The Timeline: October/November 1997

11-10-97: PowerTrip review and new notebooks
10-28-97: Transmonde and some other news...
10-23-97: XKE review and no more message board
10-13-97: Still testing and a visit from Down Under
10-08-97: Sorry... been busy, but the PowerTrip is here!

Tillamook Time

Changing of the guard

The TXs are coming...

The Dell vs. Micron Saga

The Archive

* If it has an asterisk next to it, that means I've made an error or corrected something that was in it. These changes can be found in:
Errors and Corrections

10-08-97: Sorry... been busy, but the PowerTrip is here

So... what's new? Well I forgot to mention another new notebook in the market, the company is called Akia and the notebook is called the Tornado. The story behind this company (or from what I've been told) is that the head of Akia is a former executive for Dell Japan. Akia is supposedly doing real well in Japan so they decided to bring their products here... they are even based in the same city as Dell (Austin). The machine looks pretty good and is based on a thinner form factor then some of the current 13.3" notebooks. More on the PowerTrip at the end of this update.

This site is getting a lot more traffic lately so I've been receiving requests for advertising. If you are interested in advertising on my EdgeWorld site (or my Mining Co. site), please e-mail me.

I've been looking into some new products lately. One is a keyboard built specifically for notebooks. It's made by Darwin Keyboards and what makes it different from other keyboards is that it has adjustable feet that allow it to be placed directly above your laptop keyboard. I will have a more in-depth review of this on the Mining Co., but we have arranged a special deal for readers of this site to get the NoteBoard for less then the regular retail price. For more info please go to this special Darwin Keyboard NoteBoard page. It will tell how to get the discount (and I believe they have another contest to win some other notebook peripherals).

The other product is a "notebook wetsuit". This is that neoprene case that fits tightly around your notebook to offer extra protection while in your laptop bag or just while you are using it. Once I get more info about them I will actually hold my own contest at my Mining Company site so you that you can win one for your own notebook. Yes... to reward all of you out there for reading my site and helping me with information... I will be giving you something in return. I don't know how exactly I will run the contest but I am willing to take suggestions.

Now back to the PowerTrip... here are a some first observations:

• A bit smaller than the Micron XKE
• Power Computing did a nice job on the packaging... everything is there and well documented and layed out.
• The notebook looks very nice from the outside... a pebble-type surface on the cover makes it easier to grip.
• An excellent screen... I think I have one or two dead pixels in the upper left corner. This is a very bright screen... very much like the Dell.
• Keyboard is good... better than most (you know I prefer the XKE's), very similar to the Solo 9100. Pretty much full-size, the Home/End/Page keys are in a vertical row on the right hand side.
• All 3 modules, battery, floppy and CD are internal simultaneously. This is a really nice feature... no swapping necessary. Only problem is that none of the bays are "multi-feature" so you can't use a 2nd battery or hard drive. I do believe that the CD can be replaced with a DVD drive in the future.

10-13-97: Still testing and a visit from Down Under

The Nimantics should be coming in tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed. If it does it will be my article for my Mining Company site.

I had the opportunity to meet one of my web correspondents last Friday, all the way from the land "Down Under" (Australia if you never listened to Men at Work). We had lunch and talked about notebooks, computers and all this other stuff. DVD was a big topic because John (the Aussie) has a business that deals with movies and laser discs. So far only 2 companies advertise some type of DVD compatibility, IBM and Power Computing. But from what I have read and have been told, basically any notebook that can offer MPEG-2 can also do DVD. I'll have to look into this more in the future.

