In practical terms this means that manufacturers will be able to make very thin laptops that still offer good performance and graphics. If that sounds similar to the idea behind ultrabooks, it is. AMD just can’t call them that.

Apparently they’re going with the Ultrathin moniker.

No matter what they’re called, the idea is to satisfy the market’s current desire for slim and sexy hardware. Thus the reference design by Compal Engadget spotted. We won’t see this specific laptop come to market, but manufacturers are meant to draw inspiration from it. I wouldn’t mind seeing this sexy red beast on a store shelf, for sure.

These new chips aren’t just for ultraportables. There’s a high-end model for multimedia and gaming laptops and a mainstream chip destined for thin and light machines.

The best part about the ultrathins isn’t just the form factor, but also the price. The goal is to sell them in the $500 – $700 price range, much less than the current crop of ultrabooks. That price will certainly tempt consumers even if AMD can’t deliver the same power as Intel and Nvidia. Though the company certainly aims to compete in that area, too.

AMD’s Next Generation Chips Aim For Thin Laptops, Low Prices, And Good Performance is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

The notebook itself is over 4 pounds instead of sticking close to 3, plus the chassis is thicker than the ultrabook spec by a few millimeters. Plus, the model they showed off — available now in China and soon in the U.S. — used more plastic than the ultrabooks we’ve seen. All of this account for the low price, which will be around $500.

It looks like AMD’s goal with their Ultrathin notebooks is to beat Intel-based machines on price and battery life. That’s how AMD usually rolls. Where the chip maker can’t quite compete is performance, and that may be the biggest and most important difference between ultrathins and ultrabooks.

Image from TECHLAND

The chip inside the ASUS notebook we saw was an A Series APU which combines processing power and graphics on one chip. The A  Series notebooks we’ve seen do have impressive graphics for systems with an integrated chip. However, Intel’s integrated graphics are now good enough for watching HD video and playing casual games, which is all that many mainstream users need. Where they need power is in productivity and Intel delivers that.

According to this Digitimes report, 20 AMD-based Ultrathin notebooks will hit the market in 2012. While they may not be as innovative as Ultrabooks, they will be a lot less expensive. Which is going to matter more to consumers?

For those who care most about portability, the wave of ultrabooks coming our way is great news. The only downside right now is the price, which isn’t always under $1,000 as Intel wished. Once the third generation of Intel Core i chips come to market ultrabook prices are supposed to drop, and there are even rumblings that they could reach netbook prices by 2014. What if AMD’s lower prices make that happen sooner? Will consumers give a little on portability to have a relatively thin and light notebook for under $700?

We may not have to wait long to find out. Digitimes reports that AMD originally planned to launch Ultrathins in June of this year when their next generation chip was ready, but now they’re going to launch them sooner with their Trinity APUs and focus on the price aspect.

I predict that the end result of all this wrangling will be that AMD’s machines, be they ultrathins or low-cost ultraportables like the HP Pavilion dm1, will settle in the space netbooks occupy now since that category is rapidly disappearing, while ultrabooks become increasingly mainstream and make 13-inch screens more popular than 15-inch ones are now. Give it two years and we’ll see i I’m right.

AMD’s Ultrathin Notebooks Competing With Intel’s Ultrabooks On Price is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

AMD is promising even better performance out of the new chips, better HD graphics, and longer battery life. The chips support DDR3 RAM and DisplayPort ++ for connecting DP and HDMI (1.4a) monitors and TVs. There’s even a mention of gaming possibilities with “DirectX11-capable discrete-level graphics and a parallel processing engine.”

Both E-series APUs have dual cores now (the E-240 had just one). The higher-end AMD E-450 has a clock speed of 1.65 GHz (a small bump up from the 1.6 GHz E-350) and the less expensive E-300 has a 1.3 GHz speed. This should mean that notebooks with the lower cost APU won’t lag so far behind those with the E-450.

The AMD C-60 dual-core APU has a clock speed 1 to 1.33 GHz, a definite bump in power from the single-core C-30 and the dual-core C-50.

Expect to see these chips in notebooks, low-cost ultraportables, and the super thin ultrabooks coming up this fall and winter.

