penryn
Latest
HP's Penryn-stuffed Pavilion HDX-9000 gets reviewed
Dubbed "the best-looking 20-inch laptop on the market" by PC Mag, HP's monolithic HDX-9000 was recently hoisted onto the test bench and put through a number of paces to see if it really was worth the fortunes it demands. The stunning 1080p display and LED-backlit keyboard were both highly praised, and while one wouldn't expect a 15-pound rig to excel in the battery life department, it did manage to stay alive for 2.5 hours on a full charge. Unfortunately, the crew was a bit disappointed by the Penryn's performance, but to be fair, it did play back Blu-ray Discs beautifully and handled most everything that was thrown at it with ease. But hey, it's not like we can't understand the lofty expectations given the extraordinarily high price tag. Overall, the newest HDX-9000 didn't seem to blow any minds, but if money ain't a thang, you aren't likely to find a brick more lovable than this.Read - PC Mag review (3.5 out of 5 glistening stars)Read - CNET review (8.2 out of 10 golden hoops)
Slew of Sony VAIO products get minor spec bumps
It's that time again boys and girls -- the time when Sony pours out enough VAIO updates all at once that your head starts throbbing uncontrollably. Without further ado, we'll start by tackling the Type T (pictured), which gets upgraded to a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, goes from 1GB to 2GB of RAM and now comes in a bevy of swank designs. Moving on, we've got the 17-inch Type A, which now sports one of those speedy new Penryn chips (exact model apparently depends on how you CTO it) but otherwise remains similar to the prior iteration. Lastly, we find that the outfit's adorable TP1 now houses a Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU, a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M and a Blu-ray burner to boot. For all the nitty-gritty, put on your patience cap and wade through the links below, but be forewarned, it's a jungle down there.[Via AkihabaraNews]Read - VAIO Type T / F / N updatesRead - VAIO Type A, TP1 and Type R Master updates
Mouse Computer's LuvBook J131 kicks it Penryn style
The last we heard from Japan's Mouse Computers, it was offering up a cheap'n'easy path to Merom -- and true to form, it's followed that up with a low-cost ticket to Penryn town, the J131. The 1280x800 13.3-inch unit is pretty basic, as things go -- 120GB drive, 2GB of RAM, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam -- but unlike some other machines on the market, its price is just as stripped-down as its featureset: just ¥119,700 ($1,125). Of course, there's no word on whether we'll ever see this hit our fair shores, but those of you headed to Japan soon should be able to pick this up straight away.[Via MobileWhack]
HP tossing Penryn into latest Pavilions
You'd think there'd be a bit more excitement associated with the inclusion of Intel's latest and greatest, but HP decided to take the quiet route with integrating Penryn into its Pavilion laptop lineup. The Pavilion dv2700t, dv6700t and dv9700t are all getting an Intel T9300 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo option, with a 6MB l2 cache and a purported 10% speed boost over last-gen Intel processors. Unfortunately, that mild speed boost comes at a $100 premium over the T7500, so you money might be better spent on RAM or a better graphics card -- or you could just choose it all, the Engadget-approved method of speccing a laptop.[Via NotebookReview]
Sony's 17-inch VAIO AR with Blu-ray meets Penryn
Check it Blu-ray on-the-go fans. Sony just gave the Penryn bump to their VAIO AR series of media laptops. Sweet, powerful, 2.5GHz of cool running, long lasting, Core 2 Duo T9300 processing and 512MB of NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT graphics now at the heart of this 17-inch, 1,920 x 1,200 resolution lappie. Your $3,300 pre-order should be greeted by a Jan 29th ship date if you're lucky.[Thanks, Zainuddin Z.]
Penryn Mac Pro and Xserve hands-on
We don't know what you're looking for, but outside a few minor cosmetic changes (like one RAM riser board being upside down now) and a few technical changes (like SAS drive support, dual 16x PCI-E slots, etc.) Apple's new high performance Penryn Xeon machines -- the Mac Pro and Xserve -- look just the same as they were two weeks ago. Except faster now -- according to their site, anyway. Sorry to disappoint, though, Apple didn't demo the quad PCI-Express slots running eight simultaneous 30-inch monitors. Maybe next time.%Gallery-14132%%Gallery-14133%
Intel experiencing worldwide Penryn delays?
According a message purportedly sent from a Lenovo rep to resellers today, Intel's T9500, T9300, T8300 and T8100 Penryn chips are going to be delayed, affecting the laptop industry worldwide -- and obviously Lenovo's latest in particular. The word is that a thermal sensor issue is to blame, and supply on the chips will be tight through February. Nothing official from Intel yet on the matter, so we're going to keep this in the rumor category for the moment -- but don't be surprised when that shiny new Penryn laptop of yours ends up taking a few extra weeks. Be strong, we can make it through this together.
