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OnLive Halloweekend: reliability, gameplay quality and FEAR 3

Corporal — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:41:45 +0000

Oh, killjoy!

Starting yesterday, OnLive decided to offer four games free for the whole Halloween weekend, and it has been quite a good trip so far, although it does vary – particularly because of the fact that gameplay quality is contingent on your connection’s reliability.

Depending on how good your connection is, gameplay can be very similar to playing the game locally (i.e. as if you bought the game and installed it), although I must say that there never was a moment where I felt that OnLive can replace the quality you get when you pay like a boss for a retail game. Unfortunately, the game’s quality does degrade if your connection is being hogged, unreliable or just slow from the get-go.

Imagine a YouTube 360p video - that's your graphics quality with this connection.

I tested the game on my good ol’ Asus, and the first thing I realized is that the Nvidia ION2 chip in the computer never kicked in. OnLive was running on the Intel GMA all the way through, and therefore battery life would be quite legit if you do intend to play games without plugging in.

U mad?

On a netbook, graphics quality is a lot better – as long as your screen is not 1366x768px. On a 1024×600 screen, games rendered at less-than-600p still look quite acceptable, although what must be noted is that the game does vary the quality depending on your connection, so sometimes you might get super-sharp quality, whereas when your connection starts going into herp derp mode, you might get blurry graphics – something quite annoying when you need to aim precisely in a first-person shooter.

Specifically towards FEAR 3, however, I found that there was quite a bad instance of cursor lag. The problem is especially exaggerated when you have a poor connection, whereas when the connection is good, the problem is largely ameliorated, although still noticeable.

I did manage to play FEAR in multiplayer mode and it was quite good. Voice support is offered by OnLive, so if you do want to speak to your teammates, it is possible. Although same problems do exist – cursor lag, network lag, and low quality graphics at times.

Boss connection, but still minor issues.

Multiplayer FEAR 3... possible!

To be fair to OnLive, I went out to search for a bossier connection, and this is what I got. With such a connection, nothing could go wrong… or so I thought. Indeed, nothing went wrong for a loooooooooong time. The connection was so good that FEAR 3 suddenly became more playable, sharper than usual and better in gameplay quality. It was excellent for a while, until something went wrong with the connection… and then it was all over.

Nonetheless, I’d recommend OnLive to netbook users if, and only if, they don’t intend to buy a more powerful gaming PC. However, if you want to play games in a reliable and enjoyable fashion, you’ll have to invest in a quick connection that is best connected directly to your computer. Shared connections, weak signals, and a slow connection will all coalesce to make your gameplay worse. That said, nothing beats playing a retail game that can be installed and played.

This is part of a continuous report that will last until I finish my 3-Day pass on the games. I’ll continue trying the gameplay and report back on how it is with the other games.

OnLive FREE for Halloween weekend

Corporal — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 02:51:21 +0000

FREE for three days!

Be informed that this Halloween weekend, four games in the OnLive collection will be free. You can get,

FEAR 3
Orcs Must Die
Orcs Must Die
Metro 2033
Amnesia

for absolutely free. Over the three days, you can have try out OnLive and see if the service is any good for you. The good thing about OnLive for netbook users is that even the weakest netbook has a very good chance of being able to go OnLive. That’s because OnLive streams the game to your computer – it’s like interactive YouTube.

So far, the experience is quite average – mainly because I use a very crowded WiFi connection. If your latency is not stable, you’ll find that the video is poor, and you get stutters in gameplay. Of course, if it is good – 5Mbps good, then maybe you’ll have a fighting chance of getting 1280×720.

FEAR 3 on OnLive

As stated on the website, here are the minimum specs, in case you are wondering.

Internet Connection: 2 Mbps wired or Wi-Fi connection
Operating System: Windows 7 or Vista (32 or 64-bit) or XP SP3 (32-bit), Mac® OS X 10.5.8 or later
Computer: Most PCs and netbooks, all Intel-based Macs
Screen Resolution: 1024×576

Here’s the link to the promo.

And since it’s free, that can only mean that tomorrow I shall go find a place with good, reliable WiFi and see how OnLive runs when a reliable connection is available on the good ol’ Asus. I’ll get back with a report on how it goes.

