What's new in the world of notebook computers?
By Zatni Arbi
JAKARTA (JP): I still remember what a friend from Siemens Nixdorf once said to me: "A PC is a PC is a PC." He had a point. What he meant was that computer vendors could not compete on the processor alone, since the overall performance of their systems would not differ very much as long as they all incorporate CPUs of the same class.
Machines based on the Intel Pentium 166 MHz chips, for instance, will probably deliver the same level of speed and processing power. Even when there are some performance differences, most users won't notice them. Unless, of course, the design of certain components, such as the main board and the BIOS, is extremely good or extremely bad.
What, then, should vendors concentrate on to compete with each other? Innovative features, for sure. Not surprisingly, vendors have been pushing their R&D divisions very hard and expect them to come out with cool features and smart designs that will make using their products ever more enjoyable.
Once these innovative features are tested in the market and users like them, they are soon copied by other vendors. Take the slim design of notebooks, for example. Digital was the first to come out with its HiNote Ultra. Then IBM came out with its really cool ThinkPad 560. Now we are seeing more and more notebooks that tout their slimness and minimal weight, like the ones from Fujitsu and Hitachi.
Two leading notebook computer vendors launched their new product lines in Jakarta in the last ten days. One was Texas Instruments, and the other was Compaq. The former was a finalist at the recent PC Expo in which the Byte magazine gave away various awards. The latter was a recipient of Byte's Best of Show and Best of Portability awards.
New from Texas
TI's new top-of-the-line notebook, TravelMate 6000, boasts a new patented technology that the company calls 'heat dissipation'. This mechanism reportedly reduces the heat buildup that is common in notebooks with high-performance processors. Other notebooks, such as the Compaq LTE, have a fan that will automatically start spinning when the heat buildup inside the notebook case reaches a certain point. Fans are inherently noisy, so we definitely welcome TI's innovation in solving the heat problem.
Most of the other features of the TM 6000, however, are what you've come to expect to find in a high-end notebook: A powerful 120 MHz or 133 MHz Pentium processor, a large active-matrix screen, a large hard disk, a TrackPoint or a TouchPad pointing device, IrDA-compliant infra-red communication ports, and a modular drive bay into which you can snap an interchangeable peripheral such as a CD-ROM drive, a floppy drive, or an extra battery.
Unlike the ThinkPad 760ED I reviewed recently, however, the TM 6000 doesn't have a built-in DSP. You'll need a fax/modem PC Card to get connected. You'll also need an MPEG card if you wish to play MPEG video on the notebook. Fortunately, although these nifty features are not built in, the TM 6030 (133 MHz) is about US$ 2,000 less than the fully-loaded ThinkPad.
By the way, Intel 150 MHz and 166 MHz Pentium chips have trickled down to the notebook world, too, although you will have to wait for them to become available here. TI informed me that they expect the 150 MHz version of TM 6000 to become available in a month or two. However, those with a more limited budget can still buy the Extensa Series.
Flexible Armada
Compaq's new line, the Armada 4100 series, are more intriguing because they introduce new notebook design options. First, you can carry it in one of three form-factors. Just take out everything and leave the battery in the slot, you'll have a very light and slim notebook that would fit more into the subnotebook category. Or add the detachable handle and a floppy drive or a CD ROM drive, and you'll have a standard notebook. The handle stores a tubular Lithium Ion battery. With the handle in place, the notebook really reminds me of my dad's Philips transistor radio back in the early 1960s.
If you want a multimedia, you can buy what the company calls the Mobile CD Unit, or MCDU. This flat base can house a 4x CD ROM drive, an extra Lithium Ion battery, two speakers, and a port replicator. Take a look at the accompanying picture, and you'll have an idea of how the two parts of this notebook will be attached to each other. Taking them apart is easy, you just unscrew the lower layer from the base of the notebook and pull a lever to disengage the data connector.
As you may have guessed, for the office the Armadas can be fitted with a docking station that comes complete with a port replicator. It comes standard with a TouchPad, but if you don't like this kind of pointing device you can buy an optional TrackBall and replace the pad. Compaq seems to have realized that not very many people find the TrackPoint stick very useful after all; you don't find it on any of the new Armada Series.
At the high end, Compaq still offers the LTE series -- now dubbed the LTE 5000 Series. As low-end Pentium notebooks, the company replaced the Contura with the Armada 1100 Series that run on 75 and 100 MHz processors.
The Armada 4100 Series has a feature that I like a lot and I think other notebooks should also adopt. On top of the function key row there are four programmable keys. You can program each of them to carry out a specific command, such as launching a presentation application. Full-size desktop keyboards have had this feature for a long time, and I can't see any reason why notebooks should not be equipped similarly.
One thing that the TravelMate 6000 and the Armada 4100 Series have in common is that their sound capability is SoundBlaster compatible as well as full duplex. With the emergence of Internet Phone, the latter is becoming very important since it will allow you to simultaneously talk and listen when you use the system as your phone device. With a half duplex sound card, you will have to stop talking if you want to listen to the guy on the other end. A full-duplex sound card, on the other hand, will let you use your PC or notebook as a conventional phone, because the system can process incoming and outgoing sounds simultaneously. So, because of this, make sure you are getting the full-duplex one if you happen to be in the market for a new sound card.
In the meantime, we can expect to see other vendors adopting some of the new practical features above in their own products.