Future notebook hardware

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Teaos
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Future notebook hardware

Post by Teaos »

As I've mentioned before I need a new laptop since my old one is... on its dead bed would be putting it nicely.

But when I was talking to one of my friends who also needs a new computer she brought up the fact that she was considering buying a cheap one now and upgrading pretty quickly once some of the new hardcare comes out in the next 12-18 months.

Some of the things she mentioned were:

USB 3.0 (I see no reason to wait for this, sure you cant really upgrade an existing computer to it but even if it gets relised early next year like the current plan is, there wont be much hardware for it for at least another 2-3 years, USB 2.0 is just to popular, and most people don't need the higher speeds, and those who do have firewire)

BluRay (Which I think is kind of a moot point since it isnt going to be around much more than 3-4 years by most estimates, and considering both of us are planning on buying Mac, I doubt we will ever see it)

Quadcore for notebooks (Obviously it will show up sooned or latter, but when is a bit iffy, most people put it late 2010, and since the processor is one thing you cant upgrade this is the big selling point for her)

Graphics card (She wants the next gen graphics card for notebooks since she is a graphics designer, dont really know whats due out)

Solid State (Nothing you can do but wait for the price to drop over time, I see no point in waiting since you can just upgrade latter)

Any other new tech due out in the next 24 months that I might not be aware of? What do you think of the above tech? Anything really worth waiting for? IMO only Quadcore is a must, everything else is just window dressing.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by Captain Picard's Hair »

Teaos wrote:USB 3.0 (I see no reason to wait for this, sure you cant really upgrade an existing computer to it but even if it gets relised early next year like the current plan is, there wont be much hardware for it for at least another 2-3 years, USB 2.0 is just to popular, and most people don't need the higher speeds, and those who do have firewire)
Very true.
BluRay (Which I think is kind of a moot point since it isnt going to be around much more than 3-4 years by most estimates, and considering both of us are planning on buying Mac, I doubt we will ever see it)
I never quite understood the attraction of having this super hi-def capacity on a notebook of all computer types where the native screen doesn't go much more than 17". (unless you have one with good graphics and HDMI output and use it to drive a bigger external TV...). Plus, I rather like the ability to burn DVDs on this too.
Quadcore for notebooks (Obviously it will show up sooned or latter, but when is a bit iffy, most people put it late 2010, and since the processor is one thing you cant upgrade this is the big selling point for her)
It'll show up sooner or later indeed - and one can in fact replace a notebook cpu. I've done this (though not for my own notebook); the concern here would be whether a notebook's motherboard would accept a quad-core chip, especially in the near term when this tech is so avant-guard.
Graphics card (She wants the next gen graphics card for notebooks since she is a graphics designer, dont really know whats due out)

Solid State (Nothing you can do but wait for the price to drop over time, I see no point in waiting since you can just upgrade latter)
I looked at SSDs - and found that to get one of any decent size I'd end up paying about as much as I ended up for my whole system after my upgrades! So, yeah, that 500 GB/ 7200 rpm/ 16 mb buffer drive I have running now is as good a deal as you'll get at this moment.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by Teaos »

Captain Picard's Hair wrote:I never quite understood the attraction of having this super hi-def capacity on a notebook of all computer types where the native screen doesn't go much more than 17". (unless you have one with good graphics and HDMI output and use it to drive a bigger external TV...). Plus, I rather like the ability to burn DVDs on this too.
Quite a few people use a laptop as a desktop substitute and run an external monitor off them. Many graphical artists do this.
It'll show up sooner or later indeed - and one can in fact replace a notebook cpu. I've done this (though not for my own notebook); the concern here would be whether a notebook's motherboard would accept a quad-core chip, especially in the near term when this tech is so avant-guard.
I'm not so sure, mac cpu's are soldered into the motherboard. So unless you have a lot of skill and really know what your doing and have great tools your screwed. And yeah, quadcore is so difference to dual cores that many just wont be able to take them.
I looked at SSDs - and found that to get one of any decent size I'd end up paying about as much as I ended up for my whole system after my upgrades! So, yeah, that 500 GB/ 7200 rpm/ 16 mb buffer drive I have running now is as good a deal as you'll get at this moment.
The SSD's I was looking at was 4 times as much as a SATA for 1/3 the space. The only up sides are fast and reliable.