Netbook processor performance, an overview

Corporal — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:52:01 +0000

Fusion: the anathema of an Atom

In the realm of netbook processors, the more GHz does not imply more power. Just think of it this way: a dual-core AMD E-350 running at 1.6GHz can beat the top-of-the-line (as of now) Intel Atom N570, which is also dual-core, and on the surface, faster than the E-350 because of an extra 0.06GHz. Not at all – in fact, the performance of the E-350 outstrips the N570 by a long shot.

Below will list various processors and their processing power. The following list ranks from the most powerful to the weakest,

AMD E-series processors (dual-core)
AMD C-series processors (dual-core)
Intel Dxx processors (dual-core)
Intel N5xx processors (dual-core)
Intel N4xx processors (except N-435)
Intel N2xx processors
Intel N435 processor

However, the major difference between the Atoms and the AMD processors is that the latter has discrete graphics by default. All AMD processors come with a HD-capable Radeon graphics processor, which guarantees you smoothness when playing HD-videos on a 1920×1080 external monitor.

On the other hand, Intel N-series processors, for now, are still plagued with the extremely weak Intel GMA integrated graphics which is pretty decent for sub-HD videos, but once you try 720p and above, it is tested to its limit. While the N570 can render 720p quite well, the single-core N4xx or N2xx struggle to play HD movies well.

If you want powerful graphics while on a N-series processor, you’ll need to get a netbook with Nvidia ION on it. Nvidia ION is a discrete graphics processor supplanted on the integrated Intel GMA which will allow you to switch between power-saving internal graphics and the 1080p-capable Nvidia ION. Do note that Nvidia ION 2 has an eight-core version that comes in netbooks while 16-core versions are only available on nettops or other, larger (generally =>11.6″) netbooks.

The best processors are generally the E-series netbook, which generally are borderline notebooks. In fact, in North America, certain manufacturers make full-size notebooks with these processors which you can get for around $350. The latest AMD E-450 promises to be better and still be energy efficient while being capable of playing hardcore games such as Battlefield Bad Company 2 on low settings.

Battery life is generally best on the Atom.

Netbook-tablet and Acer’s Ultrabooks: bling on the horizon

Corporal — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:45:00 +0000

Liliputing reports that there will be two new systems that will be released this year.

Acer’s Ultrabook

Acer will release at least two Ultrabooks this year, going by the name Ultrabook S3 for the 13″ version and a 11″ version as part of its Aspire S series.

The Acer Ultrabook S3 will come with these specs:

13.3 inch display

Intel Core i5-2467M processor

4GB of RAM

320GB hard drive

20GB SSD

13mm (0.5 inches) thick

€ 786.19 price tag

Liliputing states that while prices will be US$1134, but he expects that the prices will fall once it moves stateside.

An Ultrabook is a ultra-thin, ultra-portable and ultra-light notebook that aims to be, at the same, time, powerful and costing less than $1,000. So far, the two main proponents of Ultrabooks, Acer and Asus are making headway to achieving that $1,000 price point without compromising on performance. However, I suspect that if prices are above $999, manufacturers might have a problem. The Macbook Air is still the king of the hill in the Ultrabook arena, not less because it is an Apple product.

Netbook-Tablet from Netbook Navigator

Netbook Navigator is producing a new slate PC capable of running Windows called the Nav 10i. It will pose as a serious competitor to the other netbook-tablet from Acer, the Iconia W500. The Nav 10i will have the following specs:

• 10.1″ Multi-Touch Capacitive LCD Display
• 16GB SSD
• 1GB DDR2 RAM
• Intel 1.66GHz ATOM N455 Proceesor
• Front-side 1.3MegaPixel Webcam
• Integrated WIFI, Bluetooth and optional 3G*
• 2 USB Ports, 1 MicroSD, 1 MiniHDMI Slot, and more

Interestingly, for the $549 you pay, you’ll get a blank slate. The Nav 10i will not come with a Windows 7 operating system nor will it come with a wireless keyboard.

I was at the store and I saw a Iconia W500 going for around $599. It seemed to be a better choice because, even if it were a blank slate (i.e. no OS, nor keyboard), it would be a better performing netbook-tablet by simple virtue of it having a AMD C-50 processor, and discrete graphics.