Penryn beginning to pop up in Lenovo's X61 ThinkPads
While we're short on formal announcements, various retailers are displaying Lenovo ThinkPad X61 wares with Intel's latest chips inside. A Penryn T8100-powered X61 is on MacMall with 1GB of RAM and a 120GB HDD for $1,550, while a T8300 version goes for $1,610. Specs are otherwise the same as existing ThinkPads, and no tablet version is offered. It's starting to feel like laptop manufacturers are stringing us along here, instead of offering next-gen laptops to match Intel's next-gen chips, but it's still early in the game, and maybe we're just paranoid. In other news, Lenovo has begun delivering SUSE Linux-based ThinkPad R61 and T61 laptops, with prices starting at $949 -- quite the improvement on 2006's "efforts."[Via Laptoping]Read - Penryn ThinkPadsRead - Linux ThinkPads
Hands-on with ASUS Lamborghini VX3
That, friends, is ASUS' Lamborghini VX3. As expected, it's available in black and yellow hues and proudly dons that oh-so-iconic Lambo badge, but as you can tell from comparison shots in the gallery below, it's mighty, mighty similar to the U6. 'Course, it was said to be rocking a Penryn processor and loads of sexy, but we'll let you be the judge on the latter. %Gallery-13061%
Mouse Computer cranks out P551 laptop in Japan
Mouse Computer's at it again, this time loosing the P551 laptop series in Japan. On the top-end, consumers can look forward to an Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor, 160GB SATA hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M, 15.4-inch 1,280 x 800 resolution display, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and a decent assortment of ports including eSATA and HDMI. 'Course, users can settle for less if you've only got ¥129,990 ($1,192) to spare, but the aforementioned configuration will run you ¥159,810 ($1,465).[Via AkihabaraNews]
Intel CES announcement: Penryn in the wild
Since the Mac Pros announced earlier today are using the "Harpertown" desktop version of the chip, it should be no surprise that Intel's Penryn family of processors are shipping and in use, as announced at CES yesterday. The full suite of chips includes 16 devices, including four for server use, seven desktop parts and five for mobile devices or laptops.With premium laptop vendors Sony, Lenovo & Toshiba announcing products built around the new Core 2 Duo parts, it would be downright shocking if next week's Stevenote did not feature at least one Apple portable sporting the new and improved 45nm processors. With the desktop and server bumps out of the way a week ahead of time (and who can remember the last time that happened?) the way is clear for plenty of excitement a week from now.
Apple updates Mac Pro -- "the fastest Mac we've ever made"
It's the week before Macworld 2008, and Apple's updated the Mac Pro with Intel's new 45nm quad-core Penryn Xeon 5400 (Stoakley) CPUs at up to 3.2GHz. The new 8-core config is $2,800, and Apple's Phil Schiller is calling these machines the "fastest Mac we've ever made" (not that we'd expect the newest machine would be anything but). Standard options: 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 RAM ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (256MB) 320GB drive, 16x DVDRW Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, (2) PCI Express 2.0, (2) PCI Express slots That fancy new Apple keyboard they've been shipping with iMacs No Blu-ray, as rumored, but it can be configured with plenty of hard drives (as usual), RAID, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics cards, and 802.11n. Why do we feel like Apple threw these up today just to screw with everyone at CES? (Actually, it's because Intel is announcing all those new chips -- we get that.)
Asus intros Penryn-based M51 series laptops
Asus may be devoting a big chunk of its attention to the low end of the laptop spectrum these days, but it certainly hasn't given up on its bigger, pricier options altogether, as evidenced by its just-announced M51 series laptops. The most notable of the lot here is the Penryn-packing M51SN model, which boasts a 15.4-inch WSXGA + display, NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS graphics, a max 250GB hard drive, up to 4GB of RAM, and your choice of DVD, HD-DVD or Blu-ray drives, among other top-end features. If that's all a bit more than you need, you'll also apparently soon have your choice of M51Sr and M51Se models, which drop the Penryn processors and opt for some slightly less capable ATI Mobility Radeon 2400 graphics but keeps most of the other specs in tact. No word on a price or release date, but we'd expect those little details to make themselves known before too long.
Intel's mobile Penryn processors for laptops live
No surprises here, as we've been expecting Penryn to roll today. Thing is, we thought they'd at least wait until the press conference scheduled a bit later this morning. Nevertheless, they're here. Intel's powerful, energy efficient, 45-nm Penryn processors for laptops. The 16 new processors brings Intel's Penryn family to 32 in total. Among the sweet new 16, only 5 are heading to our beloved portables. The press release doesn't get into specifics about CPU models, prices, or clock speeds. However, we're pretty sure we've got the details on those already. Expect more in the next hours after the Intel presser kicks off.Update: A Toshiba press release just confirmed the new T8100 and T9300 processors in select X205, U305, and QOSMIO G45 laptops. That's 2 CPUs down, 3 to go.
