Recommend me a new tiny computer.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

dxva is directx video acceleration. It's Microsoft tech so brand of card plays no part as long as the card supports it. Any Ati card from the HD2xxxseries and higher will do it. Any Nvidia card from the 8xxx series and up will do it. Pretty much any card from NVIDiA and Ati from the last couple of years.

Lots of ATI cards support DXVA (I think mine does despite its age, it's a X1900XT), but from what I read they won't handle anything encoded with any L5.1 profile or 16 reference frames. Nvidia boards apparently will under Vista/7.

[hobbes_fan]

That's probably true - as I said it's card dependent. I've been running the same setup in my profile for close to 2 years and haven't come across an ATI card lower than a hd2400pro since I've started building HTPC's. TheHD2000 series is the bare minimum for the full 16 reference frames though AFAIK.


(Is the x1900 series still getting drive updates BTW? I have an x1950pro that is just lying around and I could probably find a use for it)

[synaesthetic]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

Is re-encoding not an option? software like Super, Handbrake and alltoavi are free and easy. It seems tome that that is the easiest and cheapest solution. Considering you seem to be satisfied with your netbook andthe fact that HD and true HD resolutions are unsupported by most of these tiny screens.

Unfortunately the biggest hurdle right now in mobile computing is the battery - Battery tech has not kept up with other advancements. It's been that way for 20 years. I wouldn't expect ION chipsets to provide 6 hours battery life. Most data I've seen indicates it will use around 10-15% more power over what's in your current netbook.

Re-encoding isn't really an option because it'd take too long on this slow of a processor.

If my desktop had not cooked itself, or I had the money to replace my desktop, I'd just re-encode 480p versions and watch those.

But I don't have the money to buy a new desktop, and I don't have the room for one right now, either.

Speaking of ION and battery life, another guy I know from the eeeuser.com forums, has the N270 version of the HP Mini 311, and he mentioned that the battery life is 5-6 hours with a 6-cell battery. That's plenty for me.

My 900HD only gets 3ish hours due to the higher power draw of the Celeron-M over the Atom.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

(Is the x1900 series still getting drive updates BTW? I have an x1950pro that is just lying around and I could probably find a use for it)

They're considered legacy hardware now, but the available drivers for XP and Vista are fairly recent (Catalyst 9.8 release from August). Not sure about support for Windows 7, when I looked that OS up on ATI's site it just went straight to the Vista driver. I should note that the cards are rather noisy and power hungry for what they offer though.

@synaesthetic: I just realized that that blogger couldn't get DXVA working for the 16 reference file in his review was that the Acer desktop he was using ships with XP. Kind of implies that if Acer updates the $200, single core Aspire Revo to use Windows 7 (the more expensive dual cores already have it), you'd have a $200 desktop capable of doing 1080P. Granted, it would be pretty wimpy compared to a full size desktop (single core, 1GB ram, only 160GB HD, no DVD), but I thought I'd mention it since you already have a netbook and it would be half the cost of the HP.

[synaesthetic]

I don't have a HDTV or an LCD monitor to plug it into, though, so in the end it'd just cost more. =P

I'm still really unsure as to what I'm going to do, but the Mini 311 is pretty high on my list. I still fully intend to build a good desktop for gaming and whatnot, but it's just not in the cards right now. The money just isn't there.

I've been hearing that the Mini 311 will get a price increase when Windows 7 comes out, which may or may not be true--I will keep my eye out for sales on the older versions preloaded with Windows XP (which I'll wipe anyway).

I make it a habit to never use a Microsoft OS until the first service pack and Windows 7 is no exception. And with a netbook, since I'd prefer to take out that hard drive and put a fast solid state drive in, an nLite'd version of XP Pro would be vastly superior to Windows 7 (which is so enormous it'd eat an entire 16GB SSD, just the OS!)

[hobbes_fan]

If that's the case then so be it. the only thing I really have to add is to be careful with placing all your faith in DXVA/GPU acceleration tech for HD decode. As you are aware all these have a specific requirements to work. Unfortunately not all fansubs are will work. Most of the more established fansub group releases will, but I pick up the odd 1 or 2 series from smaller groups recently that aren't and it's quite easy to tell they're not being hardware accelerated because of the encode. I'd still say that's a rarity but be aware.

You're using a 3cell battery right? If that's a 6 cell battery and you're only getting 3hours out of it then there's something wrong.

Also FYI IMO though it'll probably be late next year-2011 when Intel and AMD release 32nm and 22nm processors that you'll see netbook CPU's have the horsepower to rival current full size laptops.

