By David Ponce
Alienware, in my mind, equates with unjustifiable expense. But hell, for some people, having the word “Alien” on their gear is worth paying the premium, I guess. That’s not to say the company doesn’t make fine products. Take this, the lovely Sentia m3200.
It’s aimed at users who value portability, weighing in at 4lbs. But that’s not why I find it interesting. I like the Instant-On functionality.
You can immediately access videos, music, digital photos and other multimedia content while conserving battery life on your notebook. How does this work? You instantly boot into a multimedia interface by pushing the instant-on button when the entire system is off. This bypasses loading Windows on the notebook and provides a dedicated environment for multimedia functions while conserving critical battery power.
Yeah, saving two or three minutes of Windows bootup time certainly sounds exciting to me.
Other features include:
-12.1 inch widescreen LCD with ClearView technology
– 4 hour battery life
– Integrated 4 in 1 media card reader
– 802.11a/b/g wireless support
They’re starting at, amazingly enough, $1000. More at the Alienware website. Story VIA Mobilewhack.
my fujitsu siemens 1437g has got a similar instant-on function… bought it this summer.
My Jewel 9600, which is based on the same (Uniwill) barebone system as the old Sentia, also had a similar function and it’s about 2 years old now. It’s linux based and honestly, it sucks. Use hibernate or standby on a proper Windows install and you’ll be much, much happier.
sounds cool, i like the low price.
2 or 3 minutes? My sentia boots in 30 sec.
I do like this mode, although I find shoving the CPU down to 400mhz more amusing, though useless.