Thread: Anandtech News

Nearly two years ago Micron announced its first native PCIe SSD: the P320h. We finally got to review it over a year later. In the time between announcement and availability however, the market had changed considerably. The P320h still used expensive 34nm SLC NAND, while much of the enterprise PCIe market moved to MLC/eMLC/MLC-HET based solutions to deliver better cost per GB. Today, Micron fills the hole in their product stack with a PCIe SSD that uses 25nm MLC NAND: the P420m.
The P420m is built on the very same controller as the P320h, with nearly identical firmware (save for changes to support the new NAND type). We're still looking at a 32-NAND-channel PCIe x8 controller, it's just hooked up to a different type of NAND.
The other big physical change here is the use of on-board capacitors to enable power fail protection, a feature that wasn't present on the P320h.

Like the P320h, there will be both 2.5" (SFF-8639 connector) and half-height, half-length PCIe x8 versions of the P420m. The 2.5" version only supports PCIe x4 and 16 NAND channels in capacities of 350GB or 700GB, while the x8 can stripe across all 32 NAND channels with 700GB and 1.4TB capacities. The use of 2-bit-per-cell MLC guarantees twice the usable storage of the SLC based P320h. The P420m is rated for 10PB of total drive writes (~4 drive fills per day for 5 years) compared to 25/50PB for the P320h.

Micron isn't talking about pricing (other than to say that it's cheaper than the P320h) or write performance at this time as the drive still isn't final. Read speeds are up to 3GB/s (sequential) and 750K IOPS (4K random). At the right price, the P420m could be far more interesting than the P320h given that it could deliver very similar performance.



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QNAP's entry level NAS models received an upgrade recently with the launch of the TS-x20 and TS-x21 series. Both of therm are based on Marvell CPUs (and the lack of explicit mention of the SoC leads us to believe it is based on the Marvell 6282 which has been around for quite some time). While the x20 series uses a 1.6 GHz version with 512 MB of DDR3, the x21 uses a 2.0 GHz one with 1 GB of DDR3. As such, these models carry twice the amount of memory compared to the corresponding models from last year. The x20 and x21 series have 1,2 and 4 bay models (for a total of 6 new units). The 2 and 4-bay models have hot-swap bays. The TS-421 also has a LCD display in front while the TS-420 doesn't. The TS-120 and TS-220 come in white.

QNAP's NAS OS (TurboNAS firmware) needs a lot of catching up to do in order to compare favorably in terms of user experience, stability and usability with some of the other NAS vendors' offerings in the market. The most exciting part about the announcement of the new NAS models is the launch of a revamped NAS OS (QTS 4.0) available exclusively on the x20 / x21 series for now.
At first glance, the OS seems to be a hybrid version of the Asustor 'iOS' approach and Synology's desktop approach. It allows users to multi-task. Any change made to QNAP's OS with usability in mind is very welcome and we are cautiously excited about QTS 4.0.
In the meanwhile, for other NAS models, firmware version 3.8.3 is scheduled to go out in a week or two. QTS 4.0 beta for older NAS models is expected to be made available free of charge towards the end of May 2013. Business-oriented features such as storage pools and new LVM (logical volume manager) are slated to be added to QTS 4.0 in June. The next few months promise to be exciting for existing and prospective QNAP customers.



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Today Acer held a press conference in New York to announce a variety of new products. Given the timing, it’s no surprise that Intel 4^th Generation CPUs aren’t listed, though we expect additional updates in the coming months. What we have in the meantime are a few interesting takes on where computing and touchscreen interfaces are headed. We’ll start with the Aspire R7, which is the most unusual of the new offerings.
Equipped with a 1080p IPS touchscreen, Acer has decided to try a different approach to the touchscreen laptop. Now, instead of having the touchpad in front of the keyboard, it’s located above the keyboard and the display hinge can shift forward to bring the touchscreen experience closer to the user. The screen can also flip 180 degrees for easy sharing of content, it can lie (mostly) flat against the chassis, or it can even rest in an elevated “table” position.
The core hardware for the R7 is standard Ultrabook fare (though the R7 isn’t and Ultrabook), with an optional GeForce GT 750M available. That means processor choices consist of the i5-3337U and the i7-3537U, both slightly faster versions of the 3^rd Generation Ivy Bridge CPUs we’ve had for a year or so now. There will be models with HDDs as well as SSD equipped options, and in addition to the usual WiFi and Bluetooth you get two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, four stereo speakers, and dual array microphone, webcam, HDMI, and SD car ports. Battery life is rated at 4.5 hours (53Wh battery), which is on the low side for a 5.3 pound laptop.
The idea of a 15.6” convertible laptop/tablet/thingy is interesting, though not necessarily something we’ve seen a lot of users clamoring for. I suspect this may turn into one of those love-it or hate-it affairs, depending on the user. Acer also notes that they’ve created a very durable "Ezel" hinge so that the screen will stay in place wherever you put it, though as I wasn’t at the launch party I can’t provide any specific comments on how it feels in practice right now.
Pricing is listed as $1000 for the “Best Buy model” that will include a free copy of Star Trek: The Video Game and will come with a Core i5 CPU, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD, and a 24GB caching SSD. The R7-571-6858 will be available at Best Buy on May 17^th and is available for pre-order now; other models will follow.
Gallery: Acer Aspire R7: A Laptop to Make You Flip