[synaesthetic]

Well, with the ION, using the current version (1.9.5) of CoreAVC, I should be able to hardware decode all h.264 encodes that use 15 or less reference frames.

For those odd ones that use 16 reference frames, I can re-encode them using CUDA to speed up the re-encode.

Plus, CoreCodec is releasing CoreAVC 2.0 soon, which is supposed to be able to use GPU decoding on h.264 regardless of how many reference frames it was encoded with. That would let me play pretty much anything.

Concerning my 900HD, it was a Best Buy version (900HDB) and thus came with a low-capacity 4400mAh 4-cell battery rather than the 5200mAh 4-cell battery in the normal 900HD. At the beginning of its life, it would get 3:20ish but it's down to 2:45-3:00 now (it's close to a year old).

I want to replace it, for other reasons than just fansubs. The screen is a bit too small for how often I use it, and the keyboard is uncomfortable to type on for long periods of time. None of this was a problem when the netbook wasn't my primary computer, before my desktop went dead.

Now I don't have enough room for a desktop. I was looking at larger computers, less netbook and more ultraportable or even midsized laptop, in the 13.3" to 14.1" range, but none of them have decent battery life and good performance.

Except for like, a Thinkpad x200, but they're very expensive.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

Well, with the ION, using the current version (1.9.5) of CoreAVC, I should be able to hardware decode all h.264 encodes that use 15 or less reference frames.

For those odd ones that use 16 reference frames, I can re-encode them using CUDA to speed up the re-encode.

Plus, CoreCodec is releasing CoreAVC 2.0 soon, which is supposed to be able to use GPU decoding on h.264 regardless of how many reference frames it was encoded with. That would let me play pretty much anything.

Concerning my 900HD, it was a Best Buy version (900HDB) and thus came with a low-capacity 4400mAh 4-cell battery rather than the 5200mAh 4-cell battery in the normal 900HD. At the beginning of its life, it would get 3:20ish but it's down to 2:45-3:00 now (it's close to a year old).

I want to replace it, for other reasons than just fansubs. The screen is a bit too small for how often I use it, and the keyboard is uncomfortable to type on for long periods of time. None of this was a problem when the netbook wasn't my primary computer, before my desktop went dead.

Now I don't have enough room for a desktop. I was looking at larger computers, less netbook and more ultraportable or even midsized laptop, in the 13.3" to 14.1" range, but none of them have decent battery life and good performance.

Except for like, a Thinkpad x200, but they're very expensive.

I get the impression what you really want is something like the Acer Timeline or Asus UL30A with an nvidia graphics chip. Nvidia is supposedly working on an Ion variant for machines in this size class, but it's still a few months out.

A 13 inch Macbook Pro has a 9400m (the Ion is actually a version of this chip designed for low power machines) and still gets five hours battery life when running Windows from what I hear. Downside, of course, is you're looking at three times the cost of the HP ($1200) and still only get a 160GB hard drive.x.x

[synaesthetic]

Yeah basically, if you took the Asus UL20A and put an nVidia graphics chip inside it, it would be perfect in every sense of the word.

Except maybe price. The UL20A already pushes the limit of what I want to carry around with me every day (but it sure is sexy).

The HP is still the best cheap-ass option, though. Especially when the Windows 7 versions come out, the prebuilt ones with XP still on them that other retailers have, will likely get marked down from the current $399 price tag.

If I had my desktop still, this would be a total non-issue. =| And I don't want to buy a twenty-ton "desktop replacement." Laptops that big just defeat the whole purpose in my opinion.

I could deal with something up to 14" since I usually carry a backpack everywhere anyway, but the only 14" lappies I see with good battery life are gutless and underpowered (oh hai Acer Timeline) or are redonkulusly expensive.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Dreamtale

Might be, but, imo, it's not rational - netbook is netbook and for home use there are many other options, more suitable... 28" or projector e.g.

I spend more time with older people than most of you here. Many of them have a desktop computer somewhere connected to a printer and a laptop of some kind. One of these machines, usually the desktop, often has failed.

Whatever data they have should be on the machine they use the most, and that's typically the portable. At home, they plug the machine into a USB hub with a backup drive, mouse, keyboard, printer and whatever other devices they need. I prefer a full-sized keyboard and mouse over a portable's esoteric keyboard and touchpad. (I use keys like Ctrl a lot; they're not always in the "right" place for me on a portable.) I suspect you can do all this with Bluetooth as well and not need to connect a cable.

