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AMD ships five million Fusion chips, says it's sold out
Sounds like Notbooks are making a dent: AMD says it's shipped five million Fusion processors since the architecture's debut, according to a report at CNET. In January, the company said the hybrid CPU / GPU chips had momentum, and as of last month it was quoting 3.9 million APUs out in the wild, but this week AMD says that demand has overtaken supply and it's completely sold out of the Atom alternative. Sounds like Intel's more than justified in seeking out hybrid solutions of its own, no matter where it might have to look to get a leg up in the integrated graphics market. Here's hoping AMD's other Fusion chips show just as much pep per penny (and milliampere-hour) as the original processor.
Dell achieves AMD Fusion, announces Inspiron M102z notebook
After so many ages of waiting the Fusion devices are upon us, and here's Dell's entry. It's the M102z, rocking an AMD E-350 processor at 1.6GHz and Radeon HD 6310 graphics, 4GB of RAM, and an 11.6-inch display managing 1366 x 768 -- not bad for a little guy priced at $699. If that's a little too rich there's a 1GHz model with half the memory and slightly lower spec graphics for $599. Or, if you really like watching commercials, step it up to the $759 model with a built-in TV tuner. All are said to be available now abroad and should be hitting these shores soon, so if you had your finger hovering over the "Buy Now" button on an HP dm1z you might just want to hold off for a little while. [Thanks, kamarul]
Lenovo ThinkPad X120e review
Most things deserve a second chance, right? Hey, if they promise improvement, we think so, and that's exactly what we're giving Lenovo's ThinkPad X120e. If you recall, the previous X100e was quite a disappointment, and that's actually putting it rather nicely -- not only did the 11.6-inch system redefine the term "lapburner," but it struggled to last 3.5 hours on a charge. It was bordering on tragic, but Lenovo's ready to right all those wrongs with the X120e. While it has kept the chassis and the wonderful chiclet keyboard unchanged, it's subbed out AMD's older Neo chip for the long awaited Fusion Zacate APU. The same platform already proved to be pretty awesome in HP's Pavilion dm1z with an almost perfect blend of power, graphics, and endurance, but does the X120e reap the same benefits? At $399 ($579 for our review unit), is the perfect, affordable ThinkPad ultraportable finally here? Has Lenovo finally gotten it right? And how does it compare to the other new Fusion affordable ultraportables or notbooks, as we've taken to calling them? We've got those answers alright – hit the break for our full review. %Gallery-115842%
Sony VAIO YB now shipping AMD Fusion to your door for $600
The wait on AMD's Fusion has been so long that we feel like we should pop open the bubbly every time another laptop ships with it. Latest off the assembly line is Sony's VAIO YB series, which gives you a 1.6GHz processor to make similarly-clocked Atoms AMD-green with envy, 4GB of RAM and 500GB of hard drive space, an 11.6-inch glossy screen with 1366 x 768 resolution, and up to six hours of battery life for $599.99. It's available in silver and pink varieties today, or you can wait a little while longer for Amazon to get stock of its lower-specced variant, with 2GB of RAM and 320GB of storage, which will cost you $50 less. See more of the VAIO YB in our CES hands-on gallery below. %Gallery-112579%
Editorial: The rise of the notbook, the fall of the netbook
Notbook (n.) -- An affordable ultraportable laptop, typically with a 11.6-inch or 12-inch display that is not a netbook. It packs more power than a netbook (i.e. can handle 1080p video and Flash at fullscreen) and provides a more comfortable computing experience than the typical, 10-inch underpowered, shrunken Atom-based laptop. Most do not have optical drives, but do last for over five hours on a charge. Unlike pricey ultraportable laptops, notbooks are more affordable and start at around $400. About six months ago, the 11.6-inch Dell Inspiron M101z arrived on my doorstep for review. The AMD Neo-powered system looked like a slightly enlarged netbook, but in a briefing with Dell, the product manager reinforced quite a few times that the system was absolutely "not a