Asustek XG Station external graphics card

I think ASUS might be much better off with starting a new standard for ports,e.g. PCI express 4x or something,then starting to offer an XG Station for those notebooks, with a bit of luck and cooperation with other notebook makers, ASUS might have good luck with starting a new scenario in Laptop gaming, (right now I think many MacBook owners are falling for this one)

 

I think they should start a PCI-Ex16 dock for it.

 

While i do understand what you are saying, it would still be quite viable to take your laptop AND the XG and put it into a backpack to carry it around. Plus, since your laptop already has an output for an external monitor you can use that if you want to. Since this XG solution REQUIRES an external monitor, this system is no more portable than an actual computer put into a mobile rig bag. It is not a viable option to just carry it to school, coffee shop or wherever else one likes to play with their laptop that isn't in someone's home. This is a solution for some, but because it is limited by requiring you to connect to an external monitor, it fails to capture a broader audience who want some actual mobility.

 

You misunderstand Bhima, the point of the XG is not for it to be carried around. The XG stays in your home and you take your notebook with you. This is unsatisfactory for people who want to play games on the go but most people don't anyway. Games are played at night when your home. You work during the day.

This limits the appeal yes but only slightly. The problems that bandwidth limitations impose are far more threatening to this product then the fact that it is heavy, bulky and requires an external monitor.

 

If you're willing to carry that much stuff around you would've bought a 17" DTR with a desktop graphics card to start with.

 

Hey,

You can get a hockey bag and it'll fit everything even 20" LCD. If you'll willing to travel with it I guess. I'm liking the XG station idea that means I have to buy a new laptop. I wonder how powerful is it to run current games.

 

Now, I don't have any engineering knowledge, but:
Bottlenecks of Videocards are certainly not in the output speed, but in the processing of the information. So may be, the cards are rarely using at full the 16x band, and then the XG could process information that causes the bottlenecks. Sometimes bottlenecks are caused by data where the programing is somehow intricate, but that doesn't involve that many MBs.
Anyway, my be I'm not making any sense, as I said, I don't know anything about engineering or programing.

 

PCI (32 bit): approximately 1.1Gbps or 133MBps
ExpressCard (PCI Express x1): approximately 2.5Gbps or 313MBps
AGP 8x: approximately 17.1Gbps or 2133MBps
PCI Express x16: approximately 40Gbps or 5000MBps

Hopefully this helps people a little.

Normally you're either bottlenecked by the CPU or the graphics card, now you're adding another possible bottle neck. This will hurt performance in the latest games with massive textures and HDR which uses even more texture memory. You're essentially having to move large pictures to the graphics card very quickly. The latest games need to transfer higher resolution pictures and more of them more often.

 

What i'm wondering is if you already have a dedicated card, will the XG-station boost the performance of it or does it bypass the one in the computer and only use its own? Because if it boosts your dedicated graphics, it could take a decent/good card to the next level.

 

The monitor attached to the XG will only be accelerated by the video card in the XG.

 

well, that sucks

 

Yeah.. haha... but wonder if one day, Asus decides to Crossfire the XG wif the ATI GPU inside ur lappy... pwn!

 

mmmm, I don't know if that would be Asus strategy. They say for instance that a PC with an intel GM945 would improve its speed 9 times. Now, can you do that with a PCI-e 1x video card as the only GPU?.
Also, as economical/technical strategy, it would only make sense if the system do crossfire with the onboard videocard.

 

This has already been covered. Check post #111 in this thread. The GMA 945 is a very weak card when it comes to 3D performance.

When you have figured out how to do CrossFire through an ExpressCard connection be sure to let AMD/ATI know.

 

From Engaget.com:

"Posted Jan 8th 2007 7:45PM by Thomas Ricker

We had to see it to believe it, but the Asus XG Station does indeed turn that wimpy laptop of yours into a somewhat capable gaming rig. The cats at ASUS set us up with a head-to-head demo of two, 'zactly spec'd laptops with awesomely weak Intel GMA 945 graphics processors -- just one of the two was hooked up to an Asus XG Station via ExpressCard. After attaching the external monitor to one of the XG's two DVI connectors, Asus let the gaming demo fly. The stock laptop struggled to keep up with the action with noticeably huge jumps in frames making intense game play a non-starter. The XG-equipped laptop, however, hummed along quite happily. Game play was smooth though a few frames were occasionally dropped. Surround sound is in fact simulated, which is both good and bad: the good is you get pseudo 5.1 surround from any headphones; the bad is you get pseudo 5.1 surround from any headphones. Verdict: the XG Station is ready to game as long as you don't expect it to perform like a dedicated gaming rig. But if you're the occasional gamer who like his lappie ultra-portable and under powered for gaming as a result, then this might be the solution for you.

