anyone have a dual core netbook yet

[OBLAMA2009]

im wondering if they feel a lot faster, the benchmarks seem to indicate much better performance. i havent seen them in the stores yet even though the chip have been out a while

 

[cbn]

http://www.superbiiz.com/query.php?categry=0&s=n550&x=0&y=0

I'm not sure about Brick and Mortar.

 

[Eug]

I don't have a netbook but I do have a dual core Atom 330 net top. It has the same laptop hard drive you'd find in a netbook but it definitely feels faster than a single core Atom netbook running the same OS.

In fact I have never bought a netbook because of the single core limitation (and because of the keyboards). Now that dual core is available though, I have considered it, but I think I will wait until AMD Ontario is out before I make any decision.

 

[Bateluer]

I don't have a netbook but I do have a dual core Atom 330 net top. It has the same laptop hard drive you'd find in a netbook but it definitely feels faster than a single core Atom netbook running the same OS.

In fact I have never bought a netbook because of the single core limitation (and because of the keyboards). Now that dual core is available though, I have considered it, but I think I will wait until AMD Ontario is out before I make any decision.

This. I have an Acer Revo nettop with the Atom 330. Its 1.6Ghz, dual core and hyper-threaded. Barely adequate for daily use of wed surfing. Even with its Ion GPU/IGP. IE and FF both lag on most websites, specially those with a lot web programming running. Might be different with a GPU accelerated browser, I'll have to test FF4 on it. I wouldn't use the thing for a primary machine though.

I don't see the N550 netbooks being any different. I'm interested in the form factor, but the current crop of CPUs are too underpowered.

 

[Eug]

This. I have an Acer Revo nettop with the Atom 330. Its 1.6Ghz, dual core and hyper-threaded. Barely adequate for daily use of wed surfing. Even with its Ion GPU/IGP. IE and FF both lag on most websites, specially those with a lot web programming running. Might be different with a GPU accelerated browser, I'll have to test FF4 on it. I wouldn't use the thing for a primary machine though.

I don't see the N550 netbooks being any different. I'm interested in the form factor, but the current crop of CPUs are too underpowered.

What do you mean by "lag on most websites"? I actually consider it half decent, and in fact 720p Flash video plays perfectly on it. There is sometimes a bit of lag with 1080p Flash content though. However, overall, with the sites I go to, I don't notice a lot of lag. That said, the sites I go to are primarily HTML with some Flash embedded, whereas there are some sites out there that are built almost completely around Flash. I could see the latter being pretty laggy. I'll have to check that out.

Are you running the latest ION drivers from NVIDIA, and the latest version of Flash? My Revo that I bought a couple of weeks ago came with some really old set of drivers from 2009.

 

[maniac5999]

Does my year old AMD count as a Netbook?

 

[Eug]

Does my year old AMD count as a Netbook?

Sort of I suppose, but without the long battery life one usually wants with a netbook.

Still, that Wind U230 or something similar an option, if battery life is a secondary concern. I gather it's significantly cheaper than CULV Intel based machines.

 

[Zap]

They also interest me for a few reasons:

Asus claims 13 hour battery life on one of their lines, at around 2.8 pounds.

Dual core seems a bit better than single core in my seat-of-pants comparison (ITX dual core versus netbook). Of course it wasn't a proper comparison, however.

Asus has been known to overclock their netbooks and CULV notebooks for more performance when needed.

I'd like to know if these new dual cores can be overclocked, and if so how much battery life is retained.

The final thing is a higher-than-1024x600 screen, coupled with overclocking and double digit battery life for under 3 pounds and under $500.

Guess I'll have to wait another generation.

