Support NeoGAF

[reKon]

Well, I finally got that HP Pavillion a couple of days ago, and I have to say I'm disappointed in it. It struggles to play Hulu in fullscreen and the fps sometimes dip down to the low teens. It can play HD videos from youtube just fine, but I tried to play some HD video on iTunes and it froze, and stuttered a lot, and was usually getting fps in the teens. The Ion 2 seems to be better at high-def video. It stays fairly cool if you adjust the settings to cool mode, but the fans are very loud. It also has by far and away the worst trackpad I've ever used in my life. I"m gonna try to return it.

damn, lol

I ended up ordering the ASUS UL30Vt-X1K for $530 with a three year warranty. Yes, its already outdated because it's a SU7300, but that's perfectly fine because it's definitely fast enough, can be OCed to 1.9, and the alternative would be a Brazo laptop, which would be slower anyways. Also, I can't ignore the 8+ hour battery life from listening to music, working on school work, and watching youtube.

I'll still be following the AMD fusion laptops and I hope they become very sucessful

 

[peakish]

Well, I finally got that HP Pavillion a couple of days ago, and I have to say I'm disappointed in it. It struggles to play Hulu in fullscreen and the fps sometimes dip down to the low teens. It can play HD videos from youtube just fine, but I tried to play some HD video on iTunes and it froze, and stuttered a lot, and was usually getting fps in the teens. The Ion 2 seems to be better at high-def video. It stays fairly cool if you adjust the settings to cool mode, but the fans are very loud. It also has by far and away the worst trackpad I've ever used in my life. I"m gonna try to return it.

The Anandtech review mentions something similar,

For the most part GPU accelerated Flash video does work well. Performance under both YouTube and Hulu was flawless, provided that I wasn’t watching 1080p content. Watching 1080p content in YouTube wasn’t entirely smooth on Brazos, despite posting very reasonable CPU utilization numbers.

I took my concerns to AMD and was told that this was a known issue with Brazos and Flash 10.1 and that 10.2 should alleviate the issue. AMD then supplied me with an unreleased version of Flash 10.2 to allow me to verify its claims. While 1080p playback improved with AMD’s 10.2 beta, it wasn’t perfect (although it was very close). AMD wouldn’t tell me the cause of the problem but it’s currently working on it with Adobe. At the end of the day I don’t believe it’s a dealbreaker, but early Brazos adapters should expect some stuttering when playing back 1080p YouTube videos. Note that 720p and lower resolution videos were perfectly smooth on Brazos.

Maybe that's something to do with it? Crappy that it doesn't work right now though.

 

[brotkasten]

Engadget's Joanna Stern reviewed the Thinkpad X120e.

Wrap-up

It's a good thing we believe in second chances, eh? The X120e is without a doubt an improvement over the X100e in terms of battery life, thermals, and performance, and considering we've always loved its classic looking chassis and amazingly comfortable keyboard, we're obviously pretty taken with the affordable little laptop. But the real question: do we like it better than HP's dm1z, which is priced around $450? That's a tough one, but when it comes to value, there's no doubt that HP's dm1z is the better choice – it has virtually the same specs as the ThinkPad (okay, one less gig of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium), but comparable performance and battery life for $100 less. We assume for that reason alone many will snatch up the HP, however, if you're looking for something a bit more professional looking combined with some great ergonomics, the X120e may just be worth the extra cash.

8/10

The Good
Amazingly comfortable chiclet keyboard
Great blend of performance and graphics
Over five hours of battery life

The Bad
Six-cell battery awkwardly protrudes
More expensive than HP's AMD Fusion laptop
Some video driver issues in Win Media Player

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/07/lenovo-thinkpad-x120e-review/

 

[Ryoma-Echizen]

Engadget's Joanna Stern reviewed the Thinkpad X120e.


http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/07/lenovo-thinkpad-x120e-review/

I can add:

Worth the premium if you hate those glossy screens. Flash 10.2 seems to fix that 1080p issue as long as you connect the thing to a TV or monitor if not there's no point in trying to do 1080p since the screen is a bit above 720p.

Adobe also has their own 10.2 beta. UVD3.0 is a new thing anyways and adobe is slow as hell to update flash.




Another coupon for a $420 DM1 + free shipping.
http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/hp-dm1-laptop-coupon/15078.aspx

 

[Massa]

I can add:

Worth the premium if you hate those glossy screens.

Or if you care about build quality at all.

 

[Mithos]

So been reading through the pages so far, and no one have asked the first thing I was wondering.

What about putting this in a future Console, like the next Xbox/PS/Wii ?

How good/bad would it be compared to the PS360 for example?

