Where would netbooks be without Windows XP? Probably nowhere, so why have Dell decided to combine the low-power Atom Z-series with Windows Vista on their new 12" laptop? There’s two reasons.
1 – To save a few watts/degrees/mm
2 – To enable a high-end video experience
APCMag and LaptopMag have both done some reviewing and its hard to see any reasoning behind Dells move because neither of the reviews shine. 3hrs battery life and sluggish performance are nothing to write home about, even if the device uses a smaller battery.
The one thing that hasn’t been tested yet is video. The Poulsbo chipset offers hardware decoding for a number of video encoding formats and maybe Dell want to use this as the main feature but from what I can see, there’s no HDMI or composite output so they are obviously not aiming the device at media fans, especially with that relatively slow and small 60GB, 1.8" 4200 RPM drive they’ve put inside. No, it looks like they wanted to go for the smallest, quietest and lowest power build and Menlow/Vista was probably the only choice. Many people are aware that XP drivers just don’t seem to be materialising for the Menlow platform so it looks like Dell made the choice to push out a Vista version rather than wait.
The problem they have now is that the first reviews will stick in the Internet search results and poison any future release of the same model. They also poison the Menlow platform. To me, the Dell Mini 12 is a big mistake. They really should have waited until Windows 7 was available.
Isn’t there a size restriction for the netbook to be eligible for an XP license? I thought that was around 10″ or so.
You’re thinking of the ULCPC licensing.
Normal XP licensing is still available to any OEM until at least end of 2009.
Steve.
ulcpc license is up to 14.4 inc now… other specs upped too
ulcpc license is up to 14 inch now… other specs upped too
I think the licensing of XP that Andrew is referring to is that the price of an XP license for a netbook is just $25, but it’s restricted to a 10″ screen, 1.6GHz processor and 1GB of RAM per Microsoft. I’m guessing that if they had put XP on this the price would have been the same as Vista, so they might as well use Vista to try to distinguish it from the pack of netbooks.
From what I’ve read, Vista seems to run fine on an Atom processor provided there’s enough RAM in the system. The problem seems to be that Dell has limited the RAM to 1GB though, so whatever the reason it still ends up being slow to boot.
Oh – I guess I didn’t read the other comment there by JK, and now I’m the one with egg on my face….
Only for 6 month, the Atom almost conqers the world!!
While I am not pleased about vista and was hoping Dell had the power to push for xp drivers for me this netbook/laptop is one that I have been waiting for since rumors in about may.
I believe it was apc and there full review that did a battery test and it did well for the battery size. If you run the numbers the system used approximate 9.6watts during divx playback and decent usage. I am not sure about other netbooks, but when I tested out the AcerOne the lowest I could get was around 9watts and that was at screen semi dim and just idling.
I am happy to see the poulsbo saves enough power to offset power consumption of the LCD.
I see this laptop as some really special and really could replace a normal laptop. My needs are for a solar powered house. Running roughly 10watts compared to 20+ for other laptops can really add up over time. Not that it will do much to a normal electric bill but when dealing with energy hard to come by it is much more important. Over a months time this computer should save me a few kwh that are so important. Anyway I know I am in a very small market segment,
but I definitely see this laptop as a good alternative and really should save 50% energy versus a normal laptop.
Still waiting for xp drivers as that would make things better. I will be picking one of these up when they hit dell outlet. Can save a bunch of money at dell outlet.
Also I do not think I read this in the review but this system should be fanless, as internals generate less heat then the mini.
Fanless is also a big plus where I am as it is very salty and pulling salt air through a system has kill more than a few computers of mine.
One last thought wondering how much power the small hard drive uses, I doubt much. And if an ssd card would use less? I am actually thinking the small hdd uses less power.
Well enough rambling.
Interesting challenge you have there.
The lowest-consumption NORMAL PC without size compromises.
9.5W is respectable for a device of this screen size.
If you could drop to a 10″ size though, the Samsung NC10 is showing some serious potential as the most efficient laptop so far.
http://www.umpcportal.com/2008/10/samsung-gets-it-right-again-again-with-the-nc10
Steve
Yeah saw that and I am a bit interested.
10″ is a little small, but not the deal breaker(for me).
This would be a house hold computer and thus has more people to please.
10″ is the deal breaker for some of the people wanting to use the screen. I am thinking even 12″ will be a little tough for them.
The deal breaker for me is the screen resolution. Although the higher screen resolutions probably use more power it also helps when actually having to use as full fledged pc. I am thinking the smaller netbooks default to lower res. primarily to save money and secondly the help with battery life.
Also for me lower ram amount is not a horrible thing. With Vista it is somewhat horrible but with Xp or a linux variant. But I guess I am not the average consumer, so I can remedy Vista.
This(less ram) should save on consumption as well. Every bit adds up.
Do you remember the original recommendations for ram size for xp. I believe it was either 128mb or 256mb. I am not sure why lots of people think they need 2gb. With vista I do agree it is kinda of needed for the more power user/ multitasker, which most people here are. Even at 1gb you are 4-8x more than initial recommended(for xp). These things are not power houses so very rarely do I expect to see people using Photoshop or other heavy ram usage software.
I will probably install Ubuntu or XP on mine. And then just wait for drivers.
UMPCs need this SSD:
http://www.intel.com/design/flash/nand/mainstream/index.htm
X18-M, the world’s fastest consumer storage drive.
problem is SATA. If I remember correctly that is stripped from Poulsbo to save power, only PATA support.
One thing I forgot to mention, Poulsbo was updated to support 2GB of RAM. I don’t know if a new revision is required for that support or if all Poulsbo supports it. Sounded like all Poulsbo should support 2GB from Intel’s report.
I certainly had no problem with 2GB on the SC3.
Just a note of warning on buying Dells online. After full payment and 6 weeks waiting for a latitude E4200, I just received an automated email stating that Quote
Status – cancelled. Not even an appology! Are Dell in trouble?
Windows XP is dead.
Let it go.
I ran Vista on the Kohjinsha SH8 and that sucker had have the stats of this thing and despite a slow bootup time Vista was quite functional.
You’ve seen Windows 7 is just an upgrade of Vista so its not going anywhere so you may as well adapt now.
For me I understand the thinking, but what is wrong with xp that it is dead. Is it inherently worse than Vista?
It is dying because Microsoft wants it to die. While I am not a windows fan, I definately do not like the bloat of Vista.
I believe if more people continue and insist on xp over vista it continually shows the need/want of a lighter system.
At which point a company may focus development in certain areas. I would imagine that is why windows 7 is being developed. At least they say they are trying to make it more viable for lower power computers.
So I think more gets done in the future if more people do not just accept what is, but demand what they want.
Computers are very fast but I am not sure that warrants slowing them down with poor software.
I hope Windows 7 is more focused at speed and productivity rather than flash.
My choice would be Windows XP (perhaps Nlited) with netbooks such as Dell Mini and eeePC. You can read more about why here; http://www.dell-mini.com/dell_mini_windows_or_ubuntu.html
Hi, I liked the comment about buying a mini to save energy. I save energy by pooping in my hands – that way I don’t waste water. I also power my laptop with gerbils running on a wheel. Granted it takes about 20 hours to start it up but it’s worth it knowing that I’m saving Mother Earth.
Seriously…that dude is so stupid, I’m going to go turn on my garage lights (over 1200 watts) and leave ’em on all week just to bug him.