netbook." I can't remember his exact wording, but he made it crystal clear -- the $449 Inspiron M101z was so much more powerful than an Intel Atom netbook that it could be one's primary machine. Obviously, I started calling these sorts of laptops "notbooks," and over the next few months, more and more of them started popping up. Some of them paired Atom with an NVIDIA Ion GPU (e.g. Eee PC 1215N), while others used AMD's Neo chip and more recently AMD's new Fusion Zacate APU. (Intel's Core ULV-powered systems are frankly too expensive to be considered in this category, though some Pentium / Core 2 Duo systems, like the Acer Timeline X1810T, could qualify.) Uh, so what? There's a new crop of more powerful, affordable, and highly mobile laptops -- what's the big deal? Well, while many think tablets are what will ultimately cut the netbook market down to size, it's the notbooks that will also seriously hit the Atom-based lilliputian laptops of today where it really hurts. Don't get me wrong, ARM-powered tablets like the iPad and Motorola Xoom are going to impact netbook sales in a big way, too (heck, they already have!), but mark my words, notbooks or affordable ultraportables will take a noticeable chunk of both the netbook and the mainstream laptop market. There's finally a class of laptops that provide a terrific balance between primary and mobile computing without breaking the bank. Think I'm crazy? Hit the break to understand what I'm talking about.
Acer Aspire One 522 with AMD Ontario shows up on Amazon
Sure, we had known a few bits and pieces about Acer's forthcoming AMD Fusion-powered netbook but you can always count on Amazon to dish out the spec and pricing details we've been waiting for. Unlike the Fusion HP Pavilion dm1 we just reviewed, which packs a higher-end AMD Zacate E-350 APU, the Aspire One 522 is powered by AMD's netbook-class 1GHz C-50 Ontario processor. The 10.1-inch laptop still melds that CPU with Radeon HD 6250 graphics so it should be able to handle full HD video and some light gaming, and for $330 we're certainly expecting it to trounce Atom netbooks in both price and graphics prowess. Other than that, the 2.8-pound Aspire One 522 seems to be a lot like the previous AMD Neo-powered Aspire One 521 -- it looks to have a similar chassis and has 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, HDMI port, Windows 7 Starter, and a 4400mAh battery, which apparently provides six hours of battery life. No word on when the 522 will actually come out of the pre-order stage and start shipping, but our guess is that it shouldn't be too long of a wait.
Sony shows off 11.6-inch VAIO laptop with AMD Zacate goodness inside (hands-on)
AMD's Fusion processors might finally be well and truly official, but all the hardware that will wrap around them hasn't yet filtered through into public knowledge. One such machine is the above, as yet unnamed, VAIO laptop from Sony. It's an 11.6-inch machine driven by an E-350 Zacate chip (meaning a dual-core APU running at 1.6GHz) and the particular unit we handled also came with 4GB of RAM, 500GB of HDD storage, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth and that utterly delectable pink lid. Construction felt solid enough, with little to no flex in the keyboard and a sturdy display hinge. This HDMI-equipped laptop also feels pretty light in the hand and is easy enough to hold and to adore with just one hand. The one thing that shocked and disappointed us was that once we unplugged it from the mains, the VAIO offered us a measly three hours and six minutes of autonomous runtime. Before you rush to accusing AMD of over-promising with its Fusion chips, do note that it was running an Internet Explorer-based graphical benchmark, which obviously isn't your typical usage scenario, as well as Sony's excessively frugal 3500mAh battery. This thing with a beefier power cell could be a pretty gorgeous lightweight mobile computer, in our opinion, let's see if Sony decides to give us such an option when it makes it official some time soon. The AMD rep informed us that this and all the other Zacate laptops should be making their way to market in the next six weeks. Update: Sony's gotten in touch to say that the demo unit we handled wasn't at a production level, and promises a typical battery performance of six hours per charge. %Gallery-112579%