Source: Liliputing

Netbooks dying? Not in the Hong Kong International Airport

Corporal — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:29:27 +0000

Let's see... how many netbooks do I see here?

There has been some talk that netbooks are going to die. I’m not too sure about that because I am happily using a netbook and I have no intention of changing my de facto travel computer. It seems to be true in the dining area in the Hong Kong airport.

Walking around, not everyone has a computer with them, but when I do see a computer, it will, in order of popularity be: a tablet, a netbook, a regular-sized notebook, a Mac, a large 15″+ notebook.

Nom and watch a video

What I noticed was really writing on the wall. Tablets are really outstripping the netbook as the travel… entertainment device? One thing that is certain is that I won’t trade the convenience of a netbook for the portability and ease of use of a tablet, but it seems that for casual surfing and time-wasting on long transits to somewhere, people really love their tablets. For every netbook I see out there, there’s probably 2.5-times the amount of tablets out there. And when I talk about tablets, I refer solely to the iPad. Not one Android tablet was seen, even though you can legally buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab here.

On the other hand, the margin between regular-sized notebooks and netbooks is one that is a close match. I’d say it’s near 1:1 ratio. However, netbooks really are used by people here – I saw Samsungs, Acers, the HP Mini 110 (that I had and broke), and a Reddit Alien-branded… oh wait, that’s my Asus. Everything that people on tablets are doing, people who have netbooks are doing too. They’re time-wasting on Youtube, entertaining themselves on Farmville, or WordPressing this article out while looking at a Hong Kong girl with a University of Toronto shirt.

Om nom nom and read email

Another notable thing is the users of Macs. I saw an Asian girl who had an American accent with her MacBook Air as she was sending her luggage through the X-Ray, as well as a middle-aged, Australian-accented, Susan Boyle-lookalike that is on the standard size Macbook. Don’t know much about Macs, but are Macs a feminine thing?

Over time, I realised that netbooks are particularly useful for backpacking travellers, or even travellers in general, as netbooks offer computers that are fully functional, albeit a bit slower than normal laptops, but they are really extremely portable, extremely cheap and quite light. When baggage space is a luxury and weight is costly, netbooks make a lot of sense. Whether netbooks will die or not, I’m not sure, but as far as I understand, the death of netbooks have always been predicated on technological grounds, and that’s just not relevant for people travelling.

DIY decorative stickers for your netbook: how-to.

Corporal — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:41:43 +0000

As you might know, I recently bought a new Asus netbook. I don’t like the Asus logo – it’s probably one of the ugliest out there. While Asus does make great computers at a very competitive price, their chief problem is that their designs tend to be a bit lackluster. And then there’s the indescribable ugliness of the silver Asus logo.

And then the other day, I saw my friend bringing his Sony Vaio to get ‘skinned’. He paid $65 for it, and I thought that was pretty expensive. He said that the skin cost $25, while the labour cost $40 or so. He argued that while it’s a lot more economical to do-it-yourself, he doesn’t mind paying the extra cost for someone’s steady hands.

Personally, I find skinning to be one of the most expensive things to do to your computer – even if it’s for ‘protection’. I argued that it made no sense to protect your computer from scratches and dings, because after all, it is a depreciating liability. Once it goes out of date – and gaming notebooks will definitely go out of date since games are merciless on old technology – you basically have a very fast and very large netbook.

Nonetheless, I have recently figured out how one can make your own stickers to cover up things that you don’t like – be it blemishes, scratches or ugly logos. You can stick anything you want, and it is actually very easy to remove if you want to change whatever you’ve stuck.

Tools of the trade

Photo paper – preferably non-smudge, matte or glossy as preferred.
Penknife – X-acto penknives preferred for curve-cutting
Spray glue – 3M Super 77 preferred.
Black permanent marker
A high quality photo – low-res photo makes it hard to cut

Step 1: find picture and cut

Reddit alien doing the "seriously?" face, me gusta. Taken via Reddit

I decided to use this picture for this project, because it is unique, and because it might help identify me as a redditor. I found this to be the cutest version of the Reddit Alien, and it’s also quite easy to cut out because the edges are very well defined.