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In contrast to the Aspire R7, the P3 is basically a reworking of the Iconia W700 tablet from last year, only with a shell that makes the result very similar to Microsoft’s Surface Pro with its own variant of the Type Cover. There are a few immediately notable differences, however, like the standard 1366x768 resolution instead of 1080p—but thankfully the panel technology is still IPS. The Aspire P3 comes with either a Core i3 or i5 processor, 2GB or 4GB RAM, and a 60GB or 120GB SSD.
The weight of the tablet is 790g (1.74 lbs.) while the keyboard cover nearly doubles the total weight with an additional 600g (1.32 lbs.), so the whole tablet/Ultrabook ends up being somewhat heavy at 1.39kg (3.06 lbs.) The tablet portion measures 295.4mm x 190.7mm x 9.95mm (11.63” x 7.51” x 0.39”), and the keyboard cover is slightly wider and taller and adds another 9.8mm to the thickness. Other aspects include a 40Wh battery that’s good for up to six hours of battery life, 720p front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, micro HDMI, and a single full-size USB 3.0 port.
The base model P3 is available immediately with an MSRP of $800, so again this is very much a Surface Pro alternative. I would assume the $800 model comes with a 60GB SSD, 2GB RAM, and a Core i3 CPU. Acer doesn’t list an MSRP for the higher spec model, but $1000+ would seem likely.
Gallery: Acer Aspire P3 Ultrabook Launched





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Today Acer held a press conference in New York to announce a variety of new products. Given the timing, it’s no surprise that Intel 4^th Generation CPUs aren’t specifically listed, though we expect additional updates in the coming months. What we have in the meantime are a few interesting takes on where computing and touchscreen interfaces are headed. We’ll start with the Aspire R7, which is the most unusual of the new offerings.
Equipped with a 1080p IPS touchscreen, Acer has decided to try a different approach to the touchscreen laptop. Now, instead of having the touchpad in front of the keyboard, it’s located above the keyboard and the display hinge can shift forward to bring the touchscreen experience closer to the user. The screen can also flip 180 degrees for easy sharing of content, it can lie (mostly) flat against the chassis, or it can even rest in an elevated “table” position.
The core hardware for the R7 is standard Ultrabook fare (though the R7 isn’t and Ultrabook), with an optional GeForce GT 750M available. That means processor choices consist of the i5-3337U and the i7-3537U, both slightly faster versions of the 3^rd Generation Ivy Bridge CPUs we’ve had for a year or so now. There will be models with HDDs as well as SSD equipped options, and in addition to the usual WiFi and Bluetooth you get two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, four stereo speakers, and dual array microphone, webcam, HDMI, and SD car ports. Battery life is rated at 4.5 hours (53Wh battery), which is on the low side for a 5.3 pound laptop.
The idea of a 15.6” convertible laptop/tablet/thingy is interesting, though not necessarily something we’ve seen a lot of users clamoring for. I suspect this may turn into one of those love-it or hate-it affairs, depending on the user. Acer also notes that they’ve created a very durable "Ezel" hinge so that the screen will stay in place wherever you put it, though as I wasn’t at the launch party I can’t provide any specific comments on how it feels in practice right now.
Pricing is listed as $1000 for the “Best Buy model” that will include a free copy of Star Trek: The Video Game and will come with a Core i5 CPU, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD, and a 24GB caching SSD. The R7-571-6858 will be available at Best Buy on May 17^th and is available for pre-order now; other models will follow.
Gallery: Acer Aspire R7: A Laptop to Make You Flip





