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Nvidia Tegra ARM-based netbook, seems pretty cool

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Old Thrashbarg

Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2007
I ran across this news story about it.

I'd been wanting to see a good ARM-based machine, I think it's the perfect platform for a little netbook. There are a few out there already but they're all extremely stripped-down in one way or another. Too small, no DSP, limited storage with no expansion, etc.

The Tegra uses an ARM core, but offers 1080P video playback ability, HDMI output, 3D acceleration, ridiculously long battery life, and for cheap. If they get that thing to market, and it actually lives up to what they're advertising, I'll snap one up without hesitation. Of course the way Nvidia's been going lately, that's a pretty big 'if'.

Now, you won't be playing games or anything on it, and you can't run Windows, but pair it with a 9-10" screen and throw Linux on it, and it looks like it'd be about the ideal small laptop.

So... Do you think Nvidia can actually pull it off? Would you buy one, and how much would you pay for it? I don't actually expect to see 'em for the $99 they were talking about, but even at $200-250 I think it'd be a pretty awesome deal compared to the Atom-based options.

[Edited for a link with a better description of the hardware.]
 
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I don't know that I would buy one of those things. Give it another year or two when Intel and AMD start putting CPU/GPU together, and they will have some similar offerings for laptops. If Nvidia is smart and gets those things out quickly while the netbook market is still taking off, then they might be able to make some money and hold their ground for a while before AMD and Intel can catch up.

The netbook/smartphone markets are really strange right now. Technology is accelerating quickly enough that we are starting to get large smartphones that are basically PCs, and small netbooks that are shrinking to near smartphone sizes (like the Sony Lifestyle PC). I seriously think that in less than two years there will be some interesting netbook/smartphone combinations.

Can they pull it off? Maybe if they can market their Linux OS well, they will be able to do well with this for a little while. Most people don't buy netbooks to play games or watch high definition video, so I think Nvidia will have a lot of convincing to do. I think they would be better off putting that technology into something else.
 
tegra is for the MID's and NV came up with the ION platform. that IMO would be better suited for netbooks, uses a Intel Atom 330 cpu with the 9400NV chipset for 1080P playback. though NV for netbooks would have to switch to a different atom cpu if they were going thin. Intel has no mobile dual core cpus for atom, the nettops get Atom 330. even though its only 8watt TDP if the netbook was a bit thicker they could do it.
 
I didn't realize that thick and thin played a part with the Atom CPUs. I was wondering why there haven't been any dual core Atoms in netbooks yet. Is this the main reason?
 
I didn't realize that thick and thin played a part with the Atom CPUs. I was wondering why there haven't been any dual core Atoms in netbooks yet. Is this the main reason?
maybe i really dont know, wish i worked at intel sometimes. i will say if intel wanted to they could take the N200 series and make a dual core from that like they did with the Nettop parts(atom 230=330 with two dies). by using the N200 parts the TDP would be much lower vs the NETTOP parts. Atom 330 = 8watts and a N270x2 would be 5watts, 3watts lower then the nettop
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLB73
though the part they should really use for a netbook dual core is the Z540
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLB2M
would make the TDP 4.8watts... intel could do it if they want, they simply took two 230 dies to make the 330. im not sure why intel hasnt done this sooner.... though a higher TDP means a better cooling solution needs to be used. making them having to increase the thickness or other dimension of the netbook to handle the added cooling. that would be my thought anyway....
 
tegra is for the MID's and NV came up with the ION platform. that IMO would be better suited for netbooks, uses a Intel Atom 330 cpu with the 9400NV chipset for 1080P playback. though NV for netbooks would have to switch to a different atom cpu if they were going thin. Intel has no mobile dual core cpus for atom, the nettops get Atom 330. even though its only 8watt TDP if the netbook was a bit thicker they could do it.

Why would it be better suited, though? Seriously, what do you expect to do on a netbook that needs that sort of processing power? The things already aren't powerful enough for heavy tasks, and even the dual core Atom won't help that alot because of other system limitations, but just for basic internet browsing, note-taking, and video playback, why do you need to change the hardware to support an 8W TDP CPU, when those tasks can be handled just fine by an ARM+DSP which only draws milliwatts?

I don't understand it... you're basically talking about defeating the entire purpose of that class of machine. Small, long battery life, powerful enough for some basic uses, and cheap. I won't say that the Tegra will necessarily be the ideal hardware for the purpose, just have to wait and see on that, but it seems to me that it's way better than the Atom.

I'll say that there would be some merit to putting the dual core Atom into lower-end laptops, say, in place of the Celerons and such. There is a bit of a gap in the market currently, with nothing in the midrange, mid-size and mid-price category, and a dual-core Atom with some decent graphics power would be a good bridge I think. But I'd really rather the netbooks be left out of all that, and instead focus more on the cheap and ultraportable aspects.
 
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