Digital Trends

Intel’s unveiling of their latest-generation Centrino processor technology (formerly known as Santa Rosa) for use in notebook computers in the consumer and business arenas, has of course sparked a flurry of new laptop announcements as major computer brands race to be the first to market with features like faster Intel Core Duo 2 processors. Toshiba, Lenovo, HP, Sony, Gateway, Fujitsu, Acer and Dell, among others, have made it known that they plan on embracing Intel’s newest technology.

Some manufacturers are releasing products immediately, while others roll out new gear a little later. Take a tour with us now of the ever-changing landscape of Laptop land as we give you brief looks at new Centrino Duo (consumer) and Centrino Pro (business) notebook computers coming your way shortly.

Acer 

Acer’s contribution to today’s announcement is the stylish Aspire 5920 line. This new notebook series, which Acer is calling the Gemstone, has on selected models, Intel’s new Robson technology. This particular feature, also known as Turbo Memory, uses non-volatile memory to read and write applications to a system cache instead of the hard drive. The Aspire 5920s will sport a 15.4-inch wide display, a Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GT graphics card, up to 4GB of dual channel memory and up to 200GB of hard drive space.

Rounding out the potential features of the Aspire 5920 are choices like Dolby Home Theater Virtual Surround Sound speakers, a HDMI port, HD-DVD drive, TV tuner (DVB-T), dedicated media keys, 5-in-1 media card reader, ExpressCard slot and wireless technologies such as 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0. 

Acer Aspire 5920

Dell 

Besides stating it would begin offering a Latitude D430 ultra-mobile notebook and Dell Precision M4300 laptop with the new Intel processors in coming weeks, Dell also unveiled the Latitude D630 (starting price $1,189) and Latitude D830 (starting price $1,249). The former sports a 14.1-inch wide display and weighs in around 4.5 pounds, while the D830 has a 15.4-inch display and weighs around six pounds. Dell said testing on the D630 revealed the new Intel processor gave the laptop around 9.4 hours of battery life.

Features on these two models, depending upon configuration, include an encrypted hard drive, Turbo Memory (like the Acer), a solid state drive, a built-in mobile broadband mini-card that supports tri-band high-speed global roaming, brighter displays, integrated 802.11n wireless technology, a biometric reader and durable magnesium alloy construction. 

Fujitsu 

Fujitsu debuted four new corporate-focused LifeBook laptops, including a convertible Tablet PC. All of these notebook computers feature Intel Centrino Pro processor technology and offer either the Intel GM965 Express Chipset or the Intel PM965 Express Chipset. The LifeBook E8410 includes features like Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N for enhanced 802.11 connectivity, a 15.4-inch widescreen display, built-in camera and a durable and lightweight design with magnesium-alloy casing, spill-resistant keyboard and stainless-steel hinges.

The E8410 is joined by the LifeBook A630, sporting a 15.4-inch display and optional point-and-write touch-pad for signature capture and short note taking, and the LifeBook E830 with its 15-inch display and array of security features. Fujitsu’s new Tablet PC offering is the LifeBook T4220. This 4.3 pound convertible notebook offers keyboard or tablet style input and offers up a modular bay with security features as well as a bi-directional display hinge for turning the screen in both directions. 

Gateway 

The Gateway contribution to this next generation of laptop technology comes in the form of the E-475M and E-265M. These two laptops respectively have 15.4-inch and 14.1-inch widescreen displays, can get upwards of 10-1/2 hours of battery life and have a starting price of around $1,300.

The E-475M is geared as a desktop replacement notebook, while the E-265M is more lightweight with its small 1.3-inch thin design. Either system can be configured with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD X2300 256MB or 512MB PCI Express or Intel GMA X3100 graphics card. Other interesting features include an optional custom built-to-fit 3M Privacy Filter for hiding the screen from prying eyes, a matte black textured plastic which is durable and advanced Intel wireless connectivity technology.