Other two levels above the basic model are available. The first one has 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive for a price of $579. A second model comes with added Bluetooth, which is missing on the other two models, and sports a 750GB hard drive. A few customizations include some extras, such as the video dock or external mice.

All configurations are expected to ship within the twelve days following the order.

In spite of Intel’s slower approach, many of the latest notebook computers currently offer USB 3.0 connections. The standard supports data transfer speeds of almost ten times faster than USB 2.0, while also providing more power to attached devices.

A company representative declared for CNET that AMD offers USB 3.0 support to its A75 and A70M Fusion chipsets, which have recently started shipping.

All Pavilion notebooks include the new HP philosophy called MUSE (materials, usability, sensory appeal, experience). Compared to their frequently plastic predecessors, the new models are partly using aluminium and a thinner design in unusual colors, such as red, champagne and black cherry. Some software customization of the previous special edition is still present over the Pavilion line and gifts users with fifteen artist-penned backgrounds for the desktop.

The top of the series, the 17.3-inch dv7, sports new features for Pavilions, such as a 1GB Mobility Radeon graphics chipset supporting Crossfire and Beats-processed audio including a subwoofer. Dual drive bays allow up to 2TB of storage and the dv7 can use up to quad-core processors.

The dv6 has a 15.6-inch display and is the first in the series to have a touchscreen as an option. Its smaller design permits quad-core processors. The single drive bay allows 1TB of storage. The Pavilion dv5 is the first of HP with a 14.5-inch display and still keeps the option for quad-core chips and 1TB of disk space.

All these Pavilion dv updates are scheduled for May 19th and will have starting prices of $650 for the dv5 and dv6 and $800 for the dv7.

Along with the dv series, the ultraportable dm series has been updated with the Pavilion dm4, which has a large 14-inch LCD and also full-power Intel processors instead of using CULV. There also is an option for a dedicated Mobility Radeon high definition video. The device is less than an inch thick and is weighing less than 4.4 pounds by dropping an optical drive. However, its storage is 640GB. The dm4 is scheduled for shipping on May 19th like the other larger models but its price is only $730.

AMD’s Phenom II-based devices are considered to be a potential turning point for the company. AMD often had the single chance of competing solely on cost, because a poorer efficiency in its manufacturing process involved sacrifices with respect to speed and battery life. The existence of the new processors opens large perspectives for AMD-based Macs. Apple could this way keep aiming to high-end MacBook Pro or MacBook lines without being forced to use Intel hardware.

The Inspiron has a 15.6-inch display with LED backlighting and 720-pixel resolution. Hard drive capacities up to 640GB and DDR3 RAM up to 8GB are supported in various configurations, as well as operating systems like Windows Vista and Windows 7. The whole is powered by a six- or nine-cell battery. The company has to list average run times on the system. Information about the price of the Inspiron M501R notebook is also unknown by now. The notebooks will be available in four different colors and will have a brush finish.

The surprising move, not necessarily definite, may have both business and technical motivations. By choosing AMD, Apple makes sure to have more than a single processor supplier and also has the ability to build more types of systems and avoid eventual supply problems related to Intel. Although not yet confirmed, a shortage of mobile processors Core i5 and i7 during this spring may have had an important role in MacBook Pro line’s delay, favouring Acer over Apple. Another reason may be the use of AMD as a potential threat to Intel in order to be more flexible as for favourable prices and reasonable ship dates.

As far as hardware is concerned, AMD has a series of advantages that were not present in 2005, when Apple made public its decision of using Intel processors. After acquiring ATI, the chip maker was in the position of having far faster integrated graphics than its rival. Intel’s GMA architecture has not made important steps in performance over the past two years. The custom NVIDIA chipset used in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the graphics switching used in larger MacBook Pros are necessary to keep a high level of performance by avoiding the usage of Intel graphics as far as it is possible. Meanwhile, AMD’s graphics represented by Radeon and Mobility Radeon have better performance and often provide support for modern features.

With an exclusive Intel line-up, there is no guarantee for Apple of using NVIDIA integrated graphics as there is an ongoing Intel/NVIDIA conflict that may prevent NVIDIA from providing such a component for Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, at least until resolved.

AMD recently launched the 12-core Opteron, which theoretically surpasses the 8-core Xeon when it comes to very parallel tasks. The Opteron series, with significantly lower costs than their rival counterparts, are dedicated to workstations and could contribute to curbing the rising prices of Mac Pro towers.

