Ultra-thin Notebook Sales Disappointing

Ultra-thin Notebook Sales Disappointing

According to a DigiTimes report, sales of ultra-thin notebooks based on Intel's Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) platform have not reached expectations. The Microsoft Windows 7 upgrade coupons have increased sales but consumers are still skeptical of the ultra-thin notebooks and may be waiting to see what big-name companies like HP and Dell have to offer when they introduce ultra-thin notebooks this fall.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com)

 

CULV notebooks are still too expensive for what you get, imo. I was hoping for some more of them in the thinner 12" form factor as opposed to them using the CULV chips in bigger notebooks.

 

The problem about CULV laptops, IMO, is that people already has the habit of 2.0+GHz CPU on every laptop, and if a seller tells them to buy something that is 1.2-1.6GHz, they don't feel sure that it will be enough for what they want.

Besides, consumers think that they need powerful graphics alongside their 2.0+GHz CPU, and Intel IGP has a fame of under-performer.

So, the way I see it, it is a matter of people not adapting to this new trend.

 

I think it is because of the recession and looks or cosmetic things are not as appealing as getting the job done.

 

Persistence and continued innovation on the part of manufacturers will help the tide turn eventually I think

 

It wouldn't have anything to do with Intel charging two hundred and sixty-two eye-watering bucks for a 1.4 GHz Core 2 Solo (SU3500), would it? ULV Core 2s are good, but they're nowhere near that good, in my opinion. This is maybe twice the N270's performance on a good day, for a bit more than twice the TDP and ten times the price. There aren't enough suckers out there for that to work in the long term.

With prices like that, AMD has half a chance of going somewhere by doing what it's tried recently: getting low-performance Athlons into the low teens in TDP. The parts won't be as good as CULV Core 2, but at less than half the price notebook manufacturers will take notice.

I'm not so sure consumers are deliberately waiting for the big players to show their hands, but they do see the Acer Timeline in a store and think it looks and feels like any other bargain-basement laptop: cheap and creaky and entirely unsexy. And it has to be that way for the price to remain affordable if the processor costs Acer close to $262.

 

Well, if you tell me that I can buy a laptop with a Core 2 Solo at 1.4GHz for the same price as a Core 2 Duo at 2.0GHz plus a GPU (which smokes the Intel GMA) I would go with the C2D...better performance for same price

 

I own a Timeline with a SU9400, 500GB Hard Drive 4GB DDR3 ram, Draft N wireless, 3.5lb weight, and 8 hour battery. It creaks in no way that you describe. I used to be an Acer hater, but this is a great laptop.

AND, since Acer is a top selling netbook maker, so I really doubt consumers are passing Acer's up. Also, I think my 3810 looks great.

BTW, what laptop do you own? Are Acer's not good enough for you?

 

Hey, the SU3500 fills a niche very nicely: it's by far the most efficient processor (both idle and flat-out) that has around twice the Atom's speed. If you want exactly that, you're obviously not a sucker for paying $262 on the chip alone. The trouble is, that's a very small niche, and for everyone else there are better and cheaper options. You can't sell 10 million CULV machines in 2009 on that basis alone (as was the goal).

CULV notebooks won't really take off until we get better prices and/or more choice. The performance is generally okay, especially with the dual-core options, but they're too expensive.

Jayayess1190: the 3810T is the best of the 3810T/4810T/5810T trio by a mile. Dumping the optical drive and making the chassis smaller did a lot to make the thing stiffer and creak less. But judging by the flex of even the 3810T, I doubt there's any structural metal in there. Flexible notebooks die prematurely in my experience - unless you leave them sitting on a desk all day, of course.

I'm not an Acer hater. I think their 9-inch Aspire One netbook was brilliant: light, small, cheaper than the rest, great screen quality, and excellent stiffness. The Timeline series in contrast was a disappointment to me when I saw it in person.

As for my laptop, I have a five-year-old 12-inch PowerBook. It's built like a tank but it's no faster than a modern netbook. I joined the forum to ask about HP's dv2, which I think I might get.

 

Have the really low voltage intel cpu's ever had a large buyer market? (Outside of a select business sector.)

 

i too think Acer Timeline is good example of CULV.. balancing performance and cost very well..aesthetic is very nice as well.

 

Timeline owners unite!

 

The netbooks must have eaten into this market segment. They offer light weight and good battery time if one is willing to compromise on performance. Subject to the CPU performance limitation, the netbooks with a 12.1" screen (eg the Samsung NC20) offer excellent value for money compared to the ultra-thin notebooks.

John

PS: This report suggest that AMD may also be planning to offer something in this segment.

 

I like timeline very elgant.

Maybe they havent advertised well enough? Realistically i only heard about these ntoebooks because of NBR and a review i saw on laptop mag. Never saw it on Tv, in a mag, etc.

Advertising is what HP and Dell are good at so lets see how its plays out once they bring theres to the table.

 

when lenovo and acer annouced these ULV processors I got excited, they seemed to offer decent power with outstanding battery life and a cheap price, but many promises were broken and they havent lived up to the expectations of many.

