CES 2010: 4 Pound Alienware M11X Brings Gaming To Netbook Users
This is truly glorious. Today at CES 2010, the all-new Alienware M11x netbook was released – a 4 lb no-compromises machine for gamers who can’t sit still.
The Alienware M11x packs Nvidia discrete graphics and 4 hours of battery life for those plane rides when you really need to kick back and get your game on. It has a sexy backlit keyboard, classic Alienware styling, and price tag under $1000, coming this February.
Check out Revision3’s video review below:
Chinese CAZSH Netbook Features Nvidia ION Graphics
Word over at Shanzai has it that Chinese PC manufacturer CASZH has created a netbook prototype featuring the Nvidia ION graphics chip. It should feature otherwise innocuous staples like the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom CPU, a 10.1-inch display, 1024 x 600 pixels, 1 GB of RAM, and a 160 GB hard drive.
The netbook can handle Blu-Ray decoding and HD video, but the low-res screen definitely won’t do them justice. However, with a convenient HDMI port you can hook the computer up to an HDTV and take in all of that glorious video quality.
Other features include 2 USB ports, a microphone, flash card reader, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and a 3-cell battery.
Chinese consumers could get the netbook for as low as $300, but that kind of pricing seems unlikely for US markets.
NVIDIA Ion LE Brings Netbook Gaming To XP
Even though Windows 7 is on its way, NVIDIA is focusing on the vast number netbook users still on XP by bringing the Ion graphics platform to that operating system.
The ION LE is identical to the existing NVIDIA 9400M mobile graphics Ion technology, but supports only up to DirectX 9 graphics rather than Vista’s DirectX 10 or Windows 7’s DirectX 11. Hopefully, this will augment the platform for better performance with XP.
Microsoft will only allow OEMs to install XP on lower-end netbooks for a year after the October release of Windows 7.
However, a vast majority of games and HD content still run on DirectX 9, at least according to NVIDIA senior product manager of GPUs Mat Wuebbling:
“For a $400 netbook, does [having] DirectX 11 really matter?”
Ion LE should provide the same performance and 1080p HD video as the Ion.
Via ComputerWorld, image via SlashGear.
Point Of View Mobii Ion 230 Netbook Packs NVIDIA Graphics
The Point of View Mobii ION 230 might be an eyesore, but it’s not all for show. The new netbook pushes the competition just a bit by running the NVIDIA Ion platform with an Atom N230 CPU, which is usually reserved for nettops.
It comes with an upgradeable 1 GB of RAM and a 160 GB hard drive. One major flaw is a smaller battery, but Point of View claims the netbook can handle 1080p video, DirectX 10, and support for Shader Model 4.0. Unfortunately, its 10.2-inch 1024 x 600 pixel screen is unlikely to exploit that capability to its fullest.
The machine will likely still lag in graphics-intensive games, but this is surely a step up. Point of View reminds us that an affordable gaming netbook isn’t impossible after all – we just need to put a little energy in it.
The Mobii ION 230 will soon be available in Europe in three colors – red, green, and black – for €349 ($495). US release dates, if they exist at all, are thus far unknown.
Via Engadget.
Gaming On A Netbook? It Can Be Done
Though gaming on netbooks has often been seen as something as an impossibility, netbook users have been experimenting with how far a simple Win XP 1.6 GHz Atom netbook can go. There are videos out there of netbooks managing to emulate Nintendo systems. Web-based browser games have never been a problem for netbook hardware either.
While netbooks can’t very well crank out the graphics of a game like Crysis, older titles – the NYTimes noted Asheron’s Call and Civilization III – can be made to function smoothly. Intel recently threw together a list of games that have been tested on the Mobile Intel 945GM Express chipsets, commonly used to power netbook graphics in a variety of models.
Screen size is always an issue for gaming, and default RAM setups can hinder gaming as well. However, updating graphics drivers or installing more memory makes gaming on your little machine a very real possibility.
Don’t have an optical drive? Try downloading games from a client like Steam.
Picture via SlashGear.
CES: The New Tablet-Style Eee PC T91
ASUS demonstrated the new Eee PC T91 today, an 8.9-inch touch-sensitive netbook that works like a Tablet PC with its swiveling monitor.
According to ASUS CEO Jonney Shih, “It’s the superset of the original Tablet PC.” It will be able to act as a digital photo frame, GPS navigation system, and possibly a game console. CES 2009 has already been promising amazing things for future netbooks, and so these shouldn’t be out of the question.
ASUS also expanded the Eee Top line, which Shih calls an “Internet appliance” for the home. It has gesture navigation, soft-stylus handwriting recognition, and an Opera browser optimized for touch controls. It was shown using Windows XP.
Via the Seattle Times.
The Reason for Netbooks
The big idea of netbooks is that they were inspired by the One Laptop Per Child organization, which distributed XO computers to children in third-world countries. Who knew the day would come when businessmen would run the same computers as the poorest countries in the world! Another influence was Transmeta, which made a move to conquer the budding market with its processor specifically designed for portable computers. Intel freaked out and threw together the Intel Atom we’re all too familiar with.
Mark Anderson is the brain behind Strategic News Service, the successful hi-tech newsletter. In ‘97 he thought up ‘Project Hoover’; a concept derived from a meeting of the biggest minds in the PC industry. Project Hoover delivered a new generation of devices for emerging nations. The big companies eventually drifted off but Anderson drilled the idea a little further and came up with the ‘Carry Along PC’.
He got it right; a tough, portable, cheap, well-sized device for mobile computing… if you haven’t figured it out yet, that’s a netbook. He spoke with a confident hope: “[Netbooks] will be the best selling [computers] ever made because [they are] a great computer for the human body.