As to paper, a matte surface does fine with either matte paper or glossy paper. However, glossy surfaces tend to blend better with glossy paper. But it is all up to your preference.

Tip 1: if your picture is low-res (such as this), and you need a high-res pic, you can take the original image and drag it into the search box at Google Images. Google will then try to find other images similar to this, and using the filters, you can find the highest-res version.

All cut out, with a cheap penknife. Try an X-Acto for an easier time on the curves.

Once you have printed it out – just cut it along the edges. If you have a more complex picture, you’ll just have to use your intuition on what to cut. When cutting, try to use a sharp knife – once you feel that the slicing is not smooth, immediately break a section off or change a blade.

Step 2: blacken edges and spray glue

Once you have cut the image out, you must remember to blacken the edges of your image, as a white edge can be seen very obviously at certain angles. Use your black permanent market and paint the edges black. You can avoid touching the image by painting perpendicularly to the edge (i.e. don’t use the tip to paint), so your marker glides long the edge.

Nice black edges

Tip 2: If you ever botch up and accidentally draw on the image, you can remove the streak by dipping a fine-point paintbrush in thinner and carefully removing the ink away.

The ultra-useful glue: 3M Super 77.

Once you have satisfactorily blackened the

edges, you can now spray 3M’s ultra-useful, multipurpose craft glue – 3M Super 77. Of course, any other spray glue works too, but 3M 77 has proven to be easily removable.

Hold the image at arm’s length and spray. This ensures evenness in the glue. A light coat with small dots on the surface is enough. Best done in your backyard to avoid sticky floors.

Step 3: Stick it on

Yep – the final, glorious moment is here. Stick it on!

If your image requires precise alignment, you can stack rulers or set-squares to align it to the netbook.

Ready to be stuck!

Netbook folded. Cool picture, no ASUS logo.

When does the narwhal bacon?

Let me know what you think, of if you face any problems, and I will try to help you!

AMD officially launches C-60, E-300 and E-450 chips, take heed!

Corporal — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:05:11 +0000

Fusion: the anathema of an Atom

If you didn’t know already, the Dell Inspiron m102z is the first netbook to have the newest Fusion chips by AMD, but only today did AMD officially launch the new C-60, E-300 and E-450 chips, all designed to be the highest-end netbook chips.

These high-performance chips will all be dual-core and have a discrete graphics processor from the Radeon family. It promises enhanced performance and better battery life when compared to the older generation.

According to Liliputing, the specs of each chip is as such,

AMD C-60

Clock speed: 1 Ghz to 1.33 GHz
GPU clock speed: 276 MHz to 400 MHz
TDP: 9W

AMD E-300

Clock Speed: 1.3 GHz
GPU clock speed: 488 MHz
TDP: 18W

AMD E-450

Clock Speed: 1.65 GHz
GPU clock speed: 508 MHz to 600 MHz
TDP: 18W

The chief benefit of getting a later-gen C-class or E-class AMD CPU lies in having more power, Turbo Core, DirectX 11 support and a bit more processing power while retaining the same TDP. AMD promises greater battery life and guarantees that this is a good choice for people seeking mobility as the E-series will give a user up to 10.5-hours of unplugged rest-state battery life, while the C-60 will provide up to 12-hours of unplugged rest-state battery life.

In addition, the update will provide certain new advances such as the ability to use DDR3 1333 RAM, as well as an updated HDMI 1.4a output on the E-series. DisplayPort is also something new that will be supported by the new Fusion chips.

Thinking about AMD and the netbook category of portable computers reminds me of the days when AMD used to dominate the desktop market. Indeed, that was a time when Intel was not favoured by gamers. To be exact, I would point to the year when AMD decided to leave the “more megahertz” race. Back then, if you were a serious gamer, you would have an AMD. What is happening here is exactly reminiscent of the days when AMD was dominating high-performance computers, only this time, it applies to netbooks. Perhaps this is because Intel is pursuing an alternative strategy, after all, a netbook sells well because it is cheap, but for anyone who requires HD-capability and moderate gaming abilities on a netbook, the way to go is the AMD way.