AMD’s Next Generation Chips Herald A Wave Of New Ultraportables is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU

It should come as no surprise that AMD isn’t content to let NVIDIA go around claiming the “Fastest. Notebook GPU. Ever.” for long. Just weeks after the flagship NVIDIA GTX 580M GPU launched, AMD has fired back with the new AMD Radeon HD 6990M, a premium notebook GPU which the company is calling “The World’s Fastest Notebook GPU.”

According to AMD the new Radeon HD 6990M clocks in at 25% faster than the competing enthusiast class graphics options, with notable improvements over the Radeon HD 6790M GPU. But, what fun would benchmarks be if they didn’t call out the competition.

AMD says that the Radeon HD 6990M is better than the NVIDIA GTX 580M when it comes to cames like Batman Arkham Asylum, BattleForge, Dragon Age 2, Quake Wars, Just Cause 2 and others.

AMD Radeon HD 6990M vs. NVIDIA GTX 580M

AMD Radeon HD 6990M vs NVIDIA GTX 580M

As Slashgear notes, most of these games are not the newest releases, which may explain the wide difference in Frames Per Second during testing. Missing from the release are comparisons for games such as Metro 2033 and Crysis. For a closer look at the Radeon 6990M performance, NotebookCheck has a look at the performance of this new notebook GPU, including how it compares to the competition.

6990M Features

AMD Radeon HD 6990M Features

The new Radeon HD 6990M GPU supports AMD CrossFireX technology to combine two GPUs for more power and Eyefinity support for multiple displays. The 6990M handles Direct X11 and thanks to AMD HD3D can deliver stereoscopic 3D for your games and movies. The GPU also supports AMD App Acceleration, which allows apps to harness the power fo the GPU to deliver better performance.

Radeon HD 6990M Notebooks

The new AMD GPU will be available in a collection of notebooks this fall. Most users will find the new GPU in the Alienware M18x, but the 6990M will also show up in the Clevo P150HM, P170HM, X7200 notebooks.

AMD Fires Back With AMD Radeon HD 6990M – “World’s Fastest” Battle Heats Up is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Instead of the sub-par single core processors and lackluster specs, these new AMD Fusion E-350 powered notebooks are packing a dual core processor, capable graphics card, 3-4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, built in webcam and Windows 7. These notebooks are available today from Best Buy and Staples for $350.

We recently reviewed the Gateway NV51B05u Fusion powered notebook which has the same specs and were impressed with the value it brought to the table under $500. The Samsung NP-RV515-A01 and Acer Aspire AS5253-BZ692 have the same specs and should provide the same performance for just $350. For just $30 more there is also a similarly spec’d HP 2000-219DX available at Best Buy.

If we were picking out a new notebook for the average home user today, these two notebooks would be at the top of the list thanks to the affordable price that doesn’t cut corners. In short, if we were picking out a new notebook for a PC using family member, we would be taking a close look at these two notebooks and at the collection of other AMD Fusion E-350 notebooks coming to the market soon.

Performance

What type of performance can you expect from a $300 notebook? If there’s an AMD Fusion E-350 APU in there with AMD Radeon HD 6130 GPU, then you can expect quite a bit of power for the price. When we went hands on with a similar AMD Fusion E-350 notebook from Gateway we had the following to say about the performance.

The first test, was to open up an array of apps that home users will find open at the same time. To do this we tried out Word Starter, Chrome with numerous tabs and a few other random apps open in the background. We played Pandora in one of the Chrome tabs. During this standard use scenario, we had no lag or issues with the performance of the Fusion processor.

We also tried doing some light movie editing with Windows Live Movie maker and edited some photos in Windows Live gallery and were pleased with the results. We wouldn’t want to use this machine to edit video professionally, or to edit video every day, but for a few random projects or for splicing and uploading a family reunion clip to YouTube, the NV51 will suffice.

We also tested HD video playback and if you can believe it gaming on a budget notebook,

Thanks to the AMD Radeon HD6130 graphics card, you can actually use this notebook to game and watch HD video content without giving up on too much quality. We tested out the NV51 with HD video and streaming Netflix and had no trouble at all. Normally, when you try to play HD content on a sub $500 system with integrated graphics the video will stutter or drop some frames, but we didn’t notice the issue on this system.

When we started gaming on this notebook we were also surprised. In loading up a demo of FIFA 2011 from late 2010, we were pleased to see that the system performed great with the medium setting which was still a great experience on the go. We could play on High, but there was a bit of lag that detracted from the fast pace of the game.