As for mobile, it has been AMD’s weak point for a long time, as the company has not paid as much attention as Intel to release power efficient processors. Its Turion and Athlon ranges either have used more energy or have run at lower clock speeds than Intel’s correspondent processors. However, Apple is believed to use AMD to custom-engineer chips, like it also did the A4 in the case of the iPad, in order to get the exact wanted results.

None of the involved actors have commented on the accuracy of this news.

ATI has promised stereoscopic 3D support for DirectX 9, 10 and 11, quad-buffered OpenGL and also Blu-ray media. For 3D gaming middleware, ATI seems to have partnered with DDD and iZ3D, in order to implement this technology. The company is also partner with ArcSoft and CyberLink for Blu-ray 3D support on Windows-running computers.

It is also rumored that ATI, the graphics chip designer, is currently planning some standards to help improve compatibility with the existing hardware and also help determine other hardware manufacturers to adopt this standard.

It is yet unknown when ATI’s Stereo 3D hardware will be released. Despite this, there have been some hints indicating that hardware will start shipping this summer.

Fruehe has also affirmed that AMD is not prepared yet to make an official announcement, but also confirmed the recent Internet leaks about the 45nm-based chips near availability. It seems that Magny-Cours will benefit from 8 or 12 cores, as well as from 4 memory channels. They will be officially released before the spring. Prices have not yet been established; despite this, the eBay seller is trying to sell four of the G34-socket Opteron chips for at least $7,700.

It is very possible that AMD uses many-core designs in order to compete the upcoming six-core Intel Xeons, which will threaten the existing quad-core Xeons.

All variations have a preinstalled version of Windows 7 and at least a 750W power supply and a minimum 4GB of RAM. The Extreme version features a 3.2GHz Core i7, 6GB of RAM, a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card, as well as a 1,250W power supply. Another version, Enthusiast, offers a 2.66GHz i7, 6GB of RAM and NVIDIA GTX 285 graphics card. The Performance model gets a 2.66GHz i5, 4GB of RAM and NVIDIA GTX 275 graphics card.

In order to optimize the processor’s, the memory’s and the graphics card’s performance, TwisterBoost Overclocking to the PCs is done in-house; afterwards, the resulting system is tested for stability. The noise is reduced thanks to a dampening material, tuning fan speeds and by adjusting the airflow throughout the chassis. Before shipping to customers, systems are facing a 72-hour stress test.

Black|OPS systems are priced from $1,549 to $3,102.

AMD has recently released the high-end HD 5670 graphics chip, replacing the HD 4670. It is DirectX 11-compatible, has 775MHz core frequencies and 1,000MHz memory frequencies, and supports 512MB or 1GB GDDR4 memory.

There is a confirmation from AMD that it plans to release the ATI Radeon HD 5400 and the HD 5500-series products before mid-February. They will both have DirectX 11 compatibility.

The ThinkPad X100e uses an Athlon Neo, Athlon Neo X2 or Turion X2 processor as a response of Lenovo to CULV ultraportables and provides considerably higher performance than netbooks. The ThinkPad X100e has an 11.6-inch screen, a full-size keyboard and enough room for the TrackPoint nub and a multi-touch trackpad. Connectivity includes 3G and Bluetooth. The ThinkPad X100e has a red colour option and will have prices in a range starting at $449 with a 1.6GHz Athlon Neo processor and 160GB of storage. Other versions go up to 320GB and faster processors, as well as more RAM. Lenovo is already shipping the ThinkPad X100e.

The ThinkPad Edge is based on either Athlon Neo X2 or Turion Neo X2 dual-core processors and initiates an important change in ThinkPad philosophy. It offers multiple colours that include red and sports a more modern keyboard layout with “chiclet” keys. The ThinkPad Edge also provides simplified media controls as well as backlighting on larger notebooks. A larger trackpad supporting multi-touch keeps intact the signature TrackPoint. Connectivity is represented by Bluetooth, 3G, WiMAX and Wi-Fi. Storage ranges between 250GB and 500GB. There is an option for those who prefer Intel, as 1.3GHz Pentium or Core 2 Duo processors are available. Lenovo claims that the battery of the ThinkPad Edge has a life of more than eight hours for the right configuration. Specific configurations are not available for the moment, but there is a promise for a starting price of $549 for a model with an Athlon Neo and 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15-inch versions. The 13.3-inch model is shipping now, while the 14-inch and the 15-inch versions will only be available in spring this year.