News Bits: Nvidia 8800 Graphics for Notebooks, Asus Eec PC 701 $199 Laptop, Toshiba Pushing HD-DVD

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Nvidia to release 8800 for notebooks

At Computex 2007, Nvidia showed the NB8E, a 22W version of the GeForce 8800 for notebooks. It will probably come out this summer and be the most powerful notebook video card available. The original desktop GeForce 8800 used over 100 watts of power so some heavy modifications have been made in order to keep the power consumption down. Changes have been made in the manufacturing process and to the way the chips function. There will probably end up being three models - the GeForce 8800M-GTX, -GT, and -GS.

Read More (TheInquirer.net)

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Toshiba to push HD*DVD format with laptops

Toshiba plans to put HD DVD drives in all of its laptops next year in an effort to gain the lead in the next-generation format war. According to Toshiba Senior Vice President Hisatsugu Nonaka, the company is employing a tactic similar to what Sony is doing with their PS3 game console. All PS3s are equipped with Blu-Ray players.

Read More (News.Yahoo.com)

Asustek and Intel Demonstrate $199 Eec PC 701 Classmate Laptop

Intel and Asustek unveiled their joint effort $199 laptop called the Eec PC 701 (what a mouthful) today. There will actually be two models, a $199 and $299 version. Both will have a 7-inch screen size and include some type of wireless internet capability. It will be a fully functional low-end notebook. Asustek plans to start shipping units this summer, with the goal of selling 200,000 units in 2007 under the Asustek brand. The units would sell for between $199 - $299, the higher amount will be for a version with more on board flash RAM.

The basic specs on this cheap laptop are as follows:

Eee PC 701 Specification:

• Display 7&quot;
• CPU &amp; Chipset: Intel mobile CPU &amp; chipset
• OS: Linux/ Microsoft Windows XP compatible
• Communication: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet; 56K modem, WLAN: WiFi 802.11b/g
• Memory: 512MB, DDR2-400
• Storage: 4/ 8/ 16GB Flash
• Webcam: 300K pixel video camera
• Audio: Hi-Definition Audio CODEC; Built-in stereo speaker; Built-in microphone
• Battery Life: 3hrs (4 cells: 5200mAh, 2S2P)
• Weight: 1.96lbs
• Dimension &amp; Weight: 22.5 x 16.5 x 2.1~3.5cm, 0.89kg

It appears the device can run either Windows XP or Linux, but there's also some kind of stripped down OS that was demonstrated and it's unclear exactly what is being used in this instance.

Read More (News.Yahoo.com)

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Hitachi now shipping 250GB notebook hard drive

Hitachi today announced that it is shipping its quarter-terabyte Travelstar 5K250 hard drive in volume. The newest 2.5-inch drive from Hitachi spins at 5400RPM and has 56% more capacity, a 23% shock improvement, and an 8% overall application performance gain over its predecessor, the 160GB 5K160.

Read More (DigiTimes.com)

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Asustek to ship 4-5 million own-brand notebooks in 2007

Asustek Computer announced that its goal is to ship 4 to 5 million of its own-brand notebooks in 2007. Asustek expects to be the number four own-brand notebok vendor in the Asia-Pacific market for Q2. The company is expecting its worldwide ranking to rise to number seven; currently they have been in eigth and ninth place for the last two quarters.

At Computex 2007, Asustek will showcase the C90 high-end notebook, and a 14-inch F8 notebook.

Read More (DigiTimes.com)

 

This $199 Asus PC actually looks like it might have legs. I mean, compare it to the $599 Palm Foleo of about the same size and you'd scratch your head and wonder why you wouldn't buy the Eec PC instead. Other than the name sucks.

 

If the cheapest BR player is now $500 with the PS3 only $100 more, then I presume Sony are making less of a loss on BR. Can Toshiba match those prices? Only time will tell but regardless I'm still not biting the cherry

Hooray for the 8800 but alas out of my league both in £ terms and as I would never buy a 17" laptop anyway

Edit: running Asus thread here (also in post 2)

 

It's actually the Eee PC, which either stands for Easy(to learn, use and play), Excellent(mobile computing experience), and Excellent(wireless capabilities). Or:

Easy to Learn.
Easy to Use.
Easy to Play.

