According to Digitimes, Intel's road map for the rest of 2009 is crystal clear and full of code names. Released Tuesday morning, the report shows that Intel is ready to start up-selling consumers on fancier new portable processors later this year across its entire product line. It's a triple-front chip attack on your holiday wallet.
The highest-end ($1,200 and higher) machines will run the long-awaited dual-core "Calpella" platform, which basically refers to better-performing chips. Midrange machines ($700-$1,000) will get CULV-based processors, low-voltage dual-core CPUs that give more of a real notebook performance, as opposed to the currently limited Atom horsepower of Netbooks. (CULV stands for "consumer ultra-low-voltage.")
As for the ever-affordable Netbook line, where users can get a new Dell for only $299, expect the current Atom processors to be sold through the summer in advance of upgraded fancier new Netbook processors--with faster integrated graphics, and probably higher price points--in September. Right now they're code-named "Pineview" just to be all top-secret.
CULV is the most intriguing movement. Set to attack the $700-$1,000 price point, dual-core CULV machines will outperform AMD Athlon Neo machines, which are currently faster than Netbooks but slower than full dual-core laptops (the HP Pavilion dv2 runs an AMD Neo). If a fancy Netbook runs for $500, small CULV notebooks will be very attractive upgrades. Would you rather have cheaper or faster? Or both? Either way, 2009's shaping up for some big processor changes.
One of only a handful of specific upcoming laptop models that readers have regularly asked about, Hewlett-Packard's 12-inch Pavilion dv2 has finally arrived.
Back at CES 2009, we noted that, "at first glance, another glossy HP laptop with an processor from Advanced Micro Devices may induce yawns, but when we learned this was the first system to use AMD's new Netbook-like Athlon Neo platform, our ears perked up."
The Neo is intended to be a kind of step-up from Netbook CPUs such as the Intel Atom and Via Nano, offering additional processing power for a little more money, and is targeted at slightly larger systems--12-inch laptops instead of 9-inch and 10-inch ones.
AMD sees room for systems with slightly bigger screens than Netbooks, which cost slightly more. AMD claims the 1.6GHz Neo handles multiple apps better than the Intel Atom, and it comes paired with ATI Radeon graphics (it's also restricted to Windows Vista--sorry, no XP option).
We'll be testing and reviewing the HP Pavilion dv2 this week. In the meantime, check out this hands-on video from CES 2009, plus specs and new photos after the break.
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AMD)
You and I may see the laptop market as completely oversaturated, but chipmaker AMD sees only opportunities and underserved markets. Hence the new Athlon Neo, which AMD calls a "platform for ultrathin notebooks."
The company sees Netbooks as occupying the space between 7- and 11-inch displays with prices under $499, while traditional ultraportrable laptops run from 11 to 13 inches and cost $1,499 or more. Somewhere in ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
The HP Pavilion Dv2 debuts AMD's new Ultrathin notebook platform
HP's new Pavilion Dv2.
The highlight of HP's CES lineup is this new, thin, 12-inch AMD-powered model, called the Pavilion Dv2. At first glance, another glossy HP laptop with an AMD processor may induce yawns, but when we learned this was the first system to use AMD's new Netbook-like Athlon Neo platform, our ears perked up.
Pitched as a kind of step-up from Netbooks, Neo provides for a little more processing muscle--at least enough to power Windows Vista. The CPU is called the Neo MV-40, runs at 1.6GHz, and comes paired with ATI Mobility Radeon HD3410 graphics.
Besides that, the Dv2 also has a fairly large keyboard for a 12-inch laptop, starts at about 3.8 pounds, and is 1.3-inches thick at its thickest point. The display is a 1,280 x 800 LED.
Look for the HP Dv2 later in January, somewhere north of $500. Check out some more photos after the jump. ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
On Sale Now: $755.97
View the latest prices for HP Pavilion dv2
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