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Continuing with the spate of Acer announcements from today, next up we have the Iconia A1 Tablet. Details on the SoC are a bit scarce, but it’s listed as a quad-core 1.2GHz 28nm MT8389W MediaTek chip (with MT6167 for 3G); MediaTek has used PowerVR SGX 544 previously, but it’s not clear which GPU is in the MT8389W. Regardless, the 1024x768 LCD resolution doesn’t need a ton of graphics power for moderate gaming, so hopefully the GPU will prove sufficient.
Acer makes a point of calling the A1 a “one-handed” tablet, suggesting that the smaller size than traditional tablets makes it more usable with a single hand. Dimensions of the A1 measure 208.7mm x 145.7mm x 11.1mm and with a weight of 410g (WiFi only; 430g for 3G) it’s reasonably light, but we’ve seen other 7” tablets so this is nothing really new.
Other features of note are the IPS XGA LCD, 1GB DDR3L RAM, 8GB/16GB eMMC storage, 0.3MP (640x480) front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera (with 1080p30 video support), microSD slot with support for up to 32GB, Micro USB 2.0, Micro HDMI, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11b/g/n, and an 18.6Wh battery with up to eight hours of battery life. The A1 ships with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).
The Iconia A1-810 with 16GB will be available in June with an MSRP of $200.
Gallery: Acer Iconia A1 7.9” Tablet





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The final piece of news out of Acer from today consists of updates to their Aspire V series of laptops targeted at value-conscious consumers. We’ve previously reviewed the Aspire V3-571G and the Aspire V5-171, and while neither was able to set the stage on fire, in both cases we came away impressed with the value being offered. The updated systems look to build on that successful combination of performance and value, and what’s more, Acer is adding AMD APUs to the V5 11.6” series. Let’s start there.

The specs for the V5 11.6” model are relatively light right now: it has an 11.6” HD LCD (which almost certainly means 1366x768 TN), it measures 289mm x 206.3mm x 19.35-21.2mm, and it weighs 1.38kg, or 1.55kg with a second battery. Wait, second battery? What’s this? It seems as though Acer is suggesting you buy and carry around a second battery if the 3-cell standard battery is insufficient, though the second battery is apparently slightly lower capacity (2500mAh vs. 2640mAh). The processor is merely listed as “Next Generation AMD Dual/Quad Core CPU”, so some variant of Richland. There will also be an Intel version of the 11.6” model, at least in some regions of the world. All of the 11.6” models are also apparently touchscreen models.

Moving up to the V5/V7 series 14” offerings, Acer takes an interesting step forward by offering either a 1366x768 TN LCD or a 1080p IPS display. Hallelujah! This is something we’ve wanted to see for a long time from Acer, and hopefully they can manage to keep the IPS upgrade affordable.
Available in touchscreen and non-touchscreen configurations, the touch-enabled models will be slightly thicker and weigh a bit more. Acer lists the dimensions at 340mm x 240mm x 20.75mm for the non-touch models and 22.85mm thick for the touchscreen offerings. Similarly, weight is 1.95kg for the standard models and 2.1kg for touchscreens. (Wow—who knew touchscreens weighed so much more?)
Other features of the 14” models include Core i3/i5/i7 CPU support, optional GeForce GT 740M 2GB DDR3 graphics, a 4-cell battery, hard drive capacities up to 1TB or SSD capacities up to 256GB, and four stereo speakers. Acer also lists a “ZoomPerfect Touchpad” as a feature, which will hopefully work better than some of the other touchpads we’ve seen lately.

