NEWEST ASUS LAPTOP

Newegg, ZipZoomFly Get Onboard With $350 ASUS Eee PC 4G Surf

The Eee PC is a small ('ultra-portable') computer designed by Intel and ASUS. According to ASUS, the name Eee (pronounced as the letter e, IPA /iː/) derives from "the three Es", a contraction of their advertising slogan "Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play"

The Eee PC uses a solid-state drive for storage (instead of a hard drive) which consumes less power, allows the device to boot quickly and makes it less susceptible to shock damage. The SSD disk is permanently soldered to the board, to save space by reducing the wiring needed. The RAM in the 4G and 8G Eee PC models are replaceable with one slot for a maximum of 2GB memory, however the upgrade would also effectively void the warranty. However, pursuant to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the warranty cannot be voided in the US in this manner.

Storage can be expanded by using the Secure Digital Card compliant memory card slot located on the right side. SD and SDHC memory cards mount virtually flush into the spring-loaded slot. Removal of the memory card is done by pushing in the card until it clicks and ejects.

Many retailers have been hovering in and out of stock of ASUS' highly popular Eee PC 4G Linux-powered notebook. The two-pound Eee PC 4G has garnered rave reviews from around the web and has sprouted a fan site which details every conceivable aspect of the device.

The first shipments of Eee PCs to hit the retail market were of the Eee PC 4G which features a 900MHz Celeron Processor (which happens to run at 630MHz on a 70MHz bus), 512MB of DDR2 memory (upgradeable), a 7" display, integrated webcam and a 4-cell 5200 mAh battery (3.5 hours). The notebook was first available in Pearl White; however, Galaxy Black was later introduced.

Now it appears that the second wave of Eee PCs is starting to appear online. Newegg and ZipZoomFly are both stocking the new Eee PC 4G Surf model (Galaxy Black only). The 4G Surf has 512MB of DDR2 memory soldered onto the motherboard -- it is not upgradeable like regular 4G. In addition, the 4G Surf lacks the webcam and features a 4-cell 4400 mAh battery (2.8 hours).

The reduced feature set also means that the 4G Surf comes with a lower price tag: $349.99 versus $399.99 for the 4G.

The lower price is welcome news to those that need the extra frills afforded by the webcam and the ability to upgrade the memory, but many may not be willing to cope with reduced battery life as well.

Rambus Chip

Rambus Aims for Terabyte-Per-Second Memory Bandwidth

Rambus Inc. plans to announce this Wednesday a new memory signaling technology initiative targeted at delivering a Terabyte-per-second of memory bandwidth, which the company touts as a solution for next-generation multi-core, game and graphics applications.

Rather than simply increasing the clock speed of memory to achieve higher output, Rambus looks to boost bandwidth with a 32X data rate. Just as DDR memory technologies doubles transfer on a single, full clock signal cycle, Rambus’ proposed technology is able to data at 32 times the reference clock frequency. With 32X technology, the memory company is targeting a bandwidth of 16Gbps per DQ link with memory running at 500MHz. In contrast, today’s DDR3 at 500MHz achieves a bandwidth of 1Gbps.

“We're really excited about the Terabyte Bandwidth Initiative and the technologies that we've developed,” said Steven Woo, a senior principle engineer at Rambus. “The work of a large team of our scientists and engineers is pushing memory signaling technology to new levels of performance.”

Of course, it requires a little explanation on how a technology that enables a DQ link 16Gbps of bandwidth could result in a Terabyte of throughput. Rambus’ aim for the technology is to grant Terabyte bandwidth to a system on a chip (SoC) architecture, and such may be achieved with 16 DRAMs operating at 16Gbps, 4-bytes wide per device.

Another innovation that Rambus plans to integrate into its Terabyte memory initiative is FlexLink C/A (command/address), which the company claims is the industry’s first full-speed, scalable, point-to-point C/A link – with the C/A running at full speed along with the DQ. FlexLink C/A also simplifies the interface between the memory controller and DRAM. For example, traditional legacy interfaces may require a 12 wire interface, FlexLink C/A can operate point-to-point with just two wires.

Furthermore, FlexLink C/A is named for its flexibility given to system designers, as now the overhead wires freed from the FlexLink C/A interfaces may be devoted to more data wires. Conversely, the model may offer greater bandwidth with the addition of more FlexLink C/A wires, making the technology more easily scalable.

Rambus’ Terabyte bandwidth initiative will use a fully differential memory architecture, which will employ differential signaling for both the C/A and DQ. While current DDR3 and GDDR5 memory use differential signaling for data and strobe, Rambus aims for full differential at the DQ and C/A. Advantages of going full differential include better signal integrity, especially due to its suitability for use in low-voltage electronics, such as memory.

While this Terabyte bandwidth memory method isn’t slated for market until 2011, Rambus has recently received early silicon capable of demonstrating its technology. The early test rig uses emulated DRAM chips, connected to a Rambus memory controller at a 32X data rate capable of 64Gbps. Rambus will show its silicon test vehicle this Wednesday at the Rambus Developer Forum in Tokyo, Japan.