Value

When you compare these $350 notebooks to the Intel Celeron notebooks you typically find in $300 to $350 price range you’re looking at a noticeable jump in performance that is well worth the $50 price difference for home users.  Whether you’re looking for new notebook for your home office, to take to school this fall or just need a new affordable notebook that won’t leave you hanging, you should definitely check out these AMD Fusion notebooks.

For the average home user, these AMD Fusion E-350 powered notebooks offer much more value than many other sub $500 notebooks and will be a better fit than a netbook for the numerous buyers who look at netbooks for the lower cost, rather than portability. We’d also suggest that budget notebook buyers look at these notebooks over the new Google Chromebooks, which may look sexier, but are getting mixed reviews.

Black Friday Comes Early: $350 Dual Core Notebooks at Best Buy & Staples is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The Toshiba Satellite L700 and C600 notebooks come in a variety of sizes and prices designed to meet the varied needs of home users that want a basic computer for $500 or less. While we don’t have the absolute specs for the entry level models it looks like Toshiba will be delivering budget notebooks with a good choice of processors. Typically low end notebooks skimp in the processor choice, which impacts performance for the life of the notebook.

Toshiba Satellite L700 & C600 Quick Specs

The Toshiba Satellite L700 notebooks will feature the latest 2nd Gen Intel Core i family of processors as well as a new AMD A4 Dual Core and A6 Quad Core AMD Fusion A series processors. The Intel Core i family of processors come with a capable Intel integrated GPU and the AMD Fusion A Series comes with a more powerful AMD Radeon 6000 series GPU for better 3D Graphics performance.

The Satellite C600 notebooks are powered with the AMD Fusion C-50 and AMD Fusion E-350 processor choices which were announced back at CES in January. The E-350 dual core processor is more than capable for many home users based on our testing of similar systems. The C 50 processor will do, but it is a single core CPU, which means less power. If you can afford to bump up to the E-350 when you purchase one of these systems you won’t regret it.

Toshiba Satellite L700 Hands On Video

Toshiba Satellite L700 & C600 Features

The Toshiba Satellite L700 is a plastic cased notebook with a glossy Fusion finish covering the lids of all four models. The Satellite C600 notebooks also have a plastic finish with a Trax Charcoal finish.

The L700 models will support Sleep & Charge, allowing you to charge up a phone or gadget while the notebook is asleep. Select models will come with a Blu-Ray drive and HDMI port.

The Toshiba Satellite C600 models will be pretty sparse on the extras, but basic users will have a plentiful 4GB of RAM, WiFi and a DVD burner to meet their needs.

Toshiba Satellite L700 & C600 Models

The following base models will be available at launch in a number of sizes. The actual retail models you find in store will be slightly different, reflecting a unique model for that store.

• Toshiba Satellite L735 – 13.3″
• Toshiba Satellite L745 – 14″
• Toshiba Satellite L755 – 15.6″
• Toshiba Satellite L775 – 17.3″
• Toshiba Satellite C600 – 15.6″
• Toshiba Satellite C600 – 17.3″ (final model numbers not released)

Toshiba Satellite C600 Hands On Video

Toshiba Satellite L700 & C600 Pricing and Availability

The Toshiba Satellite L700 and C600 notebooks will be available later this month from a variety of retailers and from Toshiba.

The Toshiba L735 will start at $499, L745 at $449, L755 at $483 and the L775 at $579.

The Toshiba C600 notebooks will start at $379.

Toshiba Satellite L700 & C600 Gallery

Hands On With Toshiba Satellite L700 & C600 Budget Notebooks (Video) is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Toshiba Satellite P700 Quick Specs

The Toshiba Satellite P700 notebooks can be purchased with either Intel 2nd Generation Core i3, i5 and i7 processors or the new AMD Fusion A6 Quad Core processor. All of these processor options use integrated graphics, which have improved over last generation, but the AMD A6 processor stands out with a discrete class AMD Radon GPU.  If you need higher end graphics on the Intel configurations, you can opt for a Nvidia GeForce 540M GPU with Nvidia Optimus technology to switch between the graphical processors to keep a balance between power and performance.

