptoping.com)

 

After signing so many petitions to help keep XP support going, I'm very disappointed that they made the decision to axe it for good. Certainly not surprising of course. The Gigabyte laptop looks very interesting...

 

I wonder how speedy the ram would be...

Wonderful, this means my next notebook WILL be Vista then...

 

Well, when it comes down to it anyone who has a retail/academic copy will probably continue to use XP. Its the OEM customers that will be forced to move away from XP if/when computers die...now you realize why MS pushed so hard for that option.

Bottom line: you need to purchase a retail copy of XP NOW.

I myself will probably continue to use XP until Vista is dead and Windows 7 is out. And if W7 isn't any good either, well...I'll just move to Linux and use XP as a virtual machine. Kind of sucks for gaming though, so maybe we can start blaming MS if the PC gaming market goes belly up too.

 

HyperX... Nice.

Wonder if they'll have DDR3 versions for Montevina launch.

 

There, fixed that for ya.

 

Nothing beats the academic license of XP Pro. Dearest and rarest. Though I wonder if there's going to be a bit of price gouging with the mad rush to buy the last retail copies of XP. Might end up costing more than Vista.

XP SP2 Pro Retail @ Newegg is currently $269.99
Vista SP1 Business retail @ Newegg is currently $278.99

Let's watch and see. I expect at least a little price increase.

You know, whole thing on the web about saving XP sort of reminds me of that scene in the 3rd Matrix Movie where the little Indian girl (XP users who haven't used Vista yet) says to Smith, "Oracle told me you're a bad man."

And Smith replies with a wily smile, "ooohhhhh, I'm not so bad once you get to know me."

 

That Assus Lamborghini VX3 Notebook looks very nice, but too dam expensive. You can get a much better laptop for less money, despite how the VX3 has a very nice build...

 

Please excuse my noobness, but could anyone explain what's good about a low-latency RAM?

 

I second that question. What is the benefits of latency 4 as compared to latency 5 when both runs at 667mhz. plus newegg have RAMs with case latency 4 for about $37 for a while now, so what is so new/unique about this RAM???

 

It's for notebooks.

 

*hugs my XP Professional academic license*

Bought it for $8 at my bookstore along with Office 2003. I'm very glad for it.

 

Yes, the ones on newegg are notebook RAMs too. Take a look at this http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2030260381+1309121117+1052508081&name=4

 

Regarding the low-latency RAM, it is nothing special. The Core 2 Duo is largely insensitive to changes in latency/speed and no one is going to notice the difference between typical 5-5-5-15 timings of normal notebook RAM and the 4-4-4-12 timings of the Kingston HyperX. It's a marketing tool more than anything. The lower latency is still better for performance, but we're talking negligible gains. Take a look at this article for clarification:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=472

 

that asus looks very sexy

 

So I signed the bloody petition to no avail.

At least Vista works for me. And Linux is there to lean on...

Bring on the sub-notebooks, eh?

 

The first 4-4-4 timing DDR2 667 SODIMMs were launched by Corsair for Apple laptops, but were quite overpriced at $160 for a 2x2GB kit. It's great that Kingston's offering them too, although $132 for a 2x2GB kit is still quite a premium.

DDR2 667 4-4-4 SODIMM benchmarks against DDR2 667 5-5-5 SODIMMs are here:

http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp03.html

So Fujitsu is now offering another 320GB 2.5" HDD at 7200 rpm. Now if only Hitachi could release one too so I can upgrade my 160GB 5400 rpm Hitachi. As long as Hitachi drives remain faster than Fujitsu's of course.

 

well..good thing for VX3..
thats sure better than its brother which sports "cheap/noob specs with expensive price"
those acer ferraris should think the same way....

 

awwww I thought the VX3 would have a 15.4" screen a 9600GT-9800GTX and $1000 cheaper... =(

 

Pics and specs are eagerly awaited on that Gigabyte. Hopefully it'll be cheaper than the 2133, but have a better keyboard than the 900.

