lowlymarine's Notebook FAQ

There would still be reasons for upgrading to Longhorn, namely .NET 2.0 and longer support (Longhorn Server version is expected in 2012, and after that, it will be a long time before Microsoft discontinues Longhorn). For a good article about Longhorn, visit this thread on Tech-Forums.net.

 

Here, another quote about Longhorn requirements; I'm not sure about the accuracy of this one:

It doesn't seem too likely, but everywhere I look, Microsoft is pushing Longhorn requirements sky-high.

Link for the thread that I found that btw.

 

Ok, I see where you got that first list of requirements. Those are the requirements for the Alpha versions they're sending to testers; similar versions of XP had hardware requirements in excess of 1GHz processors and 256MB of RAM; the full version will likely be toned down to a more reasonable level. The primary reason I don't see these high, high requirements being very likely is that no manufacturer is going to use Longhorn if their computers have to cost at a minimum $1000 to run it; it would completely destroy the budget-PC market, which these companies thrive on.

 

I just wanted to give a heads-up that I've added a section to the FAQ, and added/corrected some stuff in other places.

And I promise, I will do a full topic on Tablets vs. Notebooks if you guys want me too.

 

If those are the requirements that makes things much easier for potential notebook buyers since no one will be able to use longhorn on their notebook when it comes out. It will be a long while before they come out with efficient dual core processors for notebooks, and the gpu would be extremely hot (probably unless tech gets much better b4 longhorn's release). But yeh I'm betting the system requirements will be lowered a lot in the official release since no one will be able to buy it as the first dual cores coming out will not run at speeds of 4-6 ghz, but will have max speeds of the pentium 4s out today. If you're getting 4-6 from just multiplying by 2, it doesn't quite work out like that as the second processor doesn't increase speed more just dividing up some of the work if possible.

 

This was the article that I was referring to (the dual-core one):
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1581842,00.asp

Note that the date was 4/30/ 2004.. So of course, hardware requirements ahve been updated. I have read from some people that Longhorn runs on computers that don't meet the requirements, and then I've heard people saying that in order for OS's to run smoothly usually double the minimum requirements are needed.

In any case, I think when Microsoft said "average", they meant the average standard in 2010 probably, and by then who knows what technological advances have been made? The high hardware requirements, at least partially, are the result of a 3D-rendered desktop.

 

Just wanted to let you all know I've fixed up a few things and, more importntly, added that oft-requested topic on tablets vs. notebooks. It's probably complete crap right now, though, since it was written at 4:45 in the moring. Expect heavy revisions.

 

ha, well continue working into the night, your addendums are good. I'll bring up one issue I had with the Tablet PC section though:

I think it's wrong to say Tablets are the most portable of ultraportable, the Toshiba R15 and Tecra M4 for instance are the weight of a mainstream laptop -- I understand you're saying these machines are meant to go everywhere and anywhere, but I think it's going to confuse people and make them think all Tablets are super light. The slate tablet is definitely on the ultraportable side of the fence. I would just take out that first line and start right in with describing the differences.

In the notebook section, I think a first line blurb about the fact laptop = notebook would be good.

Suggestion. "Whether a person says laptop or notebook, they mean the exact same thing. In some countries the term laptop is more prevalent, in others notebook is used more. The industry wants us to use the word notebook because laptop is problematic in two ways 1) Not all notebooks are designed to be placed in your lap, some are just too big or even too small 2) Putting a notebook in your lap if you're a male has been shown by researchers to reduce fertility (due to heat generated by notebook), manufacturers do not want to be sued by infertile males because they used a notebook in their lap a little too much!

Oh, and Toshiba needs to go after Sony and Sager for alphabetization correctness

You're awesome man, such a nice job, you've inherited an insatiable growing work though as it needs to be updated for new technologies like every week. LOL.

 

Ah, thanks for the comments, I've made some of those changes.

You also win the "make lowlymarine look stupid" award, lol. How could I have left Toshiba out of place for a month?

 

Great FAQ - I learn a lot..Thanks

 

Hey, do any of you know whether AMD's Athlon 64 will be the best "future-proof" processor for a laptop?

 

For right now, AMD offers the only processors with 64 bit capability in notebooks (except for the rare Pentium 4 notebook) but by next year, Intel should also be offering 64 bit too.

 

Yeah, currently AMD's chips (Athlon 64 & Turion 64) are the only mainstream notebook CPUs with the x86-64 instruction set. However, the next Pentium-M core, codenamed "Yonah," will be dual-core and 64-bit capable. Estimated ship dates are as early 4th quarter 2005 to as late as 2nd quarter 2006; both comfortably before the new, 64-bit only version of Windows, "Longhorn."

 

So, do you guys think that I should get a top-of-the-line AMD Athlon 64 now, or wait it out and get Intel's new processor?



Thanks for all the help,
AI

 

You should get it now if you need it. There's always something new around the corner in the computing world, so don't hesitate to buy now everything becomes outdated sooner or later.

 

What I mean is, will a top-of-the-line Athlon 64 have a good chance at being able to power Windows Longhorn?


