RSSIn another tease, Sony promises to redefine the laptop
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published December 22, 2008, 11:27 AM
Let's make a list of the features we really need in a 2010-generation notebook. We'll start with solid-state storage at 500 GB. From there...You know, we might be satisfied with just that.
It's one more indication that PC manufacturers could very well be ready to implement a breakthrough that changes the nature and profile of typical laptop computers: Over the weekend, a giveaway promotion on Sony's New Zealand Web site clearly states the company plans to unveil new, and probably vastly improved, Vaio notebook computers during CES week next month.
That's all the site says, of course, but even amateur speculation could reveal what Sony and competitors like Dell are up to these days: The one feature dragging down the usefulness and practicality of so-called ultralight notebooks has been the external hard drive that dangles off the side like a ball and chain. Last March, Samsung announced its plans to ship 500 GB solid-state disks as options -- albeit premium ones -- for its notebook PCs. That plan was launched the following summer, albeit slowly; and last week, Toshiba said it would join the fray with its own half-terabyte SSD.
A half-terabyte is a very sufficient capacity for most consumers, enough that they wouldn't need a dangling conventional HDD attachment if they were ready to invest in an ultralight. Last June, Dell told BetaNews that Samsung could be one of its SSD suppliers in the future, albeit in limited capacity. Last week, Dell made waves with a teaser ad of its own for a new Adamo brand -- in fact, its waves may have been too big, accidentally revealing some critical information about it through its online catalog database.
There's really only one real breakthrough that notebook computers need; it involves several advances all at once, but it's all the same breakthrough: A solid-state disk would enable 1) drastic weight and form factor reductions; 2) power savings; and 3) significantly faster boot times. It would not enable cost savings, although one of SSD's other historic tradeoffs -- high sustained transfer rates, especially at the speed necessary for HD video -- appears to have been reconciled in recent months.
Every other possible advance in notebook computer design would be, by comparison, incremental: better displays with lower power, reduced power CPUs with respectable performance, reliable 3G connectivity. While any combination of these would make for a desirable premium notebook, their sum would not be greater than the obvious breakthrough of high-capacity, lightweight, reliable, low-power storage. If that's what Sony, Dell, and maybe others are preparing for (Samsung itself would be in an awfully good position), then the big manufacturers may truly have a viable plan to get them through what might otherwise be an awful 2009.
Citing the villain from the preview trailer for the upcoming Star Trek movie (who was equally incorrect), Sony's New Zealand site bears the title, "The Wait is Over." Of course, you have to wait until CES week to find out what that means.
You folks all think its got to be hardware. Im putting my money on Sony introducing Style into the laptop game. Theyre going to try and color up their laptops with some sort of design and attempt to marvel their fanbois into buying them. That way it draws their attention away from the rootkits.
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|Wow! SSD drives! Wow!
Not. Crikey, if this is all the author or the industry can imaginate, it's gonna be a dull decade.
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|In contrast to the person who wrote the above article and completely missed the mark, the ONLY way Sony is going to actually "revolutionize" anything in this space is if they finally figure out that one magical piece of the laptop puzzle has been missing from nearly ALL laptops since the platform was invented: standardized modularity. If Sony can actually spearhead some type of an industry standard for interchangable components on their lapops that allows customers up easily UPGRADE and customize their laptops without having to REPLACE them entirely(and actually do it in a way that is affordable and non-proprietary) they will set the laptop market on its ear and immediately jump way out in front of the market by doing so. Short of doing that though, which is a very tall order indeed that no one has been able to achieve yet and few have even tried, this announcement will be largely meaningless I am affraid. Keep your fingers crossed.
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|The option already exists for modular GPUs - the ONLY fundamental and significant part of the laptop with a significantly shorter lifecycle than the CPU.
Storage is already modular.
It simply takes someone to start employing it across their product mix.
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|Well, modularity within one company's product offerings, is essentially meaningless. What I am talking about here, and what I think really needs to happy is true industry standard based modularity among all brands. Notbooks need to be constructed the way desktops are: using interchangeable parts from ANY manufacturer. I should be able to EASILY upgrade my CPU module, my video card module, my hard drive module and my optical drive module in ALL laptops today. Most laptops still can't upgrade any of those without performing open heart surgery. That has to change. This can be done, there just as to be the willingness among the manufacturer's to build according to agreed upon standards of interoperability and exchangeablity. This can be done and it needs to be done...and it is long overdue in this industry.
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|MT, Can't see it. Much as I like your thinking on this one, it is contrary to planned obsolescence.
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|I happen to agree with your suggestions, but what you propose will most likely never happen... at least when it concerns Sony.