 

[The Holstein of Venice]

So been reading through the pages so far, and no one have asked the first thing I was wondering.

What about putting this in a future Console, like the next Xbox/PS/Wii ?

How good/bad would it be compared to the PS360 for example?

http://www.kitguru.net/software/gaming/jules/microsoft-chooses-amd-fusion-ii-for-xbox-720/

Should be better, considering MS has chosen the platform for their next console.

 

[Ryoma-Echizen]

Fusion II = Fusion Trinity (4 Bulldozer cores + ¿HD6670? IGP)

Good for a next-gen Nintendo console @720p (way faster than a PS3/360), not so good for the others if they go for powerhouse systems unless they pair the chip with a dedicated gpu.

 

[peakish]

So been reading through the pages so far, and no one have asked the first thing I was wondering.

What about putting this in a future Console, like the next Xbox/PS/Wii ?

How good/bad would it be compared to the PS360 for example?

The CPU is way too slow, the GPU much closer but just judging from the ~30fps in COD:MW2 that this gets probably still quite far behind.

The 65W Llano arriving soon will probably be more comparable, not sure by how much though.

 

[Ryoma-Echizen]

flash player 10.2 released (Fusion friendly)

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AMD-Fusion-APUs-Accelerate-iw-4195208441.html?x=0&.v=1

 

[Trent Strong]

The Anandtech review mentions something similar,



Maybe that's something to do with it? Crappy that it doesn't work right now though.

That's weird. When I had that DM1, it couldn't play Hulu at 480p on an 11.6 inch screen smoothly, let alone high def. Of course, Hulu runs worse than just about anything else in the world.

 

[Ryoma-Echizen]

First miniITX mobo on newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

 

[PopcornMegaphone]

Any rumblings of an Asus Zacate notebook?

 

[burgerdog]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ETLO6W/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Any idea if that can handle WoW at low settings at the very least?

 

[peakish]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ETLO6W/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Any idea if that can handle WoW at low settings at the very least?

Depends on what you consider "handle," but I'd say it does.

Anandtech (in an area with no players present):

Engadget:
"We saw the same sort of experience as the dm1z -- in WoW: Cataclysm, our gnome was prancing and jumping around the screen at 27fps with the resolution set at 1024 x 768."

 

[Atilac]

Will an e-350 with 4 gigs of RAM be able to run audiosurf?

 

[TouchMyBox]

Will an e-350 with 4 gigs of RAM be able to run audiosurf?

I can't speak from experience, but it definitely sounds like it should have no problem.

 

[Trent Strong]

Asus 1025b (10")
Zacate E-350 1.6Ghz dual core + HD6310

More or less the ultimate netbook. Average 10" Fusion netbook comes with the 1Ghz dual core + HD6250 Ontario Apu.

http://netbooksreview.net/tag/amd-e350-benchmark/

Welp, Asus is only selling the 1015B with a single core C-30, which is probably slower than the atoms they've got in all the 10"ers now. What's the point?

 

[kobashi100]

I got the Levono S205 yesterday. Paid £300 for it!

I know I could have got a i3 laptop for not much more but I needed something small and light for my travels. Always wanted a Netbook but Intel Atom always put me off as I need more power for HD content.

I have tried 720p MKV files and they all run fine.

Only downside is I wanna upgrade the ram to 4GB but you need to take off the keyboard and I have no idea how you do this correctly.

 

[M3d10n]

Will an e-350 with 4 gigs of RAM be able to run audiosurf?

Without doubt. If an Atom-based ION netbook can do it, the e-350 should have zero problems.

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

I got the Levono S205 yesterday. Paid £300 for it!

I know I could have got a i3 laptop for not much more but I needed something small and light for my travels. Always wanted a Netbook but Intel Atom always put me off as I need more power for HD content.

I have tried 720p MKV files and they all run fine.

Only downside is I wanna upgrade the ram to 4GB but you need to take off the keyboard and I have no idea how you do this correctly.

Been looking at that model, as well as the HP DM1-3100. Would be nice to grab something that is small and light, but could take advantage of a bit of light pc-gaming. And god knows I'm finding this Atom N270 a bit long in the tooth now.

Shame about the negative impressions of the HP a few posts up as that was definitely the model I was drawn towards. :/

Shame Intel still haven't upped their game with the integrated graphics, great deal on a 13.3" Asus laptop on saveonlaptops, but with an X4500mhd I don't think I'll be able to do that much gaming.

 

[kobashi100]

Been looking at that model, as well as the HP DM1-3100. Would be nice to grab something that is small and light, but could take advantage of a bit of light pc-gaming. And god knows I'm finding this Atom N270 a bit long in the tooth now.

