3.04 lbs- 1.03 inches thick
- single-core CPU @ 1.2 GHz, with 800 MHz FSB & 512 KB L2 Cache
- 2 GB of DDR2
- ATI Radeon X1270 graphics
- AMD RS690E chipset
- 250 GB hard drive
- 802.11b/g
- 11.6-inch high-def WXGA Ultrabrite LED-backlit display
- 3 x USB 2.0, multi-card reader,
- high-def audio support, a mic & audio out
- 0.3 mp webcam.
- Windows Vista
This is the Gateway LT3103u – a new netbook containing the AMD Athlon 64 L110 chipset. The price? Well, this one is $400. But if they can make an Athlon 64 Netbook for $400, what can they do with a mobile Turion?
Can you say $100 netbook?
Last week I listened to Dr. Michio Kaku talk about “Disposable Computers”. The data will be in the cloud, the computer will be a facet to get to it. It won’t be totally disposable, but the idea is you will not continue to use the same machine to get to your information.
In order to get to that state, we need machines that are not only deemed “Disposable”, but also safe to dispose of.
Still, the first step is to create low cost machine. A netbook is a low cost machine. More compact and easier to use in some ways. Heck, I wished I had one on the flight to Vegas last week. I sat trying to use my laptop with the 13″ screen. You would have laughed at how I was positioned to use it.
The guy next to me had an iPod and a guy across the aisle from me had a DVD player to watch movies. The person in front of us had a netbook. They were working on a project – but they were working more comfortably.
So what would we need to get to a $100 Netbook? Well, first and formost, technology must have low overhead. A $100 machine should cost less than a $100 to make.
According to Business Week, an Apple iPhone 3GS costs $180 to make. It’s predecessor – when it came out – was averaged to cost $220. Next years model could cost $140. Within 5 years we could see Apple iPhones at $99 simply because the phone costs less than $80 to build.
Apply that ideal to a netbook.
AMD says they are not entering into the Netbook market, but wanted to give a “High End” solution for netbooks. I am sorry AMD, but you can’t really say “We are not in the netbook market – by the way, here is a netbook”. Besides, if you don’t embrace the technology, someone else will find an alternative and you could be left to explain to investors why you didn’t take the opportunity.
Do we have $100 Netbooks already?
A couple months ago, we heard about Freescale semiconductors efforts to use an ARM chip and Google Android to make a $100 netbook. Great for surfing, video and small tasks. Yet, it’s not a netbook; It is a Smartbook.
Functionality of a notebook – portability of a netbook. Add to it a price that can’t be beat. That is what we want.
Wait, no. Add to it the fact that a netbook can now be FASTER than the notebook I currently own for a lesser price than I paid. Yet that is the Technology way, right?
Dear AMD: Make a low cost netbook. Thanks.