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Gateway has launched two new laptops with some decent features and specs that seem worthy of their price tags. These new laptops are called the M-2408j and M-2410j and both are equipped with AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 QL-60 processors and boast of a 15.4-inch WXGA screen with a resolution of up to 1280 x 800.

In addition, both laptops also comes with Wi-Fi, a 1.3 megapixel web camera, HDMI output and 5-in-1 card reader. The M-2408j is loaded wit 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and a super multi-drive DVD. The higher-end M-2410j meanwhile boasts of 3GB memory and a 320GB hard drive.

The Gateway M2408j and M-2410j will both be released by end of July and retail for around $738 and $911 respectively.

Via [Akihabara News]

Toshiba has announced that it will be offering some of its Satellite series laptops with the AMD’s notebook platform. Toshiba’s Satellite laptops which include the P300D, A300D, M300D, U400D, L300D and L350D will now be available with either AMD’s Athlon Dual Core QL, Turion Dual Core RM or Turion Ultra ZM processors.

In addition some of the models from the mentioned Satellite series will now have the following standard features most Toshiba laptops; a built-in FM tuner, facial recognition sleep-and-charge USB ports, eSATA port and the Toshiba fusion finish. These Toshiba laptops aside from having the AMD platform will also come packed with Harman Kardon stereo speakers, while some will come equipped with Toshiba REGZA LINK technology.

The Toshiba Satellite series is currently available and pricing will vary depending on the laptop’s configuration.

Read [Business Wire]

HP revisited its Pavillion line and came out with guns blazing – now, the entire series boasts of HD tuners, Blu-ray drives, webcams, fingerprint readers and even built-in 3G internet.

Aesthetically, the series also received a makeover with a smooth, liquid-metallic ‘magic chrome’ controls that light up upon touching. An optional BrightView Infinity Widescreen and color-matched keyboards and touchpads also contribute to the elegant design.

But the real story is in the range of choices the Pavillion line offers. First, users can choose between AMD and Intel to power their notebooks. Then, it’s a matter of balancing price and power. From the lightweight dv4 ($800 for AMD or $1000 for Intel) to the flagship dv7 ($950 for AMD or $1230 for Intel), the Pavillion lineup offers user choices starting from processors, high-speed eSATA interfaces, video cards and various other accessories. 

The whole notebook line features the HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection technology, which automatically stops the hard drive from spinning after it detects sudden movement (such as falling) to help prevent data loss. 

Via [Gizmodo]

AMD is introducing a new badging system on its gaming desktop PC’s called “AMD Game.” The AMD Game badging system is aimed at allowing gamers to choose their gaming PC’s specifications as if they were buying a game console. Targeting the mainstream PC gamers, AMD Game hopes to enhance the gamers experience by making it easier for them to purchase their gaming PC’s even if they have little know-how on PC setup and specifications.

AMD Game badges will direct gamers only to PCs which are validated for gaming. What is usually targeted at PC’s with 1280 x 1024-pixel high definition resolution with 30fps will even go beyond 1600 x 1200 at 30fps gaming PCs under the AMD Game system. Adding to this LCD display specifications for AMD Game are minimum requirements of AMD Athlon 5600+ X2 processor, ATI Radeon HD 3650 graphics and an AMD 770 chipset or NVIDIA nForce 500 series chipset for the basic AMD Game specifications. For a more powerful AMD Game Ultra specifications, the minimum requirements are Phenom X4 9650 processor, ATI Radeon HD 3870 graphics and an AMD 770 chipset.

Supporting the AMD Game are PC manufacturers such as Acer, Alienware, iBuypoer and Velocity Micro as well as Microsoft and Logitech.Find out more about AMD Game badging system at http://game.amd.com.

Read CNET

If you’re not that much of a techie, and just aim for variety in most of your so-called “gadgets,” you might be enticed in considering Sotec, Japan’s newest wonder, an Athlon 64 X2 powered little lappie called the WinBook WV. You did want a laptop now, didn’t you?

Reading my write-up about its specs would be the modern-day equivalent of watching caveman paintings dry, but if you must really know, it will have a 1.90GHz Athlon 64 X2 TK-57 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 15.4-inch LCD (1280x800 screen resolution) and 2.9 hours of manufacturer-rated battery life. Wi-Fi b/g will be built-in as standard, and it also comes provided with 120GB of storage in a hard disk drive that I’m sure you’ll love to destroy at a later time.