Asus Eee PC 1015PN – first impressions

Corporal — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:57:17 +0000

From HP to Asus. From GMA3150 to ION 2. From N550 to N570. What's it like?

As you might know, I recently blew up my HP’s Mini 110′s screen. I sent it in for servicing hoping expecting to pay about $150-200. Although that is half as much as what my netbook is worth, I wouldn’t mind paying it. Of course, who’d know that the people at the service centre don’t really get this fact and decided to charge me $441. I just gave them the Yao Ming laughing face (cf. f7u12.com) and I went out to look for a new netbook. There are true joys of using a netbook that other, larger computer users will never experience – long battery life, great portability, lightness and netbooks are extremely cheap. Of course, having some experience with a netbook, I knew what I wanted, as I have outlined in a guide.

I personally do not like Asus because of previous experiences with the brand. Somehow, they always have some sort of problem and generally do not look as good as computers from HP or Dell. However, the fact that they are always significantly cheaper and still highly functional always makes me overlook these. After all, with the same money, I can get a high-end netbook but probably a standard Atom-only HP or Dell. The two competitors were the AMD C-50 powered 1015B or the Atom-and-ION2 powered 1015PN. Both have discrete graphics which will guarantee good performance when playing 1080p videos. The way both netbooks work is a bit different. While the AMD has only one graphics card – the Radeon – the 1015PN has two – the integrated Intel GMA 3150 and the ION 2 graphics chip. The way this computer is built is simple to explain – take a regular NM10 motherboard from Intel and retrofit a more powerful graphics chip inside, while giving it 512MB worth of VRAM.

I didn't like line art, so I decided to get a new netbook.

Arguably, both netbooks put up a close fight. And initially, it had always been my intention to get the 1015B (the AMD-based netbook), but when I headed into the mall, a store was offering both the 1015B and the 1015PN for $398 and $399 (Singaporean dollars) respectively, although the latter usually had a MSRP of $429 – $449. Effectively, what was a straightforward decision became ten times harder, and after some hasty research using the keyword 1015PN vs 1015B, I came to the conclusion that the 1015PN was a wiser choice because it had better graphics rendering ability. On the other hand, the 1015PN does lose out processor-wise, despite its raw numbers pointing otherwise – 1.66GHz dual-core Atom chip versus a 1.0Ghz dual-core C-50 chip. If anything, I have always found the biggest bottleneck to be the graphics chip on netbooks, and therefore the 1015PN made the most sense. The added ability to revert back to the integrated GMA 3150 chip was also an added plus because I write reviews for games on netbooks, and most first-time netbook buyers tend not to have discrete graphics in their netbook.

First impressions aren’t that great. Asus has much to learn about good design. Coming from a HP netbook, the Asus looks very industrial. The Seashell platform was designed to keep things functional, but not eye-pleasing. On its default configuration, it does not allow you to use Nvidia’s Optimus – which is a technology that will engage the integrated graphics card when you’re doing less graphically demanding tasks, and vice versa, without restarting. Windows 7 Starter presents a greater bottleneck here as you realise that you need at least Home Premium to enjoy the seamless transition between integrated and discrete graphics. The computer is also loaded with a lot of bloatware, and the bloatware really tarnishes the experience significantly, especially on the already-strained 1GB RAM.

All roads leads to the evil Android bot.

Promptly, I upgraded it to Home Premium to enjoy Optimus, gave it 2GB worth of RAM, and threw in a SD Card for ReadyBoost. All was well and all was great, until I realised that Optimus was having issues. And it wasn’t only me. A lot of people have the same problem as me, and it turned out that certain drivers do not work well with the Asus 1015PN. Certain solutions were to revert back to the factory-provided driver, use the 275.33 driver and not the latest ones and install the Intel drivers provided by Asus. It was quite frustrating to say the least, although the truth is that this is something I’ve come to accept when buying an Asus.

EDIT: The ION 2 actually performs worse than the Radeon 62xx. This is because the ION 2 in 10″ netbooks only have 8 cores rather than the 16 cores you’ll get with a 11″ and above netbook. 3DMark scores are approximately – 1,500 for the 8-core ION 2 on the 1015PN, 1,900 on the Radeon-powered 1015B and 2,400 on the 16-core ION 2.

