Where are the Ultrathins?

[esrever]

Am I the only one who has no problem with 1366x768 cheapo displays? I can easily live with it on a laptop. resolution wise its good enough for me and the color seems fine for just, not going to kill me if the white background has a slight yellow tinge or something. Only thing I hate is dead pixels but even then my screen isn't usually perfectly clean to notice.

I guess I just have lower standards. Im happy if my laptop is mobile and loads a few games on medium. I do want a nice keyboard and touchpad tho, really hate some laptops keyboards.

Can't wait for trinity, I'd get one even if its worse cpu than llano since I want an ultrathin with decent gpu performance. Im fine with using an cpu faster than a c2d and been that way since c2ds came out.

[vain]

Originally Posted by Guild

I haven't used a X370, but it can definitely improve... Fiberglass chassis seems like a good start. What sucks on these laptops are the displays... high time the low quality 1366x768 TN panels went extinct.

I like it overall, it's 3.8lbs ( 1.7kg ) with an 8 cell, and lasts as long as my netbook. At 13 inch, the resolution isn't a bother to me, just the gloss and lack of viewing angle. If they just removed the gloss on the lid I'd be more than happy with that vs other chasis material.

Improvements cost money. Ultrathins are targetting a what, 20% reduction in price vs Ultrabooks? Doubt you can justify that difference with processor alone.

plastic body with possible metallic(ish) lid/palmrest
cheap led
hard drive or 128gb ssd (msata?)
weight probably around 3-4 lbs with an 8 or 6 cell, possibly just under 3lb with msata
just under 1 inch thick
great APU with great graphics
inexpensive price (relative UB)

Again, overall pretty meh, but I'd still be happier with it than paying more for something "sexy" and 2 ounces lighter. I mean, there obviously will be some fringe variations with a nice screen and some composite body, but they're not going to be undercutting an ultrabook. The processor is going to be spiffy, but the ultrathin as a whole is nothing to sell your first born for.

Example:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/l...oks-announced/

Imagine that for 100 dollars less with an AMD apu.

3.7 lbs
13.3 inch with 768 screen
no SSD
18mm thick

Not all that much different from the x370, pretty meh overall.

[vain]

Originally Posted by esrever

Am I the only one who has no problem with 1366x768 cheapo displays? I can easily live with it on a laptop. resolution wise its good enough for me and the color seems fine for just, not going to kill me if the white background has a slight yellow tinge or something. Only thing I hate is dead pixels but even then my screen isn't usually perfectly clean to notice.

I guess I just have lower standards. Im happy if my laptop is mobile and loads a few games on medium. I do want a nice keyboard and touchpad tho, really hate some laptops keyboards.

Couldn't agree with you more about the resolution, even with viewing angle, it's not like you're going to be watching a moving with the family on your 13 inch screen.

With you on the low standards thing too. I just want something light and quiet (x370 fan always being on is fail btw) that plays a few older games on medium, with a decent keyboard for typing. I can put in my own SSD, a 64gb M4 for 80 bucks and I'm happy.

I don't see how a mobile version of a processor is justifiable to do "real work" on when it would be a joke in comparison to a simple desktop built for hundreds less. I mean, I can see professionals needing something on the go, but even then, i don't see how something cheap and light can't suffice unless you're doing photography work or running DNA samples.

[french toast]

I don't agree, we really should be expecting 1080p screens anything over 10'' or so IMHO...we souldn't be getting tablets with better screens than 13'' notebooks, i know ultrathins are supposed to be cheaper, so we should't expect a retina display..but seriously 720p is like betamax in 2012

For me, (and ive got a cheap atom netbook) viewing angles are a massive annoyance...any deviation in viewing angle and you get a loss of colour and dark spots....at the end of the day most of the time your looking at the display..so a bigger portion of the budget has to go there.