 

PC World says it'll cost $600... they better be wrong. /cry

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128401-pg,1/article.html

 

I think this solution is a band-aid because none of the gpu chipset companies are providing or sticking with a standard like mxm, and two few of them are giving serious looks into dual gpu systems (low power integrated AND dedicated gpu).

The problem is that you can't get people to be happy with a 3K gaming notebook that truly has replaceable video, or dual video standards (I've worked with several of both, love em!), however, for some silly reason, you can get them to buy a $2200 17" behemoth notebook, $300 20" 5ms uber-LCD, and a $500 external video card... do smaller numbers really make it cheaper? =P

 

This isnt meant for those with 17" laptops, this is meant for those with smaller laptops with integrated graphics, like the W5F and other ultraportables. The point of the XG is so that a laptop can be mobile when you need to be, and it can be a performance gaming computer (up to a certain point) when you want it to be. The 17" behemoth you were talking about will never be considered mobile. Look at the pics of the XG at the Asus CES booth. It was hooked up to a W5F, their semi-ultraportable 3.8lb notebook.

This isnt a bandaid solution, unless you want to figure out how to shoehorn something with similar performance (at least a Go7700, as far as I can see) into a 12" laptop that weighs 3.5lbs and doesnt get hotter than the MacBook Pro.

Consider this: $1500 for a W5F, $500 for the XG, and assuming you dont have one already, $250 for a 19" monitor. Total: 2250, about the same as a comparable 17" notebook without the XG, except now you can actually carry the notebook around.

And truly replaceable video? If it weighs 10lbs, no one cares about replaceable mxm graphics, its too big and heavy to take anywhere.

This is meant for mobile users, to turn an ultraportable into a true desktop replacement notebook, not to make a desktop replacement notebook better.

 

if the price is 600$ its still cool but it wont reach the mass market

At that point an actual computer with its own cpu and hard drives is attainable. This thing needs ac power anyway then youre paying for it to be sort of a extra small pc thing...

300$ sounds nicer.

 

600 is a bit much, and the simulated 5.1 in my opinion is not worthwhile, i rather have one without that
overclocking i think is also not important. the dual dvi does sound really nice, i just hope it does allow proper dual monitor setup. like many said, this solution is not for hard core gamers

the way i see it is, its for people that have portable machines, that want to game a bit at home. with portable machines, most tend to already have external monitors when at home. so the cost of the external monitor is not really an extra cost for this device.
for people that have large screen notebooks, i do agree that this isnt that great of a solution, but like previously mentioned, expresscard will not be as fast as a dedicated gfx chip, but they do sacrifice portablity and battery life

so this solution is not for everyone, and i dont think anyone would think it is for everyone

 

This may already have been asked but I couldn't see anything:

Does anyone know if there are plans to ship ones that have no card already inside and one can fit one's own card? That would be my preference, that could be really useful!

 

Of course it will do proper dual monitor, it's a desktop 7900GS card.

 

You are wrong... this is nothing but a band-aid because a better solution can't be gotten for a price "people will pay". Price doesn't always mean money either. Look at the current notebook trend... they are slowly getting larger (again) after a few years of shrinking. This is probably going to be the trend for years to come, new desktop stuff causes the notebook to get larger, advancements of tech let the stuff shrink... rinse, repeat.. The price's also cycle with the gear... I'm willing to bet money that the next major cycle will find nearly equal and interchangeable parts in both PC and portable... the big difference between the two will be expansion capabilities (or lack of in the notebook world)

The majority of the "gaming world" that use notebooks are the ones dragging the desktop replacements around to lan parties and/or competitions. They are also the ones that currently pay the "most" for video cards, replace them more often, and are already used to carrying a ton of crap from lan party to lan party (lot's include an LCD). ASUS is using this great methodology of "marketing strategy" to show extremes between integrated video, and their new gadget that comes closer to dedicated video then anything else but dedicated video itself. You never market a product against the least differential items on the table, you find things to make people think "Wow!".