You're then usually left with video and audio. With an ION platform like the HP Mini 311 you can use HDMI for both of these. (I'll ignore for the moment whether HDMI's implicit support for HDCP should be an obstacle. For most people, it's not.) The analog alternatives are VGA and headphone. If you're using Windows and are okay with DRM controls, you have just two wires to connect, a USB connection to the hub and an HDMI cable to the monitor.

This works for people with a home office who want to keep an up-to-date copy of their data with them all the time. I have a computer connected to an HDTV myself, and data scattered on other computers in my home and beyond, so this isn't the solution for me. But I know lots of people with a home office and a laptop. For them, using a netbook as a desktop computer makes a lot of sense.

Mind you, I'm not endorsing the Mini or any other netbook. Personally, as a Linux user, I think highly of NVIDIA because they've done a good job of supporting their hardware under my operating system of choice. Overall I'd probably prefer an ION platform so I can use the vdpau extensions to mplayer that support H.264 decoding on the graphics chip. From my experience, upgrading a 3.0 MHz Pentium D with a 9500GT graphics card made an enormous difference with 720p encodes.

I've also been watching the progress of the ION-powered "nettop" devices. As it happens, the Acer AspireRevo became available in the US just today. This one has a 1.66 GHz dual-core Atom, ION graphics, and wifi for $330. This looks to me to be the living-room computer of choice.

[synaesthetic]

The thing is, I really loved the netbook platform because shit was small and cheap.

Small meant I could easily carry it everywhere.

Cheap meant I could easily (relatively) shrug off the loss if it became damaged or was stolen.

While a $1k+ MacBook Pro or Sony Vaio will do what I need it to do, it won't be cheap, and because of that I'll tend to leave it at home more than actually carry it. Thus, it won't get used very much.

I love my netbook because I can tote the damn thing everywhere and not be too sad if someone lifts it, or I drop it.

I don't particularly like the idea of a one-computer-compromise. I want to have my cake and eat it, too, and the only way to do that is to have two computers. In my case, a high-power, customizable desktop and an inexpensive, tiny portable with good battery life for when I'm on the go.

Thing is, my desktop went kaput, and I don't really have the cash to get another one right now. Plus it's kind of a drag to watch anime at your desk. It's much nicer to watch it in bed. ^^;

So it looks like, for now, the ION platform is the way to go. For this sort of knockaround machine, I'm really putting a price cap at $400.

I paid that much for my 900HD when I bought it nearly a year ago. If I can get a Mini 311 or other ION netbook for that (or less) then I'll be happy.

So any computer that can play 720p anime fansubs flawlessly, has good battery life (5+ hours) and doesn't cost much... then I'm sold. So far, HP's offering is the cheapest. We'll see what the future brings (while I get the cash together to buy it).

[hobbes_fan]

I note your post in the other thread,personally I do think you can build a pretty decent desktop for $400. Hell, probably cheaper if you can reuse some stuff from your old pc.(DVD,Case, HDD)Which would be fairly quick to re-encode stuff as well as playback anything you throw at it. With a hard cap of $400 it won't be a games machine but it'll be easy enough to turn it into one with a gfx card at a later date.

I only bring this up because I don't know I still feel that the higher end netbooks aren't offering enough performance for the price. But in my case I know it'll chug through the apps I use, ION or not.

[synaesthetic]

Actually going to go with the new Asus UL80VT. Core 2 Duo SU7300 with nVidia discrete graphics, switchable to the Intel IGP for power-saving mode (like on the N10J).

The price is on the high end of what I want to spend but it'll probably cheapen up a bit before I can afford it, anyway.

The thing about desktops is that I just don't have the room to put one anywhere. I'm currently sharing a tiny one bedroom apartment. It'll be some time before I can afford one, so I'm thinking the 14" UL80VT might be the correct solution.

It definitely has the power to do what I want, the battery life, it's very lightweight and thin, plus it's just dead sexy.

Edit: I sold the parts to my desktop when it died because I was broke and needed the money. So I'd have to start all over from scratch. =/

[mg1942]

BEHOLD!

a netbook that can finally play HD videos...
http://hothardware.com/Articles/Asus...Review/?page=1

720p


1080p

[synaesthetic]

Holy thread necromancy, Batman!

And yeah. I know about the 1201N already. I've already decided to just get a 14" lappy as my needs just cannot be met by a netbook or a CULV; they just aren't powerful enough.

Currently deciding between either the Sony Vaio VPC-CW14FX/R ($850, Core 2 Duo T6600, nvidia GT 230M), Asus X83Vp-X1 ($800, Core 2 Duo T6600, ATI 4670) or a Lenovo Thinkpad T400 ($1000, Core 2 Duo P8700, switchable ATI 3470/Intel GMA4500).

