New Bits: Acer Announces Notebooks, New ATI Graphics, HP Special Edition Laptops

AMD Mobility Radeon HD 4000 on the way

AMD showed off a pre-production sample of its upcoming ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series graphics card at a technology show. The company is expected to launch the first Mobility Radeon HD 4000 chipsets later this year, including low-end, mid-range, and high-end cards.

Full Story (electronista.com)
Special thanks to forum member 2.0 for submitting this bit

Acer introduces new Aspire notebooks
Acer just introduced four new Aspire Gemstone notebooks: the Aspire 8930, 6930, 5735, and 4730. They are available at Acer retailers nationwide. All are based on the new Intel "Montevina" platform.

Aspire 8930

The Aspire 8930 is a high-end multimedia notebook featuring an 18.4-inch display. The 8930-6448 retails for $1699.99 with the following specifications:

• 18.4-inch 1920x1080 display
• Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53GHz/ 6MB L2/ 1066MHz FSB) processor
• 4GB DDR3-1066 RAM
• Nvidia GeForce 9700M-GT 512MB graphics card
• 320GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
• Dolby Home Theater
• Windows Vista Ultimate

Aspire 6930

The Aspire 6930 is a value multimedia notebook with a 16-inch display. The 6930-6809 retails for $699.99 with the following specifications:

• 16-inch 1366x768 display
• Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz/ 2MB L2/ 800MHz FSB) processor
• 3GB DDR2-667 RAM
• Intel GMA X4500 graphics
• 320GB 5400RPM hard drive
• Dolby Home Theater
• Windows Vista Home Premium

The Aspire 5735 and 4730 feature 15.6- and 14.1-inch displays respectively. Both are budget notebooks featuring the Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200 processor (2.0GHz/ 1MB L2/ 667MHz FSB), 2GB of RAM, and Windows Vista Home Premium. They both retail for $549.99.

Acer Press Release (BusinessWire.com)

HP introduces Special Edition dv5t, dv4t notebooks

HP today introduced Special Edition versions of its 15.4-inch dv5t and 14.1-inch dv4t notebook computers. The dv5t Special Edition starts at $949 and has a ceramic white color with HP's "Renewal" Imprint finish. The dv4t Special Edition starts at $1,099.99 and has a midnight blue color with HP's "Intensity" Imprint finish.

HP dv5t Special Edition Product Link
HP dv4t Special Edition Product Link
NotebookReview.com review for the HP dv5t

ASUS Eee PC S101 launched

Image credit: HardwareZone

ASUS just launched the Eee PC S101, which is differentiated from all other Eee PCs by its striking exterior appearance. It weighs in at only 2.2 lbs (1 kg) and only 1.8 cm (0.71 in) thin. The S101 is available in three colors: brown, champagne, or graphite. Specifications include 802.11n wireless, a 10.2-inch LED-backlit display, SSDs up to 64GB, and Windows XP or Linux.
Pricing:

• 16GB SSD, Windows XP, includes additional 16GB SD Card: $699
• 32GB SSD, Linux: $699
• 64GB SSD, Linux: $799

The battery pack is a 36W/hr polymer with 2450 mAh per cell.

Full Story (HardwareZone.com)
Via (Gizmodo.com)

 

New Acers: All but one are of the 16:9 ratio! HD entertainment just keeps getting more and more affordable!

Special Edition HPs: Already?? Aside from the different imprint finish, they look the same as the "regular" HPs. The lid color might be different, though.

New eee PC: Seems awfully pricey to me. I'd rather have a full-sized notebook for that price.

 

Thanks for the News Bits, Chaz!!!

That Asus looks nice (the color shown is pretty)!! , but have to agree with TF...a little pricey~!


Cin

 

Hmm...interesting and somewhat unexpected.

 

It's about time for for Hp to release SE's ...
*saving *saving *saving money again.

 

Aspire 8930 ought to give the HDX18 a run for it's money. Especially considering the GPU. 9700M GT. Nice.

And 7200 RPM HDD...

 

16" with only 768 lines?
Acer, are you kidding me?

 

i like the quality and feature (HDD movement sensor) of the new HP laptop series; but i kinda like the old design better. the new one looks bulky for some reason.

 

I don't even see any laptop equipped with a HD 3850 yet, except for the Sager ones....

Not sure what ATI is going to do.

