News Bits: AMD Yokohama Platform, $1 Billion Worth of $100 Laptops to Ship, Dell Rethinks Notebook Selling Strategy

AMD-ATI to launch "Yokohama" notebook platform in Q4

AMD and ATI will jointly launch a new notebook platform by Q4 of this year, currently codenamed Yokohama. It uses AMD's Turion 64 X2 processors and ATI's future chipsets (RS690M, RS690DC, RS790M). It also may use wireless chipsets from Broadcom, Atheros Communications, or Airgo Networks.

AMD is likely to build its own Centrino-like platform for high performance laptops using ATI chipsets. ATI held 63.1% of the world's market of discrete notebook GPUs in Q2 2006.

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Quanta to ship 10 million $100 laptops

Michael Wang, president of Quanta Computer, said the company has set a 12-month shipment goal of ten million notebooks for the $100 laptop project, starting when the actual shipments will begin in Q1 2007. Shipments are expected to expand considerably at the end of next year. If this quantity is true Quanta revenue would be $1 billion.

Although the $100 laptops are waterproof, sand-proof, and shockproof, and targeted mainly at third-world countries, they could also attract attention from Europe and the US. Quanta said it will not categorize orders for the $100 laptops under its general notebook business - the project will take place in Jiangsu province, China, where Quanta fulfills its non-notebook products.

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ATI launches Radeon Xpress 1250 for Intel-based notebooks

August 29<SUP>th</SUP> - ATI launched its new Radeon Xpress 1250 chipsets for Intel-based notebooks. It will be available through leading notebook OEMs. The Radeon Xpress 1250 is the first Intel-based chipset to support ATI's AVIVO display and video technology, which helps smooth out video playback (including high-definition content), and offer more true-to-life pictures.

The Radeon Xpress 1250 is Windows Vista-ready, and designed to handle the Aero Glass GUI (Graphical User Interface) - it is based on the Radeon X700 graphics core, and supports Shader Model 2.0. It allocates memory for use as a video buffer (up to 512MB). The chipset supports the latest memory and networking standards.

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Sales slump causes Dell to rethink strategy

Dell is facing a fundamental problem - they're famous for selling their products over the phone and Internet; the direct-sales business model helps them be more efficient and able to undercut competitors, such as Gateway and HP. However, in the last few years, PC buying behavior has changed. Much more growth now comes from individuals rather than the business market, and more and more people are looking for laptops rather than desktops as home computers - and that's where Dell is weak.

Dell's notebook models lack the style and features of its competitors. Many consumers prefer to see the notebooks in person before buying - you can't go and see Dells in a store. 56% of laptops sold in Q1 of this year were bought in a store, up from 50% two years ago according to NPD group.

Three times in the past five quarters, Dell has missed sales or failed to meet earnings projections. Recently, it posted a 51% drop in quarterly profit. In order to dig itself out of the hole that it is currently in, Dell is pouring a hefty $150 million into improving its image, and launched a host of new products in May.

Dell's primary focus is the business market - the consumer market is secondary. According to IDC, consumers will buy more laptops than corporations by 2010. Current Dell CEO Kevin Rollins still believes that the direct business model is the best way to serve their customers.

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Fujitsu to launch perpendicular HDD in Q4

Fujitsu is extending its 2.5" notebook-oriented hard drive lineup with PATA and SATA models, with the SATA drives (MHW2160BH) using a perpendicular recording technique to offer up to 160GB of storage capacity. It will also come in an 80GB flavor. Both spin at 5,400RPM, and have write/seek times of 12/14 ms respectively. The new PATA drives (MHW2080AT) will spin at 4,200RPM, but with the same write/seek times.

The new drives will ship in Q4 according to Fujitsu.

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DDR2 takes over as most popular PC memory type

DDR2 has finally taken over as the most popular form of PC memory after a longer than expected delay. AMD helped put off demand for DDR2 this year, waiting until the middle of the year to launch its first notebook and desktop processors that support the DDR2 standard.

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Logitech's new VX Revolution notebook mouse

The VX Revolution is Logitech's latest laptop-friendly mouse, but its more than just a fancy design. It incorporates the new MicroGear high-precision, low-resistance scroll wheel. It can be switched from the traditional "gear style" to a true free-wheeling style, spinning for up to seven seconds depending on how hard you spin it. This can be really appealing to spreadsheet users - you can shoot to the end of the document in seconds.

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You can see some of the Dells at Kiosks. But they're probably not in enough malls and they usually only have a few models. guess that doesn't make up for the fact BestBuy has pretty much the entire HP consumer line up and they're priced pretty good in stores. I've seen some kick butt deals on the dv2000.

 

Yeah, I think it would help Dell to get more physical presences. I just found out my local mall (Tyson's Corner Galleria) has a Dell kiosk, and it was the first opportunity I had to actually get to see what some current Dell models are like in person (the E1405,1505 and 1705 as well as the XPS M1210). I'm not sure that I would buy one, but whereas before I wasn't even considering a Dell since I couldn't tell much about how heavy they were or what they looked like in person, I am at least now able to have a better idea of what an M1210 or E1705 is really like.

 

We'll see if this ATI platform pans out, they had one earlier in the year dubbed Yamoto that never came to see the light of day.

So many people are unaware of those Dell kiosks, I think it would be helpful on their buying pages online if they had a blurb about the fact you can see the notebook in person and to type in a zipcode to locate the nearest kiosk. It is a big deal for a lot of people to be able to see a laptop before purchase.

 

The one at my local Altamonte Mall is right next to the DQ. =P

 

Already time for me to get a new mouse huh....


Boooo my G5 was fun

 

I checked out them new logitech mouse today at Staples. But I dont actually know how in performs. From touching the thing, I can tell u that the scroll wheel is totally free-spinning. It like a wheel on a toy car. Hope it will be more controllable in practice....

 

that new integrated ATI chip (i'm assuming all xpress line are integrated) looks quite promising

 

Hmm would the idea that allocating memory for the IGP work better in this case? The article says up to 512MB of shared memory, so im wonderin if were going to see any increase in capability of the IGP notebooks?

 

Wow...new chipset from ATi based on Radeon X700. Now it's the time for integrated GPU has hardware dedicated pixel shader and it should compete with Intel's new GMA3000...cmiiw
Though it was shared GPU, I wish it had dedicated memory at least 64MB.......

 

IIRC the Dell kiosks don't actually sell notebook; you can just look at them, correct?

 

AMD/ATI's Yokohama platform is going to use the RS690M. Really, it's not that big a deal since ATI would have released the RS690M anyways just that with the acquisition AMD can decide to brand it. The RS690M is the AMD version of the RS600M (Xpress 1250) that ATI just launched for Intel. The major difference is no need for a memory controller. In other words, if you want to try out AMD's next Yokohama platform, get the Xpress 1250 for Intel notebooks.

 

Correct, they don't have models you can buy there (I believe this is even true of the full Dell stores they have set up in some locations), but at least you can play with them and see what they are like. You could actually configure and order one at one of the kiosks though.

-Zadillo

 

The battery life of the Logitech® VX Revolution™ isn't documented anywhere, not even on the product page from Logitech. Is this an indication that the battery lasts less than one year?

 

I like to see the other offerings at local PC shops like CompUSA and Costco. Too bad they never have anything near powerful enough to tempt me. Oh, and they're always bolted down so you can't get a feel for weight or see the entire styling concept. Not to mention they are often abused and missing keys or just flat-out broken.

I guess that's why they're bolted down .

But I can see how the general public would buy something they can see and touch, especially when they don't fully understand the difference in component performance, etc. Dell may need to start offering a wholesale deal to PC shops like they do with Costco to enlarge their market presence if this trend continues.

 

I want to point out to you that although it is based on the x700, its speed would be nothing like an x700

if it is running though a pci e its speed and performance ill be similar to like, pre agp cards of about 3 years ago.

It does not matter what dx its compatible with. I can in theory run fear perhaps. I mean it could boot and slide show.

Its not actually exciting is all I need to say. Theres no advances possible in integrated graphics. Only advancing the software its compatible with.

Integrated graphics are going as fast as the bus already lol. gma 900 etc.

 

Yeah, I agree with this. The brackets they have keeping the laptops locked down at CompUSA are especially annoying since they even interfere with just trying to type on one. I actually went into a CompUSA and asked them to unbolt a laptop so I could see what the weight was like, and they couldn't even do it, which surprised me (it's not like I was going to walk out of the store with it with a salesperson right there).

I've also noticed that other thing about them not having many powerful laptops on display. I guess it's because the cheaper laptops are the bigger sellers, but it really does surprise me that they don't seem to put many high-end laptops on display.

 

I'm actually pretty stoked about this thing with Dell. To me it means that they will have to become more in tune with what their majority of consumers want, which will make them become more competitive with HP, which means even better pricing from the two companies. Its going to become a buyers market right at the time I'm thinking about getting a new laptop(summer of next year, Santa Rosa here I come ). I just wish Asus or Toshibas were as customizable as Dells or HP's. I wonder what the Santa Rosa Macbooks will be like too.

 

Regarding Asus and Toshiba, I thought they both did offer a fair amount of customization options. Toshibadirect seems to offer a number of customizable models, and Asus seems to specialize in barebones models that other companies are able to sell customized to spec.

Good question about Santa Rosa MacBooks too; a lot of the speculation is that those will be the models that have significant new case designs and features, etc. (rather than the current MB and MBP models which were only slight modifications of the previous iBook and PowerBook designs).

 

Well the X200 can already play FEAR, at med-low settings at 30FPS (see the graphics forum) so I'm sure this one will manage just fine. The X200 already outperforms "pre agp" cards and this new version will probably only increase that margin.

Integrated graphics CAN be effective, I don't think you'd ever call the Xbox 360 or Xbox graphically weak systems but there GPUs are both examples of integrated GPUs that share system RAM and bandwidth. AMD wouldn't be investing so much money into ATI if they didn't see the potential benefits of integrated GPUs, something which seems to be the major driving factor behind their move.

Sure, we can't expect this new IGP to match current discrete graphics card, but I wouldn't be surprised if I saw it outperforming last generation discrete cards such as the X300 and 6200. There definitely ARE advances possible in IGP, just look at how far we've come in the last two years, and look at how much the X200 outperforms the GMA950.

 

Dear Abaxter, they have that in theyr website, just the way you described, maybe it´s a litle bit hidden but it´s there....

Ok found the link for you guys: dell direct store / quiosks

 

At first I read "Dell Rethinks Notebook Selling" and I was like wholy sh*t but then I read the whole thing and I was like oh ... lol