AMD C-60 or E-450 processor first available on a Dell Inspiron M102z

Corporal — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 05:59:39 +0000

The most capable netbook on the market: the Dell Inspirion m102z

The Dell Inspiron M102z will be the first netbook to be equipped with the new AMD C-60 processor along with a more powerful Radeon HD6290 graphics processor at base price. There will be an option for you to upgrade it to the more powerful E-450 processor with the Radeon HD6320 chip.

The AMD C-60 Ontario processor is an upgraded version of its predecessor, the C-50. With a C-50, you get a 1ghz dual-core processor running at 1GHz with Turbo Core technology that allows speeds to be boosted up to 1.33GHz, and an upgrade from the current Radeon HD6250s which run at 274MHz to the HD6290 which runs at 400MHz, all while keeping TDP at 9W. The AMD E-450 Zacate on the other hand, is a more powerful processor clocked at 1.66ghz, and will come with a HD6320 chip, which will see clock speeds go up from 500MHz to 600MHz.

However, few countries have seen shipment of the M102z, and an indicative price can only be seen from Dell Singapore, where it starts at SGD629 (USD521), although Singapore does have a record of having higher prices on all laptops, and therefore it might not be a good indicator of what prices will be like elsewhere.

The Dell is poised for people looking for a netbook that can do much more than a normal netbook would. With a high-power processor and a powerful graphics card, it will extend your ability to play games as well as provide you the ability to watch 1080p videos. It has a high-resolution screen that goes up to 1366×768 and has a HDMI-out which gives it great dynamism.

You’d wonder if these types of ‘notbooks’ beat the cheap notebooks equipped with a larger monitor, and a Core i3, priced around the same ballpark. The Dell Inspiron M102z has a more powerful graphics card, although its processor is weaker. However, when playing games, more often than not, a computer’s Achilles Heel lies in the graphics chip more so than the processor.

Official Specs

Processor

AMD Dual-Core C-60 Accelerated Processor

AMD Dual-Core E-450 Accelerated Processor

Operating System

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit (English)

Memory⁷

2GB (1 X 2GB) 1 DIMM DDR3 1333Mhz (operating at 1067Mhz)

4GB (1 X 4GB) 1 DIMM DDR3 1333Mhz (operating at 1067Mhz)

Chipset

AMD A50M FCH

Video Card

AMD Radeon™ HD 6290 Graphics(AMD C-60)

AMD Radeon™ HD 6320 Graphics(AMD E-450)

Display

11.6″ (29.5cm) HD WLED Display with TrueLife™ (1366 x 768)

Audio and Speakers

SRS premium Surround sound standard
2 X 1.5W speakers for total of 3W standard

Hard Drive

Up to 500GB⁶ hard drive (7200RPM)

Optical Drive

External DVD+/RW (optional)

Power

6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion Battery with up to 9 hours of battery life⁴
Optional 9-cell 90WHr Li-Ion Battery with up to 13 hours 57minutes of battery life⁵

Camera

Built-in 1.3M Pixel Webcam

Wireless

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth :
Standard 802.11b/g/n + Bluetooth 3.0 Combo Card

Ports, Slots & Chassis

Dimensions & Weight
Width: 8.07″ (205mm)
Height: 0.95″ (24.3) front –1.38″ (35 mm) back
Depth: 11.5″ (292mm)
Starting weight of 3.44 lbs (1.56Kg)⁸ with 6-cell battery

Ports
(1) Combo PowerShare / USB 2.0
(2) USB 2.0
(1) Integrated 10/100 LAN (RJ45)
(1) 15-pin VGA video connector
Audio jacks (1-line out, 1 mic-in)
7-in-1 Media Card Reader
AC adapter connector
(1) HDMI

When Would an Ultrabook Interest Me?

Corporal — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 10:24:39 +0000

The X101 compared to a Macbook Air. Future Ultrabooks must take some cues from the humble netbook if they are to gain the interest of people looking for a secondary computer.

Being bored and having nothing to do, I went to look at the one and only Ultrabook in stores now – the Macbook Air. There were two versions of the Air, one with a larger screen and the other with a 11″ screen. The latter is what really impressed me.

