First look at the Envy 133's instant 5-second OS

For those of you still able to focus, able to avoid a gobsmacked trance evoked by the unabashed sex of the Voodoo Envy 133, listen up. LAPTOP went hands-on with a pre-production Voodoo Envy 133 running the instant-on, Linux-based IOS (aka, DeviceVM's Splashtop) and came away "really impressed" by the "game changing" technology. Instead of waiting for Vista to steal another boot-minute from your day, IOS boots in just seconds letting you surf the web in just 15 seconds from a cold start -- 4-5 seconds for IOS boot, another 10 or so to launch the Mozilla-based "Splashtop browser." The IOS also presents users with a Pidgin chat (AIM, Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo, and more) client, voice-only Skype, and multi-media playback of photos and music. Let's face it, often, very often, this is all the functionality we need from our laptops, right Eee PC owners? Of course, you can boot to Vista from IOS or shut the laptop down if that spreadsheet can wait another day. Now hit up that read link to check the video hands-on.

[collegekid13 @ Jul 16th 2008 4:11AM]

so why isn't this open for download. i'd buy it for my hp even though xps fast it just can't get me to my porn fast enough

[JoeB @ Jul 16th 2008 4:18AM]

you've got some pretty urgent urges there.. lol

[ArcticFox @ Jul 16th 2008 4:31AM]

erik what the fock does this news article have to do with iphone. Apple fanboys put me off reading the comments

[Dave @ Jul 16th 2008 6:32AM]

VOIS = Epic fail on a conceptual level.

Why waste so much effort on an InstantOn solution when you can get Windows Hibernate functionality to do the same thing? VAIOs have had this whole area sorted for years.

There are so many scenarios where you don't want your machine cut down the middle.
- VOIP: Whats that line in your document say? Oh...
- Update Flash... Boot, update Flash.. tedious.
- Boot: What was that link we had? Oh, it was in the other bit.

[Mark Anderson @ Jul 16th 2008 7:50AM]

@Erik

Die in a fire please.

This is teh sex0rz. Ideal for a quick gentleman's surf and a more robust OS for when you want to get stuff done on top of it.

Instant win!

[Nytrojen @ Jul 16th 2008 4:22AM]

POD (Porn-On-Demand)

[ArcticFox @ Jul 16th 2008 4:34AM]

fock off posting about your shatty last years technology in a none apple news post, stop bending over and taking it up the ass from jobs

[iofthestorm @ Jul 16th 2008 4:39AM]

It'd be even nicer if you could use the IOS while Vista boots. Although really, Vista doesn't take THAT long to boot on hardware that runs Vista decently, I can see how for checking one small thing it could be useful.

[voteneg @ Jul 16th 2008 4:58AM]

Really no shit. From the instant I turn on my PC till the time I can open my web browser no more than 35 seconds have passed. I believe many of the complaints people have with Vista would be solved with adequate hardware.

However that's not to say that Microsoft did an awesome job with making good suggestions with their Vista capable scheme... and the OS is a hog... but on a good PC it's just fine.

[Bootes @ Jul 16th 2008 7:34AM]

This isn't really a complaint about Vista's boot time, but boot times in general. The fact that you have to wait for the computer to turn on can be annoying.

Lets say you have to get to the airport and just as you're getting into the car you realize you don't know the exact directions. You run to your computer to check how to get there on your favorite map site. The instant boot to a simple web browser is useful and saves you time.

This isn't to replace Vista or go nanana I boo faster, but to make your computer a little more useful.

[XenoX101 @ Jul 16th 2008 5:09AM]

Cool idea, but the devil in me would want to wait that extra 55 seconds for the full functionality of Vista, even if I won't use it. It's the difference between waiting a minute to drive a nearly new bmw m3 or waiting 5 seconds and driving a 1980's ford laser. Good things come to those who wait.

[Jeff @ Jul 16th 2008 2:24PM]

First of all, the ford laser was AWESOME!

Secondly, it actually seems sad to me that this would even be necessary. Brand new hardware needs to include a mini-OS because Vista boots too slow for people? the hardware is BRAND NEW! why is this even an issue?

Thirdly, i was joking about the ford laser.

[Decoy @ Jul 16th 2008 9:03PM]

No you weren't, the Ford Laser is awesome ,

[Kelmon @ Jul 16th 2008 5:17AM]

Perhaps my usage pattern is different to others but my laptop is never off - it's either in active use or it's asleep. In either event I have access to the full OS and applications in less time than it takes IOS to boot. The downside to this, of course, is that the laptop is consuming battery power when asleep but that's never been a problem unless the laptop hasn't been touched for days and is away from a power supply. Given this I don't see the point of turning the laptop off or why I'd want to use a "basic" system. Does the Envy not sleep or wake from sleep in a second or so?