Thanks,
AI

 

Yes, the cpu will outlast the graphics card which will most probably be the first one to become obsolete....I mean there are Win XP systems running on 800 - 1GHz(Pentium 4's) whose performance compared to the 4000+ is just.....(cant describe in words). So, I dont think microsoft will release an OS with too high system requirements since many people are slow/unwilling to upgrade their computers. The 4000+ will probably be the highest performing Athlon64 single core processors apart from the FX series for some time.

 

Thanks for the advice! It was really useful!


AI

 

I read somewhere that AMD will stop producing single core now and focus on dual core exclusively soon. That means the only clock speed increase we'll see in single core chips is in the FX line.

 

That was a very good FAQ. I didn't know that the 1.60 GHz PM was similar to the 3.0GHz P4 with Hyper Threading. I figured it'd be about the same as the non-HT P4.

 

Well, to be honest, it probably is closer to a non HT 3.0GHz core...but now where are you going to find one of those? To my knowledge all 2.8GHz and above Pentium 4s are now HT.

 

Yeah intel is enabling hyperthreading on all there p4's now. its all the new rage, that is why windows xp home had some upgrade that supports hyper threading.

 

:acer: I think the Acer Travelmate series is the best in the business currently. I'm going to purchase my second Acer now, the Acer Travelmate 3002WTCi. No other computer in the market can match the specs and price. Acer quality is simply the best, their computers use magnesium alloys, they are thin and stylish. The biggest bonus for me is the free worldwide warranty.

 

Greetings Lowly,

This has been without a doubt the most information rich location I have been able to find during my search for a laptop. I am particularly pleased to find a rundown of the major players in the market.

I am still about a month away from my purchase and making a final decision is quite difficult. Once I buy a machine that will be it for a few years and I want to get the right one.

At this point I am considering either the Dell 6000 or the Dell 9300. I noticed that you own the 9300 and I wander what your take on the screen quality issues with this model is, and for that mater what is your take on the 9300 overall? Perhaps you have written a review? Perhaps you would consider it?

Given my current choices can you (or anyone else) recommend some similar systems that may be worth considering?

Thanks again for the great information!

By the way, I am currently using a Dell Inspiron 5100 with 512 MB of RAM and a Pentium 4 2.4GHz. I love it, but I certainly want to do better.

Aaron Jackson
www.thesitterdowners.com

 

I'm new to this forum (as of a few days ago). I posted the question of upgrading from an IBM Thinkpad i 1452 to what?
I have never seen such a detailed breakdown and description of computers in anything I have read either in print or on line. I am truly amazed but also in over my head since I don't have the technical expertise.
Based on all that you have written, what company would you recommend from which to buy a new notebook/laptop from? And what kind of laptop would you suggest that I replace the Thinkpad with?
Any advise you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for posting such a detailed, well written and informative write up.
Thanks.
GenieSearch

 

Just for everyone's info, Windows next OS, code named "Longhorn", is now Windows Vista. Check out the Microsoft's website for more info.

 

do you live in a cave?

 

Hey, well I didn't know that!

 

I apologize in advance if this has been discussed elsewhere at great length, or if will start some kind of flame war.

For most users, 64bit is hype. 64bit-ness of a processors is not worth considering for most users, even for future-proofing against longhorn (vista) (but they run 32bit os + programs so well that they also shouldn't count against). Microsoft has committed to supporting the 64bit processors and it will run "at least as fast", but as much as intel and amd would like it if they didnt, microsoft will certainly support the older 32bit chips.

The new 64bit processors have more registers available through an extended encoding, and this should provide for better codegen, but that advantage appears to be roughly balanced out by the cost of encoding larger addresses within programs, and also the cost of storing all those 64bit pointers within the cache and in memory allocated by the program.

Its pretty common today to see pointer-intensive programs take a large hit when ported to 64bit.

In my opinion, there is very little future-proofing reason to purchase a 64bit processor today, unless you believe you'll be running processes that must access more than 2gigs at a time within the lifetime of your laptop. I suspect that the 2gig limit will be reached by most of you in about 5 years, maybe more. 5 years is a really long time. In five years there will be laptops with 8-core processors, and what you prize today will be a doorstop.

Until you need the extra address space, 64bit OS and programs will run slower and consume more ram than the same 32bit os, and the same goes for most programs. Witness the 64bit release of farcry, which didn't provide a significant performance boost.

I've seen comparisons done with amd64 running an os and applications with 32bit pointer size, the new registers really help, but add in the bigger pointers and you get slammed by the contention for cache and ram.

I would be more concerned with support for sse3, which rocks, than whether it can support 64bit pointers.

 

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What is the equivalent of a AMD Sempron Mobile 3100+ in Pentium 4 power?

 

which card is better...the ATI X1400/1300 or the intel 900/950 ???

 

Definately ATI x1400/1300. These are 'dedicated' video cards that have dedicated memory not shared with the system RAM. intel 900/950 are inbuilt videocards that share memory with the system RAM and is also far inferior to the 3d capabilities of the said ati cards. 900/950 are not recommended to medium-high class gaming.