Shame about the negative impressions of the HP a few posts up as that was definitely the model I was drawn towards. :/

Shame Intel still haven't upped their game with the integrated graphics, great deal on a 13.3" Asus laptop on saveonlaptops, but with an X4500mhd I don't think I'll be able to do that much gaming.

I new to PC gaming. What kinda games can I play on this, will I be able to play the new RTS PC games?

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

I new to PC gaming. What kinda games can I play on this, will I be able to play the new RTS PC games?

Benchmarks I've seen suggests it'll cope with RTS games like Starcraft 2, albeit on low detail/resolution. It'll probably manage with some FPS titles as well.

Might be worthwhile installing Steam and checking out what demos are available and seeing how you get on with them.


Anyone know how the E350 copes with Civ 5?

 

[Threi]

What a coincidence, I picked up a netbook on sale here in Canada with an Ontario CPU for my parents. It's a real nice little netbook, far better value than ones in the same price range:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...0-ao522-bz623-black-ao522-bz623/10169417.aspx

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

Ok, so:

Lenovo S205
-AMD E350
-2gb Memory
-250gb HDD
-Win7 Home Premium 64bit

£300


HP DM1-3100
-AMD E350
-3gb Memory
-320gb HDD
-Win7 Home Premium 32bit

£325


£25 extra seems well worth it for the extra memory and hdd space, but then there is the lack of 64bit windows, and some of the feedback on the HP seems a bit negative (loud fans, awful trackpad)

The only other option around that screen size is a Celeron Dual Core, but then I'd have crappy old Intel integrated graphics, and I'd at least like to have the option of being able to do a bit of gaming.

 

[CoachKevin]

Has anyone used an SSD with any of the e-350 laptops?

I just got a Lenovo x120e and a Lenovo S205 (to compare the two). I was wondering if I will get a good boost going to 8gm of ram and an SSD in them. I know the kingston SSD's are $120 for 96GB now so that should be enough.

 

[Donny Hayabusa]

So can anyone recommend me a solid netbook in the 300-350$ price range?

I was looking at the Acer Aspire One 722.

But after reading some comments in here I think i would like a netbook with a 1,6CPU better :/

 

[CoachKevin]

So can anyone recommend me a solid netbook in the 300-350$ price range?

I was looking at the Acer Aspire One 722.

But after reading some comments in here I think i would like a netbook with a 1,6CPU better :/

You can get the S205 for $399 today. Scroll down to the S205 coupon code: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/.../US/Landing_pages/Promos/CMS/ecoupon_realtime

 

[Donny Hayabusa]

Seems to be a US only deal? :/

Is this today only? My sister is visiting her parents in law in the coming weeks, maybe she can order it then for me.

Damn. That thing looks pretty sweet.

Edit: Offer expires: 8/11/11
Limit: 200

F***!

Edit2: Seems like i can get it for a great price at amazon.de as well

So is this netbook a sure thing? Never heard of Lenovo before.

Edit #3 (I'm sorry) : http://www.cyberport.de/?DEEP=1C31-14Q

are the models all the same? The only differences i see here are 2GB of RAM are missing (which i can get for cheap) and the HDD is smaller.

 

[kobashi100]

Benchmarks I've seen suggests it'll cope with RTS games like Starcraft 2, albeit on low detail/resolution. It'll probably manage with some FPS titles as well.

Might be worthwhile installing Steam and checking out what demos are available and seeing how you get on with them.


Anyone know how the E350 copes with Civ 5?

is there a civ 5 demo I can try?

 

[Datschge]

Never heard of Lenovo before.

That's the outfit that bought the Thinkpad line off from IBM. Generally considered among those laptops having the best build quality.

 

[CoachKevin]

Seems to be a US only deal? :/

Is this today only? My sister is visiting her parents in law in the coming weeks, maybe she can order it then for me.

Damn. That thing looks pretty sweet.

Edit: Offer expires: 8/11/11
Limit: 200

F***!

Edit2: Seems like i can get it for a great price at amazon.de as well

So is this netbook a sure thing? Never heard of Lenovo before.

Edit #3 (I'm sorry) : http://www.cyberport.de/?DEEP=1C31-14Q

are the models all the same? The only differences i see here are 2GB of RAM are missing (which i can get for cheap) and the HDD is smaller.

Lenovo is the second best laptop maker behind Apple. Their laptops are very durable, high quality, and their thinkpad line is the standard for business folk.

 

[CoachKevin]

So no one has put an ssd in an e-350 lapto?

 

[-COOLIO-]

are any of these in ~$200 netbooks?