 

That new EEE is what netbooks should be. :]

 

Hi guys, there seems to be a problem regarding the specifications of the Acer 8930 on the link:

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/...sLang=en&div=-618120233&newsId=20081001005497

On one paragraph regarding the Acer 8930 they have written "NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M graphics" and a little below for the specifications we can read this:

"NVIDIA® GeForce® 9700M GT with 512MB dedicated video memory "

which one is true anyway it's clear for anyone to see. I have been researching this laptop on the net and all of my search results give the Acer 8930 a 9600M GT Graphic card.

So what is true ?

 

Good point. I was disappointed to see that there isn't a 3870 option for any mainstream notebooks. I think ATI had a problem getting them out on time or concentrated too much on the 3200HD integrated (Puma). Maybe this time around, they'll be ready for Janurary refresh of notebooks or at least the 2009 CES show in January. If they can get the thermal and power requirements lower than Nvidia, they may be able to sway ODMs to at least option it.

 

I agree, it has some nice specs and at $1,700, it's a pretty good deal. Thanks for sending in the ATI Radeon link by the way.

Nope, they're not, and neither are other 15.6- and 16-inch notebook makers. 1366x768 is a horrendous resolution.

I actually don't know now that you point it out. I reached out to Acer, I'll let you guys know if I get anything back.

 

er... the d5vt se doesnt have 9600m GT option ..

 

I noticed that too - it only comes with the Intel integrated stuff.

When the dv5t, it was only available with the Nvidia 9200 for a time when the 9600M-GT was out of stock. The 9600M-GT reappeared a week later or so.

 

The lower end 6920 series also had 1366x768 resolution. But the higher end 16" 6920 models have Geforce 9500M GS graphics and 1920x1080 resolution so it should be similar on the higher end 6930s.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115474

 

Different models come with different video cards, simple as that. Here in Canada, we have 8930Gs with the 9600M GT or the 9700M GT.

 

Interesting indeed TehSuigi, I am working for a company that imports ASUS Notebooks but this laptop is very interesting, it has all that I need. I just pray that it comes with an integrated eSATA port.

 

Finally ATI introduces mobility versions of the 4000 series. Personally I'm very excited about these particularly the 46xx series. nVidia seems to be resting on their laurels. It seems like the entire mainstay of their mobile product line from 9500M to 9700M GT is based on their 32SP core just at different clock speeds. ATI's 320SP RV730 looks to deliver great performance for mainstream mobile notebooks. Since the desktop 4670 seems to deliver comparable performance to the desktop 3850, hopefully the Mobile 4670 will be comparable to the Mobile 3850, which would put it where? Maybe somewhere around the 9700M GT or possibly the 9700M GTS? Seems like a good place to be.

 

I think people are underestimating ATI i think they've been working on some secret project all this time and this Nvidia problem has been giving them more time to do there research and work on a "ultimate" chip im looking for a portable notebook but i am waiting for a 4000 series GPU to make its way inside of one which will definitely end up happening.

As for the ACER this is great news this is probably the best deal EASILY for a 16" notebook and with a great GPU, DDr3 Ram, A T9400, and a 7200 RPM drive, i think she's got it!

 

finally a netbook i would consider buying

 

This statement always come up in these netbook threads.

Once again...people don't just buy these because they're inexpensive, they also buy them for the small size and portability. You won't find a mainstream 10" notebook for less than $2000.

 

The 4xxx series should put Ati back into the lead, where 48xx should crush 9800 GT.

 

i agree 100% im interested in seeing there portable notebook cards.

 

Is their any chance of HP introducing back-lit keyboard on dv5t or dv5t special edition cz they have done so in newly introduced 3500 series laptops!

 

The Special Edition dv5t showed up at Circuit City over a week ago. I posted it to the HP section on 9/29-- http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=304841

Both of these special editions will appeal to a somewhat limited audience, much like the Mike Ming designs on Dell Inspiron and Studio notebooks.

I personally thought the much more subdued Ceramic White dv6700t Special Edition was more tasteful. I even liked the Bronze and Black 'Verve' design on the dv2700t. The new designs shown here do nothing for me.

 

That new Eee looks sexy but in brown?!

 

Its funny cause the 8930 and 6930 have been released in Australia for a couple of months now

 

Mine has the lower res w/ the 9500M GS. I dunno, I have bad eyes lol. I have no problems with the low res screen... I still have to make the font larger!

 

Here's the response from Acer regarding the mixup in the press release regarding the Aspire 8930's graphics card:

Hope that clears up some things.