The march of the new notebooks continues, tied to Intel's announcement today of its fourth-generation Centrino platform, code-named Santa Rosa. Acer, Asus, Fujitsu, Sony, and Toshiba all announced plans for new models featuring the mobile platform.
Many of the notebooks are heavily slanted towards multimedia use. Among the trends: greater support for the next-gen high-def formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD, and for ExpressCard (the successor to the formerly ubiquitous PC Card slot). All of the models announced support wireless 802.11 Draft-n.
Acer's Aspire 5920 series will be available with a selection of CPUs: 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7300, 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7500, 2.4-GHz T7700, and 1.8-GHz T7100. All models in the series have Intel's PM965 Express Chipset. The Aspire 5920 comes with a 15.4-inch widescreen display, nVidia GeForce 8600M-GT graphics with 256MB of dedicated video memory and Microsoft DirectX 10 support, and up to 160GB of storage. Select configurations will have such features as an HDMI output, HD DVD-ROM drive, a DVB-T TV tuner (optional), or Acer's Bluetooth ExpressCard VoIP phone; the phone charges via the 5920's ExpressCard/54 slot. Pricing and availability was not announced.
Acer plans to offer Intel's TurboMemory technology, dubbed Robson; TurboMemory uses flash memory to speed accessing applications and system responsiveness, among other things.
Asus has refreshed six of its existing notebook lines, but only the innards powering the systems have changed. In addition to add the new Centrino Duo processors, these models update the graphics from nVidia GeForce 7000-series to 8000-series graphics. All six models are shipping in May. Five of those models are aimed at gamers: The A7S starts at about $1800, will feature the 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7300; the A8Sc starts at $1200, and runs the 1.8-GHz T7100, as does the F3E/S series (pricing not available); the G1S and G2S series, starts at $1800, is equipped with a 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7500. Graphics options vary across the models, including GeForce 8400M and 8600M. The 4-pound, $1500 W7S, is the only model announced today not targeted at home or gaming use to get a processor update; it will ship with a 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7500.
Fujitsu's LifeBook A6030 is aimed squarely at mainstream notebook users. The notebook will have a 1.8-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, up to 2GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, integrated Intel graphics, a 15.4-inch display, and Microsoft Vista Home Premium. Spill-resistant keyboard and Fujitsu's Shock Sensor hard drive protection are both standard; a point-and-write touchpad for capturing signatures and taking short notes is optional. The notebook will ship in June; pricing was not announced.
Sony has refreshed three of its lines--the VAIO SZ, FZ, and AR series--with the fourth-gen Centrino platform. However, the VAIO FZ series, available in Standard and Premium configurations, is the most noteworthy of the bunch. The FZ Premium will be priced at about $2000--up from the $1400 starting price of the Standard version--and will include an HDMI connector.
The FZ series features a slick-looking industrial design, with a handy set of media playback controls in the upper right corner, above the keyboard (the buttons are arranged in a circular fashion, and the A/V Instant mode lets you access media without booting up the notebook) and a smaller-than-expected chassis to accommodate its 15.4-inch widescreen (the notebook weighs 5.75 pounds).
More notably, the FZ Premium--equipped with a 2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300--is the smallest PC to offer a Blu-ray Disc burner for Blu-ray movie playback and writing Blu-ray Discs. The FZ Premium joins the new wave of notebooks providing a high-def disc player on a more compact screen; Acer's Aspire 5920 above, and HP's dv6000 Series, announced yesterday, were the first to do so for competing high-def format HD DVD.
Both the Standard and Premium versions will come with Sony's LocationFree software so you can place-shift live TV and view any of your video devices (television, digital video recorder, or even DVD player) on your notebook via the Internet (base station required).
Toshiba announced three new Santa Rosa-based notebooks aimed at consumers, the Qosmio G45, the Satellite P205, and the Satellite A205. However, none of these notebooks will be available until the third quarter of 2007; further details on specific models, specs, and pricing won't be available until closer to launch.
One tidbit Toshiba did mention: Its high-end entertainment notebook, the Qosmio G45, will pack nVidia's GeForce 8600M graphics with DirectX 10 support. Sadly, Toshiba still hasn't mentioned anything about the status Stateside of its delayed notebook with an HD DVD-R writer; the Qosmio Q30 is shipping soon in Japan.