[Bas Tossings @ Jul 16th 2008 5:26AM]

Seriously, what's the use of said technology when existing laptops (windows or mac, they both do it) come out of standby in less than 15 seconds. OSX comes on instantly. Vista might take longer, though no longer than 15 seconds I guess. I don't get it. Someone please explain the advantage to me.

[NHAnimator @ Jul 16th 2008 9:50AM]

Install Windows updates, then reboot your computer.

[kccboy2004 @ Jul 16th 2008 10:10AM]

@Bas,

do yuo know what you pwoer consumption is in standby mode ?

Any idea of the heat generated in a closed laptop bag ??

This is fabulous for real laptop users like myself. If you used laptops as laptops you would recognise this.

[qwert @ Jul 16th 2008 1:26PM]

kccboy, youre doing something wrong if your laptop generates heat while its in sleep mode.
Or is this a windows thing? Im not trying to start stupid windows bashing, but even windows should be able to do something like suspend to ram (only the ram needs a bit of power) or suspend to disk (takes longer to wake up, but uses less power then suspend to ram).

With my ibook sleep works flawlessly. Just close the lid and put it into the bag. No heat problems, and i store it in a selfmade bag out of foam from an old insulation mattress. The heat produced by the ram should be minimal.
the same with my eee (after i configured it properly) close the lit, and put it in its neoprene sleeve (also an insulting material). Get it back out an hour later, and it has the temperature of its sourroundings.

[Jeff @ Jul 16th 2008 2:26PM]

i'm with qwert.

...you must be doing something wrong, kccboy2004, or your laptop os a piece of crap.

[crazypirateninja @ Jul 18th 2008 12:22AM]

There is a difference between standby and the two things you described. The original poster said standby, which is what kcc responded to, and yes, standby is a horrible idea for laptops. Sleep and hibernate (as they are known in windows at least) do work, however, like you said.

[Nate @ Sep 13th 2008 11:35PM]

K, well I'm a guy with a MacBook and I brought it on vacation with me and didn't end up using it or plugging it in for the whole week. When I got home I still had more than 50% left on my battery. I think 50% or so in 7 days is an acceptable loss keeping the laptop in sleep mode.

Haha if it didn't have that blinking LED to remind me that it was in sleep mode it might have lasted even longer! :-P

[arfster @ Jul 16th 2008 5:30AM]

Hibernation long ago killed the point of quick-on mini linux installs like this. Even my 3 year old laptop with a 1ghz Pentium M is out of hibernation and ready to use in

[Catsceo @ Jul 16th 2008 5:36AM]

Hibernation is not the same. And we've never had instant-on linux installs in any computers before this.

[Paul Dullford @ Jul 16th 2008 8:12AM]

I'm sorry, but hibernation just isn't the same thing as this. This OS takes 5 seconds to boot. My computer takes 5 seconds to "restore" Windows then takes 5 more seconds to actually restore the darned environment. Plus, applications that were open at hibernation take some time to get back up.

[Catsceo @ Jul 16th 2008 5:32AM]

What? How?

[Kizorblade @ Jul 16th 2008 5:34AM]

Wow. What type of immune system do you have?

[ArcticFox @ Jul 16th 2008 5:52AM]

If it takes you over 1 minute to boot vista you must have a crap pc, takes about 30-40 seconds for vista to boot for me.

[kccboy2004 @ Jul 16th 2008 10:06AM]

i second that. I have used OSX and Vista. Vista beats OSX hands down in every piece of functionality.

And i love apples.

[Tony @ Jul 16th 2008 5:58AM]

After reading your comment, I instantly felt ill.

[nick @ Jul 16th 2008 6:04AM]

I'd put Windows XP Performance Edition (get it from torrent) and I bet it'll fully boot in 15 seconds on that envy

[Kelmon @ Jul 16th 2008 6:05AM]

You clearly haven't eaten enough garlic.

[Kelmon @ Jul 16th 2008 7:04AM]

Suffice to say that the Engadget comments system appears to be having "issues" today...

[chickenator @ Jul 16th 2008 6:54AM]

wow this is innovative!

awesome!

[steve @ Jul 16th 2008 7:25AM]

Booting? well, my iphone takes exactly 3 (!) seconds to unlock and opening the browser. Havnn't booted needed for x weeks straight.. at night i just turn on the airplane mode.

That's how it works..

