Karthikeyan Ravikumar – Etiole

Netbooks are NOT cheap laptops!

Karthikeyan Ravikumar — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:41:21 +0000

The initial days after I got my first PC I was in denial that it hardly affected my household electricity bill. I hated laptops at the time because neither were they powerful enough nor were they inexpensive enough. Also, I didn't have the need. I was a typical Indian college student who wasn't allowed or interested in showing off a laptop to classmates. It wasn't err... still isn't common enough in the Indian classroom! Having said that, now years later, I have to admit that laptops have improved leaps and bounds and are quite beneficial for the professional on the go. During these years came a new phenomenon called the netbook that has taken the market by storm. Ultra cheap, ultra portable laptop like devices that made On-the-Go computing ubiquitous. Not to mention the slew of social media sites such as twitter and facebook that have made constant connectivity such a necessity! I, in the meanwhile, came out of my denial that constant 24/7 usage of my monstrous power hogging desktop PC doesn't significantly affect my power bills. A menial task like a download shouldn't require a 140W machine to be constantly running. Does it? This is when I decided that I needed to do something about it after my friend enlightened me, after his purchase, about how a netbook serves this exact purpose. [caption id="attachment_4910" align="alignleft" width="330" caption="Samsung Netbook"][/caption] This is when it dawned on me that netbooks aren't bad after all. All this while I knew exactly what it is capable of and what it is used for - ANYTHING ON THE BROWSER AND THE INTERNET. Nothing more, Nothing less. Finally, last week I had managed to arrange for the funds. Yeah! it took so long (almost a year). Can't blame me for that. I'm an average Indian middle-class guy who's got COMMITMENTS, you see. Managed to jump in to the club of netbook owners. Got myself the Samsung N148. Check out its specs here: http://www.samsung.com/in/consumer/pc-peripherals-printer/notebook/n-series/NP-N148-DP03IN/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=specification

Disclaimer: This is not a recommendation. Just an information. I am not endorsing any brand/product here. Netbook or Notebook purchase is completely subjective to one's personal preference. If you need a suggestion, ask for it in the comments section and you will get one but again, it is only a suggestion. Don't hold me responsible for a crappy purchase that you made.

Now for the core of the blog - reason for the title. Soon after the news about my purchase exploded on the information superhighway, I started getting calls from friends inquiring about making a similar purchase for themselves as well. Most of them did not know the difference between a regular laptop and a netbook. The misconception about netbooks being just ultra-portable cheap laptops has infected the general mass perception. "A netbook does most things that a laptop does. How is it different?" You ask? Here's how: It does NOT have an optical drive. Though external USB based optical drives can be used with it, the fact that it doesn't come with one is reason enough for many people not to buy it.

A netbook is not capable of playing true HD videos. Though there are claims of a few having powerful GPUs like in Acer Ferrari One and the likes, those are a minority. The majority of the fast selling, cheap netbooks come with integrated graphics chips either on the MoBo or on the proc itself (read Intel Atom N400 series pinetrail and above).
Also, on a 10.1" screen what pleasure will you get watching videos anyway? To top it, my friend wanted to connect a TV Tuner and watch TV on it! He didn't want to spend too much on a computer. If you don't wanna spend too much, then why get a teeny-weeny 10.1" netbook for TV Viewing? Get a TV, damn it! A 21" big fat CRT TV starts at Rs. 5k vs Rs.15k! for a decent netbook.
"So, videos aren't my priority" you say? Well, video isn't the only casualty. Any decent game wouldn't play. Cannot have the sweet graphics intensive effects on your desktop (I mean the desktop inside the OS). Though, Windows 7 runs beautifully with transparency & all just fine. Open a few windows more than 5 and you'd feel the sluggishness.
In case you get the Windows 7 starter edition version, Godspeed, for as you know, it is extremely restrictive.
If you opt for Free DOS as your OS, then you may need to install a practical OS like Windows or Linux yourself. Not having an optical drive really sucks for this reason. You need to download the tools such as UnetBootin for Linux or Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool for making a boot-able USB pen/thumb drive from which to install the OS. Although a simple procedure, this may put off the majority of users.
If you need a powerful but sleek laptop, go for the ultra-thin/portable range. Not a netbook!