More Penryn laptops surface from Toshiba, Lenovo and HP Compaq
If you've just now finished shuffling through yesterday's barrage of mobile Penryn-based laptops, here's yet another helping for you to try and digest. Up first is a pair from Toshiba (13-inch Satellite U300 / 17-inch Satellite X200), followed by a refreshed ThinkPad T61 and R61 from Lenovo and a trio of HP Compaqs (6820, 6720 and 6520). Just as before, there's entirely too many specs to dish out here, but if any of the above caught your eye, head on over to the read links below to find out more.Read - Toshiba SatellitesRead - Lenovo ThinkPadsRead - HP Compaqs
Slew of Penryn laptops shown off from Acer, Sony and Fujitsu-Siemens
We already saw the Amilo Xi 2550 from Fujitsu-Siemens, but if you thought that was the only mobile Penryn-based lappie you'd see prior to January 6th, you've got another a few more things coming. Spotted over at Notebook Italia, we've got five new Acer Aspires (2920, 4920, 5920, 7720 and 9920), a pair of new Acer Travelmates (6492 and 6592G), a couple of Fujitsu-Siemens (the aforementioned Amilo Pi Amilo Xi 2550 and the 2428) and four new Sony VAIOs (FZ31, SZ71, CR31 and AR61) -- all of which will be housing that Penryn goodness when they launch. As you can imagine, there's far too many specs between the 13 new machines to cover in this space, but feel free to tag the links below for all the details on each.Read - Fujitsu-SiemensRead - Acer AspiresRead - Acer TravelmatesRead - Sony VAIOs
Intel's newest gaming platform, Skulltrail
Intel seems like it's going to be making a bigger push at gamers with the launch of Penryn, and HotHardware managed to score some deets on the company's upcoming "Skulltrail" platform, which is built-around server-class hardware reconfigured for gaming. The new mobo pictured here supports dual quad-core Penryn Xeon processors, SLI graphics, and four PCI Express x16 slots, as well as two standard PCI slots. You're also looking at a whopping six internal SATA ports, dual eSATA ports, six USB ports, a lone FireWire port, and Gigabit Ethernet. That's quite a foundation for a gaming rig -- let's just hope pricing is at least pretend reasonable, eh?
Fujitsu leaks a second Penryn laptop, this time with Blu-ray
Rumor has it that mobile variants of Penryn will officially hit on January 6th, but Fujitsu-Siemens isn't having any of that embargo nonsense -- it's already gone and shown off the 12.1-inch LOOX R, and now we've got the 17-inch Amilo Xi 2550. Unlike the LOOX R, this bad boy is confirmed to be running a 45nm 2.5 GHz T9300 Core 2 Duo, as well as Radeon HD2700 graphics, 2GB of RAM, 2 RAID 0 / 1 250GB drives, 1GB of flash turbo memory, and a dual-layer burner / Blu-ray player. No word on ship date, but we're seeing prices of €1644 ($2415) get thrown around.
Intel to delay Yorkfield chips because of AMD's struggles?
Chalk this one up to wild unsubstantiated rumor, but Digitimes is reporting that Intel may hold off on launching its 45nm quad-core Yorkfield chips -- which were supposed to hit on January 20th -- because it's not facing any threat from AMD's delayed Phenom chips, and launching now would just eat into existing 65nm chip sales. That means we wouldn't see the Core 2 Quad Q9300, Q9450, or Q9550 until Intel feels the heat from AMD, which seems like a pretty timid strategy for a company whose former CEO's motto was "Only the paranoid survive." Add in the fact that a certain fruit company is rumored to be launching new Mac Pros with some version of 45nm Penryn chips next month, and we're really not feeling this one, but only time will tell.[Via The Inquirer]
Fujitsu's 12.1-inch LOOX R: world's first Penryn ultra-portable?
That unassuming little 12.1-inch laptop is Fujitsu's LOOX R ultra-portable. It weighs in at 1.27-kg (2.8-pounds) with an LED backlit 1,280 x 800 display, up to 4GB or memory and 120GB of disk, dual-layer DVD writer, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g WiFi, SDHC slot, Firewire, fingerprint sensor, PCMCIA, and more. Lots to like already. Now this: a standard battery running for 9.7-hours with the help of a purposely unspecified Intel processor. With an expected January ship, is it any wonder we're speculating that this is the world's first laptop to run a mobile version of Intel's new Penryn CPU rumored for release on January 6th? The first of many we'll see launch in the new year.