Anyways... John is very much in the same dilemna as myself (and many of you) as he does not know what to get and would like the best for his money. He is looking at the IBM 770 due to all its features and the fact that it has an international warranty. I like that machine a lot too, but the price is a little too high to justify. Both John and I were speculating about price drops and since so many of you are e-mailing me with this question (a FAQ as it would seem) I will share my thoughts on it herein:

• What surprises me most about notebooks now is that vendors actually give them to magazines to review before or at the same time they announce it. I started my site because mags used to take 2-3 months after a vendor announces a notebook to review it, now they are beating me to the punch.
• The initial prices are lower than expected. Remember when the first MMX notebooks came out? They started at over $5000. These new Tillamooks are starting at about $3500 and they have more features than those other notebooks!
• Expect some price cuts after November. A trend at this time of year is a price drop prior to December that extends all the way through to January. Some other reasons that I believe this will happen are:
  1. COMDEX: Prices always seem to go down after this show, vendors either come out with new products or try to push new ones
  2. Intel CPU drop: Intel is planning another price drop in November (I don't think they will be as drastic as in July but you never know).
  3. One word: Christmas (or Hannukah if you are Jewishly inclined)
  4. 2 more words: Year end, vendors try to move out a lot of there stuff this time of year.
  5. Progress: Notebook technology is moving a lot faster now than it used to... it is actually catching up to desktops now and this is pushing the price down (which is good since they are still about 3 times more than a comparably equipped desktop). Laptops companies are trying to be the first to come out with the best stuff so this is actually causing a pretty nice price war... and they have to keep moving because their notebooks only have a shelf life of about 6 months.
  And actually, the best deals are the non-MMX notebooks because vendors are trying to move out these "old" machines... remember how cheap the 486s got?
• But remember... any time is a bad time to buy because the price will ALWAYS drop, as I said in my Laws article, just buy it and don't look back.

Okay... I have to breathe now... I'm feeling a little a bit too didactic now, but you know what I mean. I would like to thank John and his wife (Lucia) for treating me to lunch and for the nice souvenirs from the other side of the world. I wish them a safe trip back and hope their "quest" goes well. And if any of you have any more suggestions on what you would like to see from my site(s), just e-mail me and I will do what I can.
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10-23-97: XKE review and no more message board

If you post to my message board, you will notice that it has been taken down. The guy who was providing it for me can no longer support free boards so I will be setting up a new one shortly within my Mining Company site. Which reminds me... I have a chat room now available at the Mining Co. and I am taking suggestions on when to schedule chat sessions, please e-mail me to tell me when is the best time to have them.

The Dell Inspirons have started shipping and so I'm working on trying to get an eval unit but I'm not sure how successful I will be. Most likely I will try to obtain the OEM version of it from Compal or maybe contact Quantex and ask about their Meridian. Quantex and Dell both get their machine from the same OEM (Compal) so I wouldn't expect too much difference between them. My biggest problem with the new Mook machines is that they are all pretty big and hefty, I understand that sizewise to accomodate the bigger screens they would be larger, but they are a lot heavier too, coming in at about 8 to 9 pounds. That's why both the Tornado and the Inspiron have me intrigued due to their lower weight.

If you are wondering what has happened to my Nimantics 14.2" review, so am I. They have delayed giving me the unit for about 3 weeks and when I went there yesterday they said it would be another week. I don't know, I'm not getting very good vibes from them... if you have a Nimantics machine, please e-mail me and let me know how it is.

Transmonde is giving $100 rebates on selected models of their notebooks. The latest ad in Portable Computing has some great prices on their Vibrants and Vivantés. They even have a 133 MMX with a 12.1" Active Matrix screen for less than $2000! And remember, it has ZV, CardBus AND USB!! The Vivantés start at under $3000 which is one of the lowest prices for a TRUE mobile notebook with a 13.3" screen. You can check out reviews of both machines at my Mining Co. site.

And if you didn't notice, I have a banner up for Darwin Keyboards. We set up a deal that will save you $15 off their NoteBoard, a keyboard designed just for notebooks. They also have a contest to win a 56k PC-Card modem. To find out more info click on the banners or here. If any other notebook vendors would like to arrange special deals on their products exclusively for my site, please let me know.
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10-28-97: Transmonde and some other news...

Intel has released a new mobile processor -- but before you get excited... it's not a faster Tillamook but actually a CPU geared for the new mini-notebook market. It's a 120 MMX and runs at about 2.2v. You can find out more info at C|Net's News site. Like I said when I first mentioned the Libretto, this will become a pretty hot niche. I really don't like the Windows CE machines, and having the power of a Pentium in a small package is pretty nice. Pricewise it may not be an option for everyone but if more come out, the prices might get better.