Having said that, it performs beautifully what it was designed for - The NET in "Netbook". Standard definition videos, audio, radio, streaming videos, general net surfing, youtube (not HD), facebook, twitter all work heavenly. Another point I don't understand is people buying netbooks priced more than Rs. 20k! What's the point, I ask. At that rate, you might as well get a regular laptop and do a lot more things with it besides getting a bigger screen! Not to mention, netbooks come as complete package unlike a desktop. Second hand cheap desktops of the yester-years, if you were considering it, unless you are that tight on budget, STOP! For it wouldn't have Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi n, Webcam, speakers, Microphone etc. Great features for On-the-Go blogging, facebooking, tweeting. orkutting etc. If you attend a lot of conferences and do a lot of live blogging/tweeting and cannot afford those drool-maal phones that have WiFi and stuck with having to pay heavily for GPRS acces with terrible speeds, Netbook is a boon! My specific purpose as a 24/7 download machine - Amazing. With the LED backlit LCD display and the Intel Atom N450 proc with Integrated graphics on the itself, consuming just 25W is just wonderful! Saving, conservatively estimating, Rs.200 a month, if its life is 2 years, I get my return on investment, taking into account its utility. So, tell us - the etiole community what you think about netbooks. Whether you considered or considering buying one and if this post has helped you in anyway. We'd like to hear all sides of the story. Sharing is caring! So, if you liked or disliked this post please let the world know. Until next time, happy netbooking! :)

The Mahindra ‘Reva’lution : Meant for G33ks

Karthikeyan Ravikumar — Thu, 27 May 2010 09:19:34 +0000

M&M has bought 55.2% stake in the Bangalore headquartered Electric Car Company and the top brass of M&M have said that if it is feasible to have an Electric Scorpio and Bolero, then we can expect one on roads soon. What this stands proof of is the potential boom in Electric Vehicles in the Indian Market. With all the hoopla about Eco-friendliness, this, I don't think is just a hype. Vehicles have several benefits, including energy efficiency, lack of tailpipe emissions and quiet operation. Electric vehicles also help reduce our dependence on petroleum. Unfortunately, electric vehicles still suffer from range limitations — even with advances in battery technology. Meaning once the battery is run down, you must stop to plug it in and charge it.

How is this relevant to us the geeks, you ask? Well, The possibility of mobile computing is where this is of interest to us. I've been speaking in some mind-voices about the possibilities this opens up. The Electric vehicle can accommodate a mobile cinema, a party room, a data-center if you wish. Imagine a Car with an on-board supercomputer that can interface with any map service like Google Maps and get directions and drive its way around when you are busy working on your lappy. Imagine it ordering your favorite dish at your favorite restaurant before you even reach there. Imagine it informing the distance from the restaurant and ETA so that your order is served fresh when you actually arrive. Imagine traveling anywhere in the world without worrying too much about driving directions. Imagine Knight rider style windshield displays that talk to you in real time. Imagine having video-conferences on your windshield with anyone, anywhere in the world with ultra fast wireless broadband services. All this can exist even in a fossil fuel powered car, you say? Yes, they can but the safety and simplicity of an integral electric circuit compared to a gas powered car opens up a lot more head room for the engineers to work on and hence speed up the evolution of these technologies.

Drag and Drop Transcoding: A Windows 7 feature that you never knew existed!

Karthikeyan Ravikumar — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:54:18 +0000

The media, be it online or offline is flooded with news, views, reviews and help guides on Windows 7 but not once I came across this feature mentioned anywhere. Apparently, it is only in my close circle of people who know of this feature - It is called Drag & Drop Transcoding.

You might be aware the Windows 7 Device Stage. This is further enhanced if you connect a portable media player. With the new pool of decoders and encoders, Microsoft’s also doing some building in some interesting transcoding (decoding and re-encoding from one format to another) technology in Windows. Transcoding is now actually built right into the Windows 7 shell. This removes unnecessary third-party bloatware to add content to portable devices.

