SoCs for 2011

[SniperSlap]

I think Anandtech should review the few SoCs that are here/coming out for 2011 and examine which devices they'll be showing up in. Things like Tegra, new snapdragons, marvell armada, hummingbird, motorola, etc...

I'm fairly excited, it seems like 2011 is going to be the year we finally get real Android tablets and 3.0. It might be nice to have some comparisons done so that we know which ones to buy and which to avoid.

And of course, if anyone here would like to discuss the same, I'm interested in hearing about it...

 

[Bateluer]

While I'd love a good article on the subject, with details of each SoC, benchmarking them is difficult. There's no common reference platform where one can just swap the SoC and rerun the tests. Heck, even the tests themselves are problematic. The differences in RAM, screen resolution, and GPUs make it a difficult endeavor, not to mention that the devices that use the SoCs often appear in devices a good 8-12 months after the SoC is announced by the manufacturer.

They did do a write up between the Tegra 2 and the Hummingbird though, comparing the Galaxy Tab and the Viewsonic GTablet.

 

[SniperSlap]

While I'd love a good article on the subject, with details of each SoC, benchmarking them is difficult. There's no common reference platform where one can just swap the SoC and rerun the tests. Heck, even the tests themselves are problematic. The differences in RAM, screen resolution, and GPUs make it a difficult endeavor, not to mention that the devices that use the SoCs often appear in devices a good 8-12 months after the SoC is announced by the manufacturer.

They did do a write up between the Tegra 2 and the Hummingbird though, comparing the Galaxy Tab and the Viewsonic GTablet.

I'd like to see more of that as more devices become available.

Obviously, while it's not possible to be objective about the SoCs from device to device, a rundown of the different devices as a whole will be in order. And that is ultimately going to be the only basis by which we'll be able to make a clear call: Which devices are better made, planned and supported?

What we will have are the same applications and games to test between them. So say, the recently released Dungeon Defenders. I'm personally eager to find a good tablet to run it on in 2011, and as it stands right now, I'm kind of torn! Each week brings us new device announcements, and this is a whole segment that Anandtech could dive into and give some good information on devices that can sometimes be difficult to get a hands-on impression of.

(I'm in Canada, and it's going to be pretty tough to convince anyone to carry something other than the iPad. Despite the obvious superiority of Android.)

I'm sure after a few reviews of devices, some general trend of "which SoC tends to do better" will emerge.

 

[Bateluer]

I'm sure after a few reviews of devices, some general trend of "which SoC tends to do better" will emerge.

For what its worth, Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform is the reference platform for Honeycomb, the alleged tablet optimized version of Android. Definitely want to see more tablet options, especially open designs so custom AOSP builds can be loaded to them.

Compiling for a wifi only tablet would be much easier than a phone, where you have to worry about the carrier's radio, network, etc. So long as you can get the wifi drivers working, there's no reason for the manufacturer to lock the devices down.

 

[SniperSlap]

For what its worth, Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform is the reference platform for Honeycomb, the alleged tablet optimized version of Android. Definitely want to see more tablet options, especially open designs so custom AOSP builds can be loaded to them.

Compiling for a wifi only tablet would be much easier than a phone, where you have to worry about the carrier's radio, network, etc. So long as you can get the wifi drivers working, there's no reason for the manufacturer to lock the devices down.

Yeah, and I think Tegra is going to be big-name enough to always have respectable performance in future releases as well. Which is another thing to consider...Will google eventually settle on a version for a year and only release minor updates ever?

And I agree, I would love to see some wifi only tablets on the shelves. More options is way better and these things do not need to be expensive.