Why arent there more notebooks with x1600 + core duo?

There are VERY few options for a Core Duo notebook with anything better than an x1400 video card... My friend and I were both looking for the same thing...

Core Duo
XGA+ or better Video
Better than x1400 Graphics
15.4" or smaller form factor.

I ended up opting for an e1505 SXGA+ screen, 2ghz core duo, and x1400 video. Basically didnt get as good of video as I planned but the screen was more important to me.

My Friend went for the Asus W3J. x1600, 1.83 core duo, but only 1280x800 display... or he thought he was... with configuration changes, and eternal shipping delays hes bailed on that idea and is once again looking.

He's set on an x1600 video card or better, and a 15.4" or smaller form factor... which pretty much leaves.

Acer 8204
Apple Mac Book

There arent many x1600 (or nvidia 7800) video machines out there, and most of them are 17". Is it a heat issue? will the machines that do have the x1600 have heat problems? or is it just a matter of notebook makers saying that the x1400/nvidia 7400 are 'good enough' and not bothering to offer better outside of desktop replacements.

Of the ones I know about the Acer 8204 is the front runner but seems to have issues depending on when it was made, the Apple is slick looking but has an underclocked x1600 and a few oddities (like only one mouse button) if you run XP on it. Are there any notebooks im missing?

Thanks

 

Probrably heat issues, and its still way too early on to compare, there will be more releases soon by various brands.

 

The X1600 is supposedly a cool running card and requires less power than the X700 which it replaced. The reason it can be put into the W3J (14" size) is because of that.

I'm not sure why there are not more X1600/Go7600 based notebooks, but it is definitely lacking in the market. I think you'll have to play the waiting game for now.

 

They also underclock it in the W3J for said heat a bit, do they not?

 

i think part of it has to do with the high demand for it. lots of notebooks were supposed to come out in the beginning of march with the x1600 (w3j and ms-1039). it has to be more than coincidence that both of them are facing major delays.

 

It could be supply... but the x1600 was released before the x1400 and its all over the place... so its not a matter of ramping up production of a new chip.

It might not be a coincidence that not only have some x1600 machines been delayed but others had heat problems and ended up underclocking the x1600 like the mac book pro to solve them.

It just seems odd to me that the x1600 came out a month or two before the x1400 and the x1400 is mass produced while the x1600 is only appearing in notebooks that havent been released or had problems... it seems that the Acer 8204 is kinda the exception as the only shipping x1600 core duo without major heat problems (that i know of).

 

I have a LG S1 Express Dual... 2.0Ghz Core Duo, mobility x1600. No heat problems at all. I know there's quite a few laptops with x1600. You just gotta look around. There are a lot of computer companies that assemble their own notebook configurations for instance. Some have notebooks with x1600 chipset. They are not big brands so maybe a bit hard to find. And i think it might be a Europe - US difference there. Maybe not as many releases in US.. but I can't confirm that.

 

There are definitely not as many as I would like out there, but there is the Asus A6Ja. No idea if that is available in the US, one of the replies to this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=44935 would seem to indicate it is not however. And then there's the MSI-1039 which people keep talking about but it is hard to find here in Europe at least, you would probably have better luck in the US.

I will probably end up going for the Asus, but I still wish there had been more choices available with the x1600 instead of the seemingly ever-present x1400.

 

Yeah, they did, but not as much as the MBP was underclocked.

 

the u.s. doesn't have a lot of gaming notebooks other places have. the u.s. does not have samsung, lg, nor the asus a6ja.

 

I've got a Toshiba A-100 JH2...which surprisingly comes with a duo core + 1600 and a 15" screen and 1 gig ram. But honestly, I wish it had better performance. Oh and you can only get this in Canada.

 

thats lucky for you. Theres no toshiba notebook here with better than a x1400.(Singapore). And the cheapest one with a x1400 is like S$3000(US almost 2k). And the 8204 isnt cheap either. S$3998(US 2.5k). So the cheapest x1600 which is the a6j is selling really well as its $2698 for the config with 1.66 cpu and 80gb hdd. The LG S1 looks really nice but its the same price as the 8204.