Short update: in a conference call Tim Cook explicitely said that Apple won't build a netbook/mini laptop with this generation of processors (i.e. Intel Atom N270 and VIA Nano).
According to Apple, current processors are too slow, not sufficient for a good customer experience.
Let's see whether a dual core Atom or next generation of Intel Atom (Pineview, with integrated graphics and memory controller) will have sufficient performance, according to Apple.
To be noted that what Tim Cook said could be an answer to what an Intel executive said a few months ago (iPhone internet browsing is slow because of the ARM processor), furthermore there are rumors of Apple being developing an own processor, to be used in Apple Netbooks. It means that Apple may enter the market with an own processor and is already starting the marketing campain saying that current processors are too slow...
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Intel Atom N270 vs VIA Nano vs Core 2 Duo vs Pentium M Benchmarks for Netbook Performance
I see much confusion when comparing Intel Atom and VIA Nano performance: the VIA Nano processor performs slightly better in number crunching (single thread) benchmarks, again SLIGHTLY! It doesn't mean that a netbook running VIA Nano processors are faster, not at all. Actually the opposite is true in some use cases! Especially with multi-threading applications.
I tell you something: having an Atom or a Nano processor won't influcence that much performance as you can with 1-2 GB RAM and a fast hard disk or SDD.
I personally consider current Intel Atom N270 and VIA Nano processors at the same performance level, little below Pentium M and far below Core 2 Duo processors.
I prepared a couple of charts showing the performance difference Atom/Nano vs Pentium M and Core 2 Duo processors.
The first chart shows SPECint_rate_base2006 and SPECfp_rate_base2006 for
The core efficiency can be also
seen if you consider the benchmark figures divided by GHz and number of cores. This is what I show in next chart: Pentium M and especially Core 2 Duo are far more efficient than Atom and Nano. Of course we didn't expect something different since Atom and Nano are designed for low cost/low performance and especially low power designs.
See also
I tell you something: having an Atom or a Nano processor won't influcence that much performance as you can with 1-2 GB RAM and a fast hard disk or SDD.
I personally consider current Intel Atom N270 and VIA Nano processors at the same performance level, little below Pentium M and far below Core 2 Duo processors.
I prepared a couple of charts showing the performance difference Atom/Nano vs Pentium M and Core 2 Duo processors.The first chart shows SPECint_rate_base2006 and SPECfp_rate_base2006 for
- Intel Atom N270
- VIA Nano N2100
- Pentium M 780
- Core 2 Duo T7800
- Core 2 Duo T9500
The core efficiency can be also
seen if you consider the benchmark figures divided by GHz and number of cores. This is what I show in next chart: Pentium M and especially Core 2 Duo are far more efficient than Atom and Nano. Of course we didn't expect something different since Atom and Nano are designed for low cost/low performance and especially low power designs.See also
- popular post on Atom Performance vs Core Duo vs VIA C7
- other posts on Intel Atom Processor
- other posts on VIA Nano Processor
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Bluetooth for Aspire One A150, Samsung NC10, Medion Akoya Mini E1210 netbooks
UPDATE: Netbook and Bluetooth - Integrated vs USB Dongle
Please go directly to the newest post, since the Bluetooth dongle suggested in this post may have major software problems!
You want to buy the netbook that best fits you (e.g. using the netbook features database),
you are close to buy a top class netbook/mini laptop, such as the Samsung NC10, the Acer Aspire A150 or the Medion Akoya Mini E1210 when you see that it is missing a Bluetooth interface. What to do? You really need Bluetooth in the netbook to synchronize the mobile phone calendar or just to listen to music!
My suggestion: Bluetooth support in the netbook shouldn't be a go/not go criteria, you can simply add Bluetooth support using a Bluetooth USB dongle, there are many starting just below $10 (USD) and some of them are so tiny that you even won't see it.
This micro USB Bluetooth adapter simply disappears in the USB port of your netbook, so you can plug it once and forget it. You won't notice it! No damage to break it!
The Samsung NC10 or the Acer Aspire A150 got 3 USB ports so you'll have "just" two USB ports left, however it is far enough for 99% of us!
(At the time of writing) Beside the mentioned one, many other netbooks aren't equipped with a Bluetooth port: the HP MiniNote 2133, Acer Aspire A110, Fukato Jupiter, Lenovo Ideapad S9/S10, Fujitsu Amilo Mini Ui3520, Gigabyte M912, EEE PC 700/701/900/901. So if you really like the netbook however you miss Bluetooth, just buy an USB dongle/adapter!
Important! Installing a Bluetooth USB dongle/adapter is matter of minutes with Windows XP, for a Linux netbook the installation is a bit more complex and you need a minimal linux experience, look here for instructions on EEE PC (mostly similar for other netbooks).