 

[wirednuts]

i need money. i decided to trade in my tx2z tablet pc for a eeepc. i can sell this laptop for $500+, and then i just bought a used asus netbook for $160 on ebay.

i do worry that the netbook wont be fast enough, but 90% of my laptop use has been talking on forums. i also do vnc a lot. i thought about it a lot, and its clear that i almost never use this laptops touchscreen, i never watch movies on it, and i never play games on it. if i can make more then $300 by downgrading then its worth it for me right now.

to be really honest the only problem i foresee is streaming porn. even my turion dual core tablet has trouble watching vids on those websites (millions of popups and multiple flash boxes)

 

[Eug]

Since my previous posts in this thread, I have bought a dual-core netbook (11.6"). It is a 1.2 GHz dual-core derivative of Core 2 Duo (with a bit less L3 cache), and cost less than $400 with 2 GB RAM (user upgradable to 4 or maybe 8 GB), 250 GB HD, and 6-cell battery.

So, I didn't bother to wait for Zacate. I wasn't expecting Intel's CULV offerings to become so cheap, but when I came across this deal I couldn't resist. Maybe when Zacate is out, I'll re-evaluate the market... but then will buy a Core i3 class machine. 😉

IMO:

Single-core netbook: Irritating, not just because of performance, but also because of the OS (Windows 7 Starter) and the 10.1" form factor for most of them.

Dual-core Atom 330 nettop with ION: Not too bad in terms of performance. Some lag in certain circumstances but definitely usable. (One example of lagginess is application installation. It takes forever on Atom 330.) This is my main VPN machine and I surf a lot on it too. Actually, I just installed Firefox 4.0 beta 7 and it feels significantly snappier now, since it uses hardware acceleration.

Dual-core CULV Pentium SU4100: I could probably use this as my primary laptop. It's noticeably snappier than my Atom machine. The lags I noticed with the nettop pretty much are gone on this netbook. Sure, my 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo is faster, but I usually don't do heavy duty stuff on my laptop, since I already have a Core i7 iMac. Furthermore, I can play back 1080p video locally without stuttering, no problem, using DxVA - Intel ClearVideo on the integrated 4500MHD. The main issue with this new netbook is that the machine won't span to a 1080p screen. I can span to a lower res screen, or display at full rez only on that 1080p but with the netbook screen off. Also, while 1080p VGA works perfectly, it underscans 1080p over HDMI. This isn't a performance issue. This is an Intel-drivers-are-stupidly-implemented issue. Also, the netbook does bog down on some HD 720p Flash content, but that doesn't bother me much.

FWIW, I ran Cinebench on my two Windows 7 machines:

Atom 330: 0.50 pts
SU4100: 0.76 pts (which is over 1.5X as fast).

On my 2.26 GHz C2D MacBook Pro in OS X it was 1.30 (which is over 2.5X as fast as Atom 330).

This. I have an Acer Revo nettop with the Atom 330. Its 1.6Ghz, dual core and hyper-threaded. Barely adequate for daily use of wed surfing. Even with its Ion GPU/IGP. IE and FF both lag on most websites, specially those with a lot web programming running. Might be different with a GPU accelerated browser, I'll have to test FF4 on it. I wouldn't use the thing for a primary machine though.

Did you try FF4? Just to reiterate, it's great. You have to run beta 7 though. The previous versions aren't hardware accelerated. Beta 7 came out after your last post.

This benchmark isn't representative of everyday type surfing, but nonetheless it does illustrate just how much hardware acceleration can help.

With Firefox 3.6.12, I was getting 2 fps, with spikes up to 3 fps. With Firefox 4.0 beta 7, I got over 50 fps.

 

[cbn]

They also interest me for a few reasons:

Asus claims 13 hour battery life on one of their lines, at around 2.8 pounds.

Dual core seems a bit better than single core in my seat-of-pants comparison (ITX dual core versus netbook). Of course it wasn't a proper comparison, however.

Asus has been known to overclock their netbooks and CULV notebooks for more performance when needed.

I'd like to know if these new dual cores can be overclocked, and if so how much battery life is retained.

The final thing is a higher-than-1024x600 screen, coupled with overclocking and double digit battery life for under 3 pounds and under $500.

Guess I'll have to wait another generation.