[Medallish]

Originally Posted by french toast

I don't agree, we really should be expecting 1080p screens anything over 10'' or so IMHO...we souldn't be getting tablets with better screens than 13'' notebooks, i know ultrathins are supposed to be cheaper, so we should't expect a retina display..but seriously 720p is like betamax in 2012

For me, (and ive got a cheap atom netbook) viewing angles are a massive annoyance...any deviation in viewing angle and you get a loss of colour and dark spots....at the end of the day most of the time your looking at the display..so a bigger portion of the budget has to go there.

Pretty much agree here, while 720p is fine for a laptop you want to just watch movies on or play a few games(Like my older Acer 5552G), once you start working on it the small resolution gets to be a pain, I don't know about most people, but when I work on my PC in a lot of cases I'll need to split a window up in two parts, each side of the screen 720p is just too little to do that and get a decent overview.

What's so sad about the whole resolution thing is the fact that you can turn back time to around 2005(I think), when I got my first laptop, which was a cheap ECS(Under som different name, can't remember which) Laptop with P4 CPU Radeon 9600 mobility, and a 15.4(16:10 format) screen, and it's resolution was 1680x1050..

But in order to not go completely OT, the link about Seeratlas he said this:

Lastly, and here's a real corker...the proverbial *unidentified sources* have informed me that there is a boutique mfg out there that has been working on a dual socket unit AND, that they have managed to get dual trins, WITH not one but 2 separate dedicated gpus, all running in multi crossfire, crammed into a 17" gaming chassis. They refer to it as a 'graphics workstation'..others suspect its really intended as an alienware killer.

So am I reading this right? Two Trinity's and two GPU? Essentially 2 PC's in one 17" laptop? :S Sounds like the ultimate testing/Virtual platform fun thing , but it also sounds almost unbelievable, and a bit odd.

[pmoses]

Originally Posted by Medallish

What's so sad about the whole resolution thing is the fact that you can turn back time to around 2005(I think), when I got my first laptop, which was a cheap ECS(Under som different name, can't remember which) Laptop with P4 CPU Radeon 9600 mobility, and a 15.4(16:10 format) screen, and it's resolution was 1680x1050..

That cheap notebook costed 1000USD, right?
You can get 40 laptops with resolution 1600x900 below 1000USD today. They start at 600USD.
Don't be confused with screen size. Todays 17" are as high and heavy as my Dell C840 15" few years ago.

[Medallish]

Originally Posted by pmoses

That cheap notebook costed 1000USD, right?
You can get 40 laptops with resolution 1600x900 below 1000USD today. They start at 600USD.
Don't be confused with screen size. Todays 17" are as high and heavy as my Dell C840 15" few years ago.

True, but I doubt it was the screen keeping the cost up, especially considering how LCD screen production has nearly been perfected since(Can't remember the last time I saw a dead pixel in a new screen), you would think that cost went down as the process was refined.

The thing about the 17" laptop was about what seemed to me to be a hint about a PC coming with basically 2xFSx sockets, and 2xdedicated GPU's, I don't really doubt that it's possible with some clever design, what I'm wondering is, will it be worth anything? It seems to be an extremely odd design.

[pmoses]

Originally Posted by Medallish

The thing about the 17" laptop was about what seemed to me to be a hint about a PC coming with basically 2xFSx sockets, and 2xdedicated GPU's, I don't really doubt that it's possible with some clever design, what I'm wondering is, will it be worth anything? It seems to be an extremely odd design.

Amd left (or didn't enter) dual-socket workstation market. I doubt, that they will enter dual-socket notebook market.

For notebook makers will be better to go with i7-something+7970M or 680m than 2xtrinity.

I am not sure if Trinity has multi-socket support, Hypertransport, NUMA features, which are needed for such beast.

[James]

You could see dual socket trinity working in desktops, but laptops? I just can't see that.

[french toast]

Yea, we have been getting royaly ripped off the last 18 months or so..both in Notebooks and TV's.....seriously this w7 Netbook was about £200...10' 720p Atom...about 3 years old...seriously..has nothing moved on at all then??

As much as i dislike Apple..at least they push the bounderies..

Gaming Laptops..seriously WTF? a notebook is supposed to be PORTABLE not a weight training exercise...how portable is it when it needs to run on the mains, and can't be on your lap too long without 2nd degree burns?