Solve : When Will We See a 3 lb High End Computer??

1.	Solve : When Will We See a 3 lb High End Computer??
Answer» Dear Forum, This is my dream. Something like an Apple MacBook Air with a quad processor. It seems to me that this is what everyone wants, and the computer manufacturers are missing it. Doesn't seem it would be that hard to do, or am I missing something? Does anyone know if anyone is comming out with a low COST AMD Fusion based unit (the 350)? Thanks! Mike Quote from: program not responding on March 11, 2011, 08:22:42 PM Doesn't seem it would be that hard to do, or am I missing something? Yes.Quote from: program not responding on March 11, 2011, 08:22:42 PM Something like an Apple MacBook Air with a quad processor. It seems to me that this is what everyone wants This is not something I want. Quote New 2010 MacBook Air "netbook" gets lousy reviews Apple fanbois may not like to hear this, but the new 2010 MacBook Air hasn't been an unqualified hit. It wasn't greeted with the slavish devotion USUALLY heaped on the new shiny from Infinite Loop. Apple launched its updated skinny laptop yesterday, but there are a surprising number of bad reviews out there. Many can't resist comparing the 11.6 inch model to a netbook -- you know, the underpowered, toy computers that Apple said it would would never make. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers clearly aren't all fanbois. To me it's a netbook; tiny screen, flash storage only, with a hefty Apple price premium. So I'm not sure whay the OP thinks "everyone" wants? A styled netbook? Right! There are a lot of negatives to the Air, but I am saying doing it right, with a full blown processor and enough memory to make it a useable computer.Ok, I guess I see what you mean, but my thought is that in the market segment you seem to be pointing to, namely netbooks, price is a big factor, so is battery running time, and other things, and possibly the manufacturers do not see MUCH point in offering a product which will cost as much as a low-to-medium end laptop but have a tiny screen and no hard drive. And that doesn't even address the heat issues that will arise when you toss a high clock quad core, heaps of RAM, and a dedicated GPU into a tiny box a little larger then the size of a DVD case, which means more fans, which means even more power draw and less battery life. Nor the fact that such a configuration would be more for high-end gaming, not casual web surfing and e-mail and so forth which is what netbooks are essentially designed for- just because the Air happens to be a mac product doesn't mean it somehow should exceed that inbuilt design consideration and become a gaming PC. You don't need a quad core to surf. You don't need a dedicated graphics card to watch youtube videos, and you don't need gobs of RAM to do either of those things; and they all draw more power which takes away from one of the huge advantages of a netbook, which is that they usually last a lot longer on a charge then a standard laptop (given both are RELATIVELY new) my laptop lasts about two and a half to three hours; netbooks often achieve over 5 hours of ontime per charge. It's a game of tradeoffs. If you want a "gaming machine" you either buy or build a proper desktop machine for that purpose or fool yourself into thinking that dropping several thousand dollars on a gaming laptop is worth being able to play the ABSOLUTE newest games for a few months. If you want a extremely portable, long battery life device for checking your e-mail and browsing, you get a netbook. You can't have both. In the same machine. You can have a separate desktop machine for gaming and a netbook, so you can have "both" in that sense

Answer»

Dear Forum,
This is my dream. Something like an Apple MacBook Air with a quad processor. It seems to me that this is what everyone wants, and the computer manufacturers are missing it. Doesn't seem it would be that hard to do, or am I missing something?
Does anyone know if anyone is comming out with a low COST AMD Fusion based unit (the 350)?
Thanks!
Mike
Quote from: program not responding on March 11, 2011, 08:22:42 PM

Doesn't seem it would be that hard to do, or am I missing something?

Yes.Quote from: program not responding on March 11, 2011, 08:22:42 PM

Something like an Apple MacBook Air with a quad processor. It seems to me that this is what everyone wants

This is not something I want.

Quote

New 2010 MacBook Air "netbook" gets lousy reviews

Apple fanbois may not like to hear this, but the new 2010 MacBook Air hasn't been an unqualified hit. It wasn't greeted with the slavish devotion USUALLY heaped on the new shiny from Infinite Loop. Apple launched its updated skinny laptop yesterday, but there are a surprising number of bad reviews out there. Many can't resist comparing the 11.6 inch model to a netbook -- you know, the underpowered, toy computers that Apple said it would would never make. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers clearly aren't all fanbois.

To me it's a netbook; tiny screen, flash storage only, with a hefty Apple price premium. So I'm not sure whay the OP thinks "everyone" wants? A styled netbook?

Right!
There are a lot of negatives to the Air, but I am saying doing it right, with a full blown processor and enough memory to make it a useable computer.Ok, I guess I see what you mean, but my thought is that in the market segment you seem to be pointing to, namely netbooks, price is a big factor, so is battery running time, and other things, and possibly the manufacturers do not see MUCH point in offering a product which will cost as much as a low-to-medium end laptop but have a tiny screen and no hard drive.
And that doesn't even address the heat issues that will arise when you toss a high clock quad core, heaps of RAM, and a dedicated GPU into a tiny box a little larger then the size of a DVD case, which means more fans, which means even more power draw and less battery life. Nor the fact that such a configuration would be more for high-end gaming, not casual web surfing and e-mail and so forth which is what netbooks are essentially designed for- just because the Air happens to be a mac product doesn't mean it somehow should exceed that inbuilt design consideration and become a gaming PC.

You don't need a quad core to surf. You don't need a dedicated graphics card to watch youtube videos, and you don't need gobs of RAM to do either of those things; and they all draw more power which takes away from one of the huge advantages of a netbook, which is that they usually last a lot longer on a charge then a standard laptop (given both are RELATIVELY new) my laptop lasts about two and a half to three hours; netbooks often achieve over 5 hours of ontime per charge.

It's a game of tradeoffs. If you want a "gaming machine" you either buy or build a proper desktop machine for that purpose or fool yourself into thinking that dropping several thousand dollars on a gaming laptop is worth being able to play the ABSOLUTE newest games for a few months. If you want a extremely portable, long battery life device for checking your e-mail and browsing, you get a netbook. You can't have both*.

* In the same machine. You can have a separate desktop machine for gaming and a netbook, so you can have "both" in that sense

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