qx9300
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Origin's Eon18 gaming laptop reviewed, found to be a great performer, not a great value
Now that's a shocker, isn't it? A gaming laptop that isn't particularly friendly on your wallet? It's true, Origin's Eon18 is not the machine to consider if you're ready to make the step up from a netbook but aren't yet willing to step into quadruple-digit price tags. As tested by Laptop, the Eon18 was half-way to five-digits thanks to its $5,952 cost, but that money gets you a an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 chip running at 2.53GHz, dual 160GB SSDs, a pair of GeForce GTX 280M graphics cards, a lovely airbrush job on the lid, and a power brick that on its own, at three pounds, weights more than some of the competition's machines (no concerns about inadequate juice here). That configuration delivers unbeatable I/O performance but, when it came to the all-important gaming benchmarks, was found to be comparable to Alienware's M17x, and thus not exactly worth the $1,000 premium -- unless you really dig flame jobs. [Thanks, Mark]
Lenovo's ThinkPad W500 and W700 now on sale
Not like Lenovo has been keeping this duo on the DL or anything, but the potent W500 and W700 are now available to order. Hailed as the company's "most powerful notebooks ever," the 15.4-inch W500 gets going from $1,629 with a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 CPU, Vista Home Premium, a WSXGA+ display, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, ATI's 512MB Mobility FireGL V5700, a 100GB HDD, DVD combo drive, WiFi and a 6-cell battery. Overshadowing that is the 17-inch W700, which starts at $2,978 and features a WXGA+ display, T9400 CPU, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA's 512MB Quadro FX-2700 and a 160GB hard drive. The W500 should ship within 1 to 2 weeks, while the W700 isn't expected to head your way for a solid month. No worries -- that gives you plenty of time to save up for the $1,275 QX9300 Core 2 Extreme option.[Via 32packets]
Intel reveals plans for quad-core laptop CPUs
It looks like your favorite lap burner will get all quad-ified this year, thanks to the folks at Intel, and a little something we call "enthusiast pressure." The hot-to-the-touch CPU rumor mill claims that we'll see the quad-core, 45nm QX9300 hit the scene after the Centrino 2 (aka Montevina) chips are launched in the second quarter of the year. The general feeling is that the quad-equipped laptops will primarily be heavier, desktop-replacement systems, as the Core 2 Extreme processors are still fairly power hungry. If you haven't already fallen off the edge of your seat, you have our congratulations.
Intel's quad-core QX9300 laptop CPU in Q3?
Check it high-enders. DigiTimes has been milking their Taiwanese motherboard sources for information about Intel's laptop-class, Core 2 Extreme QX9300 processor. They've come away with a Q3 ship date and price of $1,038 when purchasing the quad-core proc in bulk. Digitimes' own sources had originally pegged the QX9300 for a May release. But such is the life of the muckraker.
Intel releasing 15 Montevina CPUs in May?
While rumors swirl of an impending Penryn delay, DigiTimes is reporting on a spate of new 45-nm Penryn processors set to launch in May. The new procs support Intel's 5th generation Centrino platform with optional WiMAX integration dubbed Montevina. Right, the 40% smaller successor to Santa Rosa. That lines up with earlier rumors mumbled back in August. Of the 15 new processors, 7 CPUs are destined for laptops while 8 of the procs feature a smaller 22-mm package size for subnotebooks and ultra-portables. Sorry, not MIDs, those are waiting for Intel's Menlow-platform based on the 45-nm Silverthorne CPU. Got it? Good. Now feel free to click-through for all the rumored techno-gore you can stomach this early in the morning.