The PowerTrip review will be coming in the next day or so. I will post it on my Mining Company site either tomorrow or the next day. I had some problems with the modem but a call to tech support fixed it quickly.

And I still don't know what is up with Nimantics. I think they grew too fast and are experiencing problems with product delivery, tech support and quality control. I went there again today and still no HS, I think they are just giving me the run around which is sad because they look like a very good company in all their ads (but then again... don't they all?).

November's Mobile Computing had a Triatholon for 10 notebooks testing speed (performance), strength (ruggedness) and stamina (battery life). The winners (in order) were the Micron XKE (not again!), the Gateway Solo 9100 and the Digital HiNote VP575. You can check out the full story yourself.

Speaking of mini-notebooks, November's Portable Computing has an article on the Libretto 60 and the Hitachi Prius (which is the same machine as the Nimantics Persona). It's not on their website yet so you have to get the dead tree version if you want to read it.

And my friends over at NotebookMall have put together a nice newsletter that you can subscribe to. You can also view their past issues at their archive page. They have lots of notebook news and tips there (and actually quite a bit of info that I've missed) so you should check it out. By the way, NotebookMall guys, you owe me if your hits double from this reference (hehe).

I'd also like to thank you for continuing to visit my site and I hope that my little bits of info have helped many of you out there. Please continue to visit my Mining Company site, as any revenue I generate from there keeps this site going. And as I mentioned earlier, I will have a contest soon to win one of those "wetsuits" for your notebook. I haven't got any suggestions for what type of contest to hold so please send me some mail. [Top of Page]

11-10-97: PowerTrip review and new notebooks

As I promised, today is November 10 and I said I will spill the beans on the new Transmonde products. They are coming out with 2 Tillamook notebooks, a 13.3" version and a 14.1" version. The 13.3" version uses the same chassis as the Vivanté but with some improvements and is called the Vivanté SE. The 14.1" version uses a differents chassis and is called the Vivanté XL. Here are some highlights of both machines:

• Vivanté SE, 13.3" screen
  • Same chassis as the current Vivanté so it is still light (6.8lbs) and thin (1.8")
  • Better internal sound system and speakers (Mediaphile)
  • Uses a Touchwriter Synaptics pad. This is a newer touchpad design that is pressure sensitive, not capacitive. This means that you can use a stylus or almost any object to operate it because it doesn't depend on moisture to function. This also comes with software that converts it into a signature capture pad and/or drawing tablet. I used it when I was there and it was very cool, almost like those stylus tablets that are available for desktop computers. The applications of this input device are endless.
  • Uses the IMM (Intel Mobile Module) and TX chipset.
  • A 200mhz/13.3"/32MB/3.0GB/56k PC-Card modem starts at $3499
• Vivanté XL, 14.1" screen
  • Different chassis, just slightly bigger than the SE
  • All internal design like the PowerTrip except one bay is modular for second battery or other drive types (DVD, ZIP etc).
  • Built-in modem
  • Patent-pending thermal design with future upgrade in mind (my guess is for the mobile Pentiun II but that's not official)
  • I think this starts at $3999 but I can't be sure, I know there is a a 233/64MB/5.0GB that is about $4699
• Both models are fully compliant with PC97 and AC97 specifications (which means they comply with Windows 98 guidelines).

I still have not received the Nimantics machine and I don't think I will. Their phone lines are ALWAYS busy and the last time I went there they were not very helpful. I have received e-mail from someone who is also having trouble getting a hold of them so I'm not sure what is going on. Hopefully I can have this situation straightened out shortly.

Vendors are coming out with new models this month. Dell even has a new notebook, the Latitude CP. It's thin light notebook that looks pretty impressive. If you want to read more about the newest offerings, please read C|Net's article on the newest notebooks.

Sometime this week I will be putting together a news page for you to read the latest mobile happenings. I am also working on my reviews page that will collect reviews from the newsgroup as I am not able to review all laptops (and of course to get 2nd and 3rd opinions). I would like to schedule a chat session some time before Comdex and would appreciate any suggestions on when to have it.