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|I'm not an expert in this area, but how about the RAM modules becoming compatible from machine to machine. I paid $100 to upgrade my 2GB of DDR2 RAM to 4GB of RAM on my new PC. To upgrade my older PC to it's maximum of 2GB of RDRAM would cost me over $200. Now, if I was able to use the 2 512MB DDR2 modules I have laying around on my old PC that would be nice. I realize that my DDR2 sticks have 240 pins while the RDRAM sticks have 184 pins, not to mention the voltage differences.
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|your only logical flaw is that Sony is, besides Apple, the most proprietary computer and handheld manufacturer on the planet. they and Dell are pretty much the only 2 PC makers still using proprietary DESKTOP power supplies in a market where PSU standards have existed for over 20 years and the current form factor has existed since roughly 1995. and they still use Dell/Sony-only supplies in cases that do not have holes/brackets for standardized units.
and you think theyre going to revolutionize laptops by making them less obsolete over time or more easily repairable? somehow im not buying it.
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|The near term future of laptops.
Low power Nehalem/i7, SSD, Lucid's Hydra dynamic multiple GPU load balancing chip, INCREASED RAM capacity (primarily to support multiple VMs in a quad core i7 64bit VMWare environment...)...and the option for Multiple socketed (upgradeable) GPUs would be NICE! Along with options encompassing all of the various wireless standards, GPS and wireless USB in addition to such standard IO as Expresscard and eSATA.
And the irony, except for the current cost of SSDs and the few months we have to wait for the low power version of i7 - its all real and available now if someone will just do it. And the Lenovo W700 is damned close to already having done it. And for less than much of the competitions high end laptops.
And nothing need be proprietary or left field.
Now - if Apple can ONLY get off their @sses and simply IMPLEMENT what has already been developed.
Yeah...hold your breadth for Apple! Geesh....
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|I'm waiting patiently for the i7s to come out. It'll be interesting to see how well they actually perform.
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|Production units of the cheapest model, the i7-920, that costs ~#284 outperforms the formerly highest performing Core2 QX9770 Extreme Edition which costs near $1000.
Additional current models include the i7-940 (MSR $562)and the i7-965 Extreme Edition (MSR $999).
Bottomline: they scream. A significant leap at previously exixting price points! ...With the low power consumption laptop versions expected within a quarter or two.
Its agood time for hardware junkies! ;-)))
These benchmarks and systems already using them have been out for a couple of months now, as well as the various i7 CPUs and X58 based MoBos (such as the Asus P6T Deluxe OC and various Intel based MoBos).
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|Sony has been very frustrated in its inability to break into the business market for laptops.
Well, they are a consumer oriented company, no wonder they don't know now to build a product or provide service and support that will appeal to business. They don't understand the needs and wants of the business laptop user or buyer. They have tried to figure out what this market wants as of late, and I give them credit for that. However, there is a VERY big difference between figuring out what a market segmants wants...and actually giving it to them. Can Sony actually execute and become a market leader in the business laptop space? Well, I guess we will find out here in a few days. Keeping my fingers crossed for them that they can, but I am not real optimistic based on how we have seen them try and miss the mark in the past on attempts like this one.
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|Sorry, Sony. Apple already has the market cornered on locked-down, underpowered, less-than-quality laptops.
;)
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|I would prefer Sony to kindly leave my eyes alone.
Or I'll smash the face of the 1st Sony affiliate I get my hands on in 16 days and 19 hours. In fact I'd prefer Sony to **** off for some time, think long and hard about life, economy, public relations and invention and ultimately make a comeback with household robotics.
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|The laptop that comes with malware standard! yay!
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|Let me guess...it comes with the steaming pile known as Vista? If they really want to differentiate themselves, put GNU/Linux on there, no another boring Windows clone wanting to be an Apple but failing in every regard.
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|Go get em Sony..... ..
Like the rest of your tech I am sure your just jumping on the bandwagon. On that note if it allows one of your compeititors (Samsung) to gain profits I applaud you!
If you think SSD is going to catapult you to the likes of Apple with the Air etc you need to wake up.
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|I can't see Sony redefining anything.
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|Redefine the notebook:
Let's put the keyboard on the bottom and get rid of the screen. That would be a radical change.
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|i think they need more low cost graphics add on card with actual memory not shared, and i'd be happy
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|I am seeking one I can leave in my car while skiing, and later at the beach swimming. That is industrial grade chips rather than commercial grade.
Also, while my servers are well protected from the elements they have Error-Correcting-Memory, but my laptops need Memtest run weekly before defrag.
I am willing to trade some battery time and gaga graphics for assured usability.
sst
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|Oh Moderator: Could you please remove this steaming pile of excretement from this site? Many Thanks.
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|SSDs are a worthless fad. Compared to the weight of even a netbook, the weight difference doesn't matter. And measurements show that SSDs use MORE power than regular drives. Performance is better in some ways but worse in others. The only real benefit they have is ruggedness, but laptop hard drives are quite rugged already. Most laptops can be utterly destroyed by a drop and the hard drive will survive.
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