Just because a handful of people that do professional graphics, or want to turn their business grade notebooks into the weekend warriors of gaming think its great, doesn't mean it's built for them.

People wanting to "game realistically" are still going to buy the all-in-one solution, because it's simple, and those 2-10fps gains (or higher for those with SLI notebooks) will keep them using internal solutions. Just look at how people get all goofy over synthetic benchmarks now if you want proof...

People that are only wanting a "portable graphics workstation" or a "simpler PC to move" should really be buying larger more capable notebooks to begin with, if these people are truly "not lugging around their brick" that often, then a 10lb notebook over a 5lb notebook shouldn't really make that much difference.

The other crowd is the people that can't afford the gaming rigs they would want. Well, those people are often ones that also can't afford these new gadgets and a second screen, don't have the ram or HD speeds to back the gaming...

This is also where your ultra-portables fit in.. People buying notebooks for uber-battery life are making comprimises in hardware that make gameplay poor (not unrealistic, just poor) compared to a normal system with lesser dedicated hardware. Think about tossing the newest AGP ATI x1600 gamers edition into a P3 running a 4200rpm drive.... it's not realistic. That 500-600 bucks could be a very decent chunk towards a second machine (desktop, that uses that LCD you supposedly already have) that will run better for gaming. Now you say.. but "ohhh, I don't want a desktop", and I have to ask why not? You apparently don't want to carry your gaming stuff around... it's to heavy...

Band-aid... next thing you will tell me is that you want it to have a pci slot as well, so you can add the physX cards to your ultra-portables... Add another $200 to your make-shift gaming rig... Wait.. make that two PCI slots.. because you also want the ability to add a nice and shiny X-Fi (+125)... Maybe a second HD (+100) so I can install my games seperately (those things take gb's per title now a days), even better? Raid 0! (+200). Of course the extra PCI slots and Sata or SAS connections now add $200 more to the ASUS XG (get where I'm going? you are building a VERY expensive desktop that can't run by itself)

It's like Ben and Jerry's to an unhappy women, it's nothing more then comfort food...

*FYI - I'm not trying to trash the device, it's very cool! I just think people need to see it for what it is...*

 

$600!!! I knew this new thing from ASUS would be expensive but wow. buy a desktop and get a 7900gs for $180-200 and an audigy4 for $40....

That better have some good overclocking potential and a hell of a good sound card to be worth it.

 

Hear is CNET's take and from the sounds of it you can overclock the device, very cool. Is there any word on when this device will be available?

http://www.cnetasia.com/reviews/notebooks/ontheradar/0,39050980,61979095,00.htm

 

Somehow, PAGE NOT FOUND.

 

Yes I read elsewhere you can overclock the device by simply turning the dial on the front.

I wish I knew where I read it from though...

 

I fixed the link but hear it is again. I do hope they are semi affordable though, I would definitely get one if it were to go for around $400.

http://www.cnetasia.com/reviews/notebooks/ontheradar/0,39050980,61979095,00.htm

And hear are some nice pictures from engadget, It is kinda big, though I guess the XG is supposed to stay on a desk anyway.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-with-the-asus-xg-station-external-gpu/

P.S Is it me or did NBR get a new look?

 

I love how the external graphics card thread is MASSIVE. If there was news about an ExpressCard soundcard, I bet there would be five responses...tops...

 

Of course not, most people dont game on the move, and if they do, they wont be buying this, they will be buying an A8Js or something.
I dont want to carry my gaming stuff around, but I need to carry a decent computer around for doing things during class, writing essays on the bus, taking notes, etc. I want a gaming system at home, so that i can, well, game on it.
Bandaid solution? I think not. It offers me a desktop replacement when I want it, and an ultraportable when I dont need it. Simple.

And your analogy of an ultra portable being compromises in hardware, I direct you to this (there are others, but this is the one that springs to my mind as the ideal pairing with the XG): ASUS W5FM-2P021M Intel Core 2 Duo T7200(2.00GHz) 12.1" Wide XGA 1GB 120GB DVD Super Multi Intel GMA950; and this, your 17" gaming DTR: ASUS G2P-7R001M Intel Core 2 Duo T7200(2.00GHz) 17.1" Wide XGA+ 2GB 160GB DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon X1700. Whats the main spec difference? the GPU. They have the same cpu, the same speed hard drive (and the W5 can be upgraded to a higher capacity hard drive as well), and the W5 can be upgraded to at least 1.5GB ram, and up to 2.5GB later on, which is pretty close to the 2GB in the G2. So wheres your hardware compromise? Aside from the GPU, I really do not see it.