ASUS Eee PC 1215T with AMD Neo on sale now
Been waiting on an Eee PC 1215N with an AMD Neo processor? Or how about an Eee PC 1015T with a 12.1-inch display? We know, you need a damn almanac to keep up with all of ASUS' netbooks, but if you have in fact been waiting on the respective strengths of those two Eee PC variants, the company's got you covered with its new 1215T. Forgoing the Intel Atom / NVIDIA Ion 2 combo for a single core 1.7GHz AMD Athlon K125 processor, the 12.1-inch notbook (our word for a machine that's not really a netbook anymore) packs 2GB of RAM, an 320GB hard drive and Windows 7 Home Premium. The system looks to have the same chassis as the $485 Eee PC 1215N we reviewed not too long ago, but instead rings up at around $436 on Amazon right now. We obviously haven't tested the AMD version nor have we seen any reviews, but we'd venture to guess that while you may save $50, you'll give up the better battery life of the Intel / Ion-powered 1215N -- the AMD Neo laptops we've tested haven't lasted longer than four hours on a charge. That's just our hunch, but hey, don't let us stop you from hitting that source link and ordering one right now. [Thanks, Sal]
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 11 review
Sure, the word is that ultraportables – or 11- to 13-inch laptops – aren't selling particularly well, but that hasn't stopped Lenovo. In fact, the company's had a particular obsession with 11.6-inch lappies over the last six months or so, but sadly each has massively disappointed. Adamantly claiming not to be a netbook, there was first the ThinkPad X100e, which we found to be great in terms of design and size, but seriously hurting (literally!) in thermals and endurance. Then there was the IdeaPad U160, which packed Core i7 CPU power, but had a rather dreadful three hours of battery life. But the third time's got to be the charm, right? The ThinkPad Edge 11 has the same chassis as the other Edge laptops, which hold a special place in our heart, but is powered by an ultra-low voltage 1.33GHz Core i3 U380 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive. It's not too shabby for its $549 starting price (the AMD-powered version starts at $449), but has Lenovo learned from the past? Is this the 11-inch notbook (our new term for a machine that looks like a netbook, but is way more powerful) to rival the rest? Read on to find out in our full review. %Gallery-103419%
Dell Inspiron M101z review
We've been having a hard time figuring out what to call the recent influx of 11.6-inch laptops -- you know, the ones which are slightly larger and more expensive than netbooks, yet pack more than double the graphics and performance power. But regardless of what we call them – we're thinking notbooks -- the new category certainly has been building steam by the day, and we can't help but think Dell's new Inspiron M101z could be our favorite yet. Yes, unfortunately, our review unit was adorned in that bright pink color above that's most likely causing your eyes to tear, but don't let its sissy exterior fool you -- it's powered by AMD's new dual-core Athlon Neo II processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB 7,200rpm hard drive. Yep, she's a heartbreaker on paper, but hit the break to find out if the $579 M101z is in fact a worthy companion. %Gallery-98872%
Acer Aspire One 521 and 721 review
On the surface Acer's 10.1-inch Aspire One 521 and 11.6-inch Aspire One 721 appear to be fairly run-of-the-mill netbooks -- or ultraportables for those that are morally opposed to calling a laptop with a 11.6-inch display a netbook. They're rather small machines, measure just about an inch thick, and ring up at under $430. But there's a lot more than meets the eye with this Aspire One duo – instead of Intel Atom or ULV processors, both are powered by a new AMD 1.7GHz Athlon II Neo K125 processor and promise 1080p playback thanks to ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics. We've certainly been pumped about these two systems since their French debut, but fear of AMD's usually poor battery life and scorching temperatures have been holding us back from all-out excitement. Do we have nothing to fear but fear itself? We've spent the last few days with these two systems, and will reveal all in our full review after the break. %Gallery-96636%
