News Bits: ThinkPad X300 Now Available, Intel Montevina Prices , CloudBook at Wal-Mart

Lenovo ThinkPad X300 officially available

The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is officially available on Lenovo.com; it starts at $3,185 but is on sale for $2,548. The X300 features a 13.3-inch LED backlit display, 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 3 USB 2.0 ports, a DVD burner, all while staying around 3 lbs.

Product Page (Lenovo.com)
NotebookReview.com first thoughts review of the X300
Special thanks to forum member Han Bao Quan for submitting this bit

Samsung to produce 16-inch HD notebook displays

Samsung is expected to start producing 16-inch full HD notebook displays in the third quarter of this year. Samsung will get more competition in 2009 when several other firms also start producing the panels. Acer and HP are planning to release 16-inch notebooks in the first half of this year, and Samsung will ship them panels before they enter volume production. Comparing costs, a 16-inch panel is between US$60 - $70 more expensive than a 15.4-inch WUXGA panel. Because the 16-inch notebooks will be top-of-the-line, they will feature Blu-ray drives. 16-inch notebooks are expected to account for less than 5% of shipments.

Read More (DigiTimes.com)
Special thanks to forum member 2.0 for submitting this bit

Everex Cloudbook in stock at Wal-Mart

The Everex Cloudbook is now in stock at WalMart for $399.00 after being delayed countless times. It features a gOS V2 Rocket operating system, 1.2GHz VIA processor, and 7-inch widescreen display.

Product Link (WalMart.com)
NotebookReview.com coverage of the Everex Cloudbook

Pricing for Intel Montevina CPUs revealed

Pricing for the upcoming 45nm Intel Montevina Core 2 CPUs have been revealed. They are slated to be launched in June this year according to VR-Zone.

Model	Frequency (GHz)	FSB	Cache	TDP	Price (June)
X9100	3.06	1066	6MB	44W	$851
T9600	2.80	1066	6MB	35W	$530
T9400	2.53	1066	6MB	35W	$316
P9500	2.53	1066	6MB	25W	$348
P8600	2.40	1066	3MB	25W	$241
P8400	2.26	1066	3MB	25W	$209

Intel will also be launching Low Voltage and Ultra Low Voltage Montevina CPUs later in Q3. A quad-core Extreme QX9300 will also be launched, but no date is given nor any price. It has 2.53GHz clockspeed, 12MB cache, and a TDP of 45W.

Read More (VR-Zone.com)

Asus Eee PC hacked to work with Pentium M processor
The Asus Eee PC has been modded by guryhwa to work with an Intel Pentium M ULV 753 processor, running at 1.2GHz with a 2MB L2 cache. No BIOS modding was necessary to use the CPU, but some fancy soldering skills are needed.

Read More (Blog.tom.com)
NotebookReview.com review of the Asus Eee PC 4G

 

I had read somewhere the LV/ULV chips would have come out around the same time, but they have always came out later than their normal voltage counterparts. Shouldn't have expected anything else. Too bad, its going to be quite a wait for the Montevina ultraportables then.

 

If Intel keeps chugging them out like this, I'm going to ask you to change the name of the CPU Guide to "Intel: Yes, Your Processor is Obsolete".

 

It is frustrating that Lenovo has made the decision to only sell the ThinkPad X300 with the SSD drive. That drive alone would be costing $1,000 out of the total price of $2,600 of the notebook. Overall the X300 is a very good design. I think it is a waste that Lenovo markets it as an extremely high-end notebook such that it will be sold in tiny numbers only. It should be sold in much bigger quantities for $1,600 without the SSD drive!

 

The X300 without WWAN option is another disappointment. And quadcore in Q3? Arghhh can't wait.

 

is it me, or is every time a enws bit is posted, the links are all off?

 

I guess that there is note enough of SATA 1.8 inch HDD. Must be therefore MB Air is using not SATA, but PATA 1.8 HDD.

 

Thanks for the info on the Montevina!

 

Hmm...The cloudbook sells for the same price as the Eee PC but it has a faster processor and bigger hard drive.

 

"Discussion" link goes to the wrong thread again???

 

I don't like the cloudbook design at all. That gap inbetween the screen and keyboard is horrible

 

hmm, i doubt the Cbook could go through the torture tests of teh ASUS Eee PC>

 

We're working on the discussion link, yes I know it's messed up! Our content system likes to mess things up.

 

back in the days xp/p4 took quite a few year to get a new line of cpu.

now look at the cpu today. you cant have a top of the line cpu for more than a quarter

 

The processor is not necessarily faster in the Cloudbook. Even though it is a 1.2Ghz processer, the VIA actually runs slower than the 900Mhz(actually underclocked to 630Mhz) chip. The Cloudbook has a lot of potential, but not out-of-the-box.

 

Centrino 2 stickers:

 

Rep for whoever finds me a link to the Pentium M processors!

 

www.google.com

 

Do the Montevina CPUs even have a real codename yet? I'm guessing they're not going to be named after the same name as the chipset (Montevina).

 

Damn, these are bad news.

Me too I have heard that the ULV chips are going to be released at May of this year.
How much do you think we will have to wait? Around September maybe? I was really waiting for Montevina ULV at Q2 for purchasing an ultraportable.

 

The CloudBook is weak stuff compared to the Asus EEE right now considering how the EEE has a few cool mods currently.

 

Squawks, Montevina is the code-name for the entire platform, not the CPU.

Code Names

Platform: Montevina
CPU: Penryn
Chipset: Cantiga
Wireless: Shiloh

Combine CPU+Chipset+Wireless, and you get... Montevina!