If Ultrabooks lasted longer, would YOU open your wallet?
LSI is betting its flashy controllers you would
Unfruity Ultrabook users will be able to keep it up for longer with LSI's specially enhanced SandForce controllers.
The SF-2100 and -2200 Flash Storage Processors as they are called handle flash so sensitively that Ultrabook users may get an extra hour of battery life compared to other, non-specified controllers. It's all to do with power management optimisation which, LSI claims, enable SSD manufacturers to build drives that use power more efficiently, and shorten system boot and resume times, compared to what exactly LSI doesn't say.
It does say its shipped more than 10 million SandForce flash processors since 2010; LSI bought SandForce at the end of November in 2011.
Ultrabook sales are forecast to grow 92 per cent compounded through to 2017. LSI needs Ultrabook to become popular so that it can reap the benefits of its SandForce power optimisation work. So far they have flopped as they are too expensive and don't measure up to Apple's MacBook Air standard. Cheaper, thinner and extended life models could reverse that and enable LSI to ship another 10 million or more of its SandForce products. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Not a PC
"not being a PC" - Apple computer's don't have Intel x84/x64 processors, neither do they have RAM chips, PCI express bridges and USB host devices. They simply run on magic, fairy dust and the excited 'squees' of trendy people with goatees using them in coffee shops and airy loft converted design studios.
My PC doesn't have an ISA bridge and it's 5 years old. Do you think the presence of a serial port honestly effects battery life and performance?
Re: "Not a PC" What? You are not suggesting that Apple will *copy* this are you?
Yes, ok, but in this instance all Apple need do is switch their flash controllers in the next batch of laptops to LSI. LSI are hardly likely to turn around and say 'go away you're note building an Ultrabook', they'll say 'certainty sir, how many hundreds of reels was that? and what sort of discount can I offer you gents?'
Re: "Not a PC" What? You are not suggesting that Apple will *copy* this are you?
Well ther you go, you are mistaken.
Apple NEVER copy anything, they strip it down, study it, then reverse engineer the same thing but with a new logo on it.
That is innovative and revolutionary, just not evolutionary. Mind you it is "magic" to get so many, including hardnosed hacks, to buy into the me want one hype.
Standards
I too looked at the title, and hoped for the impossible - standard laptop components like we have for desktops. Parts of my desktop are ancient because I can keep using them when I upgrade other bits. You could do with some standard laptop case sizes so you can transfer your good components. I would like to upgrade my CPU/chipset to something quieter, but lack of standards mean I would have to replace the LCD, keyboard, touch pad and case at the same time.
If Intel want a faster upgrade cycle, they will have to sort out some standards - over the dead bodies of the current laptop and LCD manufacturers.
What year was this written?
Apple already uses Sandforce controllers in the latest MacBook Air
See review at Anandtech: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6063/macbook-air-13inch-mid-2012-review/4