Im waiting for my ULV that gets 6+ hours of batt. life, can play HD and flash videos without lag and a price under $700

 

The thing with the ultra thin notebooks is that it appeals to cosmetic tastes. It hardly shaves any weight and doesn't offer significant value over a regular laptop. It's just an expensive glorified web browser.

 

I'm a bit sceptical of Digitimes these days. A lot of their articles are based on 'unnamed sources'.

Like the article about Atom Z which turned out to be incorrect.

 

Agreed, you have to read their articles carefully; they have been known for making rather large mistakes in the past and recently as you noted. I screen their articles before posting them.

 

Maybe the announcement of processors for the Tigris platform?

 

For ultra thin laptops to be successful, they have to market them solely on battery life. When you have things like the Macbook Air and Dell Adamo, with not only low processing power but low battery life too, you end up with a bad mix computer. I would rather think that spending a thousand dollars for the sake of thinness is not on the priority lists of many people.

 

I tend to agree with this assessment....

 

I don't know if Acer Timeline is called 'ultra-thin' but they're selling very well in Europe. (3rd place most sold notebook)

 

they're far too expensive.

 

That'll come sooner then you think...........

 

The Acer Timeline series is very nice and thin. Why couldn't all of them have the SU9400 processor and not the SU2700 or SU3500?

I think ULV laptops will become more mainstream in the near future with better/faster ULV processor and better batteries/battery life. I didn't read much into that new huge grant the federal government currently gave to improve battery life but I hope it helps fix the battery life of laptops because aside from some netbooks they are pretty weak.

One thing I don't get is how the Macbook Air can get up to 7 hours of battery life on a C2D processor. Unless this rated battery life is with Wifi turned off and on the lowest screen brightness setting.

 

It's not really that difficult with a decent battery. The Dell E4300 I picked out for my sister has an SP9600 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB cache, 25W TDP) and it gets about 6 hours of battery life the way she uses it. Lowering the TDP of the processor will only get you so far in terms of battery life.

Come to think about it, the E4300 is a good example of why the "ultra-thin" ULV notebooks need to be cheap -- its processor is roughly twice as powerful as theirs, but the machine as a whole is more or less the same weight (Dell claims 3.3lbs; it's actually more than that, but still very light).

 

I think you're mistaking. The Macbook Air hardly reaches 3.5 to 4 hours. Notebookjournal reached 206 minutes with 30% CPU load.

The 13" Macbook Pro does reach 7 hours.

 

I think the latest Macbook Air's with SSD are the ones that get that battery life.

 

Actually they don't. Apple already says 'up to 5 hours'. Most reviews reveal that 4 hours is already stretch.

 

I'm buying a 13" ultraportable laptop but they are all very expensive. Is there something going on that will lower the prices soon? And if so, how soon? ;-)

Is it worth waiting for as I'm not really in a big hurry (as long as I get it before October/November'ish)

 

That has the same thickness as the Vaio VGN-Z, 1.3" which isn't considered an ultra-thin.

 

I would agree with you but Digitimes does not seem to define 'ultra thin'. It actually seems like they are talking about CULV.

 

I see what you mean, they do not make it clear which they are talking about. I suppose it can be seen like 12" 'netbooks' where some consider them netbooks and others do not. But in this case, they are just defining it as CULV.

 

I still prefer ultraportables like the Sony TT, Fujitsu P8020 and the
Toshiba R600. I prefer fully featured ultraportables. Also, the fit and finish and materials you can't compare but then again your going to be paying more than double for that.

I won't accept lower than a SU9600 processor.

It is true they need to be sold on battery life. The Acer is a good seller though.

It seems like the majority of PC owners do not care about ultra-thin computers.

Some of these ULV notebooks are priced no cheaper than budget fully featured notebooks that offer acceptable battery life.

Some of these cheaper ULV notebooks like some of the MSI lines do not even offer good battery life.

 

Battery technology just needs to get better

 

And ULV get faster

 

And integrated graphics get more muscular

 

Arent we asking for too much now? lol
Long battery life, great CPU, good IGP, high BQ and cheap?

 

No, this is already answered with the Acer Timelines. The ones with the SU9400, and ATI 4330/Intel 4500 switchable graphics fulfill this.

 

Is there really an Acer Timeline with SU9400 and ATI 4330HD?

 

Review of the 3810TG, which features this combo.

 

Ultrathin marketing videos by Intel:

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^ cheesy lol

 

How on earth did that video get a 4.5 star rating?

 

I didn't even watch it all the way through. It's garbage from the company with the most famous jingle ever.

 

I agree.

99.9999% of consumers don't understand the specs of a computer. All they see are numbers and are probably still rockin their P4 prescotts.

 

Those Intel videos makes me go sick...lol

 

AMD Turion Neo X2 625 to be in HP's, Acer's, and Gateways.

 

Odd that HP was offering that quite some time ago...

 

I read somewhere that the DV2 was designed specifically for this processor and they got it exclusively, for a short time.