 

I think another advantage of having an external GPU is that all of the heat which would be inside your notebook is now outside. As a result your notebook will last longer and stay cooler.

 

I'm crossing my fingers that this is Mac-compatible or atleast compatible under bootcamp XP.

 

I doubt it.

Desktop parts are not subject to the space and power restrictions that notebook parts are. It would not be profitable for Intel, AMD, ATI, etc. to combine their desktop and notebook lines because that would mean taking a big step back in performance for their desktop lines -- whoever did this first would have their desktop portfolio chewed to pieces by competitors.

I'm not sure I agree with your categorizations.

There are:
1) The gamers who want a gaming notebook that they can bring to competitions. Size, weight, and battery life does not matter here. Performance is everything. This crowd has already been satisfied by current offerings.
2) Business professional and others who want an extremely lightweight and small notebook for word processing and e-mail on the move. Size, weight, and battery life are all important factors. Performance is not a big issue here. This crowd has already been satisfied by current offerings (ultra-portables, etc).
3) People who fit somewhere between categories One and Two -- these people want lightweight notebooks with good battery life, but don't want to sacrifice too much in terms of performance. This crowd is probably the hardest to satisfy because there are so many variables involved in the decision-making process. This is also the largest market.

Who said the XG Station is for the ultra-portable crowd?

The XG Station is marketed primarily toward those in category Three, where high-horsepower GPUs are impractical because the performance gained isn't worth the sacrifice in weight, size, and battery life.

I couldn't disagree more with your interpretation.

Currently, gaming notebooks outfitted with high-horsepower GPUs tend to be on the chunky side (large and heavy) primarily because high-horsepower GPUs dissipate an enormous amount of heat and thus require elephantine cooling solutions. High-horsepower GPUs also tend to dramatically shorten your battery life. Users are therefore not only chained to their desks because their laptops are physically unwieldy, they are chained to their desks because their laptops can't survive for long without a power source. As a result, notebooks that game well (and I mean really well) tend to be impractical as truly portable solutions. Instead, they serve as transportable solutions.

On the other hand, high-horsepower CPUs and HDDs can be configured into almost any notebook nowadays, regardless of size (with the exception of ultra-portables). Battery life continues to climb with these models, especially as Intel continues to push out newer architectures that are able to both run faster, and run longer.

In my opinion, the solution is to manufacture notebooks that are truly portable (configured with the latest in CPU/HDD technology, of course) -- that means lighter weight with longer battery life -- then offer customers the option to transform their notebooks into "gaming notebooks" by upgrading their GPU externally.

The XG Station is an ingenuous move by Asus. It's time the industry utilized the ExpressCard's potential by letting consumer have their cake and eat it too.

Edit: By the way, this is my first post. Woohoo! +1 to my Rep Power would be mucho appreciated if you agreed with my post

 

Exactly right ^

I travel to uni every day, and my Inspiron 6400 is okay to take around, but something smaller and lighter would have been great. But when this is my only computer, I couldnt have the best of everything.

At the end of this year, I'll be looking at a 12". And I'll also be looking at what external graphics solutions are available then.

 

+1 for everything NBenthusiast said, I agree completely.

That was partially my fault, I think I gave that impression with the W5F example. But if you look, many of the parties most interested in this product are wanting to hook this up to a thin and light/ultraportable 12" or 13" notebook. Also, if you look at the configuration Asus had set up at CES, they had it hooked up to the W5F.

This is what I was trying to say with my W5F/G2P comparison.

 

Wow it's gonna cost $600 thats a lot of money, will the XG Station support DX10 cards? I don't want to put down money like that when it won't be able to handle next gen cards. Does anyone know if it will come unbundled?

 

Something unhappy is going on with the site, so I'm hoping this post turns out OK...

First off, as far as power is concerned, check again on that one... The engineers are making more powerful systems that use the same or lower power as the previous generation (Intel is a great example of this). Being able to build more compact chips is driving this, as well as lower heat meaning less agressive cooling needs from the CPU = more room internally for other things like GPU cooling.