UPDATE: Netbook and Bluetooth - Integrated vs USB Dongle
Please go directly to the newest post, since the Bluetooth dongle suggested in this post may have major software problems!
Remember that using the EEE Journal Netbook database helps find your dream netbook, with or without Bluetooth and refining the search with many other paramenters (operating system, size, battery, etc...)
http://www.eeejournal.com/2008/12/netbook-feature-database.html
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Atom N280, new Intel Atom Processor and DVD for EEE PC 1004D
Asus presented at the recent CES a new interesting EEE PC netbook model, the EEE PC 1004DN. The major innovations in the EEE PC 1004DN netbook are a DVD drive and especially a new processor: the Intel Atom N280 CPU.
The coming of the Atom N280 has been already indi
rectly announced by an "confidential" Intel Sales document, at page 5 (bottom rigth) the Atom N280 was signaled as available for Q1 2009 in the netbook processors box.
Atom N280 vs N270
What I find interesting is the fact that (according to the Intel document) beside a marginal increase in the CPU clock the Atom N280 is very similar to the N270. The Atom N280 is clocked at 1,66GHz while the Atom N270 is clocked at 1,6GHz. Both are single core, got a 533MHz FSB and 512MB cache (L2).
It means that the netbook performance improvement can't be perceived and, if the information above is correct, the first benchmarks will definetly confirm it.
Some internet news stated that the N280 has a 667MHz FSB, other sites talk about 1,86GHz clock however these are just rumors. I'm not sure how reliable these informations are, in any case it is known that current Atom family can achieve about 2GHz clock, I won't be surpriced to see very soon a 1,86GHz or 2GHz Atom processor.
See also
The coming of the Atom N280 has been already indi
rectly announced by an "confidential" Intel Sales document, at page 5 (bottom rigth) the Atom N280 was signaled as available for Q1 2009 in the netbook processors box.Atom N280 vs N270
What I find interesting is the fact that (according to the Intel document) beside a marginal increase in the CPU clock the Atom N280 is very similar to the N270. The Atom N280 is clocked at 1,66GHz while the Atom N270 is clocked at 1,6GHz. Both are single core, got a 533MHz FSB and 512MB cache (L2).
It means that the netbook performance improvement can't be perceived and, if the information above is correct, the first benchmarks will definetly confirm it.
Some internet news stated that the N280 has a 667MHz FSB, other sites talk about 1,86GHz clock however these are just rumors. I'm not sure how reliable these informations are, in any case it is known that current Atom family can achieve about 2GHz clock, I won't be surpriced to see very soon a 1,86GHz or 2GHz Atom processor.
See also
- popular post on Atom Performance vs Core Duo vs VIA C7
- other posts on Intel Atom Processor
Friday, January 2, 2009
MSI Wind U115: Can Hybrid Storage boost Netbook Performance?
MSI announced the Wind U115 as the first netbook with hybrid storage. According to MSI, the hybrid storage should significantly boost netbook performace and extend battery time.
Hybrid storage isn't new to the laptop world, the major news is that so far "hybrid storage" was mainly pointing to hard disks that included a flash memory as well. The hybrid hard disks that I saw so far show (if at all) a very small (less than 5%) performance and battery boost. This is probably due to the fact that the included flash memory aren't big and fast enough, if I well remember current hybrid drives include less than 1GB flash. This is far too less to see major improvements.
MSI Wind U115 is equipped with 8GB flash (SDD) and a 120GB "traditional" hard disk. I think that this solution has really potential, the only questions I have are:
1) how fast is the included SDD? A slow SDD will kill performance
2) how smart is the device driver? Microsoft ReadyDrive shows only disappointing results so far. the drivers seem to be very rudimental. However microsoft isn't alone: a russian company is working at a solution (eBoostr) working on Windows XP as well.
Relevant posts
Hybrid storage isn't new to the laptop world, the major news is that so far "hybrid storage" was mainly pointing to hard disks that included a flash memory as well. The hybrid hard disks that I saw so far show (if at all) a very small (less than 5%) performance and battery boost. This is probably due to the fact that the included flash memory aren't big and fast enough, if I well remember current hybrid drives include less than 1GB flash. This is far too less to see major improvements.
MSI Wind U115 is equipped with 8GB flash (SDD) and a 120GB "traditional" hard disk. I think that this solution has really potential, the only questions I have are:
1) how fast is the included SDD? A slow SDD will kill performance
2) how smart is the device driver? Microsoft ReadyDrive shows only disappointing results so far. the drivers seem to be very rudimental. However microsoft isn't alone: a russian company is working at a solution (eBoostr) working on Windows XP as well.
Relevant posts
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