More information on this 13 hour battery life claim: (for people that are interested)

http://www.bestnetbooksreview.com/asus-eee-pc-1015pem-netbook.html

The Eee PC™ Seashell 1015PEM answers consumers’ needs for a netbook that boasts a stylish design with a long battery life. The 1015PEM has a 13 hour battery life* thanks to the ASUS-exclusive Super Hybrid Engine technology. The SHE intelligently adapts and adjusts power settings to give you the CPU performance you need. Based on the user settings and the applications being run, the SHE tailors the appropriate power requirements for the task at hand to ensure maximum efficiency.

Apparently that Super Hybrid drive also allows overclocking. More information here.

Like other Asus Eee PC series notebooks, the Asus Eee PC 1101HA comes with the company’s Super Hybrid Engine software. This lets you underclock and overclock the CPU to boost performance or prolong battery life depending on your needs at the moment. But there’s one thing that makes the Eee PC 1101HA different – you can tweak a BIOS setting to adjust the overclock values.

For example, if you set the BIOS value to 5%, then when you use the Super Hybrid Engine to overclock your CPU, it will go up by 5%. The values range from 5% to 30%.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

so the new dual core atoms still suck? i wish they had the netbook form factor with culv chips

 

[Eug]

so the new dual core atoms still suck?

Atom D510 and Atom D525 are faster than Atom 330, but they're still slow. Plus because of licencing issues, ION is somewhat crippled on D510 and D525.

Passmark Atom 330: 633
Passmark Atom D510: 674 (+6&#37😉
Passmark Atom D525: 715 (+13%)

i wish they had the netbook form factor with culv chips

Well it depends on what you mean by netbook. My 11.6" is dual-core CULV. I didn't want 10.1", mainly because I can't stand those miniature keyboards, and 1024x600 is pretty restrictive. Plus most of them seem to come with Windows 7 Starter, and have single-core Atom and usually come with terrible Intel graphics.

Passmark SU2300: 906 (+43%)
Passmark SU4100: 985 (+56%)

 

[cbn]

Well it depends on what you mean by netbook. My 11.6" is dual-core CULV. I didn't want 10.1", mainly because I can't stand those miniature keyboards, and 1024x600 is pretty restrictive. Plus most of them seem to come with Windows 7 Starter, and have single-core Atom and usually come with terrible Intel graphics.

Do some of the 11.6" netbook models come with Windows 7 Starter?

 

[Eug]

Do some of the 11.6" netbook models come with Windows 7 Starter?

Yes.

However, in my searches for dual-core Intel (Atom or CULV) 11.6" to 12.1" models, it seems most come with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

 

[wirednuts]

it seems the best netbooks right now are actually the amd cpu/ amd graphics combo ones.

ill just use this n270 i have until i cant stand it anymore, then ill drop the $350 on a 'high powered' netbook. i know for sure my 13" laptop i have now is a lot bigger then i need- and a lot more powerful then i need too (i just dont need 50w+ drawing all the time while most of it is idle time sitting on forum pages).

when is the next wave of significantly improved netbooks supposed to come to market?

 

[Eug]

it seems the best netbooks right now are actually the amd cpu/ amd graphics combo ones.

Not if you want long battery life.

ill just use this n270 i have until i cant stand it anymore, then ill drop the $350 on a 'high powered' netbook. i know for sure my 13" laptop i have now is a lot bigger then i need- and a lot more powerful then i need too (i just dont need 50w+ drawing all the time while most of it is idle time sitting on forum pages).

when is the next wave of significantly improved netbooks supposed to come to market?

Q1 2011, with AMD Ontario. Faster than Atom, but in a similar class in terms of power usage, and way better GPUs.

 

[wirednuts]

thats good to hear. battery life isnt that important to me... as long as it get 3 hours at least on a charge im happy. i usually leave it plugged in anyway.

 

[PingSpike]

I think the new AMD nile platform system have improved a lot on the battery life front. Still not as good as the intel CULV units but not atrocious like the old congo ones.