[Paul Dullford @ Jul 16th 2008 8:09AM]

Yeah, but no Skype on the iPhone yet, right?
Besides, the iPhone has only a tremendously limited browser. Because it's based on Mozilla, I'm sure Splashtop (despite its utterly horrible name) will provide pretty full-featured web browsing.

[Fozzy Bear @ Jul 16th 2008 8:24AM]

limited meaning... no flash, yet?

not really limited... i personally can't stand flash... i hope the 'alleged' improvements in v10 are legit and hope they get their app out for the iphone...

but this idea here is kinda silly... i don't really see it being useful except in dire emergencies were 30-45 sec of boot time could spell death... in which case... if you only have 30-45 sec to live... why the heck would you be trying to fumble with a notebook?

[Rob Pereira @ Jul 16th 2008 2:58PM]

@Paul:

There is skype via Fring on jailbroken iPhones at the moment, pretty sure it won't be allowed on the app store though.

[Paul Dullford @ Jul 16th 2008 8:05AM]

Ummm... iPhone is clearly not the only platform with developers that goes with you. In fact, there is a *huge* mobile phone platform -- Java Mobile -- that is supported by a great majority of mobile phones out there, including BlackBerry, and my Sony Ericsson w580i, which does pretty much the same things that the iPhone does -- save multitouch, eye candy, GPS, 3G and Internet access -- and more, including limited copy and paste, Java Mobile apps, FM radio, *actual buttons*, limited photo editing, video capture, voice recording, disk mode, and a freely replaceable battery.
And last time I checked, iPhone Linux (which is an actual ongoing project) was still working on the bootloader, and iPodLinux will not be released ever on the iPhone.

[inteller @ Jul 16th 2008 8:13AM]

This is just HPs QuickPlay reskinned. Nothing to see here people move along.

[iHoppipolla @ Jul 16th 2008 8:27AM]

I agree with Catsceo. Hibernation is not the same. We're talking about a computer completely turned off to functional in 15 seconds (without draining the power through Hibernation).

As for the usefulness of the VOIS, it's there. For those who travel a great deal and have spare moments to check an e-mail or site (and don't have a Smart Phone), it makes perfect sense. If anything, it's just an innovative (don't forget how it's different from Hibernation) and fun feature.

iofthestorm made a good point about how sweet it would be to run VOIS in the background while the main OS loads (even if the OS took a couple seconds longer through this process). If we're talking about making best use of ones time, this could be the future.

I'm with you, Engadget. I like it.

[sphetr2 @ Jul 16th 2008 9:03AM]

Hibernation doesn't drain power. It dumps the stuff in RAM to the HDD and then turns off.

Perhaps you're thinking of Stand By?

[7on @ Jul 16th 2008 8:52AM]

What will be cool is once manufactures are embedding FULL Linux systems on the ROM, it should boot up super fast. If all systems came with Ubuntu on the ROM and you still had to boot Windows via the harddrive, and had to pay extra for it, guess what would get used more?

[JYC @ Jul 16th 2008 9:59AM]

...The power of Linux!

If the SplashTop team put hibernation in there, it can probably come on faster than the monitor would power up! THAT would be InstantOn. Plus, you can boot into another OS without rebooting! Damn.

And the OS carved into the motherboard would also mean other things, like its ability to run without storage and immunity to malware =D. Can't wait for this become more common!

[Maeztro @ Jul 16th 2008 10:13AM]

Where's the nugget in the reflection this time?

[Lamp @ Jul 16th 2008 10:25AM]

"the internet keeps turning off, but ALL you have to do is push this little button! so easy!

hahahaha

[paul @ Jul 16th 2008 11:46AM]

Who honestly cares about laptop boot speed? Most people I know hardly EVER reboot their laptop, they just shut the lid and put it to sleep. Opening the lid again brings the OS back INSTANTLY. No need to even wait 5-10 seconds to boot into a silly IOS.

[Coreoworeo @ Sep 25th 2008 7:23PM]

Instantly?

I've never had a laptop wake up "instantly" after having the screen closed, or coming out of standby, and I've been working with them for years.

I really doubt they start up that quick....

[Cacto @ Jul 16th 2008 1:39PM]

Too bad it costs $2,099 base, with no Centrino 2, No more than 80GB HD space, and costs $500 dollars more to even change the color.

If this PC wasn't so rediculously overpriced, this would have been pretty cool.

[Jeff @ Jul 16th 2008 2:27PM]

holy shit.

for that price, i'd expect it to fully boot Vista in 5 seconds.

or, you know, be a mac. that's expensive.

[Jeff @ Jul 16th 2008 2:28PM]

what's with the Aztec Ant-Eater logo?