How much for a piece? Only €610 or about $950 USD for you, because you’re a friend. Hurry, before all those bloggers consume all the stocks!

Via [Akihabara News]

Forget quad-core, AMD is preparing a dodeca-core chip. If you didn’t stay in boarding school if you need refreshing with your greek vocabulary, dodeca means 12, and that’s 12 cores for you right there. Imagine, a dozen times faster than a normal chip. But how fast does one’s computer ever really need to be? AMD doesn’t seem to care if there’s an answer to that question or not (just as its closest competitor Intel doesn’t), and moves on with their plan to produce a 12-core processor to be released by late 2008. It will reportedly be called the Shanghai, and will be a 45nm successor to their not-so-successful Barcelona chip.

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Sharp has introduced two new laptops into the Japanese market, the PC-FW70X and PC-FW50X. While the two laptops’ external design and color choices (black and white) may remind you of the MacBook, make no mistake because neither of them will match up to the computing powers of the MacBook.

Both laptops have a 15.4-inch LCD with 1280 x 800 resolution and are either powered by AMD Turion 64 or Mobile Sempron 3600 with AMD M690V Chipset. Both are covered by UV coated case that also serve as protection from UV rays. Other features of these two laptops include; 2GB of RAM, 120GB hard drive, DVD multi drive, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and infrared support. And for the clincher? The PC-FW70X has a battery life span of 1.1 hours while the PC-FW50X’s battery lasts for an estimated 50 minutes. The notebooks also weigh in at around 5.74-pounds. I wonder what’s inside those batteries if they could only last that long. Major bummer, eh?

Via [Akihabaranews.com] Product [Sharp]

Toshiba has added the 17.1-inch laptop, the L355D-S7819 to its existing Satellite L350 series. The Satellite L355SD-S7819 is bringing multimedia features and high-speed processing power with AMD’s advanced family of dual-core processors. Sweetest deal is, the L355SD-S7819 will sell at an affordable price, starting at $749.99.

The Toshiba Satellite L355SD-S7819 packs a 17.1-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite display with a 1440x900 resolution, built-in Webcam, powerful ATI Radeon X1250 graphics and a DVD SuperMulti drive. In addition to these features, the L355SD-S7819 also offers an 2.0 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 200GB hard drive and built-in stereo speakers.

The Toshiba Satellite L350 laptop series should appeal to users who are looking to replace their desktop with a more portable and yet equally powerful computing machine. With a good docking station for the mouse and a USB port for connecting to other computer peripherals, the Satellite L355SD-S7819 laptop would seem to be a good buy indeed.

Read [Business Wire]

Toshiba has announced that it has updated its highly successful A200 series laptops with even more options for users to have their preferred computing machines at an affordable price. The A200 series now begins at just $600, but keep in mind that price tag is just for base model, and you may want a more powerful laptop once you get the feel of the Toshiba A200 series.

For $600 you’ll get an A215 series model that has a 15.4-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, a 1.9 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, DVD SuperMulti drive, ATI Radeon X1200 with 128MB for graphics and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g as well as the usual array of ports. Moving up but still an A215 model, you can get a 2.0 GHz processor along with 2GB of RAM and a 200GB hard drive for $749.

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Averatec has released the 2575 12-inch notebook which is the newest addition to Averatec’s line-up of ultra portable consumer machines. With this latest offering, Averatec has integrated design and functionality with the hopes of attracting consumers interests, which could be difficult, especially with the slew of new notebooks hitting the market lately.

So, does the Averatec 2575 have anything new to offer to the ultra-portable notebook market? Depends on what your needs are and what you are looking for in portable computing machine. In addition to the “contemporary design” the Averatec 2575 comes pre-installed with Vista Home Premium and features an AMD Turion 64 X2 dual core chip, 2GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, ATI RS690 integrated graphics, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and a 4-1 card reader. The 12.1-inch display sports a 1280 x 800 native resolution with AveraBrite Technology. All things considered its seems to be a good alternative, especially with the $1,100 price tag.

Product [Averatec] Read [PR Newswire]