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This post is both a keyboard test and a power test for the AMD A6-1450 Temash-based Acer V5 122P. I’m currently typing on the Acer Aspire V5 in Windows Live Writer and will be writing for about 10 minutes with the system in a low-power state. The energy saving power profile is keeping the CPU clock down to 1Ghz max and with a 50% screen brightness, WiFi off, keyboard backlight off and Perfmon running in the background I should be able to see just how long a typist could get out of this sub-notebook. It’s a test I did on the Samsung Series 5 recently and it’s a great one to see just how much ‘background’ power is used in a system. On the Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook test I saw an average system power usage of 6.4 Watts. Are AMD Temash products going to be better than that and good enough for some Ultra-Mobile products? Let’s find out.
I’ve been testing the Acer Aspire V5 122P, a subnotebook based on the new AMD Temash platform. As part of my testing I’ve been doing some CPU and GPU-specific tests that will give people and idea of the processing power and efficiency of the A6-1450 platform. You are invited to request a test if you feel it will add something to the assessment.
I previously highlighted AMD Temash as a potentially good platform for a mobile Windows 8 experience and after my first tests today I’m more convinced that we’ll see some interesting high-value Windows 8 designs including low-cost touch-enabled tablets. I’ve just received an Acer Aspire V5-122P running on the Temash platform (A6-1450) and have some first test results and thoughts for you in a video.
Live Today: Acer Aspire V5 122P, Dell 6430U live testing and Q&A. 21:00 Berlin time on our LIVE channel at Ultrabooknews. (ASUS Fonepad, Samsung ATIV 500T also available.)
Update: Detailed A6-1450 performance tests are being performed here.
Intel has just launched Silvermont, the new architecture core for Atom-based platforms. Silvermine will be used in the Bay Trail platform that will replace Clovertrail for Windows 8. Intel promises significant improvements in efficiency and products for the holiday season.
Intel’s Bay Trail Atom chip is the successor to the Clover Trail Atom CPU that currently powers a number of Windows 8 devices and is expected to provide a significant performance boost over its predecessor, could Acer be among the first manufacturers to release a Bay Trail device? If a recent rumored device is indeed real the answer could be yes. Meet the Bay Trail powered Acer WT5.
I’ve been collecting data on the distribution of mobile internet device screen sizes since 2009 when the first handheld computers arrived with Origami and UMPCs. At that time there were about 240 SKUs being offered in Germany and most were netbooks. Today there are about 1200 products being offered and the 7-inch category has exploded.
Welcome back to the story of the UMPC. We left the story early in 2011 with the Viliv X70EX UMPC – a 7-inch Windows 7 tablet running on Intel Atom. In the meantime we’ve seen a few niche products come and go and we’ve discussed the potential for a 7-inch UMPC on Clovertrail. Today we pick the story up again with the Acer W3.
The Wall Street Journal says that “people familiar” with Microsoft’s plans are tipping a new line-up of Surface Tablets, including a 7-inch model.
Is the UMPC coming back or are Microsoft planning a Windows RT-based 7-inch tablet?
It’s simple. If the Windows Store grows, there’s an opportunity for some innovation in this area. But only if the Windows Store grows considerably.
Of the laptop-like dockable Clovertrail tablets there are two that stand out. The ASUS VivoTab TF800 has a great keyboard, a stylish build and that all-important battery in the keyboard unit. The HP Envy is also up there and last week at CeBIT I had some quiet time alone with it thanks to the Intel booth. I really like it. I like it even more today as I’ve just found a price of $599 for the 64GB unit with keyboard.
Temash is AMD’s new computing platform aimed at Windows 8 tablets. Recently they teased some interesting docking functionality in which you could dock a Temash tablet onto a keyboard for a 40% processing power boost which is an idea that we’d love to see explored in the computing industry. Chippy has been on the show-floor of Mobile World Congress 2013 this week and got to check out Temash prototypes at the AMD booth.
I’ve finally had good hands-on time with every Clovertrail tablet, hybrid and convertible out there today. There are only 11 so it wasn’t too difficult but it’s a good position to be in. Which one is the best? Which one has the best docking keyboard? Which one is the best value? Which on is the best for YOU?
At MWC this week I took videos of the final seven Clovertrail-based Windows tablets and the results are below. I’ve outlined the targe customers and put some thoughts down about what’s the best Clovertrail Windows 8 tablet or hybrid.
I’ve had a chance to spend time with the LG Clovertrail-based slider, the H160. It’s the only Clovertrail device where the screen is separate for the Clovertrail platform.
I’ve had a chance to look at the HP Elitepad Smart Jackets and they’re not bad. They’re rugged, provide some good features and help to set the Elitepad apart from the rest of the Clovertrail Tablets.
First of all we’ve got the expansion jacket which offers 2x USB, HDMI and an SD card slot. You can also add an additional battery in the jacket.
There’s the productivity jacket which includes the keyboard, stand with adjustable angle, 2XUSB and full SD card slot. It makes a nice case for the Elitepad too.
Finally there’s the desk dock with power, Ethernet, VGA and HDMI out, 4XUSB, Kensington lock and line-out.
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After all the Clovertrail testing last week the plans to take a consumer tablet to MWC took a turn at the last minute. The Fujitsu Q702 turned up for testing and it bumped itself to the top of the list based on some amazing specs; the first and most important of which is a total 70Wh battery with 44Wh of that as a replaceable in the base. Hot-swap goodness!
Depending on your stance, this Fujitu Q702 is either a 11.6” ultra mobile PC – a tablet that weighs 850gm and includes a full Core i5 platform, or an Ultrabook when docked.
At 1700 Euro this is not something you buy without thought but here are a few things that might tempt you.