The Toshiba Satellite P745 has a 14″ display with a 1366 x 768 resolution and the Satellite P755 has a 15.6″ display with a 1366 x 768 resolution. The Toshiba Satellite P775 has a larger 17.3″ display which will likely have a 1600×900 resolution, but Toshiba has note confirmed this.

If you want in on some 3D gaming and movie watching, the 15.6″ Toshiba Satellite P755 3D will handle your needs with a 3D display and a pair of wireless active shutter glasses included int he bundle. The P755 3D can handle 3D Blu-Ray playback, 2D to 3D movie conversions and output to a 3D HDTV.

Toshiba Satellite P700 Hands On Video

Toshiba Satellite P700 Features

On top of the numerous processor and graphics options and features, the P700 notebooks deliver a collection of features to accentuate the user experience when it comes to multimedia playback and usability.

• harman/kardon speakers and subwoofer with MaxxAudio 3 by Waves Audio.
• Island style keyboard with red LED backlighting.
• USB 3.0 port for faster connectivity.
• Toshiba Sleep & Music – Plug your MP3 player into the Mic jack to use your computer’s speakers when it is turned off.
• USB Sleep & Charge – Plug in your smart phone to charge up while your computer is off.
• Hard drive impact sensor to protect in the event of a fall.
• Toshiba software such as PC Health Monitor and eco Utility to keep the notebook running well and to monitor battery life.
• Wireless Display on Select models.
• 4G WiMaxx and Blu-Ray on select models.

Toshiba Satellite P700 Pricing and Availability

The Toshiba Satellite P745 will retail for $699, the Satellite P755 will start at $629 and the Satellite P775 will also start at The Toshiba Satellite P700 notebooks will be available in retail stores and online from Toshiba starting on June 21, 2011. The Toshiba Satellite P755 3D will be available around the same time for $1,199.

Toshiba Satellite P700 Gallery

Toshiba Satellite P700 Notebooks Show Up With Intel and AMD Options is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

These new processor options allow HP to deliver a low-cost notebook that delivers a very capable processor, GPU and many of the durability and security features that businesses require.

HP ProBook B Hands On Video

HP ProBook S and B Quick Specs

The new HP ProBook models biggest difference from the previously announced ProBook s and ProBook b business notebooks is the use of the new AMD Fusion A series processors. The various ProBook models will include options for dual core and Quad Core AMD Fusion A series processors to deliver a range of price and power combinations.

The HP ProBook B series will come with the option of a 2.1GHz Dual Core AMD A4 processor, a 1.6GHZ Quad Core A6 processor or the 1.8GHz Quad Core A8 AMD Fusion processor. The HP ProBook S series will have these same processor options as well as one more lower end option, the 1.9GHz Dual Core AMD A4 processor which is in line with the budget focus of the ProBook s series. All of these new AMD Llano A series processors feature the ability to Turbo up to 2.3GHz to 2.5GHz when you need extra speed to finish a demanding work task.

Along with the new processor comes a decently powerful AMD Radeon HD 6000 series GPU which should deliver better 3D Graphics and a top-notch multimedia experience. These integrated graphics beat out some discrete graphics solutions when it comes to power and performance.

HP ProBook S Hands On Video

HP ProBook S and ProBook B Models with AMD Fusion

• HP ProBook 4435s
• HP ProBook 4436s
• HP ProBook 4535s
• HP ProBook 6465b
• HP ProBook 6565b

HP ProBook S and ProBook B Features

The HP ProBook b series includes an array of usability and security features including HP Power Assistant to ensure longer battery life, SRS Premium Audio for better sound while presenting and the ability to dock so that you don’t need to plug and unplug all the time.

The HP ProBook s series include security minded features like a fingerprint reader and facial recognition as well as a speedy USB 3.0 port to allow for faster file transfers. The ProBook S series is a more affordable business notebook, but these notebooks do come with an anodized aluminum finish to prevent wear, which is especially important on machines that may be in the field for 3 to 5 years.

HP ProBook S and ProBook B Pricing and Availability

The HP ProBook b series starts at $679 and is expected to be available on June 27. The HP ProBook s series starts at $519, but no release date has been given.