More info: http://event.asus.com/eeepc/

The ASUS F8s looks pretty impressive for a 14", though its another 14" along with their A8 and V2 series.

Discussion of the F8s here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=128202

 

Very cool news guys! Those Asus machines are pretty cool!

Yay for the 8800's!

 

300$ laptop is a beaut. Its great for people on a tight budget. Especially travelers, cause small notebooks cost a premium cost. But I would upgrade the ram as soon as i get it.

 

If it's available stateside, I think I might go for the Eee PC (3EPC would make more sense??) since a subnotebook in conjunction with a larger, powerful laptop or desktop would be more economically feasible than ponying it up for a capable 12 or 14" laptop.

 

WOW is all I can say. Sign me up. Give it a bit bigger battery, 6-7 cell and give it 1GB ram, and put a nice and light lunic distro!! I will seriously keeping my eye on this little bugger.

 

I believe they said they were using a stripped down/custom linux install. It seemed to have Firefox on it so, hey, all's well. I'm definitely digging the 'laptop'. I'd buy it for $200 FOR CERTAIN and more than likely for $300 as well, based on what I'm hearing/seeing. The only concern I have is battery life. 3 hours is a little on the low side, especially since it's geared to be super portable. It's probably running the Intel McCaslin platform - something like a 600-800MHz CPU based on the P-M. TDP's around 3W IIRC. It definitely won't be underpowered for what it'll be used for, unlike the Foleo... (can't even watch YouTube properly, hehe)

I so wish they'd made better use of the screen area as well. It seems like they could've fit something larger in there - although a big part of it will depend on what size displays they can manufacture economically. I just hope it's resolution isn't too bad. I wonder what sort of resolution they could fit into a 7"?

Oh I almost forgot, it's not fugly like the original Classmate or the OLPC...That's always key.

 

I would buy one of those Asus Eee Pc! Very portable and would be great to use on trips and for other light functions. I believe the article states that they will also be selling to regular consumers, so thats always a bonus!

I'm also not liking the 3h battery. I hope there is an extended battery or a way to supercharge the battery in like 15 mins. Looking forward to it tho!

 

Well, the availability of an extended battery isn't really a deal breaker for me. The 3hour battery life seems pretty possible, and they say the battery life is greater in "easy mode," boots into stripped down OS that provides Internet browser only.

Only thing that might kill this for me is if the RAM is soldered on.

 

Well, web browsing's probably all I'd do with such a device anyways. 512MB RAM isn't too bad if it indeed is running a stripped down Linux distro and a web browser + office is all that's being used, although I wouldn't mind being able to upgrade that.

 

I agree. I'd probably just end up using this for web surfing (youtube), office, and a little bit of MATLAB on the side, which works in Linux anyways. But with RAM so cheap nowadays, it doesn't hurt to bump it up a little more.

 

I would buy the Eec PC. It'd make a nice little laptop to take to class, not to mention just a really cool gadget to have.

Really, 512MB of RAM isn't that bad. It's perfectly fine for pretty much any Linux distro, and I was running XP on 512MB of RAM for a long time. Of course, the 2GB I have now is much better, but it all seemed respectable to me at the time. My parents are still running a bloated HP install of XP on 256MB of RAM, so it could be worse.

 

Apparently HP is going to be releasing the NVIDIA 8 series GPUs tomorrow on many of their notebooks. This information comes for other members here who contacted HP support through online chats.

Yes, If that unit ships out this summer, I will be sure to pick one up. There isn't a reason not to...but I HIGHLY doubt the price will be $200. It's just wishful thinking.

 

for 200/300, i'm definitely in. A mini laptop that small for that price is one hell of a bargain

 

That Eee PC is truly amazing. In fact, it sounds far too good to be true. That computer for 199 to 300 dollars? They must have made some kind of typo in their press release. Either that or they're insane.

If its true though, I'll buy one of those beautiful little machines in a nanosecond. That little computer could finally be the replacement for my old Jornada 720 that I've been looking for. It would be perfect to carry around my college, and its large enough for me to touch type on. Only thing that needs work is the battery life. Beyond that, its just about perfect.

I wonder when it will be released...

Or even IF it will be released. Could it simply be a harbinger of disappointment, crushed hopes, and shattered dreams? Only time will tell I suppose.

 

I usually look at that class of gadgets (UMPCs, handheld PCs, etc like the RAON and Kohshinja) as frivolous wastes of $900, but if this thing seriously comes in at $199, count me in. The 4GB hard drive space is a bit low, but thats why you get a 4GB flash drive for $40 and plug it in permanently.

I can delay my next iPod purchase if it means I can get a tiny tiny laptop like this. I wonder what the battery life will be....Must be pretty good, since its running a really low power CPU, flash hard drive, and 7" screen. 3 hours seems like a really conservative estimate. With a 4 cell battery, even the UMPCs, which have more powerful CPUs and an actual hard drive, get close to 4 hours. This should be well over that.

 

The Eee looks like a winner at 199$ , even with predicted drawbacks it will suffice common daily tasks -- it looks great too .

Looking forward to the 8800 , the 22W sounds good too .

 

Yeah, you can get this for 19$ after rebate now. The EEe looks like an interesting find, and will be well worth $200 if it indeed retails at that price.

 

I would get the Asus as a replacement in case of my main machine breaks down (like now... )

 

It would make a nice companion notebook. And it blows that whole UMPC thing out of the water. <- that coming from a guy that actually likes UMPCs...

The nice thing about moving most of the storage to a flash drive is that you can move it from computer to computer, so theres no real syncing necessary. I've been doing this with my VAIO in the last month or so (I don't want to store things on the hard drive so that I don't need to back it up before I send it to repair), and it works pretty well. It takes a lot of the hassle out of having 2 computers.

So grab one of these, plus a large flash drive (and is that an SD card slot I see on the right edge towards the front? Add another 2GB storage there...) and you should be good to go for web use, movie watching, and word processing.

 

Meh, not sure when exactly we'll be seeing the Eee.

The last Asus product that I was looking forward to is still MIA despite its projected Q2 07 release... AHEM... xg station

I'd would purchase both. Eee for moving around and school, and use the XG station to convert my current lappy to desktop duty.

 

its mentioned that the difference between the $199 and $299 model is the bigger flash drive. i just hope that the flash drive is easily accessible and user replaceable. flash drive prices are going down every month and i dont want to be paying a premium for something thats selling for half the price 6 months later. if it is user replaceable then id just go with the $199 model and upgrade when bigger capacity flash drives are in the $20-$40 range just as the 4GB is now.

 

Think of all the modding possibilities for this little machine. I would get one to build the modding market for this unit.

 

the Eee or Foleo + convertible form factor + better battery would be an awesome device.

 

Foleo is really a joke compared to this.... $600 for that crap, they r doomed...
Asus Eee FTW!

 

I, personally, was more enthused that Toshiba is refreshing their product lines on June 22 (see where the Toshiba article noted NAND sales starting then). This is fantastic news, as I have been anxiously awaiting a refresh of the A200 series.

- Trip

 

Did that video card posting really say 22W? For just a video card? That's unreal. I don't like the direction design is going. They're just throwing power at the problem instead of improving efficiency. I just undervolted my Dothan chip to 0.908W, result being my entire machine now runs anywhere from 14W to 19W, enabling me to get 4.5-5hrs out of my single 80Whr battery. For a 15.4" Inspiron 8600, that's not half bad.

22W for just a vid card? *shakes head*. I might have to hang onto this machine forever.

 

well than..a nice notebook that exceeds UMPCs capabilities..
microsoft sure cursed asus for bringing out this machine,coz it would kill the UMPC market.

 

The funny thing is, Intel was co-developing both projects.

Intelligent indeed