The Nvidia Ion!!?

Wether your Confused amused or simply looking to be bemused I have something you may not have heard of... Is it a notebook or a mini console???

You tell me


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I have to admit, Nvidia's Ion is one of the most amazing things that Nvidia has came up with.

 

Lol, I just wish it wasnt so vague... I really dont know what it is besides a mini desktop... It has all the ports in the back so.... welll.... uh

 

nVidia Ion = 9400M = Something we have all heard of.

They put it in a SFF PC with an Atom CPU, cos gamers are really bothered that the case is small over performance. Does nothing new for notebooks and is not a console. Netbooks will get a boost. Overdue with the popularity of them.

 

Huh... aren't you a bit late on these kind of info? Here's more detail from a forum started about 5 month ago.
http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=8340&hilit=nvidia+ion

Getting to the point, there's really nothing special about ion. The technology already exist a year ago. You can see examples of them on "macs". The graphic core is a little bit slower than ATI HD3200 integrated.

You can play 1080P, 720P (both HD resolution are already achievable with regular netbook), some light games on the nvidia ion.

 

my bad, u dont have to get snippy wit me lol.... its just new to me....

 

I'm just saying... I'm not criticizing you or anything. Just giving you a litttle more information about it.

If you have questions about it.. i can probably answer them since I've been following ion for at least 4 months.

 

Nvidia Ion is the direct competitor against Intel and Amd among netbook components suppliers. Via is unheard of these days. I must say that i'm pretty amazed by the nvidia ion platform. It's so powerful!! (For a netbook!!!)

 

For the most part, Nvidia isn't competing against intel or AMD. Nvidia sell netbook's chipset and AMD and Intel sell the processors. Intel is probably just clearing its stock for all those oudated chipset so they bundle the chipset with the intel atom cpu for a cheap sub $30 set.

Also.. Nvidia ion platform uses the same cpu as the current netbook. The only major difference is its GPU and some minor chipset features.

 

and those new 120hz 3d goggles

 

It's called a nettop.

 

I have completely lost interest in this Nvidia Ion platform because it has been so long now. I no longer use netbooks because the compromise over size in relation to performance is just not worth it in my opinion.

 

this is cool, but now it means apple has to come out with a smaller and lighter version.

 

Rumor was Apple was going to use the Ion platform for the new Mac Mini.

 

Perhaps it's gping to use it in the apple netbook.

 

The point of the video is that ION if used on the majority of mainstream computers and netbooks is capable of gaming, and games can be optimized to look as good as an Xbox 360 game on the ION platform. When ION kicks off, you should be able to buy standalone "desktop" versions for $200 or less, and netbooks with it for the same price as current netbooks. Then game developers just have to inform people that the machines they currently own are capable of playing all of these games that will be optimized specifically for the platform. That would potentially open up PC gaming to hundreds of millions of new people who aren't knowledgeable about PC hardware.

 

So you think hundreds of millions of ion based machines are going to be sold and games are going to optimized just for them and people who already own them and are ignorant are suddenly going to discover PC gaming as a result.

Errr.... no?

 

lol some must have been under a rock cause some have heard about this a few months ago even before the macbooks was using them.

 

lol peoplez are going to buy them to use for work and then theyre going to suddenly realize they can plays good video gamez?

 

These nettops are primarily designed for use as cheap media pcs but are also good alternatives to consoles like the Wii. Acer has one coming out designed specifically for this purpose called the Hornet.

I'm personally planing on buying two or three of these Ion nettops to hook up to TVs in my home. Equipped with cheaper low capacity SSDs so they run virtually silent and networked to a main PC hub for storage they should work great.

 

between umpc and netbook? so many designations I'm confused. smartphone pda umpc netop netbook notebook...

 

You forgot MID.

According to Intel:
MIDs have a screen below 9"
Netbooks have a screen 9-10"
UMPCs are ultra-thins that use the Z500 series Atoms

Nettops are to Desktops as Netbooks are to Notebooks.

 

UMPCs are simply ugly. I prefer netbooks. I used an MSI wind the other day and it was pure bliss.

 

Can any of you..experts tell me what theese ions laptops will contain?

I have heard of the 9400 and the Atom, but is anything for sure yet?

 

It will contain a regular atom processor and Nvidia chipset which includes Geforce 9400M IGP (the same one in Macs). There's nothing special.
Personally I find nvidia ion too powerful. The only hi-def videos I play on netbooks are Blueray Rips at 720P and 1080P from the internet. My current acer aspire one with 1.6ghz intel atom n270 and intel GMA950 IGP can already handle them. There's really no reason for me switch since it doesn't offer any advantage at all for me.

 

Don't you think of the "gaming power", as an clear advnantage. I've heard that it should handle CoD4 with like 20-25 fps

 

Why would I game with a netbook when I can game on my HDTV with either a game console or with my quadcore desktop with much better graphic card?

