Intel chips away at prices

Intel lowered prices Sunday on several processors for lightweight notebooks. The 1GHz ultra-low-voltage Pentium M will cost 8 percent less at $241, down from $262. The price of the 1.3GHz Celeron M dropped by 20 percent to $107, and the 800MHz ultra-low-voltage Celeron M dropped by 11 percent to $144.

Intel sells low-voltage and ultra-low-voltage Pentium M and Celeron M chips for the smallest notebooks and mini-notebooks such as IBM's 2.7-pound ThinkPad X40. Intel regularly cuts the prices of its chips, often to make room for new models. Its next major launch of a mobile processor is expected in May, when the company plans to release a new chip code-named Dothan.