The only "thing" that makes desktops take up more space is the expandability of each unit... AKA, 3-5 PCI slots, more then 1-2 sata connectors, extra chipsets for dual HD (or Raid), or extra chipsets for more USB2.0.. etc.. The low end chips, the pathways, and the PCB's that these parts are all made from is the same for any system of the equal components... The "extra" power needs is again driven by this expandability... If your notebook had 2-3 HD's, as well as dual ROM's, 3+ fans... yeah.. it needs more.. Build a desktop with just a nice video card (7600ish), 1 HD, 1 CDrom, and integrated sound and nic... you have yourself a notebook without a screen.. so many smaller form factor towers (e-machines, many dells etc) run on 80-125w power supplies just fine..

I think your business professional and my business professional are two entirely different groups... your's want's to be able to sit through hours and hours of meetings... mine wants to be able to do insane amount's of multi-tasking, while running compilers and possibly VM's for development and unit testing.. (Real world Intel employee much like myself ). I've seen what happens to people at Intel who go the "tiny with long life" route... they end up having 2-3 desktops in their cube to do stuff other then Outlook / Browse / Document reading and maybe some light software development (forget tests), that I can easily do on my HEL80 all at once.

To tag a little more to that... the professionals I know all have things like SQL server, Oracle server, .Net services, maybe CVS servers and whatnot running from the their production notebooks... you really don't want to try and game on something running all that junk in the background...

As for this new gadget being for your third defined category and them having and eating something tasty... I think this solution will be better found in systems that utilize the dual GPU model... one dedicated and one integrated.. (I know atleast of one Sony Vaio that has made some news with this). Or on the other note, you should be able to find some news about some nice Intel chipsets coming out that are both Integrated and decent for the weekend gamers..

My personal take / advice on this topic... Buy the notebook that has the hardware you want... you will get used to carrying any size notebook after a short while (10lb notebook is nothing compared to the engineering books I carried daily for a few years) and then buy yourself as many batteries as you need to last your average day. Kinda reminds me of all the people that buy lower powered cars, then dump lots of money into trick additives and filters and whatnot to try and fake it... just so they can say they only need $25 to fill a tank (don't mention the $4 in additives per tank, and then the trick filters and whatnot averaged over their lifespan)

Difference of opinion aside... Good post...

 

I think someone said something about a 16X dock.
The big problem here is if you divide the throughput of the CPU and - the bandwidth taken by ram,there will be little bandwidth left to spare for an external 16X dock - if you already have a good GPU,so you have to stick with lesser lanes.

 

Power consumption and heat dissipation have always been areas of concern, and recent releases have made great progress, but it is highly unlikely that within the next 5 years, CPUs will drop in heat dissipation to a point where the footprint of their heatsinks will shrink significantly, thereby creating meaningful physical space for GPU cooling solutions to expand into.

I think you misunderstood my post.

Chips created for desktops are subject to different restrictions. Desktops naturally have more space to work with, so airflow and larger fans are not a problem. Because desktop chips DO NOT NEED to run as cool and power efficient as notebook chips, there's simply no point in making performance sacrifices and using precious die area to implementing power saving technique. Conroe has a TDP of 65W, while Merom's TDP is listed at 35W. And remember, Merom's TDP was a significant bump up from Dothan's 21W!

Indeed, our definitions of "business professional" are very different. I'll elaborate on mine.

When I used the term "business professional," I was referring to middle-to-upper-level management (target market for majority of ultra-portable notebooks). These employees do not need to run intensive compilers, nor do they need to run servers from their notebooks. Their job is to manage the people who do.

A "business professional" by your definition would more likely fall into category Three instead of category Two.

Exactly! The "dual GPU model" -- one integrated, and one external as an option -- is something that I hope makes good ground in the next few years. It will assuage millions of buyers' fears that their notebook's GPU (and thus their entire notebook along with) will become obsolete.

Please don't take any offense at this, but I truly believe your assessment of the 10 lb threshold is a little out of touch with reality.

