So, we know that the m9750 is coming. We just don't know when. We also don't know exactly what chipset it will include. We also know that several new advances will be available in Q1-Q2 this year. So, I wonder what everyone thinks about the possibility of the following making it into the initial version of the m9750:
- Santa Rosa - It's coming, that's for sure. In fact, MSI apparently showed off 2 laptops with unofficially announced chipsets and graphics cards at CES:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/15/m...d-nvidia-nb8p/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/15/m...nced-intel-ch/
Indications seem to point to Q2, which would be on the far end of an m9750 release estimate, but I wonder if they would release a new model so close prior to the Santa Rosa introduction.
- ReadyDrive - This one is certainly contingent on the HDD manufacturers. I really didn't see any CES coverage that included talk about these, so it makes me wonder if they will be later in the year. However, indications from last year seemed to indicate hybrid drive availability to coincide with Vista's consumer release. Of course, drive replacement is always possible, so you could always upgrade later. The added benefit there is that future hybrid HDDs will likely contain more flash memory.
- ReadyBoost - Obviously, this is available now. USB drives, flash mem cards, and even ExpressCard flash memory can be used for this purpose with existing machines:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/13/h...ost-certified/
I do wonder though if ReadyBoost will benefit system's like these where many folks will probably have 2GB of RAM. From what I've read, it looks like ReadyBoost really benefits lower end systems that don't have a lot of RAM as a cheaper way to increase performance over bumping the RAM.
- Robson - This is obviously part and parcel with Santa Rosa. It seems to be a built-in version of ReadyBoost. Not sure if this will be available as soon as Santa Rosa is, but it seems like it will be.
For an overly technical article about these, AnandTech had one last September:
http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/...yes&i=2841&p=3
- DX10 Graphics card - This is one a lot of folks here are interested in. Hmmmm, I wonder when it will drop....
So what do you think folks? What are you betting we'll see in the initial m9750s?
Jeff
- Santa Rosa - It's coming, that's for sure. In fact, MSI apparently showed off 2 laptops with unofficially announced chipsets and graphics cards at CES:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/15/m...d-nvidia-nb8p/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/15/m...nced-intel-ch/
Indications seem to point to Q2, which would be on the far end of an m9750 release estimate, but I wonder if they would release a new model so close prior to the Santa Rosa introduction.
- ReadyDrive - This one is certainly contingent on the HDD manufacturers. I really didn't see any CES coverage that included talk about these, so it makes me wonder if they will be later in the year. However, indications from last year seemed to indicate hybrid drive availability to coincide with Vista's consumer release. Of course, drive replacement is always possible, so you could always upgrade later. The added benefit there is that future hybrid HDDs will likely contain more flash memory.
- ReadyBoost - Obviously, this is available now. USB drives, flash mem cards, and even ExpressCard flash memory can be used for this purpose with existing machines:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/13/h...ost-certified/
I do wonder though if ReadyBoost will benefit system's like these where many folks will probably have 2GB of RAM. From what I've read, it looks like ReadyBoost really benefits lower end systems that don't have a lot of RAM as a cheaper way to increase performance over bumping the RAM.
- Robson - This is obviously part and parcel with Santa Rosa. It seems to be a built-in version of ReadyBoost. Not sure if this will be available as soon as Santa Rosa is, but it seems like it will be.
For an overly technical article about these, AnandTech had one last September:
http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/...yes&i=2841&p=3
- DX10 Graphics card - This is one a lot of folks here are interested in. Hmmmm, I wonder when it will drop....
So what do you think folks? What are you betting we'll see in the initial m9750s?
Jeff