Ultrabooks are really just something that will turn geeks on. If only because of its mesmerising dimensions. The computer is so thin, it can almost cut things. It closes so well that you really need nails to open the Air from anywhere else but the middle cut-out portion. It’s so light that you it really is like carrying a book. And it’s so thin that it won’t take up much space in your bag. It’s ultra-quiet, ultra-sexy and very much more powerful than a netbook.

I’d sure love to have one, but the MacBook Air is prohibitively expensive. At US$999, the MacBook air proves to be one of the most expensive notebooks out there with its configuration. But that can also be attributed to the fact that it comes with an Apple-product premium. And it’s a bit difficult to justify the expense when I prefer power over portability.

But that led me to think of something that would really interest me. I love the thinness of the Ultrabook, but the truth is that that’s all that I care about if I’m going to buy an Ultrabook. Intel’s philosophy of an Ultrabook, however, is a mix being a capable and ultra-thin notebook. However, when I think of the people who will use an Ultrabook, it seems that they’re gonna be people who don’t intend to game much – the only thing they’ll play on their computers are HD videos and watch a movie, perhaps. They won’t be editing videos in anything but Windows Movie Maker. They won’t be doing complex calculations on it. Most of the time, it’ll be something they use to get online and write things in Microsoft Word. Basically, when I buy an Ultrabook, my expectations would be akin to buying a notbook (i.e. high-performance netbook).

But when I went to see a notbook yesterday, and had a Macbook Air alongside, it seemed that, if you asked me to pay a 20% premium just to get a equally-configured Ultrabook (i.e. $400 vs $480), I wouldn’t mind. I don’t need a Core i3. I don’t need discrete graphics. I just want greater portability and the cool factor of having less than an inch thick. Right now, the cheapest Ultrabook will go about $700, according to PCWorld, but that can also be attributed to the fact that they’re still equipped with pricier processors.

I suspect that, if you’re like me, and you’re interested in gaming, you’ll have another rig – be it a desktop or a gaming notebook- to play games on. An Ultrabook will have issues matching up with a full-size gaming laptop because of its thinness – you’d have to pay through the nose, or you’d have to sacrifice some performance. Size does matter because we’re just not at that stage yet where you can cram lots of power in something so miniature.

Pragmatism will rule the day, and therefore it is in the interest of Ultrabook manufacturers to make something that makes sense. If my computers were outdated and I had to upgrade to something that can play today’s games, I won’t buy an Ultrabook. But as a secondary on-the-go computer, I’d imagine that it makes a lot of sense to buy a cheap Ultrabook that would exploit its inherent strength as a result of its form factor – ultraportability. Portability is an important consideration when buying a notebook, but for gamers like me, I put price, power, battery life and portability as my priorities in that order. But once my gaming needs are set aside, a secondary on-the-go computer would have these traits – cheap, portable, long-lasting battery. Power is not a significant consideration.

Inevitably, the latter ranking of priorities points to only one type of laptops – the humble netbook. If an Ultrabook can take a few cues from a netbook, it will move from my list of things I admire, to the list of things I’d buy.

Image: Laptop Computer Planet

Netbookist: Netbook Games, Tweaks, Challenges » netbook

OnLive Halloweekend: reliability, gameplay quality and FEAR 3

OnLive FREE for Halloween weekend

Netbook processor performance, an overview

Netbook-tablet and Acer’s Ultrabooks: bling on the horizon

Acer’s Ultrabook

Netbook-Tablet from Netbook Navigator

Netbooks dying? Not in the Hong Kong International Airport

DIY decorative stickers for your netbook: how-to.

Tools of the trade

AMD officially launches C-60, E-300 and E-450 chips, take heed!

Asus Eee PC 1015PN – first impressions

AMD C-60 or E-450 processor first available on a Dell Inspiron M102z

Official Specs

Processor

Operating System

Memory7

Chipset

Video Card

Display

Audio and Speakers

Hard Drive

Optical Drive

Power

Camera

Wireless

Ports, Slots & Chassis

When Would an Ultrabook Interest Me?

Memory⁷