Spectacular Intel Notebook PC (prototype)

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Wow. Intel has done a bang up job with this prototype.



Are they simply showcasing their chips, or threatening to get into Apple's niche?



One of the great ideas in this proto is the use of a leather wrap for the entire computer. Really nice!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    tkellytkelly Posts: 50member
    Quote:

    A version of this laptop could be sold by a yet-unnamed manufacturer as early as this fall.



    Come on Apple!!!
  • Reply 2 of 6
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Well this sucks. Intel went and designed nearly the exact Laptop that I want Apple to make... but Apple has to make it for me to buy it (I'm dead set on OS X for all future purchases)





    Sebastian Lewis
  • Reply 3 of 6
    aisiaisi Posts: 134member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Are they simply showcasing their chips, or threatening to get into Apple's niche?



    They want PC manufacturers to sell high-margin Intel powered notebooks, like Apple does. From the article you linked:



    "Intel would especially like to see higher sales of portable computers, particularly fatter-margin devices at the high end of the market. Sales of laptops priced at $2,000 and above are rising 1.4% a year, compared with 73.5% for notebooks priced $500 to $999, according to researcher IDC. [?] And unlike other computer prototypes, including some from Intel, this one actually may line the shelves of a retailer before long. Intel hasn't announced an official release date but people familiar with the matter say a PC maker will announce plans to start manufacturing the machine later this year."
  • Reply 4 of 6
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slewis View Post


    Yay, I finally read through all the posts and can now post the specs I am thinking about.



    2+ Ghz Intel Dual Core CPU

    2 GB RAM

    Intel Integrated GPU

    64-128 Flash Drive

    802.11 b/g/n

    Bluetooth 2.0 EDR

    802.16 WiMax

    2 USB Ports

    1 Docking Station (maybe 90-120 Pins)

    10.5" LED Backlit 16:9 Display (no touch, I don't expect a Tablet out of this thing)

    iSight

    and of course a Docking Station I'm not even going to try and guess at

    a Trackpad but NO Button. It would use that Touch to Click option on existing Macbook trackpads (it takes getting used to, but is very useful)



    OK, why am I avoiding any specific Chip Names? I don't plan on seeing this materialize for another year or 2. But if it were, then I would probably keep most of that, except make it a Core 2 Duo, GMA 3000 (or whatever it's called) 1 GB of RAM and only 64 GB Flash Drive.



    The idea behind these specs is to make a Sub notebook 3/16" with NO Moving parts (HDDs and Optical Drives) that would be almost 2 Dimensional. If it can be squeezed down to 1/8 of an inch that would be even better!



    It's also based on Apple's current design of Notebooks (all of them have iSight, all of them have WiFi+Bluetooth EDR, etc.) and a Keyboard.



    Also, every year someone doubles the density of Flash memory, today I believe you can theoretically get 64 GB on an SD card, and in 2005 you could theoretically get 32 GB on a Flash Drive so this year I'm guessing 128 GB by the end of the year, even so, Apple can put in Flash Chips slightly larger then SD Cards to reach that size.



    It wouldn't be more expensive then $2000 is my guess as well. Flash Memory prices dropped like a rock because of Apple and this would only decrease the price even further (ha! they'd have 75% of the Flash Memory market in their control) so I don't think that would be expensive. Also because the screen would be so small I don't think you'd have to worry about prices going up because of the LED backlights, but if you don't use those then the entire computer would be off balance with the screen, so it's kind of mandatory to use LED backlights to get it so small. Also because of Apple being the perfect perfectionists, they likely wouldn't give you a removable battery (assuming this design could be real, or partially real) so that would help keep the size down.



    It would be the perfect computer, Small, very lightweight, and all the benefits of a Mac out of the box (video conferencing, podcasting, etc.) and while they were at it, hopefully they could partially redesign their keyboard to get rid of the second enter button, one of the command keys, and move the Eject button up by the power button. They could also drop Caps Lock (I never saw a need for it) and one of the shift buttons.



    Sebastian

    EDIT:

    I noticed a barely noticable conflict in my spec sheet. I suggested moving the Eject Key (or I think I did, I don't feel like rescanning it to make sure, but I'm sure I meant to add it) but I realize now that with no internal Optical drive, you wouldn't need such a Key eliminating yet 1 more key on the Keyboard



    I'd probably edit the specs, they were subject to very heavy debate in the original thread... but the most important concept for me is always on wireless in as small a form as possible. WiFi (mainly N) WiMax and Bluetooth 2 EDR, although I'm still a huge fan of the no moving parts idea as well and Intel removed the HDD in theirs I didn't see if it had an Optical Drive though



    (on a side note, no need to point out obvious flaws in my now very dated post above, we've already gone over that)



    Sebastian
  • Reply 5 of 6
    ipeonipeon Posts: 1,122member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Wow. Intel has done a bang up job with this prototype.



    Very nice! Too bad it's a "prototype"...
  • Reply 6 of 6
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iPeon View Post


    Very nice! Too bad it's a "prototype"...



    Bingo.



    Besides, my 6+ year old TiBook isn't much thicker. There are a lot of ways I can think of to make a notebook thinner than the one-inch TiBook. Unfortunately, most of these require compromises. For example: keyboard travel, HDD, Optical drive. If you take away those things, it's not as big of a challenge to get to 0.7." But I like those things!
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