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Retailer Planning Laptops With Intel Core i7 Chips

Posted by kdawson on from the can-you-say-luggable dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Canadian PC retailer Eurocom is planning to ship a 12-pound laptop with Intel's Core i7 chip, which might go down well with deep-pocketed geeks. The Core i7 was designed with desktop computers and servers in mind; later members of the Nehalem chip family are planned to address portables. The 17" notebook's price, not yet announced, will certainly be in excess of $5,000."

18 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Desktop Replacement by ushering05401 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whatever happened to the 'desktop replacement' designation for mobile but not lightweight platforms?

    This reminds me of the first laptop I ever owned:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_SX-64.

    1. Re:Desktop Replacement by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 3, Funny
      Wikipedia says:

      The Commodore SX-64, also known as the Executive 64, or VIP-64...

      Funny, the name implies it was for business use and yet the picture shows it with a pair of joysticks...

    2. Re:Desktop Replacement by obarthelemy · · Score: 5, Informative

      Reasons for needing such a powerful but heavy and battery-challenged "laptop".

      Taking your apps+docs (let alone taking you OS) with you on an HD/USB key doesn't really work for most OSes and Apps. Especially if you need specialty apps, like video/CAD... or whetever really NEEDS an i7.

      Being certain you'll have an up-to spec PC wherever youre going, without being dependant on someone to book it + set it up for you.

      Gaming in small appartments (I assume the vid card is nice, too).

      Of course, being able to maybe use the laptop a little while NOT connected to the mains is.. a nice bonus.

      I've been reading forever that Intel+AMD are including "laptop" power-management features in their "desktop" parts. Maybe with heavy underclocking one can actually watch a full DVD on a single charge ?

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    3. Re:Desktop Replacement by Carbon016 · · Score: 3, Funny

      There's a spec for that. It's called "micro-ATX".

  2. A laptop... by 2Bits · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... that's not supposed to be put on your lap, unless you are sure you don't want to have offspring. Given that this is designed for the /. kind of geek, the question of offspring is probably not too much of a problem anyway :)

    1. Re:A laptop... by WSOGMM · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... that's not supposed to be put on your lap, unless you are sure you don't want to have offspring. Given that this is designed for the /. kind of geek, the question of offspring is probably not too much of a problem anyway :)

      Oh yeah? Well, your laptop is so fat that a...

    2. Re:A laptop... by AuMatar · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you're single and still getting some, a temporary decrease in fertility is a feature not a bug.

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  3. Just plain silly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The problem with this design is that the i7 chips put out 130 watts TDP. Even if this laptop has a battery, it's going to last less than an hour.

    I should I know. I have a toshiba laptop that has a desktop P4 in it. 1 hour.

    1. Re:Just plain silly by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Funny

      The laptop is 12 pounds: two pounds for the laptop, ten pounds for the batteries.

    2. Re:Just plain silly by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      At my company *everyone* has a laptop. The battery just needs to last long enough that I can make it to the meeting rooms and back. 'Mobile' computers have more use than just using them away from power for long periods of time. You can sit at another desk, on a whim go out on location with all your files, etc.

      I'd love something like this for Matlab processing.

      And weight isn't an issue because we all have laptop bags or backpacks. A 20 lb laptop would still be lighter than the books I carried in college.

    3. Re:Just plain silly by Thanshin · · Score: 3, Funny

      The laptop is 12 pounds: two pounds for the laptop, ten pounds for the batteries.

      Which gives you an autonomy of 1+t hours; being "t" the amount of time you're able to keep your cycling power over 1000 watts.

    4. Re:Just plain silly by jsoderba · · Score: 3, Insightful

      An all-in-one doesn't fold up in a handy package that protects the screen and input devices, nor does it include a keyboard and pointing device. Desktop replacements do have legitimate uses.

    5. Re:Just plain silly by cerberusss · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And weight isn't an issue because we all have laptop bags or backpacks

      It happens to me that I'm walking around for 30-60 minutes on the airport with a laptop bag hanging on one shoulder and rolling luggage on the other hand.

      I'll tell you I'm pretty glad if I get to sit down and let the laptop slide off the shoulder.

      --
      8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
    6. Re:Just plain silly by mgblst · · Score: 4, Funny

      THe good thing is, if you leave your lights on, you can use the battery to start your truck.

    7. Re:Just plain silly by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm a Mechanical Engineer. I take lots of data from test cells and process it. Gigs of data sometimes, so you can't just install it where ever. Matlab, Vector CANape and the other programs I use aren't cheap and network licenses are even more expensive.

      I may have 1 meeting a day, all I said is that the laptop has to last until I make it there, I didn't say that all I did all day was run around to meetings.

      It may have to last long enough for me to get to the DC/AC inverter in the test rig or until I walk down to the test cell. Or be light enough that I can take my work home.

      Weight might be an issue to you, it is to me.

      No one is forcing you to buy this.

      If you need the computational horsepower and portability, why not have a desktop and VNC into it through your laptop?

      VNC sucks, it's good for maybe setting up something on a computer or two, but you can't work through it 8 hours a day. Plus, then my company would have 2x the computers.

  4. 5 grand?! by Mad+Merlin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What I'd like to know is how on earth they can justify charging 5 grand for a laptop that has nothing special about it except being absurdly heavy and featuring an i7.

    For that size and weight, you could just throw a desktop motherboard in some plastic, tape a screen and battery on, then ship it out! This machine might justify the price if it clocked in at under 5 pounds.

    --
    Game! - Where the stick is mightier than the sword!
  5. For more information... by bazald · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...on the expected hardware specifications, see Notebook Review: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=348239

    --
    Insert self-referential sig here.
  6. It's not a laptop ... by bigsteve@dstc · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... it is a compact electric (gonad) cooker. :-)