Netbook Obsesion.

[Vittra]

Thunderbolt is now gaining traction through TB3, albeit not in the particular sphere we are talking about in this thread. It did take 3 generations to really see any movement at all beyond some incredibly niche scenarios, no doubt abouit it. A major reason for adoption is due to the fact that it has adopted the USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, and via Intel's Alpine Ridge controller, both protocols can be used interchangeably. This is dependent on an Intel Alpine Ridge controller being used though - it cannot be an Asmedia USB 3.1 Gen 2 implementation.

Quite a few products in CES 2016 showcased TB3 though. The Skylake based XPS 13 / 15 both have Thunderbolt 3 via Type-C USB connectors, probably in part showcase this as well as eGPU, but major manufacturers are now creating those mentioned external GPU enclosures such as the Razer Core and Asus ROG XG2. These will connect back to the PC via a PCI-E 3.0 x4 lane, which - contrary to what most people believe - is still sufficient bandwidth for any single card (single core/single gpu, not single dual gpu) on the market. Pascal and Polaris may change bandwidth needs, but that's mere speculation.

Perhaps the closest to what would match within this thread would be the new Razer Blade Stealth / Razer Core combo used in tandem - here's a general idea of that. The Blade Stealth was mentioned earlier in the thread, albeit vaguely.

I'm not a particular fan of Razer for quite a few reasons, but this is undeniably pretty damn interesting to me. Perhaps Clevo or Sager will tackle something similar themselves for current gen tech - I'll be looking at the options you mentioned in a moment .

[Leslieann]

You're making the exact same arguments as 1394 users did near the end... Razer and Asus Rog are far from being Dell, HP, Asus commercial or Lenovo, they are a niche market product and will not save it. It may not die entirely, but it will move to the fringe like 1394 did.

By the time Thunderbolt gets fully implemented into mainstream products  (if ever) the next iteration of USB will be out and do 80-90% of what it does, at far less cost and have backwards compatibility with existing USB C devices which will be all over the place. At which point everyone who gets a system with it will look at it and wonder why they bothered. That's IF it gets that far.

Thunderbolt doesn't offer anything for over USB, it won't make a printer, mouse, or keyboard faster, only more expensive and require yet another cable. The proof of all of this is in your own message, they merged it into USB C. Why? because they already know that USB C is going to be the dominant port and giving Thunderbolt it's own port is a waste of space.


I'm not saying the idea of using a Thunderbolt powered video card isn't cool but have you looked at the size and estimated cost of that thing? The laptop is $1000 and it will be late this year before the box comes out, if ever and will retail for an estimated $500, without card (say $300). That's $1800. I could buy a seriously fast mini-ITX system that same size and a large monitor for less. I would be more comfortable, faster, and have a larger, higher resolution screen, and enough left over to buy a pretty darn nice laptop, probably even THAT laptop.

[Vittra]

I have no intention of arguing that Thunderbolt 3 will replace USB, it just won't happen, I agree. It will however be absolutely be more useful than firewire ever was - it is a unified protocol (data, display, audio, ethernet all possible) unlike firewire, and is compatible with USB ports on Alpine Ridge implementations. Plug USB or Thunderbolt devices into the same Type-C ports - your choice, and depending on need (see below), you're good to go. I doubt Intel chipsets themselves will ever see TB integrated, but so far they haven't embedded USB 3 either. We're relying on third party controllers for USB 3.1 Gen 1 and Gen 2 (Asmedia typically) . Might as well get the TB3 functionality with it as well (Intel Alpine Ridge).

Here's where it matters (right now). Currently, USB 3.1 Gen 2 is 10Gb/s of bandwidth. Thunderbolt 3 is 40Gb/s of bandwidth. To give you a frame of reference, that Dell 4K 120hz panel can only be run with Thunderbolt 3 at the moment. No other protocol has the bandwidth (including HDMI 2.0 2 18Gb/s), until Displayport 1.4 arrives.. whenever. If the very least Intel does is push the consortium's to get things done more quickly, that's fine with me too.

No argument regarding pricing - for me the only interest is pure portability while still retaining the grunt for gaming while at home. I'd be using a discrete monitor and GPU while at home. No doubt it's far more economical to just build another rig as you stated, but the same can be said of the plethora of SFF pursuits we do over at smallformfactor.net, hardforum and elsewhere. I spent a small fortune on my custom loop NCASE M1, and my Kimera Cerberus build will be equally silly. The fun for me is pushing the boundaries of what is currently capable!

[Leslieann]

Intel owns, designed and controls Thunderbolt, as well as a huge portion of the chipset market, if anyone could have made it take off, they could have. And all of that bandwidth doesn't matter, that's a $5000 monitor, it will be a decade before it's even remotely mainstream, by then, ports will have changed again. Don't get me wrong, I wish they would have pushed it more to replace USB, but they themselves crippled it from day one. By the way, some Intel chipsets do now have native USB 3.0 support.

Honestly, after reading a bit more on this, I worry Type C is going to be a pain in the neck. Some support Mini Display Port, some will do Thunderbolt, some will do ethernet... That's great, but we're relying on companies to accurately identify which will do what, that hasn't exactly work too well in the past.

I wanted one of those N1 cases, but I was trying to unify my desktop and server hardware at the time and by the time I got how many I needed, it was rather expensive. Besides, they all just sit on a shelf in the basement out of sight anyhow.

[slip84]

When I was back home in MO to see my parents, I caught an M11x with an i5 / GT 540M and have been pretty happy with it. The guy who had it refurbed it pretty hardcore, but there are a few things I want to clean up on it. One of the speakers doesn't work and one of the two headphone jacks is broken, otherwise it's very nearly mint.

For five-year-old computer, it's still pretty decent to use on a daily basis. I use it as my main portable for now and have been pretty happy with it. An SSD and additional memory were pretty necessary.

[Darkshado]

The closest I've owned to a netbook is an Acer C720 Chromebook, a rarer Atom 4GB RAM model. Put an 128GB M2 SSD in it and ran Linux.

Initially, I had bought a Samsung (C330 ?) Chromebook on an impulse, as I was looking for a small Linux friendly laptop. Realized the Linux support for it was going to be an issue, plus the C720 2GB was around the same price for much better specs, the 4GB not much more.

After a few months use, turned out the form factor was too small. Much better than hauling a heavyweight 15" but IDEs got really cramped. Later bought an X1 Carbon to replace it. Same weight, 14" screen instead of 11", but $$$$ in comparison.

Brought the Chromebook back to original configuration (16GB SSD and ChromeOS) and it's now on standby to replace a relative's Acer netbook on its last miles: parts are held together with tape!

On an unrelated note about Clevo and Sager: Sager is one of three North American importers of Clevo laptops I'm aware of. The other two are Eurocom (Ottawa, ON) and Pro-Star (City of Industry, CA).

[Leslieann]

For five-year-old computer, it's still pretty decent to use on a daily basis. I use it as my main portable for now and have been pretty happy with it. An SSD and additional memory were pretty necessary.

While processors have gotten a little better, hardware requirements for Windows hasn't really increased since Windows 7. Anything Core I series, and even some of the higher end Core 2s will run Win10 quite well so long as it has at least 4 gigs of memory. I prefer 8, and getting 8gigs into a Core 2 is expensive, so it's easier to just get a Core I series. And of course, in all cases add an SSD.