[NBLUG/talk] 32 vs 64 bit netbook

Robert Hayes rhayes at silcom.com
Fri Jan 15 16:19:26 PST 2010


Yeah, the graphics aren't that much better. Really only marginal.

The $100 gets you 250GB instead of 160GB on the hdd.
Expressgate (Splashtop) the ROM 'instant-on' OS
1-2 hours more of battery life and the
64 bit chip.

When they were $30 apart it was a no brainer. But now after CES Asus is 
releasing the new models and the N280 chip version has dropped in price AND 
has a $50 rebate available. It's also has all the wrinkles worked out after a 
year of production. It supposedly has better screen contrast, too. That's big 
for me.

The N450 model is new, and has a chiclet keyboard with a small Shift key and 
weird arrow keys. That's the kind of thing that could drive me nuts for 
years. And there seem to be wifi driver problems with Ubuntu.

Interesting to note, last week paypal had a developers conference, and gave 
free netbooks to all the attendees as a thank you for being paypal 
developers. (I guess that's like when your mother tells you you're special.)
These are being sold all over craigslist right now, but the prices are higher 
than the new retail prices with warranty. 
 
Maybe I'll just buy a fountain pen.


On Friday 15 January 2010 15:34, Scrappy Laptop wrote:
> Not to mention that 64-bit codecs may or may not be as readily available. 
> However, similar to the Flash/wine/java-vm 64-bit problems these things
> tend to get sorted out over time.
>
> Clock speed and FSB are the same.  However, memory usage tends to be
> greater per application/process in a 64-bit world (hw + OS + hw drivers +
> applications).
>
> The N450's TDP is twice that of the N280, but I'm guessing that's because
> the GMA graphics chip is integrated (as is the MMU) so for the entire
> chipset it appears they've reduced total consumption by about 20% (ymmv).
>
> If it were my choice and didn't mind the $100 difference and given that
> less than 4GB ram is available, *and* if I was planning on using it for
> five years, I'd get the N450 and load it with a 32-bit OS (for now). 
> You'll have the same memory available as you would on the N280 and yet reap
> almost all of the benefits of the newer chip such as reduced power and heat
> and better graphics.  Otherwise I agree with Lincoln that the N450 does not
> offer that much other than better battery life (and graphics, depending on
> the graphic chip on the N280 box).
>
> --- On Fri, 1/15/10, Lincoln Peters <anfrind at gmail.com> wrote:
> > From: Lincoln Peters <anfrind at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [NBLUG/talk] 32 vs 64 bit netbook
> > To: "General NBLUG chatter about anything Linux, answers to questions,
> > etc." <talk at nblug.org> Date: Friday, January 15, 2010, 2:44 PM
> > On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 2:33 PM,
> > Robert Hayes <rhayes at silcom.com>
> >
> > wrote:
> > > One machine is an Atom N280 single core 32 bit, the
> >
> > other an Atom N450 single
> >
> > > core 64 bit.
> > >
> > > Both are limited to a max of 2 GB of RAM.
> >
> > For most applications, I'm not aware of any advantage to
> > running on a
> > 64-bit processor UNLESS the system has more than 3GB of
> > RAM.  So
> > unless someone else brings up an issue I'm unaware of, I'd
> > say that
> > the 64-bit CPU isn't worth it.
> >
> > However, if you intend to use the netbook away from home on
> > a regular
> > basis, the extra battery life might be worth paying a
> > little extra...
> >
> >
> > --
> > Lincoln Peters
> > <anfrind at gmail.com>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > talk at nblug.org
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>
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