Finally, I have a PS3.

[Derick Centeno]

On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:14:42 -0500
Michael Rockwell <arisescaflowne at gmail.com> wrote:

> Toshiba had a cell based laptop coming soon. But very pricey.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>     Michael Rockwell
> 
> 615-974-3437
> Mrockwell at bankofny.com
> 
> On Jun 28, 2008, at 8:46 AM, Derick Centeno <dcenteno at ydl.net> wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:01:52 -0500
> > "Ron Rogers Jr." <CronoCloud at mchsi.com> wrote:
> >
> >> After lurking on this list for what seemed like forever, I
> >> finally have a PS3.
> >
> > Congrats!  I haven't made that move yet.  I would prefer the cell in  
> > a laptop
> > running ydl.  It may never happen.

Hi Mike!

I've read some details on it's design.  Toshiba designed that laptop such that
the Cell is restricted to doing video processing, the Cell itself is not the
primary processor.  The Cell off-loads or removes from the Intel processor
nearly all work having to do with video high def processing.  The very
nature of the design reveals the weakness of the Intel architecture
demonstrating how unprepared it is to handle such complex work.  Also the
Toshiba design is such that the Cell is only available through the PCI-x (a
variant of the more familiar and standard PCI design).  Also the Cell, in
Toshiba's implementation has 4 cores, not 8 - as exists in the PS3.

Of course, that makes a powerful demonstration of how strong the Cell is that
it is helping Intel appear functional in modern video processing.  However the
design as it stands presents problems if one was looking forward to running the
Cell as one runs the PS3 under YDL.  I'm not at all sure that the engineering
wasn't intentional to prevent lovers of PowerPC/Cell technology from doing what
they can imagine.

In short, the only real choice power users have is the new YDL PowerStation
(available shortly here:
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/store/index.php?submit=hardware&submitimg[hardware][powerstation]=1)
indeed well named for all it's flexibilty, or resort to prying open the
PS3.

I well admit to wanting what corporations refuse to currently provide, an 8+
core Cell with at least 3TB of solid state storage and .5PB (peta) of RAM in a
laptop. Having said that, the YDL PowerStation will at least address my lust for
processing power.  Of course, I'd like to figure out how to stuff in there two
or three Cells in a parallel hypercuboid system supported by an improbability
engine powered with an inexhaustible supply of brownian motion -- then maybe
I'll feel better.  :)

Well, there's always hope.

=====
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often
think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of
music. ... I get most joy in life out of music."  

"What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester
Viereck," for the October 26, 1929 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
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