I personally fly over 50,000 miles a year. My father, currently Vice President at one of the world's largest semiconductor foundries (TSMC, which manufactures most of the world's chips) flies well over 100,000. Some of his colleagues easily break 200-300,000 miles per year. Total travel time for these folks can easily break 24 hours in getting from Point A to Point B. As you can imagine, it is exhausting to be on the road for so long. Excessive handheld baggage weight is the last thing you want. 10 lb notebooks are not a viable option for management types like him, nor are they a viable option for professionals like me who demand performance from their notebooks, but require a certain degree of portability at the same time.

In my experience, 6-7 pounds is the absolute limit. Anything above that, and you will be cursing your equipment at the airport.

Thanks, yours too!

 

That's a very good point!

Perhaps Asus will expand to different interfaces in the future?

 

@Pyro9219, this to me seems to be more viable for the college-age people. I am currently in college. I have a 17" DTR notebook, weighing in a 9lbs, and that doesn't bother me too much. But I don't have a desktop, and I wanted to pick up on some PC games that I had never gotten to play. For me, the computer I want is great. But if I had known that I could have gotten a 13.3" MacBook and run this thing in BootCamp, I would've done that in a heart beat. As a college student, you sometimes want to take your laptop to class. I do, and it's not terrible, but I don't like carrying around a 17". But it was the best fit for me. Consequently, I don't take my laptop around often, just every now and again. But if I were able to have a mobile computer with gaming back in room (you're not supposed to game in class...), I would've been a happy camper. This would be perfect for me.

A big problem with GPU's in notebooks is not only the heat and the power consumption, but size. A GPU has to have its own space and connections, whereas integrated solutions are integrated into the motherboard. That's why a dual-GPU solution (such as Sony's) is nice, but eventually outdoes itself. Either you make it small so that it becomes light and portable but when you go to the dedicated GPU it's too small to hold anything bigger than a Go7300/7400, or you make it bigger so that it can accomodate a bigger GPU like a 7700 or even 7900, but then what's the point of having all that battery life in a 9 lb machine? This is a true external solution in every sense of the word; it has it's own power source. Therefore, it's not meant to be portable. It's not for that person who likes to both have mobile performance and gaming-on-the-go; that's what computers like 13" with a Go7400 are for. It's for people who want amazing mobile performance and gaming at home. Which is what I prefer. Unfortunately, I couldn't have both a desktop and a laptop, so I had to make a choice...

 

Please don't preach about weight of a notebook and carrying it as a college student... My backpack during college weighed about 50lb because it had to... and my school was on the side of the mountain requiring that I traverse not only 2600ish steps down the side to class, but the same steps to get back up to the dorms.. This was a very normal and doable thing for all the ~5K students. As far as my notebooks participation in this heavy bag.. I was using an Inspiron 8100 with dual hi-cap batteries (about 12lb system and batteries)

(Wow.. does that make me feel like I just gave the "both ways barefoot and uphill in the snow" feeling )

As for the point of having all that battery life in a 9lb machine? Did you read your own question!? To do anything I want, where ever I want.... You guys talk about wanting cake and eating it too... I don't see where I am missing out on this... my HEL80 gives me about 4 hours of life, it's only around 6lb (my backpack is maybe ~12lb with the notebook) I am capable of playing any games I want (Runs everything I've thrown at it with capped or near capped settings in either 1400x1050 or native res) Nice sized keyboard makes it "generally" more comfortable for long term use.. (there are some very nice smaller keyboards, but in general I've always wanted external for my oversized paws) I also never leave without my power supply, because I never know when I'll get derailed and any notebooks battery wouldn't last... This is where I carry a second battery... I'd rather pay ~120 for another 9 cell battery that keeps me mobile for very little added weight...

The only "really cool" thing about this gadget is the ability to change the card (Wo0T! for the younger crowd ), one of the last needed things for all notebooks.. For the price though, I'd rather just keep replacing my notebook every 2 years or so, and get a fresh new GPU, new processor designs, faster HD connections (SAS is coming!)..

 

For CPU's dropping heat dissipation... there are currently chips build that are dual and multi core that don't require much of anything cooling them but your breathing...they aren't public yet, but I can't imagine they will be hidden forever...

For power consumption, there are better batteries already available (gas chamber batteries that offer about 2x-3x the life for the cell size, used to have on for an older Compaq... VERY COOL) but not wide spread... I think I remember some posts with all the exploding and melting batteries that these alternatives might become mainstream (battery prices will go up for sure...)

