Thin, light, and hopefully cheap
Asustek, MSI, and possibly HP, are gearing up to showcase their first Intel CULV (consumer ultra low voltage) notebook designs at Cebit 2009.
Intel's new platform takes aim at the emerging thin and light market
segment, and the company reportedly has about 20 different iterations
of the CULV platform.
MSI has already shown off its X340 MacBook Air clone, and it is said to
be working on another CULV based notebook, the X600. Unfortunately, we
have no details on HP's or Asustek's designs.
Back at CES 2009, HP launched the DV2, a light and cheap 12-incher
based on AMD's Neo platform, and the unit will be available in April.
However, the DV2 is the only Neo based notebook design to be announced
thus far, and AMD doesn't appear to be getting many design wins at this
point.
Intel's CULV could very well hit the sweet spot, by allowing vendors to
design serious machines suitable for business users at a fraction of
the cost of current thin and light notebooks. In the midst of a
recession, affordable business notebooks should do quite well.
Netbooks just can't cut it, but these CULV based notebooks will be
proper notebooks with proper CPUs and screens, not 10-inch toys powered by pathetic CPUs designed for MIDs.
More
here.
Also read:
MSI's X340 gets detailed, pictured