Sony/Transmeta Video Laptop

Polo writes "Sony has a new small-sized transmeta powered PCG-GT1 laptop with a stronger focus on video. The lcd screen reverses and [swivels] for easier shooting. With so much hardware support required, I wonder if linux drivers will be difficult to implement. Interesting camera/pc convergence stuff (besides that, with hard drive costs coming down so far, its probably a good idea. Definitely looks like fun. Here's a ZD Net Review where they aren't so hot on a slightly different transmeta vaio. (not the one with the crazy sidemounted video camera)

Comments

Picturebooks are already out for intel

[jandrese]

YOu can already get a picturebook with an intel processor, We have a couple of them at work. Here are my impressions:

• This thing is tiny. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's less than 1/4 the size of my Dell laptop (Latitude CPx--with the batteries that explode).
• The Screen is wierd, with only about 1/2 the height of a normal screen (resolultion is 1024x384 or something), so you are constantly panning up and down the screen.
• Ours is loud, although I think it might be a misfeature of the particular laptop we have, the little beastie has a high pitched incessant whine while it is running.
• The camera is neat, quality is on par with Indycams and the like, the built in software lets you add all kinds of useless effects to the picture, we never use it.
• There are apparently linux drivers for the camera, although I don't have the link handy.
• Battery life is pretty pathetic if you don't get the external battery add-on. We usually just have to leave the thing plugged in whenever we want to use it.
• These machines are so thin they only have one type II PCMCIA slot, which leads to lots of swapping (naturally type III cards are out of the question).
• The Picturebook is also among the lightest laptop I have ever used, it is literally no problem to carry this thing around, unlike my aformentioned Dell (especially with both batteries installed).

Overall they are pretty neat little boxes, although a little small for everyday use (the keyboard is a bit cramped as well, but the pointer does have three buttons--unusual for a laptop). I'd recommend them for people who absolutely need to have the smallest fully functional latptop possible (and who have small fingers).

Re:current picture books

[D-Fly]

Yeah, I've been using a C1 for about a year; it is very nearly the perfect laptop.

Keyboard is the right size: small as possible while retaining complete functionality. And it dispenses with those stupid trackpads for a joysticklike pointer.

Screen is hella bright, and the odd aspect ratio lets you do two word pages side by side.

So light you barely notice it in a backpack or bag, so small you can stick it in a jacket pocket.

The camera on the original C1 is kind of marginal, but the later models are very detailed.

And the one downside is the 1 hour 20 minute battery life. Retch. That's why we c1 phanaticks are all freaking out at the prospect of a five hour transmeta processor assisted battery life.

I found a much better picture, and article

[Kwelstr]

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001016/tc/sony_p c_dc_1.html This picture shows the full camera and has a more detailed explanation

Linux Drivers

[cluge]

It's interesting but some fo the strangest things have Linux drivers, simply because somone took an interest in it. Linux drivers are only as far away as you are willing to hack the box. The neater the box, the more people that want to hack it. The more likely there will be drivers.

Benchmarking the Transmeta chips?

[jayhawk88]

The ZDNet review kinda hints at this, but I wonder: will the Curusoe(sp?) chips necessitate a new set of benchmarks to acurately measure performance?

I don't usually put a lot of faith in most benchmarks, but a lot of people do. It would be a shame to see Transmeta chips slurred by poor benchmark scores that may not reflect the chips true power.

Don't you just love benchmarks?

[fm6]

Part of this low score may be caused by the fact that the Winstone benchmark test does not repeat tasks, which minimizes opportunities for the Code Morphing technology to have an effect.

The say "part" of the low score? Winstone would seem to be precisely the sort of benchmarks that optimizers hate. I used to have some peripheral involvement with HotS pot Java VM, and nothing upset the development team more than benchmarks that didn't reflect real-world uses of their product. And HotSpot is very similar to TransMeta -- both selectively compile interpreted code into optimized native code. See the Hotspot Benchmarking Q+A.

__________

Very Cool... but...

[jonfromspace]

Is this where Laptops are heading? Does a person really ned a HandyCam with an onboard PC? I seriously doubt it's capabilities for any seriuos Video Editing, seems to me like this is another interesting sony gadget, destined for the *ignor* pile.

Re:Another CmdrTaco spelling/grammar flub...

[b1t r0t]

Looking at the picture for a while, it appears that the screen spins 180 degrees at the center of its hinge, and locks down over the keyboard, rather than simply flipping in and out.

I hope they've got a durable connection between the screen and the base, or it could go bad after a few thousand twists. Not to mention if you kept turning it in the same direction all the time.

Re:Another CmdrTaco spelling/grammar flub...

[TWX_the_Linux_Zealot]

"The lcd screen reverses and for easier shooting.

Reverses and what?"

What's wrong with that statment? All of the motherboard manuals that I've seen for the past five years or so are written like that!