By: Michael S (already5chosen.delete@this.yahoo.com), May 5, 2012 2:02 pm
Room: Moderated Discussions
Doug Siebert (foo@bar.bar) on 5/5/12 wrote:
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>The thing is, ARM doesn't need to target x86 performance, it just needs to reach
>"good enough" performance and beat x86 on price by enough to make it worth the hassle factor.
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>
I don't know how it is where you live, but where I live ASUS Transformer + keyboard is ALOT more expensive than Atom/Bobcat netbooks of comparable screen size.
In fact, it's more expensive than cheap "real" notebooks with SandyB-based Celeron/Pentium CPUs. Comparing just ASUS vs ASUS, for the price of Transformer 16GB + Keyboard one gets 15'6'' X54C with i3-2330M and 4GB RAM. I.e. insanely more powerful computer in just about every aspect except speed of mass storage.
ARM can win due to lightness or longer battery life (related things) but never due to price alone. Low end x86 CPUs (and I am talking about "normal" CPUs, not Atoms or Bobcats) are cheap enough for the difference between them and ARMs to constitute so small percentage of the total price of mobile computer that it's lost in noise of other factors.
---------------------------
>
>The thing is, ARM doesn't need to target x86 performance, it just needs to reach
>"good enough" performance and beat x86 on price by enough to make it worth the hassle factor.
>
>
I don't know how it is where you live, but where I live ASUS Transformer + keyboard is ALOT more expensive than Atom/Bobcat netbooks of comparable screen size.
In fact, it's more expensive than cheap "real" notebooks with SandyB-based Celeron/Pentium CPUs. Comparing just ASUS vs ASUS, for the price of Transformer 16GB + Keyboard one gets 15'6'' X54C with i3-2330M and 4GB RAM. I.e. insanely more powerful computer in just about every aspect except speed of mass storage.
ARM can win due to lightness or longer battery life (related things) but never due to price alone. Low end x86 CPUs (and I am talking about "normal" CPUs, not Atoms or Bobcats) are cheap enough for the difference between them and ARMs to constitute so small percentage of the total price of mobile computer that it's lost in noise of other factors.



