Intel Atom Shortage, VIA Sales, Nano Shipments
July 3, 2008
Couple of quick articles on Intel and VIA CPUs for the netbook market.
First off, DigiTimes mentions the impact the Intel Atom shortage is having on the netbook industry. They mention that because of the shortage, that LCD panel makers who handle the manufacturer of the 7″ to 10″ LCD panels for these devices are concerned about shipments of these devices (i.e. people waiting for specifically for an Intel Atom device). It’s not helped by the fact that there is a battery shortage (which might ease up this month - note the word “might“). The Intel Atom shortage on the other hand could last through the fall (into September).
DigiTimes mentions that for 8.9-inch displays, AU Optronics (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) are the primary suppliers. When it comes to the 10.2-inch displays, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and HannStar Display ship the majority of those. Kind of interesting little bit of information. Another company, Innolux Display, is ready to start producing panels for the low-cost / sub-notebook market.
HP 2133 Mini-Note in the Classroom
July 2, 2008
Might the HP 2133 Mini-Note gain additional popularity with students (a target audience that HP mentioned was important to the 2133’s success).
HP made an announcement yesterday at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) that the Fresno, California, United School District is working on deploying over 7,000 8.9-inch HP 2133 Mini-Note PCs to students in kindergarten all the way through the 12th grade.
The chief technology officer of the Fresno United School District said:
“The HP Mini-Note is a powerful laptop that is small enough to fit on students’ desks along with their textbooks and papers, allowing them access to the Internet and educational content from around the world without leaving their seats…”
While it’s great to see netbooks reaching a younger audience, kindergarten and up through the third or fourth grade, it seems like it would be more of a distraction than a tool. That’s just my opinion though. We’ll have to wait and see how it works out.
Read:
- HP Press Release
- HP’s K-12 Education Page
- Thanks to Susan G. for the link
HP 2133 Mini-Note and Windows Vista SP1, XP SP3
June 23, 2008
Over at HP 2133 Mini-Note Guide, they’ve posted some new performance benchmarks for the HP 2133 Mini-Note using updated drivers from VIA for the CN896 chipset and Chrome 9 integrated graphics chipset that were recently released for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows XP.
The benchmarks with the new drivers were between Windows XP and Windows XP with the new drivers, and Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1 and the new drivers.
Among the highlights:
- Overall, Vista SP1 with the new drivers was close to XP SP3 with the new drivers (both were slight improvements over Vista and XP SP2)
- 3DMark03 scores improved around 15% with Vista when SP1 and the new drivers were added.
- 3DMark03 scores with XP SP3 were around 16% higher than Vista SP1
- 3DMark06 scores with XP SP3 were around 15% higher than Vista SP1
They note that video playback overall was improved with the new drivers and service packs, and that no matter what OS you are running, the latest drivers and Service Pack do make quite a bit of difference.
Read: HP2133Guide.com
Sony to Ship Via-Based Netbook?
June 2, 2008
According to PC World, Sony is going to be jumping into the netbook / sub-notebook competition with a low-cost laptop using a VIA Technologies CPU (similar to the one used by the HP 2133 Mini-Note).
PC World reports that Quanta Computers (an OEM for laptop sellers) was displaying a prototype that was based on the recently announced VIA OpenBook reference design / form factor. Quanta says that it will be shipping in the third quarter of this year.
Somebody checked the properties window of the prototype (it was running Windows Vista Home Basic) and it just so happened to list Sony as the manufacturer. When this was pointed out, the Quanta executive in charge closed the window and refused to comment about the matter. As PC World points out, even though Quanta is producing the computer, it’s normal for the customer (whether it be Sony or Apple or whoever) to be listed as the manufacturer.
Should it stay true to form and follow the VIA OpenBook form factor, it will have an 8.9-inch widescreen display (1024×600), with VIA’s C7-M 1.6GHz CPU, and VIA’s VX800 chipset.
Read: PC World
HP 2133 Mini-Note Quick Review (Geek.com)
May 31, 2008
Sal Cangeloso over at Geek.com has posted a quick review of the HP 2133 Mini-Note.
The topic of why Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) never took off in the numbers and speed in which the netbook / sub-notebook has been debated quite often, in many forums. Most UMPCs were Tabled-based and had no physical keyboards, and most were priced fairly high (around $1000 USD or so, give or take several hundred dollars).
There were plenty of people interested in something smaller than a mainstream laptop (and even smaller than the 13.3-inc and below laptops we discuss here at Small-Laptops.com), but UMPCs were seen by some as being too limited as far as usability was concerned (at least for their needs). As Sal points out, the HP 2133 Mini-Note is changing how people view smaller devices, even if they aren’t the classic UMPCs that conformed to Microsoft’s Origami project a few years ago:
Overall the HP 2133 Mini-Note is one of the most usable devices in its size category….. In many ways the 2133 is a more mainstream version of the ultra-low cost PC (or subnotebook, whatever you want to call it) it will appeal to users who would never have looked twice at a UMPC.
Read: Geek.com
HP 2133 Mini-Note Review - XP (LAPTOP Mag)
May 30, 2008
LAPTOP Magazine has published a new review of the HP 2133 Mini-Note. If you are saying “didn’t they already review the HP Mini-Note”, then you would be correct.
This time around though, they are review the Windows XP version - the earlier review was of the Microsoft Windows Vista version (and it was given an Editor’s Choice award along with 4 out of 5 stars).
Among the differences between the OSes - with Windows XP, the HP Mini-Note scored 25% higher under the 3DMark03 benchmarks, and it booted up almost half a minute faster. At 50% screen brightness, they were able to squeeze almost four hours of battery life running on the six-cell battery.
Read: LAPTOP Magazine
