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Asus N10 Review — the First Netbook For Gaming
Kim Hawley writes "Mobile Computer has a review of another new netbook from Asus. The N10 comes from Asus’ notebook division rather than its Eee PC division, and has an impressive specification. Most notable are the ExpressCard/34 slot and switchable nVidia GeForce 9300M graphics, and the video shows the N10 playing Call of Duty 4 very smoothly. Pre-orders in the US are around $600 – about the same as the Eee PC 1000. The N10 is closer to a traditional laptop than a true netbook, though – is feature-creep killing this new market already?"
From TFA:
In addition to the same so-so Intel 945 graphics found on other netbooks, the N10 also has a discrete nVidia GeForce 9300M graphics chipset - enabled with the flick of a switch (and a reboot)
Very strange feature, definitely the first I've heard of this. You would really think that they could be able to power down enough of the 9300M to compare with the 945. But I guess they did the math and it makes sense to include two separate graphics controllers?
Seems like a pain to have to reboot to play games... but I guess I already do that between Debian/Windows. :-/
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Hey code monkey... learn electronics! Powerful microcontroller kits for the digital generation.
I personally feel laptops aren't good enough for serious gaming. Even though you connect a mouse, the keyboard still cannot match up to a regular size keyboard. There is the issue of heat and needing to be hooked up for max CPU freq and display brightness. Don't get me wrong - I love gaming laptops - they make great machines for development and running VMware images but in general I laugh at the idea of gaming laptops (upgrades? *smirk*).
Gaming netbook though in my opinion borders on ridiculous. The N10 has a 10.2" screen. Checking the AH in wow sure. Using counterstrike as an expensive chat client while you idle in the start zone? Sure. Playing Solitaire and Bejewelled? Sure. Serious gaming? F that.
It's almost like firms hate catering to the ultra low end, with its vanishingly small margins, or something...
Feature creep can hardly be said to be "killing" the netbook market, as long as cheap low end netbooks continue to be sold; but one does get the impression that Asus et al. would love for you to consider something a little more expensive. The market that toys like this will probably kill is the ultra-high-end mini notebook segment.
The high end mini notebook market has been around for years, Sony probably being the most notable. Classic netbooks are a threat, in that they skim off the people who want portability but don't need high end features but might have purchased a mini notebook because they were the only thing going; but they are too wimpy to kill the segment. However, as seems to happen a lot in technology, cheap crap is better at moving upmarket while staying cheap than premium gear is at moving downmarket while staying good. With the vast bulk of 300-400 dollar netbooks floating around, modest upgrades in spec and build quality, like the device reviewed in TFA, are still cheap and small; but are almost as good is the high end mini notebooks of old.
I'm not predicting the total doom of that segment, some people are still willing to pay a premium for the best; but I suspect that this system, and others like it, really annoy the traditional makers of high end mini notebooks.
You want a netbook for gaming?! The Eee does it all! Perfect controller as well!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QSW9qOM6FM
Do we care more about having a lot of different options for the user, or about protecting this "new market"?
I really don't think that every new useful product has to become part of some special "market" just because reviewers and marketing people feel the need to categorize and simplify absolutely everything.
I've seen too many good, innovative products die on the vine because the PR machine didn't quite know what to do with it. And have no doubt, sites like Mobile Computing, Engadget, Gizmodo, are nothing but cogs in the giant Moloch of the marketing departments and soap peddlers who have created this consumerist dystopia.
If it's a good product, it doesn't have to be destroyed just because it doesn't fit neatly on a tab of some big box store's website.
You are welcome on my lawn.
This is something that has been extensively and well discussed in this book. Traditional companies always have a lot of difficulty trying to compete with new products that come from "below", i.e. have less features but are cheaper than the current products.
Mini-computers killed almost all of the old mainframe manufacturers, just like personal computers put the mini-computer sellers out of business. Now it's the time for the PC manufacturers to feel the heat, I expect a big restructuring of the whole industry in the next few years.
There's this new invention that might be just the thing for you. It's a kind of load-bearing device, deceptively simple really - just a flat surface supported by one or several "legs". I believe in industry lingo such devices are called "tables".
My daughter has two laptops, an IBM T30 and an Asus EEE. The T30 stays in her room and is used for movies, itunes, homework. The EEE stays in her purse and is used for web, chat, email when she's out of the house, and occasionally to do homework when she wants to work on the kitchen table or upstairs in front of the TV. Before she got the EEE, she tried carrying around the T30, but size, weight and battery life made this a real chore.
Trying to develop C++ applications or run Halo 3 is not what these netbooks were designed for, and they -- still -- do what they *are* designed for very well. Trying to push them into areas they were not meant to go will -- duh -- give you questionable results. Like Max Payne running on a Surf, it's amazing that it works at all.
Yes, the keyboard kinda sucks and the screen is small. But the T30 won't fit in a purse, and my Latitude D620 *certainly* won't fit. When you need to look something up or send an email, any computer is better than no computer at all, and your big fancy white-hot dual core monster sitting at home isn't going to be any help when you're sitting here right now. The best computer is the one within reach, and the netbook is more likely to be with you when you're out of the building.
Moreover, the EEE will keep going long after the others have gone dark. For this reason, I sometimes borrow it for times when I won't be near a power source. (I wish she hadn't picked pink, though.)
And as cramped as the EEE is, it's still a damned site better than my Treo for web.
There may be a need for a bigger screen and better keyboard amongst those looking for a portable web appliance, but if it substantially increases the footprint, it breaks the paradigm. Moreover, I suspect that letting the price creep up makes it less attractive for people looking for an additional device, more portable than their mongo laptop but providing a better experience than their cell phone.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Let's say you have an incredibly dumb hypothesis, but you don't want to claim it. Add a question mark, and you can still say the same thing and you can pretend you're still a news organization rather than the National Enquirer.
"Obama is a Muslim" turns into "Is Obama a Muslim?"
"Palin Faked Preganancy" turns into "Did Palin Fake Her Pregnancy?"
As with all asinine journalistic methods, this was mainstreamed by Fox News, and covered hilariously by the Daily Show. It's supposed to hook people with outrageous and patently false statements to boost ratings. Instead of information you get speculation, which is worthless.
The last safe haven is NPR. Why? Public funding allows journalists to be journalists and not just the lapdogs of marketing departments. This is also why the BBC remains one of the most trusted news organizations in the world.
Powerful introduction, but a touch weak on the finish. Nice reinforcement of their promiscuity with the copulative verb. This post failed to reach its potential, some homosexual references and threats may have helped here.
Disappointing. Two stars.
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.