June 10 - 12:05pm EDT   HP today acted on two of its planned system updates by launching them through its online store, including an unannounced processor. The new dv2z costs slightly more than promised at $625 but now has a white color trim option and starts with a single-core 1.6GHz Athlon Neo, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive with Radeon X1250 integrated video. Adding a dual-core 1.6GHz processor costs $25; in a surprise, an option now exists for a 1.6GHz Turion Neo that likely boosts performance still for an additional $75. [full story]

June 9 - 7:45am EDT   HP this morning rolled out a trio of notebook refreshes it's gearing towards students, particularly in price but also in design. The Pavilion dv6 is being given a headlining dv6z Artist Edition 2; the 16-inch notebook has special lid artwork that won a recent MTV design contest and also comes with relatively high specifications for an AMD-based system, including a 2.3GHz Turion X2 Ultra, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive and a Mobility Radeon HD 4650 for its video. It also gets a bundle of three Corel audiovisual editing apps and will launch on June 10th for $950. [full story]

May 4 - 10:35am EDT   PC builder MSI on Monday announced the upcoming release of a pair of gaming-oriented notebook PCs, the 15.4-inch GX623 and GX633. The GX623 uses an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and ATI's Radeon HD 4670 3D graphics processor with 512MB of video RAM, while the GX633 runs on AMD's Turion X2 dual-core CPU paired with NVIDIA's GeForce GT 130M with its own 512MB of video RAM. Either uses MSI's power management feature that switches between five modes suitable for different tasks by pressing a button. [full story]

January 29 - 5:10pm EST   Acer Thursday updated its Ferrari notebooks with the Ferrari 1200. The 12-inch portable is the third generation of the notebook and keeps the carbon fiber, F1-themed shell but updates to a newer AMD Turion X2 Ultra processor and gets a newer mainboard platform that includes faster Mobility Radeon video. It continues to sport an LED-backlit display and holds as much as 4GB of DDR2 memory in higher-end trim. [full story]

January 19 - 12:15pm EST   ASUS is claiming a pair of firsts for notebooks with two new models and pairs the systems with a new network router. The F70 is the first notebook to have a 17.3-inch display and gives the desktop replacement-sized system a 16:9 ratio, 1600x900 display better-suited to movies. It accordingly gets a Blu-ray combo drive as an option which is unusually made external rather than built-in. ASUS gives the system a GeForce 9300M GS video chipset to offload HD video decoding work from the main processor. [full story]

January 9 - 3:10pm EST   Gateway's appearance at CES has been accompanied by two new notebook models, each of which is hope to bring upscale features to the mainstream. Starting the launches, the UC series is Gateway's first system with a 13.3-inch screen and borrows design cues from its sibling brand Packard Bell, including the unusually circular trackpad and aluminum trim. The system is relatively light for Gateway's lineup at 5.3 pounds and has extras sometimes omitted from the class such as a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi and HDMI video out. [full story]

November 19 - 12:00am EST   HP today became the first PC maker to incorporate a multi-touch display in a home-focused notebook with the TouchSmart tx2. Stylistically similar to the tx2500 series convertible tablets, the new model now accepts two-finger gestures to pinch, rotate and otherwise control media both in the MediaSmart front-end (which also makes its first notebook appearance) and in general apps such as the Office suite. Users can drag objects or flick to scroll quickly, and still have the option of falling back to a stylus for handwriting or more precise actions. [full story]

October 8 - 9:35am EDT   Intel today said it was concerned its patents might be at risk as a result of AMD's manufacturing split. The former company licenses its x86 chip architecture and other key technologies to AMD and has "serious questions" about whether those licenses will be honored if AMD's division into design and manufacturing companies is approved, according to Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy. [full story]

October 7 - 8:00am EDT   AMD this morning took a radical step to improve its fortunes by launching into its promised split into two separate companies. The plan will see AMD break off its semiconductor manufacturing business into a separate company, for now known as the The Foundry Company, and will result in the new company both assuming about $1.2 billion of AMD's debt and the Abu Dhabi-based firm Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) supplying about $2.1 billion to both start up the new company as well as to help earn a majority stake in the project, which will also give it 55.6 percent of shares. [full story]

August 13 - 4:50pm EDT   Korea's UMPC maker Raon Digital on Tuesday unveiled what's claimed as the first ever dual-core mini notebook, the Everun Note. The small notebook uses an unusual, low-power version of AMD's Turion 64 X2 dual-core chip rated at 1.2GHz. The Everun Note's 7-inch LCD is good for 1024x600 resolution, and its graphics are handled by an ATI-branded RS690E integrated chipset with 64MB of dedicated memory and enough performance with enough visual performance to handle external display resolutions up to 1920x1200. [full story]

August 11 - 4:50pm EDT   MSI, maker of the Wind mini notebook, has revealed its EX310 notebook, which packs a 13.3-inch LCD screen with 1280x800 resolution and slots in between the company's 10-inch Wind and 14.1-inch P400. The EX310 runs on AMD's Turion X2 Ultra dual-core processor and 4GB of RAM, while an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 graphics card with 256MB of RAM handles HD video playback capabilities via the optional Blu-ray optical drive and HDMI output. A TV tuner card is also optional. [full story]

July 3 - 4:10pm EDT   HP today became one of the first companies known to be shipping systems based on AMD's new Turion X2 Ultra processors and platform. The 14-inch Compaq 6535b and 15.4-inch Compaq 6735b are HP's flagships for workstations and pros and use the new architecture to support up to 8GB of DDR2 memory (with 64-bit operating systems) as well as give faster integrated graphics through the Mobility Radeon HD 3200. [full story]

June 10 - 4:00am EDT   HP today gave virtually all its notebook line both a cosmetic and performance update, including some of the first Centrino 2-based notebooks. The Pavilion series is now said to have a subtler look with displays that are flush with the bezel, silver-on-silver insides, and a new Imprint finish on the outside. The Intel-based systems use their new notebook platform to supply both faster Core 2 processors as well as faster X4500 graphics on systems that go without dedicated video hardware, while a similar match uses the platform behind the Turion Ultra platform. Improved touch-sensitive media controls and an External SATA port are common across most systems, HP notes. ... [full story]

June 10 - 4:00am EDT   As part of a wide effort, HP today gave its business notebooks a refresh that includes a brand new model. The EliteBook signals one of HP's first rugged notebooks and is designed to survive both cosmetic and internal damage: anodized aluminum on the palm rest and outside shell keep the computer free of scratches, while a magnesium honeycomb cage and an anti-twist 14-inch display prevent impact damage from ruining the system's innards. The casing, shock-resistant hard drive, and spill-proof keyboard help meet US military-grade 810F levels for survivability in extreme temperatures as well as vibrations and very damp environments. [full story]

June 3 - 2:25pm EDT   AMD is working with PC builders to offer its own answer to a slew of micro notebooks based on Intel chips, visitors to AMD's booth at Computex have found today. While specifications are unclear, a number of companies are building systems using low-power Turion 64 processors as well as AMD's integrated ATI Radeon for graphics. Systems will follow a similar pattern and use Linux with lower-end systems and Windows on some higher-end models. [full story]