Wal-Mart To Sell Energy Efficient Notebook For Under $500
by Justin Thomas, Virginia 
on 10.27.06
Wal-Mart will soon be selling an energy efficient notebook computer for under $500. The computer is made by Everex Systems and Taiwanese chipmaker Via Technologies. Everex is calling the computer the "world's most energy efficient notebook". The Via microprocessor inside Everex’s StepNote NC1500 provides 1.5GHz performance at very low power consumption of just 12 watts.
In a press release, John Lin, Everex's VP of Sales said "Teaming up with VIA, Everex has been able to create an exciting new category of energy efficient portable computers. Unlike products which rely on costly, power hungry processors or potentially hazardous batteries, the ground-breaking design of the NC1500 provides consumers with a true, no-compromise alternative." The StepNot C1500 is powered by the Via C7-M processor running at 1.5 GHz and sporting a peak power consumption of just 12 Watts, enabling as much as 20 percent longer battery life than comparable systems.
The StepNote C1500 also sports a 15.4-inch 1,280 by 800 (WXGA) LCD display driven by Via's Unichrome Pro with Chromotion CE Video Display Engine, 512 MB of RAM, a 60 GB hard drive, a dual layer DVD drive, 100Base-T Ethernet, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, 2 USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, headphone/audio output, and buit-in mmic. The C1500 weighs in a 5.3 pounds, and measures 14.1 by 10.7 inches, with a depth ranging frm 0.9 to 1.5 inches. The systems come with Windows XP Home Edition.
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Its funny that it comes with XP. will it have vista on it once vista is out? I can hardly see it being the most energy efficient since XP by default uses a lot of unessecary power.
I would be more excited if they included an os which was built with energy efficiency in mind too (perhaps a derivation of linux or windows CE even)
If Walmart would carry some hand-powered/foot-powered device that could recharge the battery... would be a great combo deal.
Excellent. Low power consumption and enough features for most peoples needs most of the time. And how about that price?
Ahh, interesting, How about the build quality though? there isn't much use trying to be energy efficient when the notebook wont go the distance!
Nice idea though but will have to follow it along to see how it lasts!
Actually, it's the processor which is efficient, not the notebook itself. It still puts out 65W from the adapter, and the battery life is pretty short -- around 2 hours per charge.
http://www.everex.com/products/nc1500/nc1500.htm
My G3 Powerbook (8 years old) has a maximum power use of 45 watts, with a 15" color LCD.
I'm so torn... why's it gotta be Wal-Mart!
Haha! 8 year old Powerbook, now that is conserving at 45 watts, I love it. My old iBook G4 is still going strong with low power consumption after 4 years.
Allowing an electronic device to last a long time is more friendly to the environment than just low power consumption and increased electronic waste in landfills.
That's great - I have quite a few friends that run ancient powerbooks and ibooks. I am always hopeful they will buy a new one and I can score their old one - but they never replace them!
No reason to, really, they still run great and the styling is much the same. I am truly lucky to get 2 years out of the pc laptops my employer supplies me.
That really makes the case for buying a quality product and keeping it longer.
Now that macs can run windows a couple of my co workers have gotten the IT dept to issue mac books... XP at work, OS X at home! I can't wait!
I am typing this on on right now. The battery life is so low because it comes with the most paired down battery ever. Three cell 2200 mW. The laptop is solid, hinges are tight, (no play), the screen is very nice. Keyboard is a bit squished, but I also have big hands. I installed Linux on it Ubuntu and tried the new knoppix cd as well. Just an fyi, mine came with an Atheros abg card, not just bg and you can buy a larger battery off the Everex site should you need the time. The entire laptop draws 13w when in use. Depending on what you are doing, the cpu will be clocked down to 2ish watts during most of that time. Should anyone need, the VIA c7-m also has the NX (No Execute) bit and supports SSE3 (PNI). I would recommend it for an average user, not a gamer. For the price, i'd recommend it to anyone who might want a laptop, or and extra laptop.
It would use less power with a 64GB usb drive instead of a hard drive, and an LED screen
Though VIA chips are not as powerful as Intel and AMD chips - then it it has forced Intel to think more about energy consumption.
Intel do have Their Ultralow voltage CPU's that use max 5 watt energy - but you cannot get product with it - except for Sony Vaios..which are grossly overpriced.
Not just for low energy - but now also for the more confortable feel of working on a coller computer would make such a device on my "buy list".
I am not saying that this is thre greatest product of all time - but it is a step in hte right direction.
Also, a lot of people today don't need that much CPU power.
They could probably conserve even more energy if tehy reduced the screensize to 12" instead of 15".
VIA will also need to come out with quadro CPU's to get better speed.
Also, a lot of people today don't need that much CPU power.
They could probably conserve even more energy if tehy reduced the screensize to 12" instead of 15".
Haha! 8 year old Powerbook, now that is conserving at 45 watts, I love it. My old iBook G4 is still going strong with low power consumption after 4 years.
Allowing an electronic device to last a long time is more friendly to the environment than just low power consumption and increased electronic waste in landfills.
I'm so torn... why's it gotta be Wal-Mart!
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Its funny that it comes with XP