News Bits: Intel Quad-core Notebook Processors, Windows 7 Coming in 2010, MacBook Pro Explodes

Intel quad-core notebook CPU coming in Q3

Intel will lanuch its first quad-core notebook CPU, the Core 2 Extreme QX9300, in Q3 this year according to a DigiTimes report. It will go for $1,038 in 1,000 unit quantities according to sources. Intel does not expect quad-core CPUs in notebooks will become the standard in the performance/mainstream market according until the second half of next year. The QX9300 is not likely to become a popular notebook CPU. The QX9300's clockspeed has been revealed; it will run at 2.53GHz, be manufactured on a 45nm process, and have a 1066MHz FSB. TDP will be 45W, higher than any other mobile Intel CPU at this time, and be released in a Socket P package.

Read More (DigiTimes.com)

HP updates business notebook line with Penryn

HP has updated some of its business notebook models with the new 45nm Intel Penryn Core 2 Duo CPU. Updated models include the HP Compaq 6510, 6710, 6720, and 6820. Available CPUs include the Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.1GHz/3MB L2) and the T8300 (2.4GHz/3MB L2). The T8300 is $50 more.

HP's workstation notebooks have not been updated with Penryn yet but that should change soon.

Read More (Laptoping.com)
Product Link (HP.com)

Gateway refreshes M-series notebook lineup

Gateway on Thursday refreshed its M-series notebooks with the M-151X and M-151XL models. Both are 15.4-inch models with the Intel Core 2 Duo CPU; the XL model comes with Penryn. They both have graphics power courtesy of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400XT with 256MB of dedicated memory. The laptops are available preconfigured only. Key features of the machines include a 1.3 megapixel webcam built-in, fingerprint reader, HDMI and VGA outs, and Intel wireless cards.

The M-151X starts at $999 while the higher-end M-151XL starts at $1,299.

Read More (Laptoping.com)
Product Link (Gateway.com)

Asus Eee PC to face tough competition this year

Asus will use larger screens and the new low-power Intel Atom processor in the new generation Eee PCs this year, which will push starting prices up. It will be comparable to other machines in the same price range also based on the Intel Atom processor.
Asus plans to ship about 5 million Eees this year.

Read More (HEXUS.net)
NotebookReview.com review for the Asus Eee PC

MacBook Pro explodes

(view large image)
Image courtesy AppleTell

One European owner of an Apple MacBook Pro has been the victim of an exploding laptop. He suffered a small burn on his hand when his laptop spewed sparks and flames, catching his desk on fire. He was surfing the Internet at the time. Apple fumbled with the issue at first but is sending the customer a new laptop.

Read More (AppleTell.com)
Special thanks to forum moderator Tim for submitting this bit

Windows 7 coming in 2010

Microsoft has confirmed it will be releasing Windows 7 in 2010. The firm said it would release the new OS three years after the consumer launch of Vista. There is no specific date mentioned yet but it should be around the same time of the year Vista was released.

Read More (Softpedia.com)

 

Oh man that would suck to have your computer explode. I would be really sad.

 

Thanks for the heads up Chaz.

 

Cool topics Chaz, Windows 7 wow!

 

Looks like I'm going to need to sell my Eee PC soon.

 

Just don't use your laptop in your lap. lol
Tim

 

Mine doesn't get that hot, actually.
I hope it never gets like that though.

 

That's why they started calling them "notebooks"

Any thoughts/ideas as to what Windows 7 will consist of? A real third generation of Windows, or just the Vista that kept getting promised, but never delivered (and, no, I'm not just foaming at the mouth about Vista here - during the development phase, there were lots of promises about features that, somehow, just never made it into the retail release).

 

I wish the Quad-45nm would come sooner.

 

There should be a new type of battery as well, let's see, more powerful CPUs, GPUs, more HDDs, more ram, bigger screens...., and staying mobile is still needed.
We need a new battery solution.

 

He wants to know too

 

Aww~<3 (sorry guys, couldn't resist... my gird-ness just exploded.)

 

last time i read about windows 7, although still in the developmental phase is supposed to be a real 3rd generation of windows, changing alot of things for the better and putting in everything that windows 6 should of had

!
don't quote me or anything, but im pretty positive its supposed to be 10x better than windows 6.

i think gizmodo and engadget have done posts about it a while back

 

Damn that mobile quad core CPU is horrendously priced! Too bad.. :\

 

Yep, it's a ridiculous price to ask for a quad core. I could get a desktop version for much cheaper. Grossly inflated price/performannce ratio.

What's the reason for the mac explosion anyway? Is it the battery?

 

That Windows 7 will hopefully look at least like those Longhorn videos all over the net. That was supposed to be Vista, but Microsoft cut it out. Hopefully, 7 will be at least what those videos are.

And mid-2010? If Microsoft doesn't delay, I'm in luck, because that's going to be the time I get a new lapt-notebook.

 

Any links to those what-vista-should-have-been-but-is-not videos ?

 

Looking at the picture, it doesn't look like a Macbook Pro to me.

 

I look forward to quad cores showing up in mainstream notebooks...just not that extreme one with the extreme price. Hardware prices really need to start coming down and at a faster rate than they have been in the recent past.

