News Bits: Sony Sonoma Notebooks, New Gateway Notebooks, HP Sonoma Notebooks

Sony Sonoma Notebooks - VAIO FS, VAIO A690, VAIO S92 HighSpec

The new Sony VAIO FS

The Sony VAIO FS Series Intel Sonoma based notebook and updated Sony VAIO A series, the VAIO A690, are now both available from SonyStyle.com. The Sony VAIO A series is a 17-inch screen multimedia/desktop replacement style notebook. The VAIO FS is a basic 15.4-inch screen notebook that is somewhat portable and competes with such notebooks as the Toshiba Satellite M45 and Dell Inspiron 6000.

Sony also released a revision of their popular Sony VAIO S laptop, the VAIO VGN-S360, but we're disappointed to see this is not an Intel Sonoma notebook. However, if you live in Japan or are willing to order a notebook from the land of the rising sun, the get the VAIO S92 HighSpec, the Sonoma based version of the S series notebook. The VAIO S92 has includes a nVidia GeForce 2 Go 6200 graphics card

Want a VAIO S with the latest Intel Pentium M? Only in Japan can you get this

Visit the SonyStyle Japan website to see more, good luck reading it though!

More: http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Product/S92/index.html

Five New Gateway Notebooks Announced

The Gateway 7422GX AMD 64 laptop was recently released and announced by Gateway and is available in such stores as BestBuy.com

Gateway this week announcedfive new notebooks (none of which have the Intel Sonoma processor)that are available fromretailers such as BestBuy.com or J&R.com. These notebooks have been available in stores for sometime, but Gateway decided to make their press release about them this week. Remember,you can't get these specific notebooks from Gateway.com, you have to visityour local electronics store or other online retailersthat carry Gateway notebooks Here's a rundown of each of these new notebooks from the cow loving company:

• Gateway 3018GZ Portable Widescreen Notebook - The Gateway(R) 3018GZ notebook PC sports a sleek and attractive design that's just 1.2-inches thin and weighs only 5.25 pounds. Even though it is extremely thin and light, it boasts features of much larger notebooks. It includes a 14.1-inch WXGA Ultrabright widescreen display, which provides maximum viewing area for movies, digital media, spreadsheets and other documents. Unlike most ultraportable PCs, the Gateway 3018GZ has a full-size keyboard, so it's easier and more comfortable to use.Retail price: $999.99.
  
• Gateway 4042GZ and Gateway 4540GZ - The new notebooks -- the Gateway 4024GZ and 4540GZ -- weigh only 5.5 pounds and measure just over one-inch thin. Integrated 802.11g wireless connectivity allows users to connect to WiFi hot spots at hotels, convention centers and college campuses, as well as to wireless networks at work and home. Plus, Gateway customers can stay connected during long classes and meetings, thanks to the six-cell Lithium Ion battery that can deliver more than 4 hours of battery life on a single charge. The processor is optimized for mobile computing; the notebooks feature either an Intel Pentium-M or Intel Celeron-M processor depending on configuration. Retail price for each: $1,049.99.
  
• Gateway 7422GX and Gateway 7320GZ - Gateway's new line of desktop replacement notebook PCs deliver desktop-class performance and features in the convenience of a mobile PC. Mobile computer users will appreciate that the models -- the Gateway 7422GX and 7320GZ -- deliver top-notch performance for productivity, digital media applications and gaming. The systems boast either a Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor or AMD Athlon 64bit 3400+ processor, depending on the configuration. The new Gateway notebook PCs are ready for digital media with a large hard drive, one IEEE 1394 port and four USB 2.0 ports, as well as a six-in-one digital media reader that can access Compact Flash, Multimedia Card, Micro Drive, Secure Digital, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro. Retail starting price: $1,199.99.

A NotebookReview.com member has submitted a review in our forums for the Gateway 7422GX notebook

HP Sonoma Based Notebooks Available (pics)

HP has finally let its Sonoma based laptops out of the bag, weeks after the rest of the pack. The HP nx9600, nx6110, nc6120, nc6220, nc6230, nc8200, nc4200 are all either out or "coming soon". Here's a link to the product area on the HP business site that carries these new machines:

Thin and Lights: HP Business thin and lights

Desktop Replacements: HP Business Desktop Replacements

Ultraportable: HP Business ultraportables

The HP nc8230 that's replacing the nc8000 series has gone widescreen, so chalk up another 4:3 aspect ratio screen notebook as biting the dust. Widescreen is taking over the consumer market these days, and now it's pushing into the business notebook market! Here are some hi-resolution pics of the HP nc8230:

HP nc8230 (view larger image)

HP nc8230 (view larger image)

Intel Yonah Dual Core Processor Release Date

Last week AnandTech.com gave a nice rundown of the new Pentium M chips being worked on by Intel. The next group of processors from Intel will be dual core, the codename for them is "Yonah". If all goes well, the dual core processors should be released in January of 2006. Before that time we'll see faster single core processors, up to 2.26GHz clockspeed,based on the current Sonoma platform.

More: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2329&p=4