When you drag and drop a media file into the drive of the PMP connected to your PC, Windows 7 automatically detects the format used by the PMP and transcodes it to that specific format on the fly, without you having to fiddle with complicated media transcoding software and codecs. This is a revolutionary feature which can simplify our lives utterly. The fact that it hasn't been spoken about anywhere else is quite surprising. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Windows Device stage does not support the major PMPs out there. I'm not sure how many are supported. The main reason for this feature not being publicised may be that it doesn't support the most popular PMPs like iPod and MS's own Zune. These are detected just as a flash storage device. As for iPod, there still isn't a way to bypass iTunes to transfer music. As far as I know, Creative Zen is supported. Nevertheless, this feature is further enhanced with support from AMD hardware. If you have AMD graphics card that supports tream technology (which most AMD cards in the past two years do), Windows 7 automatically detects the hardwareand makes use of the GPGPU capabilities of the ATI Stream. What this does in simple terms is that it makes use of the massively parallel processing power of the GPU for a non-graphics purpose (GP- General Purpose) of transcoding the media file. This throws some heavy weight processing power at the task at hand and hence reduces the transcoding time by almost half. As you know, transcoding of HD videos and other data intensive media takes huge amounts of power and time. Reduction of this time increases speed and helps get your media portable pretty quickly. A great utility when you're in a hurry. There is quite a significant difference in the transcoding time with and without the use of ATI Stream. So, if you're on of those lucky few who's using Windows 7 with ATI Graphics, apart from the winderful visual experience that Windows offers in the form of graphics accelerated Aero interface, this transcoding feature is sure to blow your mind. So, let me know what you think of this feature. If you are one of these lucky ones, let us know your experience if you've tried this feature. How did it perform? How easy was it to use? What are your thoughts? What other feature of Windows 7, do you think, can make use of newer hardware?

Use YouTube to bell the CAT!

Karthikeyan Ravikumar — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:06:35 +0000

The CAT, which has gone online from this year, will be held between Nov 28 and Dec 7 in 32 cities and at 105 testing centres. IIMs are revolutionizing the way online tools like YouTube are being used to impart knowledge. If you are a student taking CAT this year, you better make sure you've watched the videos posted on YouTube to get the extra edge. Prometric Testing - The partners who're administering the test have created a channel on YouTube with a couple of instructional videos at http://www.youtube.com/IIMCAT The IIMs have specifically advised students to watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaKHWpiFToE "Candidates are encouraged to view the YouTube videos," an official communication from the IIMs and their online test conductor Prometric said Wednesday. Seems like the IIMs are going all out with the use of technology in the administration of the first ever Online CAT this time but it looks like people have become apprehensive with the new format of the test. They're employing a wait and watch startegy to crack the CAT. This is evident from the fact that only around 242,000 aspirants will attempt to bell the CAT this year. The figure has fallen from 276,000 candidates last year. Are you taking the CAT this year or are you on the fence? What do you think of the new format and this kind of use of the Internet for the test? Do you think it is all a gimmick or are these initiatives really helpful to the aspirants? Leave your thoughts.

Breaking : AMD and Intel Announce Settlement of All Antitrust and IP Disputes

Karthikeyan Ravikumar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:37:26 +0000

Intel Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) today announced a comprehensive agreement to end all outstanding legal disputes between the companies, including antitrust litigation and patent cross license disputes. In a joint statement the two companies commented, “While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes and enables the companies to focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development.” Under terms of the agreement, AMD and Intel obtain patent rights from a new 5-year cross license agreement, Intel and AMD will give up any claims of breach from the previous license agreement, and Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion. Intel has also agreed to abide by a set of business practice provisions. As a result, AMD will drop all pending litigation including the case in U.S. District Court in Delaware and two cases pending in Japan. AMD will also withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide. The agreement will be made public in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "This is a historical settlement for the microprocessor industry. The settlement will set transparent ground rules for open, competitive markets, with which Intel, in full public view, has agreed to comply. Fair and open competition dictates that the best product wins and market forces prevail. I am very confident that this development will help us strengthen our market position." said Ramkumar Subramanian, VP, Sales & Marketing, AMD India. So, as long as the competition keeps going, we as the customer have the freedom of choice and the market remains democratic. The day there's monopoly, the company is free to manipulate the market for its gains and innovation hits a dead end. Any company needs to realize that competition is necessary and healthy. It helps them innovate and come up with new products to one-up the competition. It also justifies the reason to pay salaries to their sales & marketing departments that help promote the brand and attack the competition. Did you even care about the dispute? Would you now care about this settlement? Do you think it affects you - the end consumer? Share your thoughts. Image Credit : Gizmodo.