back to article Toshiba unveils ARM, Nvidia-based smartbook

Toshiba's dual-screen Libretto palmtop may be a gimmick, but its AC100 smartbook, also announced today, is the business. Described as a "Mobile Internet Device", the AC100 is really a netbook - Toshiba is simply avoiding the word because its new, skinny boy is based on ARM chippery rather than Intel's Atom platform. Toshiba …

COMMENTS

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  1. Torben Mogensen

    Screen resolution

    It looks good, but why, oh why only 1024x600 screen resolution. I know this is considered "standard" for netbooks, but, unless it is dirt cheap, I will not buy a netbook or smartbook with less than 1280x720 pixels. Are 1280x720 displays that much more expensive than 1024x600 displays?

  2. Insane Reindeer
    Thumb Up

    I'm not jumping for joy quite yet....

    In fact I will not even claim to be getting the credit card ready and damn the cost. I will say however that I am very interested in this device and despite the old school gadget lover part of me wanting to get one as soon as it hit's the shelves, I am determined to wait at least six months to see how it pans out.

  3. Alex Walsh

    ARM netbooks

    Supposed to be cheaper aren't they? Who wants to be this will be priced based on the features rather than cost+?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    mmmm

    Rather Ubuntu or Debain then Android, I've not a fan of touch pads over touch screens and Nvidia aren't my favourite due to dragging their feet on Linux driver evolution (KMS etc), but still, if the price is right, I might forget all that....

  5. Mobius
    Megaphone

    Crappy resolution

    As they are not using any Intel components, they won't have had their arms twisted by Chipzilla's retarded contractual screen resolution requirements.

    Surely we can now do better on ARMbook screen resolution, or perhaps through this questionable business practice Intel has completely killed off display innovation in this form factor?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Looks good, but ...

    "The AC100 has 512MB of DDR 2 memory on board and an 8GB SSD - you work in the cloud, see?"

    No I bloody well don't.

    OTOH, since Android is probably less bloated than Windows and, to a lesser extent, a full-on Linux distro, it could be that 512Mb is plenty - I'm going out on a limb here since I've never used Android.

    Liking the carbon fibre look as well, even if the 1024x600 screen is a fail.

  7. AnonymousDareDevil

    Ubuntu, please

    Very interesting, but wrong choice of OS.

    Android would be great in a slate/tablet/pad, but in a netbook it's just... silly.

    Also, 8GB is too small, cloud or no cloud. 64 GB would be perfect.

  8. spencer
    Thumb Up

    8G is fine.

    8G is a big step up from the first netbooks. They were 2-4G.

    I'm sure you could stick a different Linux distro on it if you wanted.

    I'm very excited about this, will probably buy on launch..

  9. joejack
    FAIL

    Boooo!!!

    Agreed - Android with no touch-screen interface is just ridiculous. I'm holding out for a slate, with proper driver support for any bluetooth keyboard. 1280x720 would be a bonus.

    I'd like the look of the thing, if it were for an Ubuntu netbook.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    "Toshiba is simply avoiding the word netbook"

    "Toshiba is simply avoiding the word netbook because its new, skinny boy is based on ARM chippery rather than Intel's Atom platform."

    Huh?

    Until last year, Netbook was a trademark of Psion or its successors.

    When Psion invented the netbook, ten years or so ago, what chippery did it have in? What chippery did it have in it for the rest of its all too brief life? ARM chippery, obviously.

    Very silly, Toshiba.

    Speaking of silly...

    "<tosh> won't have had their arms twisted by Chipzilla's retarded contractual screen resolution requirements."

    Can I read more about this anywhere? It's the first I've heard of it, but it's by no means a surprise, based on past experience in a slightly different market.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Can it Do "High Profile" AVC streamed content though

    Tony, would you mind actually qualifying your "since the Tegra can handle HD content with ease - and HDMI output." statement please, as in, can it actually play smoothly generic x264 encoded <b> "High Profile" </b> level 3.1 through level 4.1 AVC/H.264 at

    WSVGA 1024×576 ,16:9 ratio ,1.778 ,589,824 pixels

    and scaled

    720p (WXGA, min.) 1280×720 ,16:9 ratio ,1.778 ,921,600 pixels

    900p 1600×900 , 16:9 ratio, 1.778 , 1,440,000 pixels and/or

    1080p 1920×1080 ,16:9 ratio , 1.778 , 2,073,600 pixels

    non of this antiquated crap 2006 esq "Baseline Profile" , or even "Main Profile" ONLY "High Profile matters today and in the future, after all even the BBC HD content right now is encoded as "High Profile" AVC at 2Mbit/s for their 720P and 3.5Kbit/s 1080P

  12. Neil 7
    Thumb Up

    Price

    Towards the end of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Xr9ZSnXxQ the Toshiba bloke quotes a price of 40,000 to 50,000 Yen which in real money is £300-£375. Hopefully it will be closer to the bottom end of that scale, only then will this have a fighting chance against Atom based netbooks.

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