I could care less about screen SIZE, but having an x600 screen, I would kill for x768. I'll probably buy another at the first of the year when these 10 and 11" x768 screens are offered with the new chipsets.
The 10" keyboards work fine, and if they wanted, they could fit these 11" displays in the same chasis. The bezels on the 10" books are ridiculously oversized.
I've had my Acer 751h for two weeks. As suggested, look for the Bing combo specials. My 6-cell red 751h with XP Home netted $295 at Tigerdirect after Bing rebate and an additional $20 Paypal rebate.
If you get the right codecs, these play high-def videos *wonderfully*. I've played all sorts of mkv and avi files, including very high bitrate mkv's (16GB 1080p file, averaging something like 12Mbps video bitrate). This is in Windows XP Home; make sure the files are local, not over wireless. You can find several tutorials on the Internet for setting up 264 hardware decoding-- and yes, it does currently involve using PowerDVD h/x264 codecs. So far, after having tried 12 to 15 Usenet/torrent mkv files, I have 100% compatibility. It's really remarkable to play a 1080p video on this tiny, lightweight device. It's like the world's greatest portable DVD.
I've owned several netbooks, including top-rated Asus and Samsung 10" iterations. This Acer DESTROYS them for high-def video, provided that you take the time to track down the right drivers. Also, the battery life for DVD playback improves if you use the PowerDVD general video codec -- like the PowerDVD 264 codec, this uses the GMA500 for hardware MPEG2 decoding. DVD playback when using GMA500 hardware decoding is less pixellated than the Asus and Samsung netbooks -- not sure why...
For everyday web browsing, MS Office, music playback, etc., this 1.33 MHz Atom is "just as good as" the higher speed Atoms. They're all fine. (The only caveats would be Youtube fullscreen, and some jerkiness when quickly scrolling through a webpage. By the way, you can overclock the Acer from Windows... just look around the Net.) The 11.6" screen and the fullsized keyboard are HUGE improvements over the 9" and 10" form factors. (The Acer's keyboard is better than the keyboard on my 15.6" Toshiba notebook.) The only thing I need more processing power for in a portable is high-def video, and the Acer 751h -- if you will tinker a bit -- absolutely rules in that category.
I'll add that the 751h is exactly the same weight as my 9" Asus netbook -- the latter still looks "cool" and svelte (the 900HA, I think). Hold them side by side, and you realize how much thinner and more elegant the Acer is. It is also very cool in your lap -- much better than other netbooks I have tried.
I think there's an Acer coming out with the same 11.6" screen size, a single-core Core2 CPU, and a battery that doesn't jut out -- for $500 retail. That would be a heck of a bargain, but it couldn't decode mkv's any better than the 751h does.
Those benchmarks are totally irrelevant. How can anyone use a netbook to do encoding of x264 video? I think that different benchmarks must be posted on applications which are important in a netbook (like java youtube player performance, divx decoding, 720p decoding cpu occupancy).
DivX 720p decoding works and provides the listed battery life. Are you going to try to watch a movie while doing something else on one of these netbooks? If so, you're not going to enjoy the experience much... every time I start interacting with other apps while a movie is playing, the system stutters. As it stands, YouTube works, but YouTube HD doesn't -- as I mentioned in the last two netbook articles, which had faster CPUs/GPUs.
The tests I ran are supposed to give you an idea of relative performance, which in this case means that you see how slow these Atom CPUs are in CPU intensive tasks. PCMark05 gives you an idea of general application performance. I'm not sure what good it is to try and capture %CPU use for video playback, when it either works or fails. I can see about adding such a test, but adding more tests just means fewer articles written. My goal right now is to review MORE laptops, even if it means we don't get as much detail on each one.
Could we always have a test on these netbooks to see if they can run youtube HD fullscreen? I think most everyone wants to do this, and it is the most intensive thing that most people will do. I don't see why someone would watch 1080p on such a small screen, and its not for home theaters.
It would also be nice to have a flash game test to see if it stutters on that. I know one flash game that seems slow on my netbook sometimes is farmville a facebook flash game.
I mentioned it in the ASUS 1005HA and Gigabyte M1022 reviews, but those two netbooks couldn't handle YouTube HD - regular YouTube was fine. Needless to say, with a slower CPU/chipset, the Acer 751h definitely can't play YouTube/Hulu HD. :(
Once again its not just the display that is glossy, the display frame comes with a piano finish. Bloody murder! I guess its a plus that the keyboard area doesnt come with the same finish as well...
It seems that the upcoming nokia booklet 3G is one of the few (if not the only) netbook that doesnt look like a bling-bling toy from a junk goods store.
Seriously, cheap doesnt mean it has to look cheap.
...but what's the keyboard size?
A bigger, higher resolution display is definitely the way to go, but I want full-sized keys and a non-glossy display - and that's the reason why I haven't bought any netbooks yet.
If you look at the gallery, you can see the keyboard makes use of the whole area - i.e. no unused space on the right and left sides. I believe the keys are 100% standard desktop keyboard sized, though obviously it's not a 101-key layout. I felt the keyboard was definitely better than the smaller 10.1" and 9.1" netbooks.
It's strange to read an article without P55 motherboard pictures. Is this site under new management?
I'm in the market for one of these, but I'd never tolerate the slower clock speed processor. When you factor in the very insignificant power difference, I don't think the processor is attractive for most people. Whatever percentage less it is than the N270/N280, they are very low percentages of the power draw for the computer, so it's really not going to make a big difference in systemic power draw.
Really, Intel kind of did something very un-Intel with the Atom. Even when they had the dreadful Netburst processors, they at least surrounded them with good packaging, including software compilers, good chipsets, good motherboards, etc...
With the Atom, from a purely processor perspective, they have a really nice product, but they shackle it with a perfectly dreadful chipset. It's bizarre. On top of that, they're taking too long to get out something better. I'm really getting impatient waiting to be able to buy one of these things, since I won't buy 945, and I won't buy NVIDIA crap. I wish AMD had something decent, but they don't, so a lot of us just have to wait.
Also, these mirror like screens are a nightmare, and becoming more popular. Especially for something ultra-portable, don't these makers realize that people bring them outside? They must be cheaper to make, since they seem to go to great efforts to convince us that we want them, but I don't. Is anyone else a little annoyed by the number of mirrors they sell parading as displays? It's not so bad if there's a choice, but more and more, it's getting difficult to get an anti-glare screen.
You might want to consider the Samsung NC20, which comes with via nano cpu + chrome graphics. Not that blazing fast, but if tunes correctly ,goes at least as fast as the N270/280, and does basic work fine. Another is the Lenovo S20, which costs about the same, ~400USD.
If you need a decent fast CPU, consider the Acer Timeline. The base 3810T(13.3") comes with a ULV Intel processor that's more akin to Pentium M than the atom. Priced around 500 I think. That or higher priced, with Core 2 Solo, or even Core 2 duo.
I might've gotten the CPU model name wrong in the timeline, but the CPUs in the timelines are much better than the Atom...
Actually just get Intel CULV if you need more performance, they will also have chipsets available that does have working hw acceleration of video. (The 11.6" Timeline/aspire is CULV, 1.3GHz Penryn based).
The prices for the CULVs are decent any way, considering you also get a real version of windows with it. HW acceleration at least works on GS40/GMA4500MHD. Which means a lot on small less powerful notebooks. And you get W7 upgrade too. Costs only around $450. Still is about the size of a large netbook. I think it got a C2S 1.4GHz for that price though. No real reason to go to atoms for such devices any how.
To be honest, as much as I wanted to like the Nano, to me it's a big disappointment as it currently exists. I don't really this this as a competitive processor in most situations. Where you can get the power down to the point it matches the Atom, it gets beaten in a lot of benchmarks, and if you use one of the higher power ones, you start running into Core 2 territory, or one of the lesser derivatives of it. Given the really excellent Intel designs, Centaur had to get theirs right, and so far it's just not there. Possibly a shrink to 45nm will improve the power characteristics, and some tweaking might improve performance, so I'm still hopeful. But, as it exists today, it's interesting, but not particularly useful. The bad part is, at least for them, is it will get a lot more difficult once Intel comes out with a decent chipset and moves to 32nm. Their own chipsets are still stuck at DX 9, and aren't particularly good either.
They had a long time being alone in that market, and they've had a pretty long time where Intel had the processor, but not the chipset. They failed miserably even with that. They came out with nice form factors and such, but never really broke into the market because their products basically suck. I have an 800 MHz part that gets raped by my K6-III+, underclocked to 400 MHz. It uses less power, generates less heat, and outperforms the VIA chip, despite being roughly 6 years older. Now the Nano was a big step up, and maybe it's good if you take it outside of the context of excellent Intel processors, but, within the context of what exists in the marketplace, I don't see it making much sense for a lot of buyers. Again, I'm not blaming them entirely; AMD can't compete with Intel either. It's probably just that Intel makes such attractive products, positioning against them is extremely difficult. On the other hand, still being on 65nm, and not supporting DX10 are issues not related to Intel, that should have been taken care of a while ago. They can't make mistakes like this.
I was looking at Core 2 based notebooks, but it's gotten to the point where I couldn't find a anti-glare screen at HP. I'm allergic to Dell, and merely disgusted with HP. I won't buy Lenovo, since they're Chinese and not American, and we already import too much from them. Sadly, I don't know much about makers, since I don't buy from them, and don't have a job where I have to deal with them. It's a pity there's no way to build a notebook, but, sadly, we have to buy from companies we know suck. It's a disagreeable situation, but, what can one do if they need one of these things?
I wouldn't worry about it. Better to get the Vista version and get the free upgrade to Windows 7.
I have an AO751h and absolutely love it. Installed 2g of ram myself, Windows 7, turn off window transparency and you're good to go-- this thing has 6-8h battery life depending on how bright the screen is (I seem to get 7h with it on the lowest brightness setting) and is FAST. The GMA500 graphics chip can accelerate 1080p video-- if you get the drivers installed right (don't run the setup.exe from Intel, make sure you install through Device Manager).
Whatever tweaking they did to Windows 7 to make it faster than Vista WORKED. Idles at ~1-3% with that Atom, and is very responsive once you get Chrome running (Firefox a bit slower). Now I give them about a year before they add the bloat back in through "Security" updates and it slows to a grinding halt (just like what happened to XP).
As I've been telling unbelievers of Windows 7, all they really to do is install it on a older desktop/laptop and see the difference. Whatever MS changed with Windows 7 it's working wonders on older PCs and even newer crawling PCs with Vista pre-installed.
I'm waiting for someone to find out why this is so as I'm too lazy and no time! to look into it myself :D
quote by Acer:
To be eligible for the Program, you must purchase a new PC between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010. The PC must come with a valid Windows Vista® Home Premium, Windows Vista® Business or Windows Vista® Ultimate Certificate of Authenticity (COA) attached. In addition, the PC must also have Microsoft Windows Vista® SP1 or SP2 OR a Windows® XP Downgrade with Service Pack 3 installed. /quote
and you can see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA#Table_of_GM...">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA#Table_of_GM... that the GMA500 is perfectly capable of accelerating video. If you're using Vista or 7 (sorry, DXVA 2.0 only available on these with the Intel drivers and they're not planning on making 1.0 work for XP...according to the Intel dev guy behind these drivers) grab DXVA Checker as an easy tool to check for video acceleration.
Installing the free version of PowerDVD9 gets you some codecs which the Intel driver can make use of for accelerating video. For example, Step Into Liquid will only play accelerated through DXVA Checker, showing that the capability for WMV9 is fully there in the hardware, there's just some driver stuff that needs to be worked (might be something on MPC-HC's end, too).
I know Poulsbo is supposed to have HD support, which is why I stated: "The Poulsbo chipset is supposed to provide HD codec support, but at present it appears application support for the necessary functions is not there." It appears Windows XP is the problem, based on your linked forum instructions. I'm going to see about putting Win7 x86 on the netbook, just for kicks....