While desktop chips are still being built "sloppier" then notebook chips, many manufacturers have and are changing this so they aren't locked into the shrinking desktop market. (Read desktop, not server/enterprise stuff) Check all the reports of notebooks outselling desktops.. I've been to a few conferences where some major major manufacturers are collaborating... It's also cheaper for them to only need 1 fab plant for all chips of type x...

I know your type of business professional.. they are the ones that expect engineers to use the same ultra-portable systems they have (which they think are great!), and then wonder why the engineers require more systems to get things done...

I made my little trumpet sound about notebook weight to someone else, so I'm not going to retype it just because I need the practice..

Anyways, good post

 

pyro9219: 50lb backpack eh? maybe you would be comfortable with it, but there are other people for whom 50lbs would be unthinkable, like me. I simply would not like to carry a backpack that weighs more than half of me (all 97lbs lol), thats just unfeasible.
I walk quite a bit around the university daily, and having a 10lb Dell E1705 with 2 hours of battery life makes no sense, especially because the biggest plus points of the E1705 are the graphics card (which I wont use during class, only at home when gaming) and hte screen (which attracts way too much attention. In lecture halls, 17" screens are a pain, weight regardless).

Now let us look at the average university student. Main use for laptop: to take notes or otherwise surf web during class. Any use for the graphics card? not really, gaming during class is way too noticable. Therefore, the graphics card makes sense only when gaming, which is usually at home, si? So when this person wants to game, they just go home and plug the laptop into the XG Station.

 

1st of all, Macbooks, the 13.3" ones, doesnt have express card slot, so basically it wont run this thing. (Just to let u know)

2nd of all.... ermm.. theres none..

Anyway, this XG thing solve one of the problem of having a weak laptop to game at home, but still it doesnt solve the problem when u really want to go LAN parties. Unless u borrowed ur friends 43inch plasma...

 

The reality is that, amazingly enough, the majority of us *don't* do LAN parties.

I have a pretty darn good collection of games, I keep my desktop system up to date to play the latest games, and I put in a decent number of hours of gaming (most recently the Test Drive Unlimited PC Beta) when I don't have work to do, but I have *never* been to a LAN party. Closest is when both of my housemates and I get on the same DoD:S server and wreak havok with our coordinated teamwork.

If I did do the LAN Party thing I'd be looking at the A8Js, G1, G2, or a SFF cube (the X-QPack case has a handle on the front) + external monitor.

But since a lot of us don't, it's really not a big deal. I would kill for something portable (GMA950) when I need it and dedicated when I'm at my desk. It would eliminate the having-to-have-two computers thing, which is a royal PITA sometimes.

Besides, there are a ton of perfectly good games that will run on a GMA950. Starcraft, Red Alert 2, all of the original Half Life engine multiplayer games (although finding good original DoD servers without stupid bots is getting hard), all the old Wing Commander and XW/TIE games with the correct settings (assuming you carry around a joystick...or a gamepad)... Most of the old Janes series of flight/combat sims... If you happen to have anything of a game collection that goes back more then 3-4 years, there should be no lack of on-the-go-able games even with a GMA.. Not to mention emulation...

So, hopefully, in two more years, the Z39F or whatever the 13.3" integrated graphics successor to the Z33/Z35/Z37 is will be around for me to do that.

 

ASUSTEK website says no external monitor is needed, sound preposterous to anyone?
I'm a an impoverished student and as much as i love gaming I had to compromise on price and plumped for the universally hated Dell Inspiron 1501! It will arrive next week. I've been a desktop user for years but having just moved into a small apartment my girlfriend vetoed the hulking desktop and commanded a switch to notebook.

For the past four months i've been using her old Samsung A10 whilst she's been motoring along on her new macbook. *sniff* Don't even get me started on this A10, it's like a three legged dog currently.

This xg station would be great for me as the games i enjoy playing don't neccessarily require thunderously good graphics to be enjoyable or playable but a certain quality is required to keep in touch with new stuff.

With regards to the Inspiron i've been cow-towed into buying, anyone have anything positive to tell me regarding gaming on it's integrated ATI Radeon Xpress ?

 

Could you please link to where it says that?

 

It's better then the GMA950. In fact it is not that bad at all, it will run most games acceptably and only a very rare few will not run at all.

And yes, I too would like a link to that bit of astounding news you gave us.

 

Yup. From the Asus site description of the XG: