News Bits: New Pentium 4 M, New Sharp 64-bit Notebook, OQO Relase, Seagate 100GB HardDrive

Intel Releases New Pentium 4 Mobile Processor

A new version of the Pentium 4 aimed at the 'desktop replacement' market was introduced by Intel this week.The new chip is called the"Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor 548" supports Hyper Threading Technology and runs at 3.33GHz. Thisprocessoris equipped with 1MB Level 2 cache, 13 new Streaming SIMD 3 Extensions, and upgrades to the NetBurst microarchitecture.The processor is able to provide power management viathe Speedstep technology feature.

The 548 version is based on Intel's 90nm technology and is designed to operate with Intel's 852GME and 852PM or compatible chipsets. Intel is aiming this chip at desktop replacement style notebooks.

Toshiba will likely be the first to feature this chip as they will soon be making it available in there Satellite A75 and Satellite P35 series notebooks.

more from dvhardware: http://www.dvhardware.net/article3196.html

Sharp Actius AL27 AMD 64 Desktop ReplacementNotebook Released

Newly Released Sharp Actius AL27 with AMD 64 2700+ Processor

Sharp Systems of America is the latest in a line of manufacturers to introduce an AMD 64 powered notebook.Sharp has released the Actius AL27, which is a slimmed-down desktop replacement notebook. The finish is reminiscent of a sports car style look, which is a page Sharp takes from Acer's book, Acer has an AMD 64 based notebook branded as a Ferrari sports car.The Actius AL27 provides users with high performance 64-Bit processing via the Low-power mobile AMD Athlon™ 64 processor 2700+, enabled with Enhanced Virus Protection, along with a cadre of Sharp proprietary technologies including Sharp’s DirectHD™, sharp-fx™, and Sharp’s new Double Bright technology which brightens the notebook’s 15" LCD display two times brighter than the typical notebook display. Additionally, the Actius AL27 comes with Sharp’s enhanced “smile” keyboard, which provides users with an ergonomically curved and tilted typing experience for maximum comfort.

There are a couple of major problems to be found with this notebook though. Sharp is dubbing it as a "Desktop Replacement" but then they go and put in a piece of rubbish graphics processor, it's an S3 Graphics video chipset which will not allow for serious gaming. In addition, the only screen option is XGA resolution (1,024 x 768) so right away people like myself that demand a higher resolution will want to avoid this notebook. These downfalls are too bad, it seems like a nice and stylish notebook other than this. Nice try Sharp, give us a better graphics processor and more screen options and you'll find more buyers.

Press release: http://www.sharpsystems.com/news/press_releases/release.asp?press=63

OQO to Release Handheld Notebook in October

OQO Handheld Notebook to be released this October

We first reported upon the OQO handheld notebook a few months ago and it looks like inOctober this gadget will finally see the light of day. According to CNet.com the OQO Model 1 will be launched on October 14 in the city of San Francisco.

Here's a link to the article we did on this new device back in May: OQO Model 01 - The Worlds Smallest Notebook Computer:http://www.notebookreview.com/default.aspx?newsID=1877

Seagate Releases New 100GB Notebook Hard Drive with 5400 RPM Speed

Seagate is the latest manufacturer to release a 100GB sized hard drive for notebook computers. The size and speed of hard drives keeps going up and up as size comes down. Seagate claims this hard drive will offer top reliability, capacity, performance and low battery consumption. The drive also provides industry-leading areal density of 50GB per disc. Since the drive spins at 5400 Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) it is 50% faster than the standard hard drive that spins at 4200 RPM.

Press Release: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/09-29-2004/0002260944&EDATE=

 

The OQO...didn't we hear "to be released soon..." last year??

 

It was ready to go out, but the higher ups demanded a withdraw for a redesign to include the sliding thumb board. It's not vaporware, it just had a long road.

Now Sonys offering looks much more attractive anyway.

http://www.dynamism.com/u70/main.shtml

When prices reach the high-end PDA mark I'll be buying. I expect them to drop to the $600 level within a year or so. It'll probably have an OLED screen by then as well.

 

Tron is right, the Sony U50/U70 is quite similar. Here's a link to the review we did on that device:

Sony U50 Review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.aspx?newsID=1943