I'm trying to follow http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?t=2148">the instructions and having no luck. I get severe stuttering on the AO751h using "PDVD Video SP" in Win7 using either MPC-HC or KMplayer. I know for a fact that MPC-HC with CoreAVC was no better under XP. I'm still trying to figure out how the people actually set up an AO751h to work with x264... KMplayer is crashing right no when I try for fullscreen, but it was working with the Microsoft DTV-DVD codec in a window.
Bottom line: it *might* work, but getting it going is not as easy as I'd like.
I had to use the 1006 version of the driver to get DXVA working; note that the 1095 version is actually OLDER so you _don't_ want it.
MPC-HC had audio stuttering problems with x264 playback for some reason; but K-Lite player works great with configuration (Set AVC, or maybe it was VC.1, or maybe both) decoding to the Microsoft DTV-DVD decoder, and you'll have to change a few other settings (don't recall what exactly-- check that forum, there's guides and links to the places you need to go to configure it correctly for 1080p video playback).
Again, putting 7 on this, and turning off Window Transparency, and this thing really performs. Loving it, use it every day.
Oh and don't forget you can get this for cheaper if you pay attention to the Bing Cashback deals on the Hot Deals forum here. Currently 15% back at Tiger Direct, they sell the 1G versions of these laptops. No tax, $2 shipping, brings the total cost to ~$310 + money for a 2G stick of RAM if you want.
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kopilka - Saturday, January 16, 2010 - link
Which model has a version of XP Professional Edition?Where can I find information on the XP Professional Edition [url=http://www.legalrxuk.com">http://www.legalrxuk.com]online[/url]?
gipper - Friday, September 4, 2009 - link
I could care less about screen SIZE, but having an x600 screen, I would kill for x768. I'll probably buy another at the first of the year when these 10 and 11" x768 screens are offered with the new chipsets.The 10" keyboards work fine, and if they wanted, they could fit these 11" displays in the same chasis. The bezels on the 10" books are ridiculously oversized.
cremefilled - Friday, September 4, 2009 - link
I've had my Acer 751h for two weeks. As suggested, look for the Bing combo specials. My 6-cell red 751h with XP Home netted $295 at Tigerdirect after Bing rebate and an additional $20 Paypal rebate.If you get the right codecs, these play high-def videos *wonderfully*. I've played all sorts of mkv and avi files, including very high bitrate mkv's (16GB 1080p file, averaging something like 12Mbps video bitrate). This is in Windows XP Home; make sure the files are local, not over wireless. You can find several tutorials on the Internet for setting up 264 hardware decoding-- and yes, it does currently involve using PowerDVD h/x264 codecs. So far, after having tried 12 to 15 Usenet/torrent mkv files, I have 100% compatibility. It's really remarkable to play a 1080p video on this tiny, lightweight device. It's like the world's greatest portable DVD.
I've owned several netbooks, including top-rated Asus and Samsung 10" iterations. This Acer DESTROYS them for high-def video, provided that you take the time to track down the right drivers. Also, the battery life for DVD playback improves if you use the PowerDVD general video codec -- like the PowerDVD 264 codec, this uses the GMA500 for hardware MPEG2 decoding. DVD playback when using GMA500 hardware decoding is less pixellated than the Asus and Samsung netbooks -- not sure why...
For everyday web browsing, MS Office, music playback, etc., this 1.33 MHz Atom is "just as good as" the higher speed Atoms. They're all fine. (The only caveats would be Youtube fullscreen, and some jerkiness when quickly scrolling through a webpage. By the way, you can overclock the Acer from Windows... just look around the Net.) The 11.6" screen and the fullsized keyboard are HUGE improvements over the 9" and 10" form factors. (The Acer's keyboard is better than the keyboard on my 15.6" Toshiba notebook.) The only thing I need more processing power for in a portable is high-def video, and the Acer 751h -- if you will tinker a bit -- absolutely rules in that category.
I'll add that the 751h is exactly the same weight as my 9" Asus netbook -- the latter still looks "cool" and svelte (the 900HA, I think). Hold them side by side, and you realize how much thinner and more elegant the Acer is. It is also very cool in your lap -- much better than other netbooks I have tried.
I think there's an Acer coming out with the same 11.6" screen size, a single-core Core2 CPU, and a battery that doesn't jut out -- for $500 retail. That would be a heck of a bargain, but it couldn't decode mkv's any better than the 751h does.
lr300a - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Those benchmarks are totally irrelevant. How can anyone use a netbook to do encoding of x264 video? I think that different benchmarks must be posted on applications which are important in a netbook (like java youtube player performance, divx decoding, 720p decoding cpu occupancy).JarredWalton - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
DivX 720p decoding works and provides the listed battery life. Are you going to try to watch a movie while doing something else on one of these netbooks? If so, you're not going to enjoy the experience much... every time I start interacting with other apps while a movie is playing, the system stutters. As it stands, YouTube works, but YouTube HD doesn't -- as I mentioned in the last two netbook articles, which had faster CPUs/GPUs.The tests I ran are supposed to give you an idea of relative performance, which in this case means that you see how slow these Atom CPUs are in CPU intensive tasks. PCMark05 gives you an idea of general application performance. I'm not sure what good it is to try and capture %CPU use for video playback, when it either works or fails. I can see about adding such a test, but adding more tests just means fewer articles written. My goal right now is to review MORE laptops, even if it means we don't get as much detail on each one.
Jjoshua2 - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Could we always have a test on these netbooks to see if they can run youtube HD fullscreen? I think most everyone wants to do this, and it is the most intensive thing that most people will do. I don't see why someone would watch 1080p on such a small screen, and its not for home theaters.It would also be nice to have a flash game test to see if it stutters on that. I know one flash game that seems slow on my netbook sometimes is farmville a facebook flash game.
AnnonymousCoward - Friday, September 4, 2009 - link
My C2D@3GHz/GT260/WinXP has visible stuttering with youtube HD. I don't think it's optimized to run well in general.JarredWalton - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
I mentioned it in the ASUS 1005HA and Gigabyte M1022 reviews, but those two netbooks couldn't handle YouTube HD - regular YouTube was fine. Needless to say, with a slower CPU/chipset, the Acer 751h definitely can't play YouTube/Hulu HD. :(Griswold - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Once again its not just the display that is glossy, the display frame comes with a piano finish. Bloody murder! I guess its a plus that the keyboard area doesnt come with the same finish as well...It seems that the upcoming nokia booklet 3G is one of the few (if not the only) netbook that doesnt look like a bling-bling toy from a junk goods store.
Seriously, cheap doesnt mean it has to look cheap.
FATCamaro - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
God this looks like a cheap ass piece of shit even in photos. I can't imagine how shitty it is IRL.Finally - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
...but what's the keyboard size?A bigger, higher resolution display is definitely the way to go, but I want full-sized keys and a non-glossy display - and that's the reason why I haven't bought any netbooks yet.
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
If you look at the gallery, you can see the keyboard makes use of the whole area - i.e. no unused space on the right and left sides. I believe the keys are 100% standard desktop keyboard sized, though obviously it's not a 101-key layout. I felt the keyboard was definitely better than the smaller 10.1" and 9.1" netbooks.TA152H - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
It's strange to read an article without P55 motherboard pictures. Is this site under new management?I'm in the market for one of these, but I'd never tolerate the slower clock speed processor. When you factor in the very insignificant power difference, I don't think the processor is attractive for most people. Whatever percentage less it is than the N270/N280, they are very low percentages of the power draw for the computer, so it's really not going to make a big difference in systemic power draw.
Really, Intel kind of did something very un-Intel with the Atom. Even when they had the dreadful Netburst processors, they at least surrounded them with good packaging, including software compilers, good chipsets, good motherboards, etc...
With the Atom, from a purely processor perspective, they have a really nice product, but they shackle it with a perfectly dreadful chipset. It's bizarre. On top of that, they're taking too long to get out something better. I'm really getting impatient waiting to be able to buy one of these things, since I won't buy 945, and I won't buy NVIDIA crap. I wish AMD had something decent, but they don't, so a lot of us just have to wait.