- Matt capacitive display with digitizer and pen (stowed on base)
- 3G (Sierra Wireless Gobi with GPS)
- 2×2 WiFi
- Fingerprint reader, VPro and TPM
- Full SD, Full Gig E. Full HDMI, Full VGA, Four USB ports
- Array mic, two webcams, very fast SSD
- Windows 8 Pro.
In yesterdays test I got a good 6hrs of work out of the Fujitsu Q702 with about an hour to spare. I have the mains cable with me today but it will probably stay in the hotel tomorrow.
My apologies to those who wanted some Clovertrail action. It was a risk that I was prepared to take but when the Q702 turned up, there were to many reasons to take it instead.
For information on what I’m doing at MWC this week, s Read more ...
I wrote about AMD Temash yesterday at Ultrabooknews but it’s a solution that reaches into UMPC space too and it means I have to write two articles!
Although it’s an Ultrabook-class processor, it’s down-clocked, has a Turbo feature and sits in the 4-6W TDP range. It’s an SoC too so this solution now becomes a very interesting competitor to both Clovertrail and Ivy Bridge. It’s possible to get Ivy Bridge into a tablet – see the Surface Pro – but AMD Temash, like the Fusion solutions that were introduced for Netbooks, seems better positioned.
Take a look at the article over at Ultrabooknews which highlights the new performance figures for the platform and shows the new ‘dock’ feature. The dock allows the Temash platform (actually only the AMD A6 1450 at the moment) to overclock when it is docked. We don’t have a feel for battery life advantages yet although there’s mention of a new lower-power state and advanced ‘gating.’
Unfortunately AMD haven’t gone the whole way to provide an external PCI bus and higher-power discreet graphics in the dock but maybe the GPU in Temash is already powerful enough. It certainly competes with the HD 4000 in Ultrabooks.
I’ll be at MWC next week so I’ll have a change to get more details on Temash and Temash-based products.
It’s good to see competition in the Windows 8 mobile CPU space.
Source: Read more ...
I must be nuts. I’ve just paid 900 Euro for an Atom-based notebook. Or am I?
A few days ago I bought the Samsung ATIV 500T after a disappointing time with the Lenovo Lynx keyboard (of all things Lenovo!) The unboxing went well until I spotted a connectivity problem between the dock and the tablet. I really wasn’t very happy. Today I swapped it out for a new one. I also spotted the 3G version in stock so I end up paying 899 Euro. It’s more expensive than at other retailers too although, for you US people, it’s a business sale which is 19% tax-free here in Germany.
There’s no question that the Acer W510 is now stable enough, has huge amounts of battery power and is portable enough to be a real advantage for a mobile blogger but is it good enough in other departments, namely CPU, storage and keyboard? Can this 1300gm dockable do the business?
[Update below]
The Acer W510 is an Intel Clovertrail-based tablet with docking keyboard and battery. Not only is the tablet very efficient at running Windows 8 but there’s a total of 60Wh of battery in total, equivalent to a good 6-cell on a netbook. That’s a huge amount for such a small device and combined with super efficiency and Connected Standby is means there should be absolutely no need for a power cable during a 16hours period of working – typical for the sort of trade-show working I’m thinking of next week at MWC in Barcelona.
But is it comfortable enough? Under the pressure of having to get videos and blog posts out as soon as possible is the keyboard and CPU combination – a borderline one at the best of times – going to cause me to, well, lose productiity? Or is the portability and battery life going to be worth the potentially longer video rendering times, the raised stress levels when typing and the annoyance at applications that don’t start up immediately. The Wi-Fi isn’t professional-grade either!
There are other things to think about too.
Ethernet – You want to be able to connect via cable to get those videos up as quickly as possible. Solution – USB Ethernet cable. I’m using it right now!
3G – Built-in 3G would be really good. The W511 has it but I really can’t afford to trade-up right now. The good old MiFi unit, tied to a battery pack, will have to do 3G duties.
Cam – Forget using a cam on any tablet for good quality YouTube Read more ...
As I wrote about driver update V2.04 for the Acer W510 I noticed a few user reports of poor connected standby battery life. The following day I heard about V2.08. I updated again but I was seeing some serious Connected Standby issues. Battery life was way below what it should have been.
Here’s some information about how you can access a very cool battery life report on Windows 8, check your CS figures and potentially fix your problem. I hope you take the time to contribute your report or thoughts in the comments below too.
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I took the Lenovo Lynx back to my retailer today (because of this keyboard issue) and came away with a Samsung ATIV 500T and docking keyboard. I’m desperately looking for a good, long-battery life Windows 8 Touch writing / blogging laptop and even though the Samsung ATIV 500T is expensive and doesn’t come with an additional battery in the keyboard dock I decided to give it a try. I’ve unboxed it, presented it and tested the keyboard in the video below. I’ve also hit a deal-breaker. The connector between the keyboard and the tablet isn’t working properly and the keyboard disconnects if you move the tablet. You have no idea how annoyed I am at Samsung. The rest of the device was looking near perfect (Note:for me.) Sigh!
At this stage I’ve simply pushed the ATIV to the side of my desk. Clearly it needs to go back to the retailer again but I just can’t face going back-and-forth because of poor quality control on an 800 EURO ATOM-BASED convertible. Why should I waste my time? You’ll see my frustration on the video.
I’ll continue to try and get hold of test models for UMPCPortal but I’m pulling out my 800 Euros investment until I can be 100% sure of a good product.
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Always-on is the a feature you’ll find with Connected Standby-capable Windows 8 PCs.
Some people think they don’t need it. Let me explain why you need it.
Connected Standby (or Always On, Always Connected – AOAC) is the mark of a ground-breaking new category of PCs that will not only be always-on capable but will have hardware that is so efficient that it will completely change what you think is good battery life.