With a good graphic card, you can get over 150fps in COD4 compared to 20-25FPS.

 

Good point again... So to sum up, don't buy an nvidia ion laptop?

 

Don't buy an nvidia ion laptop if you already have a laptop. If you have a netbook, then don't buy an nvidia ion netbook either. Nvidia ion netbook is only useful if you want to use it as HTPC and to play blueray disk on it.

If you want a cheap HTPC capable of playing blueray 1080P videos, get an acerRevo when it's on sale in May. It's the only production nettop with nvidia ion chipset. Then buy a usb blue ray opticial drive for $100. Then you got yourself a sub $250-300 HTPC which is both energy efficient and quiet.

 

Gaming on a netbook is the same as why people buy handhelds. Why would you buy a DS or PSP or other handheld only to game on a 2-3" screen? On a netbook you have excellent battery life, a larger 10" screen and can take it everywhere. While yes I can play my quad/crossfireX desktop on the large HDTV at home, you can't very well take the whole set up to someone else's house, or in a car/bus etc, and you definately can't carry that in one hand.

If the iON can enable ultra thin and small notebooks with fantastic battery life enough power to play the latest games, if even on the lowest settings, and for under $400, I would definately buy one.

 

Okey, I've changed my mind.
My situation is that I'm(hopefully) getting my money returned for a laptop i bought some time ago. And as I'm taking my laptop to school every day, I want one of theese lowweight solutions.
Do you have any recommendings?

 

If you're tight on money, get an acer aspire one with 6 cell battery. $It's under $350 and it has over 5 hours of battery life.

Both the 10" and 8.9" cost the same ($329)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4411667&CatId=3987
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4400163&CatId=3987

 

Is it enough with the 1GB, What difference does the 1 extra make?

 

Btw, I've ran into a minor problem, as I live in Denmark, it might not be that easy to get a laptop from the states.

But I've managed to find another aspire one, same specs, but the battery and size of monitor. (about $350)


Acer Aspire ONE A150-Bb (Danmark)

Product:
Acer Aspire ONE A150-Bb

Mainboard:
Mobile Intel 945GSE Express / 533 MHz

Processor:
Intel Atom 1.6 GHz

RAM:
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM
Max. Memory Størrelse: 1.5 GB

Display (Projektor):
8.9 tomme / 1024 x 600 / 18-bit farve / TFT aktiv matriks

Harddrive
160 GB

Graphics:
Intel GMA 950

OS:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Indgangsudstyr:
Tastatur / Touchpad

Max battery time: 3 hour(s) / 2200 MAh / Litiumion

Dimensions:
24.9 cm x / 1 Kg

Sound:
High Definition Audio Lydkort

 

Man I was hoping Nvidia and Via would get together for this :/

Nano + 9400M + 2 GB DDR2-533 + Windows XP = Hell Yeah

 

I don't think ION is anything great. Mediocre gaming performance and abysmal CPU performance for the price of a video game console...

It opens doors, but not in the way I'd like to see. Atom should stay in netbooks, where is belongs. Anything that is plugged into the wall could/should instead opt for the cheapest Core 2 Duo, which would still draw minimal power (probably less than a light bulb) and perform 4 times faster.

 

I think the whole point was to bring media and HD playback to the masses. I'm sure gaming was a secondary point of importance, since on such limited CPU hardware, older games would be the ones you would want to run.

 

Though if you wanna use this ion for school and stuff.
And if you got some adobe programs lying around, this might be a good solution as a netbook from today can't handle this without massive lagg.

 

But what they forget to tell everyone is that HD GPU playback DOES NOT WORK unless you use software that costs money! Cyberlink PowerDVD, for instance. You can't just use Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center, they will only use the Atom, and thus they can't handle playback.

GPU HD acceleration does not work automatically. It is possible to get a special version of media player classic (called media player home cinema) that is capable of GPU acceleration, but it completely ruins the feeling of tight integration as well as the fact that it isn't user friendly enough for non-enthusiasts.

Until H264/MPEG decoding is enabled through commonly used and bundled applications such as Windows Media Center, this whole Ion fad is going to be struggling. The hardware has been in every Nvidia GPU since the 8600 GT, and I'm sure the ATI 3000 and 4000 series chips include the same hardware decoders, but very VERY few people EVER actually make use of them.

 

The massive lag is only a problem with unoptimized netbook with slow SSD. On netbook with HDD, it runs all adobe programs (every single master collection programs) smooth as butter. Even adobe after effects runs without lag.

 

The question is, when are we going to see ION netbooks?

 

Probably never since ION wasn't designed for netbook in the first place. Though, you can buy the first Nvidia Ion based nettop in 2 weeks.