News Bits: Yonah Benchmarks, Dell in Costco Stores, Bluetooth Grows, More Wal-Mart Laptop Stories

Intel Yonah Benchmarks

AnandTech.com got ahold of a Pentium M Yonah processor (dual core next generation Intel mobile processor) and put it inside a compatible desktop motherboard to see how it competed against the AMD 64-bit X2 processor (a dual core processor from AMD, but very much so NOT a mobile notebookprocessor). The results for the Yonah were impressive, but of course did not perform up to the level of the power hungry dual core AMDprocessor. The Yonah did do well in power consumption tests, this comment at the end of the review from AndandTechis insightful:

"Although we didn't consider it as such here today , Yonah will be quite impressive on notebooks. The thought of having such a cool running dual core processor in a notebook is honestly amazing, and the performance difference (especially for multitaskers) over what we have today will be significant. The other thing to keep in mind is that when you go from a single core to a dual core Pentium M notebook, you won't be giving up anything at all. On the desktop side, you normally give up clock speed for dual core support, but Yonah will be running at very similar frequencies to what Dothan is running at today. In other words, you won't be giving up single threaded performance in favor of multi-threaded performance - you'll get the whole package. "

More: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2627&p=1

Dell"Not So" Direct --Inspiron Notebooks at Costco

The Dell model has always been for direct sales via Dell.com to its customers, they've insisted it'll be the only way. But it appears Dell might be dipping its toes into the bricks and mortar retail market just a little. Recently Dell Inspiron 2200 laptops have been found on shelves in Costco stores around the United States and if you go to Costco.com right now you can see the Dell Inspiron 9300, Inspiron 2200 and XPS M170 for sale online there. Last month IBM / Lenovo finally broke down and started selling ThinkPads in Office Depot stores, the first time they'd sold via major retail in over five years, Dell has likely chosen Costco as a partner due to the large amount of shelf space they have and they have both a business and consumer customer base.

More: Costco Dell Laptops

Dell Laptops and Desktops can be found at Costco now

9.5-million Bluetooth Products Shipping Per Week

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced this week that the Bluetooth market has passed the impressive milestone of 9.5 million Bluetooth units shipping per week. In May, the shipment figures were 4.75 million per week according to IMS Research and in September - only four months later - this figure has doubled to 9.5 million, exceeding even the most optimistic analyst projections. Products counted in this number include mobile phones, laptops, printers, headsets, car kits, and peripherals.

"By doubling the Bluetooth shipments in just four months, Bluetooth technology has once again proved itself as the wireless technology for the personal area network," said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. "As the market is thriving, the Bluetooth SIG listens to the needs of the market, while aiming to improve the positive user experience. Our new consumer programs encourage similar implementations for different product categories and enhance the users' understanding of expected performance."

As we see more and more printers and cell phones with Bluetooth built-in it's likely going to become a more popular feature in notebooks, indeed some people already look for this as a key buying decision in shopping for a laptop.

Acer Rises -- #1 in Notebooks Shipped in Canada for Quarter 3

Acerannounced that it has further solidified its position as a market leader in Canada by becoming the number one provider of notebook PCs in the region during the third quarter of 2005. During Q3 2005, Acer recorded an astounding 303% growth, the highest year-over-year gain reported against the Canadian industry average of 51%, and now has 21.8% market share of the notebook PC market.

Canada is the thirteenth country in which Acer has become the number one provider of mobile PC solutions. Previously Acer has become the industry-leading provider of notebook PCs across Europe, including holding the number one position in Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Slovakia.

Overall, Acer is the number four worldwide provider of Notebook PCs and has retained the number one position in Western Europe for the past six quarters.

Asustek to Spin Off Notebook Manufacturing Arm

Taiwan based Asustek Computer, maker of various computer parts and the ASUS brand of notebook computers,is reportedly going to spin off its notebook manufacturing arm to create a new independent company with headquarters in Singapore. The spinoff would then seek listing on the New York Stock Exchange according to sources reporting on this at the Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily. Asustek would not comment on these reports.

More: DigiTimes.com

More Wal Mart Laptop War Stories

The stories continue to come in from the field on battles to get the limited number of $378 HP laptops at Wal Martlast Friday. Last week we reported the Orlando incident, and today from Granbury, Texas the local paper there describe a lady being punched by a man to force the woman to drop a laptop.

A first hand report and interview of the woman involved comes from theHood County News:

"I was by the pallet where they had the laptop computers. They only had 10 in the store. The store manager passed them out to the 10 people who were there first. I got one of them. Then this man came up and offered me $100 on top of the price that I was going to pay for the laptop. And I told him 'no'. He said he needed the computer for work, then he offered me $200 over the price of the computer. I just kept telling him no,' but he kept following me. Then he got in my face and hit me in the chest. Then he grabbed the computer and pulled it away from me. It was terrible. I was trembling and shaking. He hit me and I'm bruised. The store manager got the computer away from him and gave it back to me. Store security people came and took him away. I'm not sure what happened to him. They said they were taking him to jail."

Like, wow.

More: http://www.hcnews.com/news/get-news.asp?id=11261&catid=1&cpg=get-news.asp

Dell Outlet Reorganizes itsClassification of Laptops Sold as Refurbs

Previously at Dell Outlet you could get a computer for cheaper than the "new" price, but you couldn't really tell if you were getting a model that was scratch & dent or ordered by a customer that opened the box and immediately returned it (never used because they thought it was too big or something). Now at Dell Outlet you can choose from three types of inventory:

• Previously Ordered New*: Previously-ordered New systems include systems that were shipped out to a customer who opened the box, but decided to return the system without ever using it, although it may have been powered on.
• Certified Refurbished: These systems are put through the production process again to ensure they meet all original factory specifications. We also retest each system to ensure the same quality and award winning workmanship standards as a new system.
• Scratch & Dent: Sometimes brand new or refurbished items have cosmetic blemishes. Whenever this happens, they are sold as Scratch & Dent. This is a great option to save money while maintaining the reliability of Dell Outlet's rigorous rebuilding and retesting process.

* Previously-ordered New systems include systems that were shipped out to a customer who opened the box, but decided to return the system without ever using it, although it may have been powered on. How do we know if a customer used the system? All new Dell systems have an End User Software Agreement (EUSA) screen that appears the first time the system is powered on by a customer. Once the EUSA is accepted, the screen never appears again. If this screen is still intact, we know the system has not been used.

Here's a table that breaks down what each category detail is:

Key System Details	Previously Ordered New	Certified Refurbished	Scratch & Dent
Never turned on, or never fully booted by another customer.
May have been powered on by a customer before.
May have been used by another customer before being returned.
Tested to meet original factory specifications including system condition, power-up test, and replacement of any defective parts as needed for Refurbished and Scratch & Dent systems.
May have been shipped out to another customer before.
System may contain some minor cosmetic imperfections.
System may exhibit some noticeable cosmetic imperfections.
May include accessories such as keyboards or speakers that came from previously opened systems. All accessories checked for things like scratches, other damage, or dirt to ensure only items in excellent condition are used.
All Systems Include
Same Limited Warranty2 you get with new built-to-order Dell systems.
Already built and ready to ship.
Same excellent customer service and technical support as new systems - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Re-boxed in brand new packaging
21-day Dell Outlet Return Policy
Guaranteed to include all correct manuals and accessories.

 

That is so wrong.

All I can say.

ASUS makes it in the news again, yay

 

Dell tried retail before and got killed...I wonder how that Costco 6 month return policy will work for them.

 

Stuff like this makes me want to wait for the Yonah... I never thought that multi tasking meant running several non taxing apps... Always thought it meant running multiple intensive apps.

 

Yonah is impressive by today's standards.... but it won't be once it hits the shelves next year.

 

Does anybody else find the power consumption of Yonah to be fine besides me? A lot more than the 27W consumed by today's Sonoma's...that's for sure.

Man, those WalMart stories are terrible. I don't think I would go through that, no matter how good the price is.

 

A bit off topic but there was a sale in a computer store near where I live years back. I went for a new CD-ROM drive (8X, those where the days). There where also a few very cheap computers. People had slept in front of the store and when it opened there where some 200 people trying to get in at once. The door could not handle it and was torn out of its from (steel and concrete not wood). Fights broke out over the computers. The whole store was filled and it was not a small store. Anyway I got away with the CD-ROM, a new sound card (AWE32), a few games and no injuries for no money. Ahh memories.

On topic again, the extra power of Yonah is welcome but I do want to know how long the new generation of laptops will be able to go (which is dependend on more then CPU power consumption) before making a final judgement.

 

Should one be waiting out for this Yonah technology now? What exactly is Yonah?

 

The WalMart story is terrible...if I had witnessed that happen, I would've slaughtered that guy for hitting a woman just FOR A COMPUTER.

Anyway... yay for Yonah. Sounds impressive indeed!

 

Costco.com has been selling Dell computers (notebooks and desktops) for a couple of years now. The only thing that looks different is the layout of the Dell section on the site.

 

Check this out guys, it's a landslide:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10442_7-6389077-1.html?tag=cnetfd.ld3

 

That's Intel's sad excuse for a dual core... The Yonah is their actual first attempt.

 

This is why I don't shop at Walmart. =P It's too dangerous. And the media outlets don't report all the stories of these incidents since Walmart pays for their advertising. It's much worse than the few stories you've read here. When you live near the #2 Walmart and used to shop there in the past, you quickly decide that you have plenty of money extra money to go shop somewhere a little nicer and less crowded.

And I'm not liking Dell's whole restructuring thing. They're making too many changes too fast. Looks like they got some fresh corporate people straight out of college again.