HP ProBook S and ProBook B Gallery

HP ProBook S and B Business Notebooks Gain AMD A Series APU Options is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

HP Pavilion dv6 & dv7 Hands On Video

HP Pavilion dv6 & dv7 Quick Specs

The HP Pavilion dv6 and dv7 notebooks will be gaining the new AMD Llano APU and while HP has not yet announced the specific configurations, these notebooks will be quipped with quad-core AMD Llano processors which include clock speeds between 1.4GHz and 1.9GHz with the ability to Turbo up to 2.6GHz. While these clock speeds may seem slow, keep in mind these processors have 4 cores running at these speeds compared to the two found on most consumer notebooks in this price range.

The HP Pavilion dv6 and dv7 notebooks will also benefit greatly from the integrated Radeon graphics which will out perform some discrete graphics solutions when it comes to delivery 3D graphics and gaming. Based on industry information we expect to see the AMD Radeon HD 6620 or 6520 GPU included on these notebooks.

The HP Pavilion  dv6 has a 15.6″ display with a 1366 x 768 resolution and the dv7 has a 17.3″ display with a 1600 x 900 resolution.

AMD A Series Gaming Demo

In the demo below you can see how the AMD A Series processor compares to a quad core Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor typically found in higher end, more expensive systems. We will have to wait for these notebooks to arrive on the market before we can call them a great gaming notebook, but based on what we know about the internals the new dv6 and dv7 notebooks have a chance at delivering affordable 3D graphics to the average consumer.

HP Pavilion dv6 & dv7 Features

The new AMD powered HP Pavilion notebooks will share many of the same features which were introduced in early May alongside a new HP Pavilion dv4. These features include HP CoolSense to keep your notebook cooler while under a heavy load, HP TrueVision HD webcams for better video conferencing and HP Beats Audio for enhanced sound. In all, these features round out the new AMD Powered Pavilion notebooks for HP.

The new AMD powered models will continue the same look of the HP Pavilion line which HP calls MUSE, referring to the materials, usability, sensory appeal and experiences of the notebook design.

HP Pavilion dv6 & dv7 Pricing and Availability

The HP Pavilion dv6 and dv7 will be available in July with the new AMD A Series APUs starting at $599 and $699 respectively. HP has not announced the availability or pricing of the HP Pavilion dv4 with AMD Fusion processors.

HP Pavilion dv6 & dv7 Gallery

HP Pavilion dv6 and dv7 Gain AMD A Series APU for Better 3D Graphics is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

HP Pavilion G Series Hands On Video

HP Pavilion g4, g6 & g7 Quick Specs

HP has not revealed which new AMD A Series, known as Llano to some users, processors the HP Pavilion G series notebooks will be using, but we do know it will be the dual core AMD Llano processors with speeds between 1.9GHz and 2.1Ghz and a Turbo up to 2.5Ghz.

This AMD Fusion processor still comes with a pretty powerful integrated GPU, an AMD Radeon HD 6480 on the G Series, which we expect will be able to handle 3D graphics and gaming better than a competing Intel processor with integrated graphics, but we will reserve judgement until we go hands on with the new AMD Llano powered systems.

The HP Pavilion g4 has a 14″ display, the g6 has a 15.6″ display and the HP Pavilion g7 has a 17.3″ display. The g4 and g6 notebooks have a 1366 x 768 resolution while the g7 has a 1600 x 900 resolution.

HP Pavilion g4, g6 & g7 Features

The HP Pavilion G series notebooks are budget notebooks, but they do offer a good option for consumers that don’t want to spend more than $500 on a new system. We have an Intel powered Pavilion g6 in for review right now and while it won’t compare to a $1000 system, it does look and feel nice for a $500 notebook.

You won’t find many of the higher end features that are included in the Pavilion dv line, but you do get a webcam, standard array of ports and a system capable of meeting the needs of many home users looking to get online, check email, store and do light photo editing.The new AMD A Series APU should also expand this capability into handling some gaming, though you won’t likely be able to play the latest games on the Pavilion G series notebooks.

HP Pavilion g4, g6 & g7 Pricing and Availability

The HP Pavilion g4 starts at $449.99, the Pavilion g6 starts at $498 and the Pavilion g7 starts at $499. The HP Pavilion g-series is expected to be available in July.

HP Pavilion g4, g6 & g7 Gallery

HP Pavilion G Series Notebooks Gain AMD Fusion Option: Better Graphics, Without Price Bump is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.