Last but not least, the V5/V7 15.6” series of laptops has many features that overlap with the above, including the 1080p IPS LCD upgrade, optional touchscreen, and optional dedicated graphics. Battery capacity remains unchanged, and the same goes for the storage options; the only real difference is in the dimensions and weight, as well as the GPU options. The keyboard also gets a dedicated 10-key on the right.
The non-touch models measure 381.6mm x 255.95mm x 20.75mm, while the touchscreen models are 22.85mm thick (so same thickness as the 14” models). Weight for the non-touch models is listed at 2.1kg, with the touchscreen bumping that to 2.3kg. As for the GPUs, Acer is offering a GT 720M 2GB DDR3 as one possibility, with a GT 750M 4GB DDR3 as a higher performance option. What’s frustrating is that both GPUs have to make do with DDR3; really, the GT 750M doesn’t deserve to be paired with anything less than GDDR5, particularly if you plan on getting a 1080p LCD!
Acer didn’t provide details on specific models, configurations, or pricing. It seems as though there will be AMD APUs available in the 14” and 15.6” chassis as well, and one of the documents mentions the availability of Radeon HD 8750M. The V7 models will also apparently make the grade for Ultrabook classification (and probably pricing to go with that). Acer notes that keyboard backlighting will be available on all three sizes, depending on your region. As for pricing and availability, all we have to go on right now are that models will begin shipping at the end of May with a starting MSRP of $500.
Gallery: Acer Aspire V Series: New AMD APUs and Other Upgrades





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The most frustrating part about covering Intel’s journey into mobile over the past five years is just how long it’s taken to get here. The CPU cores used in Medfield, Clover Trail and Clover Trail+ are very similar to what Intel had with the first Atom in 2008. Obviously we’re dealing with higher levels of integration and tweaks for further power consumption, but the architecture and much of the core remains unchanged. Just consider what that means. A single Bonnell core, designed in 2004, released in 2008, is already faster than ARM’s Cortex A9. Intel had this architecture for five years now and from the market’s perspective, did absolutely nothing with it. You could argue that the part wasn’t really ready until Intel had its 32nm process, so perhaps we’ve only wasted 3 years (Intel debuted its 32nm process in 2010). It’s beyond frustrating to think about just how competitive Intel would have been had it aggressively pursued this market.
Today Intel is in a different position. After acquisitions, new hires and some significant internal organizational changes, Intel seems to finally have the foundation to iterate and innovate in mobile. Although Bonnell (the first Atom core) was the beginning of Intel’s journey into mobile, it’s Silvermont - Intel’s first new Atom microarchitecture since 2008 - that finally puts Intel on the right course.


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Synology is one of the few NAS vendors to successfully pull through multiple units in our labs without any showstopper failures. The quality and breadth of the feature set offered in the DSM (Disk Station Manager) firmware is unrivaled in the SMB / SOHO NAS industry. Out of the very few factors that might force users to reconsider going the Synology route is the pricing of their units.
In order to cater to budget-conscious consumers (and users trying to experiment with their first NAS), Synology carries the j series (DS112j / DS212j / DS413j etc.). These products are all based on a single core Marvell ARMADA 300 SoC, the Marvell 6281. The single-threaded single custom Marvell ARM core runs at 1.2 GHz in the MV6281 SoC. Today, Synology is updating the j series lineup with the 2-bay model for 2013, the DS213j.
In order to make the DS213j an attractive option for consumers, Synology is using a FPU-enabled version of the 6281. The amount of DRAM is also being doubled from the previous generation (the new model has 512 MB of x16 DDR3 DRAM). The presence of a FPU should make some of the tasks such as photo viewing / thumbnail generation faster.
The DS213j runs on DSM 4.2 with all its feature-rich apps. Synology promises compatibility with future versions also. The unit is slated to start shipping today. I will update the article with pricing information later today.



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Alongside the Seagate 600 and 600 Pro SATA SSDs, Seagate is also announcing its 1200 SSD aimed squarely at the enterprise market. While the 600/600 Pro use Link A Media's LM87800 controller with some degree of Seagate firmware customization, the 1200 apparently uses a fully custom Seagate designed controller.
Seagate is planning on using a mixture of custom designed and 3rd party controllers with Seagate custom firmware depending on the application. As I hinted at in our review of the Seagate 600/600 Pro SSDs, I don't believe the Link A Media relationship is one that will last - eventually I see Seagate transitioning to its own controllers. The 1200 is an indication of just that.

We don't know a whole lot about the 1200 other than it is a 12Gbps 2.5" SAS drive. The 1200 will be available this quarter.

Seagate also unveiled a Virident FlashMAX II based PCIe SSD simply called the X8. The X8 features a FusionIO-like architecture that moves all NAND management from the SSD to the host CPU cores in the server. Given how readily available (and sometimes underutilized) host CPU resources can be, the tradeoff is sometimes worth it. The X8 will be available starting on May 27th.



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