The Sony is by far the sexiest, and is an all-around great computer, the Asus has the most bang for the buck (but is capped out at 4GB RAM) and the Thinkpad is the most durable, has the best battery life and has the best keyboard (important since I write a lot) but has weak graphics.

[mg1942]

I'm thinking about buying a netbook/ultraportables.

I filtered my choices to 2...

1. used Samsung NC-10
2. used Dell Latitude D420/D430

Now which one should I buy?

[Dextro]

What about the HP Pavilion dm3t series?

[synaesthetic]

I'm waiting for the new Mobile Core i3s before I make a final decision, but the Asus UL30Vt-A1 in silver is soon to be released with a "12 hour" battery.

It's pretty sweet; a 13.3" Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3GHz with switchable nvidia G 210M and Intel 4500MHD graphics, 4GB DDR2 RAM (max 8GB) and a 500GB hard drive.

Price is $850 and it doesn't have the build quality issues of the UL80Vt, nor does it have the weaker battery or fingerprint-prone glossy black finish of the UL30Vt-X1. Should get battery life pretty similar to the UL80Vt in battery save mode, somewhere around 9-10 hours which is damn good.

Originally Posted by mg1942

I'm thinking about buying a netbook/ultraportables.

I filtered my choices to 2...

1. used Samsung NC-10
2. used Dell Latitude D420/D430

Now which one should I buy?

What's your budget? If you want a cheap and easy fansub player, I'd go with a Samsung N120 and drop a Broadcom Crystal HD Accelerator card into the free Mini PCI-e slot. Should be able to handle all but the most massive Blu-Ray rips; will easily play all 720p content with processor headroom to spare.

Originally Posted by Dextro

What about the HP Pavilion dm3t series?

It's overpriced; the dm3t configured with the Core 2 Duo SU7300 and the nvidia G 105M is upwards of $900, while the Asus is $850 for a better graphics chip and is also switchable between the discrete GPU and the integrated GPU.

The dm3z is actually a much better deal; AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz and Radeon HD3200 integrated graphics for $550 is not bad at all. Battery life is only about 4 hours though, nowhere in the realm of Intel's CULV.

Speaking of AMD ultraportables, Lenovo just recently announced the Thinkpad X100e, an 11.6" ultraportable with either Athlon or Turion Neo X2 processors and Radeon HD3200 graphics. The system looks absolutely dead sexy (in my opinion, I love the "boring" Thinkpad aesthetics) and the price is in line with the dm3z. Like the new Thinkpad Edge series (which appear to be the successor to the SL line), the X100e has a chiclet keyboard that (according to Laptop Magazine) is actually the best Thinkpad keyboard yet.

I can't wait to play with one.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

It's overpriced; the dm3t configured with the Core 2 Duo SU7300 and the nvidia G 105M is upwards of $900, while the Asus is $850 for a better graphics chip and is also switchable between the discrete GPU and the integrated GPU.

The dm3z is actually a much better deal; AMD Athlon Neo X2 1.6GHz and Radeon HD3200 integrated graphics for $550 is not bad at all. Battery life is only about 4 hours though, nowhere in the realm of Intel's CULV.

Speaking of AMD ultraportables, Lenovo just recently announced the Thinkpad X100e, an 11.6" ultraportable with either Athlon or Turion Neo X2 processors and Radeon HD3200 graphics. The system looks absolutely dead sexy (in my opinion, I love the "boring" Thinkpad aesthetics) and the price is in line with the dm3z. Like the new Thinkpad Edge series (which appear to be the successor to the SL line), the X100e has a chiclet keyboard that (according to Laptop Magazine) is actually the best Thinkpad keyboard yet.

I can't wait to play with one.

Yeah, I was going to say the dm3z but then I saw the request for a long battery life and talk of cuda so it went out the picture.

The dm3z is on my personal list to replace my current 13.3" Vaio if it dies on me since I personally am used to living with my current 2h to 2h30min battery

[SirJeannot]

my choice is a thinkpad x60, second hand. you can get these for $500. they're not cheap, but they're tough. I still get ~5h with the extended battery after 350+ cycles. I mostly use it on battery but it weights quite a lot with the large battery, more like 4 pounds
For my next trip to japan, i was planning to get a p series second hand as a replacement, but now that you point the inability to play hd videos with weak cpu (even atom z550), I'm note sure about switching to one of those if there is no hardware video decoding.