Also, these mirror like screens are a nightmare, and becoming more popular. Especially for something ultra-portable, don't these makers realize that people bring them outside? They must be cheaper to make, since they seem to go to great efforts to convince us that we want them, but I don't. Is anyone else a little annoyed by the number of mirrors they sell parading as displays? It's not so bad if there's a choice, but more and more, it's getting difficult to get an anti-glare screen.
chrnochime - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
You might want to consider the Samsung NC20, which comes with via nano cpu + chrome graphics. Not that blazing fast, but if tunes correctly ,goes at least as fast as the N270/280, and does basic work fine. Another is the Lenovo S20, which costs about the same, ~400USD.If you need a decent fast CPU, consider the Acer Timeline. The base 3810T(13.3") comes with a ULV Intel processor that's more akin to Pentium M than the atom. Priced around 500 I think. That or higher priced, with Core 2 Solo, or even Core 2 duo.
I might've gotten the CPU model name wrong in the timeline, but the CPUs in the timelines are much better than the Atom...
Penti - Wednesday, September 9, 2009 - link
Actually just get Intel CULV if you need more performance, they will also have chipsets available that does have working hw acceleration of video. (The 11.6" Timeline/aspire is CULV, 1.3GHz Penryn based).The prices for the CULVs are decent any way, considering you also get a real version of windows with it. HW acceleration at least works on GS40/GMA4500MHD. Which means a lot on small less powerful notebooks. And you get W7 upgrade too. Costs only around $450. Still is about the size of a large netbook. I think it got a C2S 1.4GHz for that price though. No real reason to go to atoms for such devices any how.
TA152H - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
To be honest, as much as I wanted to like the Nano, to me it's a big disappointment as it currently exists. I don't really this this as a competitive processor in most situations. Where you can get the power down to the point it matches the Atom, it gets beaten in a lot of benchmarks, and if you use one of the higher power ones, you start running into Core 2 territory, or one of the lesser derivatives of it. Given the really excellent Intel designs, Centaur had to get theirs right, and so far it's just not there. Possibly a shrink to 45nm will improve the power characteristics, and some tweaking might improve performance, so I'm still hopeful. But, as it exists today, it's interesting, but not particularly useful. The bad part is, at least for them, is it will get a lot more difficult once Intel comes out with a decent chipset and moves to 32nm. Their own chipsets are still stuck at DX 9, and aren't particularly good either.They had a long time being alone in that market, and they've had a pretty long time where Intel had the processor, but not the chipset. They failed miserably even with that. They came out with nice form factors and such, but never really broke into the market because their products basically suck. I have an 800 MHz part that gets raped by my K6-III+, underclocked to 400 MHz. It uses less power, generates less heat, and outperforms the VIA chip, despite being roughly 6 years older. Now the Nano was a big step up, and maybe it's good if you take it outside of the context of excellent Intel processors, but, within the context of what exists in the marketplace, I don't see it making much sense for a lot of buyers. Again, I'm not blaming them entirely; AMD can't compete with Intel either. It's probably just that Intel makes such attractive products, positioning against them is extremely difficult. On the other hand, still being on 65nm, and not supporting DX10 are issues not related to Intel, that should have been taken care of a while ago. They can't make mistakes like this.
I was looking at Core 2 based notebooks, but it's gotten to the point where I couldn't find a anti-glare screen at HP. I'm allergic to Dell, and merely disgusted with HP. I won't buy Lenovo, since they're Chinese and not American, and we already import too much from them. Sadly, I don't know much about makers, since I don't buy from them, and don't have a job where I have to deal with them. It's a pity there's no way to build a notebook, but, sadly, we have to buy from companies we know suck. It's a disagreeable situation, but, what can one do if they need one of these things?
Etern205 - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Out of all of them, there is only one model which has Windows XP Professional instead of XP Home.Etern205 - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Never mind looks like it's already mentioned.bjacobson - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
I wouldn't worry about it. Better to get the Vista version and get the free upgrade to Windows 7.I have an AO751h and absolutely love it. Installed 2g of ram myself, Windows 7, turn off window transparency and you're good to go-- this thing has 6-8h battery life depending on how bright the screen is (I seem to get 7h with it on the lowest brightness setting) and is FAST. The GMA500 graphics chip can accelerate 1080p video-- if you get the drivers installed right (don't run the setup.exe from Intel, make sure you install through Device Manager).
