With the unveiling Wednesday of Intel's new Centrino Pro mobility platform, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, and Toshiba collectively introduced 17 new business notebooks based on the new technology.
Dell launched two new Centrino Pro-based business notebooks PCs, the Latitude D630 (below) and the Latitude D830.
The Latitude D630, which replaces Dell's D620 model, weighs 4.5 pounds, has a 14.1-inch wide screen display, and costs $1,189. The D830, which replaces Dell's D820, weighs 5.97 pounds, includes a 15.4-inch wide screen display, and costs $1,249.
Fujitsu debuted three new LifeBook business notebooks based on Centrino Pro technology-- the e8410 and e8310 desktop replacement models, and the T4220 convertible Tablet PC. All three notebooks contain the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and offer either the Intel GM965 Express Chipset or the Intel PM965 Express Chipset.
The E8410 weighs 6.1 pounds and comes with a 15.4-inch widescreen display. An nVidia graphics processor is available as an option. The E8310 weighs 6.2 pounds and features a 15-inch display.
The LifeBook T4220 Tablet PC has a convertible display which folds back to transform the PC into a pen-based tablet PC. The unit weighs in at 4.3 pounds, making it appropriate for toting around to meetings.
HP alone announced seven new Centrino-based notebooks Wednesday.
Two are ultra-light models--the Compaq 2710p (3.6 pounds) and the Compaq 2510p (2.9 pounds). The 2710p features a screen that can be spun around, transforming the notebook into a pen-based pad PC. It starts at $1,699 and is expected to be available this summer. The 2510p starts at $1,599 but does not feature the convertible screen. It will also appear this summer.
Next is a set of three mid-sized notebooks, the Compaq 6910p ($1,349), the Compaq 6710 ($1,049) and the Compaq 6510b ($999). The 6910p and the 6710 have 15.4-inch diagonal widescreen displays. The 6510b has a low profile 14.1-inch diagonal widescreen display.
HP also released a pair of bigger "high-performance" notebooks aimed at business professionals. The Compaq 8710 features nVidia 3D graphics, a high-resolution 17-inch diagonal widescreen display and a full-sized keyboard (with number keypad). The Compaq 8510 is focused on multimedia capability. Weighing in at just more than 6 pounds, it comes with a choice of ATI and nVidia graphics and can store up to 50GB of data. Both notebooks start at $1.599 and are expected to ship this summer.
The new HP notebooks feature full drive encryption, which renders the hard drive unreadable if the notebook or hard drive is lost or stolen. They also support 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0 wireless technologies.
Lenovo introduced two new Centrino-based notebooks Wednesday--the ThinkPad T61 and the ThinkPad R61. Both have 14.1 inch screens; however, you can opt for an integrated Webcam with the R61. The T61 starts at approximately $1,399, while the R61 starts at $1,249. Both will ship in mid-May.
Of all the new business notebooks being announced Wednesday, Lenovo's T61 (shown below) is the only business notebook that supports Intel's Robson technology, which boosts performance by placing a flash memory cache on the PC's hard disk.
Lenovo also introduced the Lenovo 3000 N200, a 15.4-inch widescreen notebook based on Centrino Duo mobile technology. The N200 offers 802.11n connectivity, Ethernet, and Bluetooth 2.0 as connectivity options. The N200 starts at approximately $1,099 and will ship at the end of May.
Toshiba has two new models for mobile professionals: the Tecra M9 (shown below) and the less expensive Tecra A9. Both notebooks are built on Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and the Mobile Intel 965 chipset. Both support the 802.11n wireless standard, which Toshiba says makes for five times better connection speeds and up to twice the range. The M9 comes with a 14.1-inch widescreen display, and starts at $1799; the A9 has a 15.4-inch widescreen display, comes with Intel's integrated X3100 graphics, and starts at $1159.
I purchased the Lenovo T61 on May 31, delivered on 6/27, operated well until, for unknown reasons, it began having multiple display problems on 8/22. I also purchased the 3-year onsite warranty and had one repair person arrive at 10 pm on a Friday night, 2 days after I called for service. He worked on the computer until 1:30 am Saturday but was unable to repair it. It is now at the "depot" needing 2 parts which are not available, no date known when they might be. This is NOT the old IBM, the service department isn't what it used to be; the sales department refuses to discuss a return or exchange "after 21 days". I regret buying from Lenovo.