Headlines - Nano vs. Atom: VIA goes on the offensive

[HEXUS]

Intel's Atom processor may be hogging the limelight, but VIA states that its Nano is the only choice for efficient performance without compromise.

Read more.

[Biscuit]

Whats the point in 1080p playback on a 7/9/10" screen? even 720p is pretty pointless...

Whilst i can fully see the point in their product with regards to media playback the market they are aiming at with this marketing video seems to be be a bit wrong.

In the mini-note/netbook whatever you want to call it market the over 3x power consumption is the number that matters. In my opinion, what you want is excelent battery life so therefore the compromise on performance is acceptable.

HTPCs are computers which are going to be used in the home for prolonged periods of time, often as use as servers aswell as entertainment playback so low power which doesnt compomise on performance is the ultimate goal.

At the right price point i think they would sell these things like mad to the HTPC market, just need to get thier marketing more directed towards that goal.

[directhex]

so, when do i get to do a scathing linux-based head-to-head?

[tickedon]

From what I remember from reading, the platforms together utilise much the same in terms of power. Intel have a chip that uses less power, but a much more power hungry chipset - VIA however have a more power hungry chip, but, a less power hungry chipset - leading to roughly similar figures.

Interesting comparison, doesn't make my task of deciding which "netbook" to buy any easier!

[Hicks12]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

Whats the point in 1080p playback on a 7/9/10" screen? even 720p is pretty pointless...

Whilst i can fully see the point in their product with regards to media playback the market they are aiming at with this marketing video seems to be be a bit wrong.

In the mini-note/netbook whatever you want to call it market the over 3x power consumption is the number that matters. In my opinion, what you want is excelent battery life so therefore the compromise on performance is acceptable.

HTPCs are computers which are going to be used in the home for prolonged periods of time, often as use as servers aswell as entertainment playback so low power which doesnt compomise on performance is the ultimate goal.

At the right price point i think they would sell these things like mad to the HTPC market, just need to get thier marketing more directed towards that goal.

Now this might not be valid but i could think of one reason for good hd playback, the user could buy it and hook it up to a bigger screen (possibly their main tv, like 40") when they want to watch some films. It makes it a portable media center, can perform alot of main tasks and good enough, my dads old centrino 1.6ghz(i think its that lol) is still goin strong and its perfect, sure its not as fast as this dual core in my rig but it helps getting the basic tasks done and light gaming, if the price is right then it has space in the market. For me i either go for the very low end or high end and then middle, if i want to compromise on performance i feel im might as well go the full wack but this can offer a bit mroe than the atom in theory, the atom can keep the low end and this be the higher end/mid range laptop.

Havent heard from via in awhile so i cant wait for reviews to come out for it.

[Biscuit]

Netbook = Small hard drive which means the chances of being able to use it as a media centre are quite limited unless you have all the the media stored on an external (reducing its portability) or having all the media stored elsewhere on a network which would eliminate the point in having two seperate devices for the purpose.

[Hicks12]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

Netbook = Small hard drive which means the chances of being able to use it as a media centre are quite limited unless you have all the the media stored on an external (reducing its portability) or having all the media stored elsewhere on a network which would eliminate the point in having two seperate devices for the purpose.

Fair comment, you could have an external blu-ray drive(or hd-dvd) to play hd films though and that would be good for using it with a tv. The hard drive would be the limiting factor as you said, a pen drive could help though . Im just gunna wait for this to be reviewed then i can comment further

[Biscuit]

Originally Posted by Hicks12

Fair comment, you could have an external blu-ray drive(or hd-dvd) to play hd films though and that would be good for using it with a tv. The hard drive would be the limiting factor as you said, a pen drive could help though . Im just gunna wait for this to be reviewed then i can comment further

As i said before, the problem with adding more and more parts to a portable device is it becomes less portable. pen drive = like 1 or 2 1080p HD films IF its like a 32GB drive. Blu ray drive... yeah i guess that could work but you would still have to carry around a collection of Blurays and the drive... might aswell carry around a bluray player, wud probs be cheaper.

[Funkstar]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

Netbook = Small hard drive which means the chances of being able to use it as a media centre are quite limited unless you have all the the media stored on an external (reducing its portability) or having all the media stored elsewhere on a network which would eliminate the point in having two seperate devices for the purpose.

Or just have everything on your network.

This got me thinking about how well MediaPortal would run on a NetBook

All the TV recording and timeshifting etc is done by the server which in my case is a AM2 4200+ with 4GB. The MP frontend should put toooo much of a strain on the processor, especially when it has directX graphics hardware.

As an added bonus you could easily srap one of these to the back of a plasma screen to hide it.

[Biscuit]

I was thinking to use one as a server and HTPC.

Aparently when the Atom is plugged in it plays 1080p fine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVf3PtNF-j0

Unplugged maybe a different story but im not arsed about having a netbook so atom maybe the answer for me after all