 

I just installed Vista 64. So far, finding the right drivers proved to be time consuming but eventually everything works and checks out fine. Once I have everything running it'll probably work slightly slower than XP but what do you expect? Barring any serious issues I'd rather go for the OS that everything will be designed for than the OS that will become legacy.

edit: I'm sorry, this comment is a bit out of place. Nevermind it

 

Agreed, completely. I picked up two copies (legitimate, I've checked) of XP Pro retail version off of eBay for a fairly reasonable price (why 2? One for moi, one for my better half ). That way, when I've finished doing work (on XP), and finished doing serious personal stuff (XP or linux), I can tinker around with a copy of _Vista if I get really bored.

 

First, congrats on getting _Vista 64 functional; however....

...why would you "expect" to end up with a slower system if you "upgraded" from one OS to another? Isn't the whole point of "upgrading" to get better, not worse, performance?

Second, with all due respect, _Vista is not, and never will be, the OS that "everything" will be designed for - that role will still belong primarily to XP, for several reasons: (i) as of SP3, there is not that much fundamental difference between XP and _Vista, other than in the GUI and the additional bloat, (ii) with the announcement of Win7, which, factoring in inevitable delays, will be delivered at about the same time MS ceases support for _Vista home, _Vista is already predeceased, if you will, (iii) the big OS users, e.g., businesses that lease hundreds or thousands of units at a time, are still running XP, and the number of such users who will be "forced" to go to _Vista because of the end of sales of XP by MS will be relatively small - basically, only those who (a) aren't big enough to get _Dell, for example, to save them some OEM licenses and (b) have to lease a whole new set of systems within the next 4 years, and (iv) XP has security support until 2014, _Vista home only until 2012, which means that _Vista home will be worm-food for two years before XP truly "dies" - which means that there's more market in continuing to develop XP-specific software rather than _Vista-specific software (of course, that point is not overwhelming since, under the GUI, _Vista and XP are largely the same, meaning that the XP-specific software everyone writes from now on will also, for the most part, play nice with _Vista).

No, for whatever it's worth, and whatever anyone's opinion on the matter is, the OS of the future, is Win7, whatever that turns out to be, and the predominant OS of the present and the next 4 to 6 years will be XP; _Vista is basically the Ford Edsel or the Ford Pinto of the OS world - designed to fail.

 

Nicely done. Thanks for putting it all in perspective.

 

... xp dieing doesn't hurt me at all...

 

G.skill has had notebook DDR2 @ CAS 4 for a long time now... Also, about XP... I'm sure it will also still be offered on the EEE PC and other cheap ultra-portable notebooks....

 

I mean it's all well and good if you have a desktop, but more and more of the new notebooks simply don't have XP drivers for their various bits of hardware. So having a retail copy of XP doesn't mean a thing in such case. Hopefully Lenovo keeps XP as an option for their new line this summer, so I can buy one, ride it out for 3 years and then switch to Windows 7 or Ubuntu if it keeps improving at this pace.

 

Remembering Windows XP’s early days (<<< link to ZDNet article)

 

Ogh, Windows 7 is twice as slow as Vista! It was released too early! There is no good driver support! It requires hardware upgrades! It was supposed to be recoded from scratch and now it is only a new GUI! Ogh no, why MS changed how feature X is working! Don't change anything!
Please sign petition to save Vista!

Ups... Sorry, I am a bit early... hmm...

 

According to the business training I received, companies shouldn't release faulty/incomplete products and make consumers be beta testers for incomplete products.

It doesn't matter whether or not XP was bad in its early days, that has nothing to do with Vista. What does matter is that Vista has faults, and defending Microsoft for its obvious shortcomings is pathetic. Why on earth would anyone expect a product to be faulty when released? That is different than expecting it to be perfect.
Sorry, but the "Oh well XP was bad when it came out" argument is just absurd.

Edit: Quote by self: