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Gadgets VIA Showcases OpenBook Mini-Note
Brandon Hill (Blog) - May 27, 2008 6:00 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 15 comment(s) - last by wordsworm.. on May 27 at 7:24 PM

VIA OpenBook  (Source: VIA Technologies, Inc)

  (Source: VIA Technologies, Inc)

Everex CloudBook Max  (Source: Everex)
A case of déjà vu sets in with VIA's OpenBook Mini-Note reference design.

The low-cost notebook market has exploded in recent months following the launch of the ASUS Eee PC. Many of the big names in the business have already launched products to compete in the sector (Hewlett Packard, Everex) while others are putting the finishing touches on their forthcoming entries (Dell, MSI, ECS).

VIA doesn't want to be left behind in what is seen as a growing market and today launched its OpenBook mini-note reference design. The OpenBook is based around VIA's venerable C7-M processor (1.0GHz to 1.6GHz) and features the new VX800 integrated chipset (VIA Chrome9, DirectX 9.0) to handle graphics duties.

The OpenBook comes equipped with an 8.9" display -- like many of its competitors -- and features a resolution of 1024x600. Other features include three USB 2.0 ports, 4-in-1 media reader, 2MP digital camera, VGA connector, WiFi, and Bluetooth. The OpenBook can also be optioned with WiMAX, HSDPA, or EV-DO depending on your usage needs. Users can also choose from a variety of HDD or solid state disk (SSD) storage options.

Another thing to take note of is the "open" part of the OpenBook -- VIA gives manufacturers full access to the CAD plans of the notebook so that they can develop their own notebooks thanks to a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license.

"The VIA OpenBook builds on the great success of the VIA NanoBook reference design launched last year, which has been widely adopted by numerous customers around the world," remarked VIA's VP of Corporate Marketing, Richard Brown. "Our unique open approach to case design customization and wireless connectivity flexibility, coupled with the higher levels of performance, further extends VIA's leadership in the global mini-note market."

If all of this sounds familiar, it should come as no surprise that an eerily similar product was announced by Everex in early April. Although VIA informed us that the "[Everex] CloudBook Max was designed by a different company," one only needs to look at the pictures and the specifications to see that the two notebooks are virtual twins.

That being said, the VIA OpenBook will be compatible with Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows XP, and Linux when it ships later this year. Pricing has not yet been announced for notebooks using this reference design, but expect them to occupy the $400 to $600 price range depending on communications and storage options.

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Why XP?
By kenferg1 on 5/27/2008 9:19:24 AM , Rating: 1
Why don't the vendors of these little notebooks use something like the Windows Mobile software to run apps? It seems to me that with the limited resources of these laptops that building on a smaller OS than XP (Linux is scalable) would be beneficial. Thoughts?




RE: Why XP?
By ochentay4 on 5/27/2008 10:10:41 AM , Rating: 2
simply, because its more useful to have xp and its pletora of apps.


RE: Why XP?
By Lonyo on 5/27/2008 10:32:53 AM , Rating: 2
Yup. XP works with all XP apps, Windows Mobile probably pretty much doesn't. Going with a different solution like Windows Mobile means you lose a lot of support for software, ignoring any OS/hardware issues.


RE: Why XP?
By mindless1 on 5/27/2008 5:46:46 PM , Rating: 2
and yet, a larger more powerful notebook is also more useful. I still can't believe manufacturers will buy the idea that people are going to pay $400 or more for something with a 1024x600 screen. These should cost significantly less than their larger counterparts in an era where you can get a full sized notebook for $400.


RE: Why XP?
By psychobriggsy on 5/27/2008 10:16:13 AM , Rating: 2
Well Windows Mobile / Windows CE is pretty nasty overall. I don't even know if it has drivers or acceleration for standard x86 chipsets. It is certainly a subset of functionality. Linux is the obvious answer, but if Microsoft provide a cheap XP it's a hard sell even if you can optimise the solution for the device.


RE: Why XP?
By FITCamaro on 5/27/2008 10:51:06 AM , Rating: 2
I think Windows CE will work on x86 platforms. After all the original Xbox ran a version of Windows CE for its OS. Anyways, even if it didn't, support will likely be added soon with the new Atom processor having the potential to bring x86 to a ton of new mobile devices.


RE: Why XP?
By wordsworm on 5/27/2008 7:22:15 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Thoughts?

Look, it can use XP. They're not going to be building these laptops. They're reference designs. Neither Nvidia nor AMD make their own motherboards, but they do provide reference designs. Other companies will want different options: some will want to run XP, others Vista Basic, and still others Vista. It will run any of the three. Of course, the more versatile you are, the more likely a company will find you can do what it is they have in mind. Companies have to fabricate these laptops. Via isn't doing it.


RE: Why XP?
By wordsworm on 5/27/2008 7:24:05 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
and still others Vista.
erm... should read 'and still others Linux.'


if only...
By RaptorZA on 5/27/2008 6:25:08 AM , Rating: 5
if only it had a CN/Isiah cpu




RE: if only...
By StevoLincolnite on 5/27/2008 7:47:41 AM , Rating: 2
I agree, I think I'll be jumping on these mini-notebooks once Via has released the Isiah, by that time we should see how the Atom Stacks up, This is a good time for Via, as they can get back to there former glory before nVidia entered the chipset market, which means more choices and more competitive hardware.

I used to have a Via C7 2ghz chippy in a desktop a few years back, the machine was perfectly fine, not the fastest but it was perfect for my granny who I later gave to, and now she happily plays popcap games and writes letters out.


RE: if only...
By mindless1 on 5/27/2008 5:57:46 PM , Rating: 2
What former glory? Via has for the most part been an undesirable (chipset) manufacturer with products having lower performance and at least their share of bugs. Their primary reason for having market share is they underpriced Intel and to a lesser extent, supported AMD platforms.

Were you referring to their low power processors? Take any Intel mobile CPU from the respective era, undervolt and underclock it till it had about the same performance as Via's alternative, and you'd find the power savings of that Via alternative practically disappeared.

IMO, Via has only done one thing noteworthy, pushing for small form factors to be used as PCs when the market mostly reserved this for industrial computers prior to that. It was inevitable that it happen, but nobody else had as much interest in exploiting that low volume market niche at the time. They also managed to convince (trick?) people into thinking a CPU die the fraction of the size of others was still worth nearly as much money as the low end contemporary alternatives from Intel or AMD.


RE: if only...
By StevoLincolnite on 5/27/2008 6:28:22 PM , Rating: 2
Via used to be a large company, they were practically the only good choice of chipsets for the Socket 7 platform, The processors are cheap, cool and do the job, Sure you could underclock any Intel processor, but most don't want to know, or don't know how to do so.

I'm a little bit saddened by the fact that Via didn't continue the S3 Savage Legacy of Graphics cards, they were decent performers back in the day, especially with the S3TC, which made S3 Cards have better image quality in games like Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 Arena.
However they are still playing with the brand by releasing various Deltachrome products, and we should have a Direct X 10 part from them any time now.

After the 440BX Chipsets from Intel, Via released the Apollo Line for the Pentium 3, I had one of these boards, and they were a fantastic solid platform, and the machine is still going today almost a decade after I purchased it, still overclocks like a champ, had larger memory support than the Intel boards at the time.

Via did release several "Great" products, but soon the "cool stuff" went to the way side when nVidia Encroached on Via's market, making Via cut back on things like R&D.
I'm still amazed on how much they have recycled the old Cyrix chips.


RE: if only...
By FITCamaro on 5/27/2008 10:51:59 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah I might look at one of these small notebooks for sitting on the couch with once Isiah/Atom variants start popping up.


No offence, Brandon, but...
By wordsworm on 5/27/2008 8:31:21 AM , Rating: 5
I think you missed out on the real beauty and uniqueness of this particular notebook. As it states, it's an 'open notebook.' What you're looking at are reference designs. It makes me think of how with motherboards, AMD and Nvidia, provide reference designs which other companies, such as Sapphire and ASUS, are free to copy, emulate, or modify. I think this is a brilliant move that may or may not pay off. Certainly, it seems to me, this is a pioneering move that I think your article doesn't really seem to acknowledge.

Here's a link to the article from CrunchGear: http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/05/27/via-launches-...




Runtime can't be very good.
By mindless1 on 5/27/2008 6:19:26 PM , Rating: 3
According to Via's specs, this uses 2600mAH battery pack. Expect it to be tethered to an AC outlet (too) often.

I hope designers and manufacturers eventually realize that there are customers out there that would prefer a slightly thicker notebook (rear) design or a few ounces added weight, in order to get substantially longer runtime, longer viable lifespan from the battery pack, and smaller charge-period:runtime ratio. Give it a big enough pack and you could literally charge for 10 minutes and use it for hours.




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