Windows 7...is Microsoft feeling lucky or are they just hoping they get a lucky number 7? I really hope that 7 is better than Vista and that they do reduce its performance footprint heavily. I still think Vista is very bloated and have no intention of downgrading to it. Hopefully Microsoft carries through with the plans they had for Vista and things they're looking to do with 7 instead of bailing out half way through and starting over. I would like to make the leap from XP to 7 if it's like the leap from 98 to XP that I made.

 

Well well... Windows 7 huh? I hope this will be 64-bit only... By 2010, pretty much EVERYBODY will have 64-bit hardware...

I'm not sure about Microsoft though... looking at Windows OS evolution... the OS has just gotten bigger, slower, and more bloated over time... Windows Vista requires quite a bit of tweaking, and some very powerful hardware to run well... (ie. dual-core with 2GB ram minimum, to achieve what XP could do with single-core 1GB ram)

I was kind of hoping by now that there would have been a truly consumer-friendly Linux OS out. From the few times I have dabbled with Linux, I am amazed at how much faster it is and less resource hungry...

I was kind of hoping that Google would have supported an open-source Linux-based OS "for the masses" so to speak, with the traditional simplicity and speed of most of Google's applications. But it doesn't seem like they are making any plans for that on the desktop at least (I have a feeling their mobile Android OS will take over anyways)... Who knows, maybe it'll get to the point where they'll create a desktop version of Android and do battle with Microsoft head-on... (Image how FAST a truly internet-oriented, open-source OS like Android, would run on quad-core / octa-core hardware in 2010!)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ifQvQCO7Y

The early Longhorn concept. Then it got delayed...

 

Sweet! Quad cores are using Socket P, not Socket P'?
I'm upgrading to one of these for sure then!

If I were the victim of the exploding MBP, I'd so sue Apple.

Lastly, Windows 7 is a light-weight solution for netbooks such as EEEPC.

 

It is the replacement for Vista.

 

You won't be able to do that, the Extreme processors do not work in just any notebook. They have higher power requirements and need a beefed-up heatsink. I don't know about BIOS compatibility either.

Also, the QX9300 is for the Montevina platform and I don't know what kind of complications that will have.

 

Sorry I misread. Windows 7 is built such that it has the ability to be easily stripped down, and a EEEPC-targetted version is planned.

 

So if Windows 7 is coming out so "soon", then what is Vista? A "happy" interim?

 

Currently, I'm actually optimistic about Windows 7. That WinMin or MinWin thing (whatever they want to call it) is pretty impressive. I like the idea that they're going to be combating bloat in their OS. This will improve performance for everyone, especially people who play games on the PC like myself.

Windows XP: Millennium Edition (ME) = Windows Vista

 

Lol yeah, I figured as much.

And yay for exploding Apples .

 

Thanks buddy!

 

Oh forget it. I might as well throw the ExplodeBookPro away. I was expecting better things out of my MacBook Pro.
So, first an underclocked GPU, and sudden exploding MBPs?

God, imagine my horror when the thing explodes when Im playing F.E.A.R in medium settings.

 

I've never seen a video of longhorn but, I must say I wasn't too impressed by the looks...

And isn't having another version of windows come out in 2010 a bit excessive? I mean having a new OS come out every three or so years sounds like an awful lot to me.

 

I am more interested in the reduced bloat. Imagine: hardware gets even better, and the requirements for the next OS are going to be hardly more demanding than the current!

EDIT: The reiterate. 2010! Perfect time for me! Getting my new computer then.

 

when Microsoft says 2010, it probably means 2013 and after that, they need to release 2 service packs before its even usable... and yes, 3 years per operating system that costs 300 bucks is excessive. and nah, 3 years really isn't that excessive. Microsoft has to catch up on the copying of Mac OS X (and beyond) since Apple generally has shorter release cycles in between OS updates.

 

True, and also keep in mind that XP had an unusually long oem service life compared to it's predecessors. Replacing an os every 2+ years was the Microsoft norm........

 

Honestly, I find that rather frightening. I want performance and compatibility. Everything else is secondary. I'd still be using Windows 98 if it were compatible with the latest hardware. I don't really like the way that Microsoft has been heading to make everything animated, interactive, and graphical. It's getting to be form over function, and I'm a function over form type of person. Modern and sleek is alright, but the moment 3d spinning boxes, jumping pictures, and all that stuff starts getting added is the moment I start considering things to be too busy and cluttered.

I really hope they go the minimalist route with WinMin/MinWin/7/whatever and create something different, yet modern and sleek without all the frills that take up so much extra memory.

 

Graphical effects dont have to take up huge amounts of ram. Compiz can use around 40MB, as long as you don't go overboard.

 

Wow, a bit more expensive than I expected for the quad-core. I thought they'd start with a 1.5 GHz or so quad-core, 2 GHz at most, to make it easier to deal with all the heat. But they went the full nine yards...and they're charging a lot for it, too!

Yay for a new Windows version in 2010! That means I can easily completely skip Vista! Of course that's assuming the next version is actually an improvement - if it isn't, well, it would be time to reconsider Microsoft.

Nice video link as well. My favorite part was the guy loading up about eight boxes of Windows 95 - talk about optimism! Longhorn seemed almost too flashy, certainly nice integration with other technology though.