But considering HD's are the most commonly upgraded bits of hardware I dont really acre to much about it.

Since I have so many flash drive and externals I just need a standard sized HD preferably with high rpm's.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by Tyyr »

Notebooks are not really upgrade friendly. For the most part what you buy today is what you'll scrap in a few years. So unless a technology is going to come out very soon, and you're willing to pay the premium for it, there's no point worry about it.

USB 3.0, it's going to take a while before it gets any kind of market penetration. I'd expect it'll take at least a year or more before it becomes a common option on external devices. Unless you're willing to wait 18 months or more to buy a laptop it's not even a real consideration.

BluRay, not really worth worrying about. DVD's provide about as good a picture as you're going to get on a laptop screen. I'll take an affordable DVD burning drive over a blu-ray myself.

Quadcore, again, unless you're willing to delay buying a notebook for 18 months why worry about it?

Graphics Card, just get the best you can right now. Also, they're primarily for 3D applications. If she's working with images she'll be better off with as much RAM as she can get. Not that a graphics card won't help but RAM is where it's out. Heck, no matter what you do get all the RAM you can.

SSDs, it's going to be a long while until you can get a decent sized SSD for less than a small fortune.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by Captain Picard's Hair »

I don't know about macbooks, but it's not hard to replace the cpu on a notebook pc. First you unscrew 4 screws to pull off the heatsink assembly, then turn one screw that locks down the cpu, replace it, turn the screw all the way the other way to lock in the new cpu, and replace the heat sink.

tyyr - upgrading the RAM is indeed the first thing I did (up to 4 GB). Then I swapped in the new hard drive.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by Teaos »

Well thanks for the feedback.

Just for my own curiosity, do you know of any other new hardware developments that are due in the next few years?
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by stitch626 »

DDR3 RAM is supposed to become available for the masses soon. Don't know what soon means though.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by thelordharry »

I bought a Samsung NC20 netbook last week and love it. 12" screen (which makes it half way between a Netbook and a Notebook IMO), upgraded to 2GB of RAM and ideal for what I want it for, i.e. light duties (internet browsing, email client checking, MS Office software and multimedia as well). The key is what you want it for. For the price I paid, circa GBP400, I could have got a lower-end laptop with much higher specs than the NC20 that would probably perform much better, especially at multi-tasking. I don't care, the NC20 is a looker with truly lovely features and is right up my street.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

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stitch626 wrote:DDR3 RAM is supposed to become available for the masses soon. Don't know what soon means though.
DDR3 has been out for over a year...
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by stitch626 »

Yes but it isn't standard in most notebooks. Thats what I meant.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by Captain Picard's Hair »

Sorry to revive the dead, but I've recently started to notice that there are now quad-core laptops emerging on the market!

It's kind of a funny spot: for most ordinary uses, mainstream tech is long since at the point of using an atom bomb to clear out a beehive, but a subset (Gamers!, as well as engineers using increasingly advanced CAD/CAE, etc) drive demand for the latest stuff. I find that I rarely make full use of my dual-core CPU or 4 GB of RAM, though I have done the former for some tasks. At least there is something to be said for the notion that if the components are generally used at low stress levels they may last much longer!
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by Teaos »

Personally I would rather have a 3.06 Dual core than a 2.0 quad core.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by IanKennedy »

I use my laptop for just about everything, including transcoding video. That requires a lot of CPU time so a quad core would be great.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by Teaos »

But if the program your using is not specifically programmed for quadcore machines you are highly unlikely to be able to harness all that power.

Most laptop quadcore CPUs are only about 2.0Ghz, Dual cores are sitting around 3.0. That means you would need to fully harness 3 out of your 4 cores in the quadcore to get to the power of a dual core. Dual cores for at least the next 2-3 years are gonna be better. Most programs are writen for single core or more likely dual. Hell until Snow Leopard or Windows 7 most OS' arent built for them.
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Re: Future notebook hardware

Post by IanKennedy »

Quicktime's encodes can do that. So I think can ffmpegx. If not then you can simply convert more than one item at the same time.
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