Behold The Next Generation NVIDIA ION; Next Generation Overkill for your Netbook!

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=660&pgno=0' target='_blank'>http://www.techarp.com/showarticle....rtno=660&pgno=0</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"To do this, NVIDIA is relying on the Next-Generation NVIDIA ION. That is the official name of their latest netbook platform. Not NVIDIA ION 2 or NVIDIA ION FX, but a rather mouthful "Next-Generation NVIDIA ION". NVIDIA decided on this nomenclature because they feel it's more retail-friendly - folks who buy netbooks are not tech-savvy and such descriptive names would resonate better, or so their theory goes."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1267552840.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>The Next Generation NVIDIA ION is not the platform you are looking for.&nbsp; It provides way too much power with far too many compromises for it to be a viable solution for a netbook.&nbsp; It may provide hardware video acceleration, but why pay so much more when a cheap HD accelerator chip can do the trick?&nbsp; It may allow you to make full use of Windows 7's fancy user interface, but you just want very basic computing, right?&nbsp; It may even give you the ability to play a wider variety of games, but who wants to play games on a netbook?&nbsp; You should be happy with a low powered, basic netbook.&nbsp; The power of Intel compels you.</p>

[gdoerr56]

I really don't care what you call it but I want a portable computer that is light, small enough to use on an airplane in coach, that has good battery life (in the 5 hour range), let's me watch movies AND run my normal business productivity tools with my normal data set.

I don't want a totally dumbed down machine and I want to carry as little equipment as possible.

My choice is an HP Mini 311 running Windows 7. It runs all the applications I require when traveling, let's me watch a movie or two when I'm done working, runs about 5 hours on a charge, weighs very little and cost me $500.

The ION is EXACTLY the platform I'm looking for. The cheap HD accelerators you mention like the Broadcom "work" but they leave quite a lot to be desired.

You go ahead and buy a limited, non-HD netbook, I'll take the ION thank you very much.

[ptyork]

ION is overkill for anyone, gdoerr. Sure, it can play HD video, but it uses far more power than is necessary to do so. Had you said that you wanted to play 3D games, then I'd say fine, but you're still pairing a powerful accelerator with a totally dink processor. The processor is far and away the weakest link. ION v2 is cool in that it can switch between integrated and discreet chips, eliminating much of the power issue unless you are actively watching video or playing a game. But now you're also looking at an even greater disparity between chip and graphics power. You'll never be able to fully leverage the ION's 3-D graphics capabilities simply because the Atom cannot keep up.

Now I didn't say it's bad or that you have the wrong computer. Obviously it works well for you and quite frankly is probably about the only thing out right now that would (though I do think the Crystal HD would likely serve just fine). But for what you need (and what the computer/processor can even conceivably do), the ION is "overkill" in that it means 20-30% poorer battery life than should be necessary.

I think we're just a generation away from a truly good solution here. I think the ideal solution here is to integrate the new Core i3/i5 integrated graphics processor (GMA HD) into the Atom line. I have to imagine that this'll happen in the next generation. Intel's new IGP outperforms many discreet solutions and uses a fraction of the power. Seems to me to be the ideal solution.

[Hooch Tan]

ION is overkill for anyone, gdoerr. Sure, it can play HD video, but it uses far more power than is necessary to do so. Had you said that you wanted to play 3D games, then I'd say fine, but you're still pairing a powerful accelerator with a totally dink processor. The processor is far and away the weakest link. ION v2 is cool in that it can switch between integrated and discreet chips, eliminating much of the power issue unless you are actively watching video or playing a game.

In case anyone was not sure, I was being sarcastic in my post. I honestly think that ION is a good idea and where things are headed. I don't think that the CPU/GPU disparity is as great an issue as many games or 3D applications need more GPU than CPU. The more frustrating problem is that the whole setup is castrated with Pine Trail having limited PCIe lanes to work with.

With Optimus, the only real compromise is the price. I think what it comes down to is I treat each computer as a stand alone unit. If someone already has another computer with much greater capabilities, the limitations inherent in netbooks are much more reasonable. However, for me, I want to treat it as the sole computer (not like it would ever be though!) I have, and as such, I want it to have more oomph for the situations when I could use it.

[gdoerr56]

However, for me, I want to treat it as the sole computer (not like it would ever be though!) I have, and as such, I want it to have more oomph for the situations when I could use it.

There's no way I could ever use a machine that has a low-end CPU and a small display as my primary machine so that's not important to me. I actually am looking for the lightest companion unit I can find that still runs my applications and the HP unit fits the bill nicely. The slightly larger screen than the normal netbook helps too.

I think we're just a generation away from a truly good solution here. I think the ideal solution here is to integrate the new Core i3/i5 integrated graphics processor (GMA HD) into the Atom line. I have to imagine that this'll happen in the next generation. Intel's new IGP outperforms many discreet solutions and uses a fraction of the power. Seems to me to be the ideal solution.

We're always a generation away from something better. For a solution that is available today, the ION is the only thing that meets my requirements. I've tried the Crystal HD solutions. In my experience, they work OK but they have significant software / player compatability issues right now. ION just works out of the box.

When the next generation comes along and it has all the bugs worked out, I'll sell my 311.