HP Notebooks Say \"No\" Intel's Turbo Memory
June 07, 2007 at 01:08:00 PM, by Thai Tan
A bold move by HP...
HP became the first laptop maker to avoid incoporation of Intel Turbo Memory technology for notebooks based on Centrino Pro platform.
Formerly known as Robson technology, Intel's Turbo Memory technology allows a flash memory based add-in module to improve system performance. It is designed to work with Windows Vista Operating System through features like ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive. Turbo Memory aims to speed notebook boot-up times and load applications faster.
All leading notebook manufacturers, including the likes of Acer, Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo have already rolled laptops featuring Intel's Turbo Memory.
But Hewlett-Packard, thinks otherwise. They company believes that internal testing reveal 'Turbo Memory' has poor value and it limits flexibility. HP's Senior Category Manager for business notebooks, Steven Gales, said the company decided to omit Turbo Memory as a result of internal tests. He further added, saying, the company has done a lot of research in this regard and they will not offer something in notebooks just because it is there, but they seek true value for their customers.
Using Intel's benchmark test for evaluating the performance of Turbo Memory, HP's team did see the improvements in performance that Intel had predicted. However, because 1GB of Turbo Memory is effectively split into two - with one half serving ReadyBoost and the other ReadyDrive - adding a 512MB SD card or a 512MB USB stick to the baseline system resulted in the same improvements.
The greatest improvement came as a result of adding more actual RAM to the system. "We added 1GB of RAM and saw a much higher improvement in performance compared to using any of the ReadyBoost or Robson technology," Doddridge said. He added that: "If you have enough system RAM in the system already, ReadyBoost doesn't give you a lot."
HP's decision was also based on the fact that ReadyBoost can only use one memory source at a time, which means that having Turbo Memory - which comes at a maximum size of 1GB - integrated into a notebook stops the customer from using, for example, a 2GB USB stick to boost the computer's memory.
Andre Carvalho, HP's notebook marketing manager for EMEA, also pointed out that a 1GB Turbo Memory module costs about $50 to put into a notebook. A 512MB SD card, which offers more or less the same memory boost, costs around $10. Intel defended the Turbo Memory technology, telling ZDNet UK that the technology's 1GB cap was based on "engineering choices" and it was up to manufacturers as to whether they wanted to use it.
An ASUS representative also expressed their concerns over unspecified technical issues leading to ASUS' delay for incorporating Turbo Memory in their notebooks.
It would be interesting to see what comes out of this. Other notebook manufacturers may or may not go so public with their plans to avoid or retain Turbo Memory in Centrino Pro notebooks.
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