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The Icon Bar: General: Archimedes Children
 
  Archimedes Children
  Mark76 (19:21 24/2/2009)
  monkeyson2 (22:09 24/2/2009)
  epistaxsis (22:14 24/2/2009)
    Steve (00:14 25/2/2009)
      ksattic (07:59 25/2/2009)
        Steve (10:02 25/2/2009)
          gazza_fp (11:17 25/2/2009)
            epistaxsis (12:01 25/2/2009)
 
Mark Message #109407, posted by Mark76 at 19:21, 24/2/2009
Mark76

Posts: 122
http://osnews.com/story/21031/ARM_Shows_Prototype_Netbooks.

I've got to say, they do look very nice.
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Phil Mellor Message #109409, posted by monkeyson2 at 22:09, 24/2/2009, in reply to message #109407
monkeyson2Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler

Posts: 12380
Yes. They must get the software right though - this is a platform that Microsoft can't easily dominate, so it needs a decent Linux desktop to sell the product.
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keith dunlop Message #109410, posted by epistaxsis at 22:14, 24/2/2009, in reply to message #109407
epistaxsis

Posts: 159
http://osnews.com/story/21031/ARM_Shows_Prototype_Netbooks.

I've got to say, they do look very nice.
They do that they do.

I have an eeePC 901 - have had to upgrade it to the max (2GB RAM, 8GB SLC OS drive, 64GB MLC storage drive and bigger battery), yes it is a reasonable size height and width but it is far too deep, too heavy, runs hot and despite the monster battery it doesn't run as long as I want it to.

There are, however, issues I have with these new netbooks and their chips:

1) Linux - I *hate* the command line! Even though I am running ubuntu on my eeePC I keep finding myself copying and pasting weird lines of text into a terminal window unhappy

2) They're promoting ubuntu - which is cool *but* from my experience of the x86 version it is very very heavy on system resource (hence the £100s I have spent on ugrades (like wtf!!! I need an 8 bloody gig HD for the OS?!!!! shock ))

3) The chips are pants for desktop use graphics resolution wise - how much extra power does it take (consume) to make a GPU that does desktop resolutions to say, 2560x1600? <-- not 3D acceleration or anything as it isn't needed unless you're playing games!

Obviously I, like a lot of other people, would love to see some of this as a RISC OS computer! smile
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Steve C Message #109412, posted by Steve at 00:14, 25/2/2009, in reply to message #109410
Member
Posts: 95
There are, however, issues I have with these new netbooks and their chips:

1) Linux - I *hate* the command line! Even though I am running ubuntu on my eeePC I keep finding myself copying and pasting weird lines of text into a terminal window unhappy
It'll still be there (although I believe HP did try to prevent access to the CLI on one of their Linux-based netbooks) as a fallback, but seeing as these machines will be *shipped* with Ubuntu, it *should* be setup and working without any adjustments required.

2) They're promoting ubuntu - which is cool *but* from my experience of the x86 version it is very very heavy on system resource
There's a lot of stuff bundled in the default x86 edition of Ubuntu that simply won't be relevant on an ARM netbook, - the full Gnome environment for example. Equally, there are a fair number of packages tailored for small displays/low spec machines that will be added to the default install.

3) The chips are pants for desktop use graphics resolution wise - how much extra power does it take (consume) to make a GPU that does desktop resolutions to say, 2560x1600? <-- not 3D acceleration or anything as it isn't needed unless you're playing games!
I don't think these machines will be targeted as a 'main' laptop, - let's face it, even with ARM chips being a lot more efficient than x86, you still won't really have a fun time doing CAD, 3D rendering or intensive image processing on them.

If they come in at the right price point (apparently in the region of $200 - $250) then they'll be what the original EeePC set out to become (before Asus lost their way in a maze of twisty variations, all -almost- alike), an affordable lightweight device that'll last well over a day on a charge.

Obviously I, like a lot of other people, would love to see some of this as a RISC OS computer! smile
Well, at least some of the systems will be running on the Cortex stuff, so if the Beagle board project manages to produce a working system it'd be the next logical step... (says I, with absolutely no knowledge of what'd be involved whatsoever!)

Stephen
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Simon Wilson Message #109413, posted by ksattic at 07:59, 25/2/2009, in reply to message #109412
ksattic
Finally, an avatar!

Posts: 1291
3) The chips are pants for desktop use graphics resolution wise - how much extra power does it take (consume) to make a GPU that does desktop resolutions to say, 2560x1600? <-- not 3D acceleration or anything as it isn't needed unless you're playing games!
I don't think these machines will be targeted as a 'main' laptop, - let's face it, even with ARM chips being a lot more efficient than x86, you still won't really have a fun time doing CAD, 3D rendering or intensive image processing on them.
SnapDragon has a Cortex-A8 and ARM9 processor (used as a 3G modem), plus two DSPs for video and sound decoding, plus an OpenGL ES 2.0 shader-based graphics core for 3D. These machines are excellent for mid-level 3D graphics and stuff like OpenVG/flash acceleration. I know, because I ported the graphics driver to the platform. smile The GPU and display processor are both designed for smaller resolutions such as 1024x768 so larger LCDs are really out of the question.

A guy on my team is working on a 2D accelerated X driver, which will indeed enable Gnome and other window managers to run on these devices.
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Steve C Message #109414, posted by Steve at 10:02, 25/2/2009, in reply to message #109413
Member
Posts: 95

SnapDragon has a Cortex-A8 and ARM9 processor (used as a 3G modem), plus two DSPs for video and sound decoding, plus an OpenGL ES 2.0 shader-based graphics core for 3D. These machines are excellent for mid-level 3D graphics and stuff like OpenVG/flash acceleration. I know, because I ported the graphics driver to the platform. smile
Ahh... in which case, I take it all back tongue

A guy on my team is working on a 2D accelerated X driver, which will indeed enable Gnome and other window managers to run on these devices.
Cool, - but whether you'd want to run Gnome on a screen with as little real-estate as that is another matter. Unless that's what underpins some of the other netbook-targeted GUIs?

Stephen
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Gary Hughes Message #109415, posted by gazza_fp at 11:17, 25/2/2009, in reply to message #109414
Member
Posts: 25

Cool, - but whether you'd want to run Gnome on a screen with as little real-estate as that is another matter. Unless that's what underpins some of the other netbook-targeted GUIs?

Stephen
I'm using Gnome on Eeebuntu on a Eee PC with the panels set to autohide. I'm definitely intending to go for an ARM based netbook. I've actually owned an ARM based Netbook before (the Psion one) but it died a couple of years ago :-(

Gary
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keith dunlop Message #109416, posted by epistaxsis at 12:01, 25/2/2009, in reply to message #109415
epistaxsis

Posts: 159

Cool, - but whether you'd want to run Gnome on a screen with as little real-estate as that is another matter. Unless that's what underpins some of the other netbook-targeted GUIs?

Stephen
I'm using Gnome on Eeebuntu on a Eee PC with the panels set to autohide. I'm definitely intending to go for an ARM based netbook. I've actually owned an ARM based Netbook before (the Psion one) but it died a couple of years ago :-(

Gary
I am using ubuntu eee - it uses the remix interface which is quite nice for limited real estate.

However I have to have four desktops in order to easily switch between the programs I have running at the same time due to the low resolutions...
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The Icon Bar: General: Archimedes Children