Re: Gamespot GOTY


"Magnate" <contact.me@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4s2f55-qkn.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| "CoinSpin" <coin^spam^spin@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| news:13o9klhr51l0l50@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| > "Magnate" <contact.me@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| > | "Kendrick Kerwin Chua" <kendrick@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message > In
| > article
| > | > Nostromo <nospam@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
| > | >>Thus spake Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@xxxxxxxxx>, Tue, 08 Jan
2008
| > | >>>Ross Ridge <rridge@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
| > | >>>>Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
| > | >>>
| > | >>>>>-KKC, who wants an Asus Eee really badly now.
| > | >>>>
| > | >>>>Ugg... why? They look like they'd be crap, even for running old
| > MS-DOS
| > | >>>>games.
| > | >>>
| > | >>>A 1.0 gHz X86 processor, solid state storage and a nice color
screen
| > in a
| > | >>>package about the size of a DVD case? That's some Diablo II action
| > | >>>anywhere you want.
| > | >>
| > | >>What's wrong with a normal notebook, a slimline model with a 14"
| > screen...?
| > | >>If I wanted a gameboy, I would've bought one years ago.
| > | >
| > | > You can't fit a normal notebook or laptop in your coat pocket. I
| > really
| > | > like the idea of the UMPC, but I'm not willing to pay $3000 for
| > something
| > | > that will only run for 10 months. The low-cost SSD drive is pushing
a
| > lot
| > | > of people over the edge into the decision to get an Eee, as it will
| > | > theoretically last for years under normal usage.
| > | >
| > | Fantastic - thanks for the heads-up. I too have been looking for a
| > | pocket-sized PC with a proper keyboard. The Eeee seems to be about
half
| > the
| > | price of entry-level laptops here in the UK (~£200 compared with
~£400).
| > | Definitely on my list - though I might wait until the SSD is 8GB or
| > more.
| >
| > Might be a bit of a wait on that... The Eee uses flash storage (sounds
a
| > bit like an EEPROM or disk-on-chip), not a true SSD. Even the smallest
| > SSD
| > drives right now cost more than the entire Eee unit. Hopefully that
will
| > change as manufacturing techniques improve and all that, but consider:
| > the
| > Eee does not even appear to have an IDE interface built into it. Since
| > they
| > were using flash, they opted to save money and space by removing the
| > actual
| > hard drive interface, as it was unnecessary for the unit. Several of
the
| > competitors to the Eee have likewise opted to drop the drive portion,
| > figuring it will all be flash drives or USB.
|
| Hmm. A morning's research reveals that there is already an 8GB model of
the
| Eee, but it doesn't appear to be on sale yet (at least, not in the UK).
I'd
| be tempted by that, if I can get it with 2GB installed RAM (I can already
| see the 2GB RAM upgrade modules on eBay, so someone somewhere will be
| selling it with them preinstalled). That, combined with the additional
| SD/MMC card storage slot (8GB seems to be the biggest available), is
plenty.
|
| Rumour has it that a larger (9") screen is coming in a few months, but
| that's only worth waiting for if it significantly improves on the 800x480
| resolution.
|
| This is not just a gaming toy, so comparing it with the GameBoy or PSP is
| pointless. This is a fully-featured PC, which happens to weigh two pounds
| and fit into a (large) pocket. It's nearest competitor seems to be the OQO
| (same res on a 5" screen), which costs about five times as much and is
| probably too small for my stubby fingers (5.5" x 4" total footprint, so
the
| keyboard is even smaller). If I was going to shell out that much, I would
| get a Toshiba R500, which is the same weight as the Eee but with a full
12"
| 1280x800 screen and a 160GB HD.
|
| The Eee doesn't appear to have any competitors at all in its price
bracket -
| it'll be interesting to see if other manufacturers see a gap in the
market.
| It seems to be the machine I've been looking for, allowing me to play
games
| on the sofa (much better for keeping the wife happy), but also with full
| connectivity for surfing and administering the rest of the PCs remotely.
It
| will be a bit of a shock going back to 640x480 for D2 though. Still, the
| upside is that I'll finally get to play PS:T, Fallout and all those other
| 640x480 classics I missed ...
|

Do a quick search on wiki for "low cost notebooks" or "one laptop for every
child" and you'll find the competition in this price bracket. Some are
kinda cool, some are a bit weird, but they are all aimed at the super low
cost price range. There's even a $99 "Geode" style processor brick that's
ready to hook up to mouse/monitor/keyboard that has some decent specs (until
you start reading the fine print and see it's rather locked into some kind
of service plan and such). Still, I'm looking at the Eee for my wife, who
wants a little computer to just do some very basic web surfing, and to be
able to take back and forth to her spa to keep track of her customers... If
you don't need anything fancy, the Eee could be a dream come true.

One note: the Eee has a VGA output, but (unless it's hidden in plain site)
I never saw a max resolution capability. Does that mean it's locked at the
800x480 resolution of the LCD? If it's capable of higher output, that could
be interesting for a little old-school gaming rig.

CoinSpin


.

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