The death of the Silverthorne-based MID is highly exaggerated

MenlowpennyI’m almost at a loss for words, which for a daily writer is a rarity. I was reading a most informative article about Intel’s Silverthorne CPU over at Ars Technica and things were going along swimmingly. I learned more about the chip architecture, the fact that it’s 64-bit, and it will have a new low-power sleep state called C6. All good stuff. And then I got to the end, which is apparently a conclusion based on hands-on time with some prototype MIDs using the Silverthorne chip:

“Ultimately, Silverthorne could be compelling for the Asus Eee PC form factor, and at 2GHz there’s an outside possibility that it might find a home in a MacBook Air that’s relatively underpowered, but has great battery life. But the MID form factor, at least in its Silverthorne combination, is dead on arrival. So Silverthorne is just the start of something, and to ARM, MIPS, and the other established chipmakers who currently own the embedded space, it’s Intel’s way of saying “game on.” (emphasis mine)

So that’s it then? The promise of Menlow devices was all a pipe dream? Perhaps these lower powered chips won’t well handle a size-XXL operating system like Microsoft Windows Vista (or maybe they will), but to summarily dismiss them based on a prototype is just senseless to me. The main reason I haven’t replaced my Samsung Q1P UMPC is because I haven’t seen any truly compelling devices that can replace it for my needs and requirements. I thought that a Menlow device, especially one running a “lighter” OS could change that, but if Ars is to be believed, I’ve apparently wasted my time waiting for nothing. Somehow, I think not. Agree, disagree or (more likely) too soon to tell?

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