Whatever tweaking they did to Windows 7 to make it faster than Vista WORKED. Idles at ~1-3% with that Atom, and is very responsive once you get Chrome running (Firefox a bit slower). Now I give them about a year before they add the bloat back in through "Security" updates and it slows to a grinding halt (just like what happened to XP).
The0ne - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
As I've been telling unbelievers of Windows 7, all they really to do is install it on a older desktop/laptop and see the difference. Whatever MS changed with Windows 7 it's working wonders on older PCs and even newer crawling PCs with Vista pre-installed.I'm waiting for someone to find out why this is so as I'm too lazy and no time! to look into it myself :D
quiksilvr - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Hate to burst your bubble but its running Vista BASIC, meaning no free upgrade to Windows 7.bjacobson - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Think you're wrong dude--http://www.acer.com/windows7upgrade/eligible.html">http://www.acer.com/windows7upgrade/eligible.html
First line, ao751h
Etern205 - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
No he's right you're wrong.quote by Acer:
To be eligible for the Program, you must purchase a new PC between June 26, 2009 and January 31, 2010. The PC must come with a valid Windows Vista® Home Premium, Windows Vista® Business or Windows Vista® Ultimate Certificate of Authenticity (COA) attached. In addition, the PC must also have Microsoft Windows Vista® SP1 or SP2 OR a Windows® XP Downgrade with Service Pack 3 installed. /quote
bjacobson - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Eh then buy it, it's worth it.bjacobson - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
and you can see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA#Table_of_GM...">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA#Table_of_GM...that the GMA500 is perfectly capable of accelerating video. If you're using Vista or 7 (sorry, DXVA 2.0 only available on these with the Intel drivers and they're not planning on making 1.0 work for XP...according to the Intel dev guy behind these drivers) grab DXVA Checker as an easy tool to check for video acceleration.
Installing the free version of PowerDVD9 gets you some codecs which the Intel driver can make use of for accelerating video. For example, Step Into Liquid will only play accelerated through DXVA Checker, showing that the capability for WMV9 is fully there in the hardware, there's just some driver stuff that needs to be worked (might be something on MPC-HC's end, too).
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
I know Poulsbo is supposed to have HD support, which is why I stated: "The Poulsbo chipset is supposed to provide HD codec support, but at present it appears application support for the necessary functions is not there." It appears Windows XP is the problem, based on your linked forum instructions. I'm going to see about putting Win7 x86 on the netbook, just for kicks....JarredWalton - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
I'm trying to follow http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?t=2148">the instructions and having no luck. I get severe stuttering on the AO751h using "PDVD Video SP" in Win7 using either MPC-HC or KMplayer. I know for a fact that MPC-HC with CoreAVC was no better under XP. I'm still trying to figure out how the people actually set up an AO751h to work with x264... KMplayer is crashing right no when I try for fullscreen, but it was working with the Microsoft DTV-DVD codec in a window.Bottom line: it *might* work, but getting it going is not as easy as I'd like.
bjacobson - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
For more info on accelerating 1080p videos (x264, for example) check out http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewforum.php?f...">http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewforum.php?f...I had to use the 1006 version of the driver to get DXVA working; note that the 1095 version is actually OLDER so you _don't_ want it.
MPC-HC had audio stuttering problems with x264 playback for some reason; but K-Lite player works great with configuration (Set AVC, or maybe it was VC.1, or maybe both) decoding to the Microsoft DTV-DVD decoder, and you'll have to change a few other settings (don't recall what exactly-- check that forum, there's guides and links to the places you need to go to configure it correctly for 1080p video playback).
Again, putting 7 on this, and turning off Window Transparency, and this thing really performs. Loving it, use it every day.
sillyfox - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link
YesRelated:http://passional-life.over-blog.com/article-353298...
bjacobson - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
Oh and don't forget you can get this for cheaper if you pay attention to the Bing Cashback deals on the Hot Deals forum here. Currently 15% back at Tiger Direct, they sell the 1G versions of these laptops. No tax, $2 shipping, brings the total cost to ~$310 + money for a 2G stick of RAM if you want.