Posted 11/10/09 at 06:13:40 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Best Buy today announced the launch of its “holiday computing selection” spanning nine different brands. Although the lineup is said to include over 30 notebooks, six netbooks, 17 desktops and four all-in-ones from some of the top brands, the retailer seems to have reserved the spotlight for a $249 Acer laptop. After all, it is Best Buy’s “lowest-advertised-price laptop” ever.

The retailer is hoping that the $249 will appeal to “value-conscious consumers.” But don’t expect the laptop to set any new performance benchmarks, for it features an insipid cocktail containing an Intel Celeron 900 CPU, 2GB memory, and a 160GB hard drive.  The $249 Acer notebook will go on sale tomorrow, along with the rest of Best Buy’s holiday computing lineup.

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Posted 08/31/09 at 03:55:34 PM by Paul Lilly

In exactly one week from now, Asus will launch a pair of new ultra-thin notebooks built around Intel's upcoming 45nm Celeron 743 and SU2300 processors, according to the latest web chatter. The ultra-thins will ship first to Taiwan, China, and Europe before making their way to the U.S.

According to Asus president Jerry Shen, his company plans to aggressively pursue the ultra-thin market and says these types of portable PCs will account for 10 to 20 percent of Asus' total notebook shipments in the third quarter of 2009. And while there's no word yet on how much the two upcoming models will run, both will target the entry-level market with the Celeron 743 and SU3200 CPUs running just $107 and $134, respectively.

In related news, MSI is also expected to announce new ultra-thin laptops very soon, though details remain sparse.

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Posted 06/12/09 at 04:58:58 PM by Andy Salisbury

Earlier this week Intel announced the additions of two dual-core CPUs to their CULV platform, which will target entry-level ultra-thin notebooks.

The announcement came in the form of the Celeron 740 and the SU2300. They will feature core clocks of 1.3GHz and 1.2GHz respectively, and both will feature an identical 1MB L2 cache, 10W TDP and an 800MHz FSB.

No official word yet on how much notebooks featuring these will cost or when they will arrive.

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Posted 05/26/09 at 04:00:28 PM by Paul Lilly

There's a reason Intel's Celeron line has consistently proven popular among overclockers. Out of CPU-Z's top 20 list of highest clocked CPUs, Celeron chips -- most of them of the Celeron 347 variety -- occupy 12 spots, or 60 percent of the list. And recently setting a new record for the No. 2 spot, Belgian overclocker 'Blind' from Madshrimps pushed his Celeron 352 chip (Cedarmill core) to 8.116GHz.

In order to ramp up that high, Blind used the Dragon F1 Extreme Edition LN2 cooler with gum filling the gaps around the socket to prevent condensation. It took nearly 1.9V to coax the Celeron past 8GHz, well above its stock 1.3V rating.

Such high voltages and extreme cooling methods limit the usefulness to chasing overclocking records as opposed to any kind of day-to-day operations, but we'll admit to being impressed at seeing a 3.2GHz  Celeron achieve almost a 5GHz OC. And hey, reaching 5.7GHz on air isn't too shabby either.

Plenty of pics and more info here.

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Posted 04/14/09 at 12:00:00 PM by Paul Lilly

Believe it or not, your terrifically fast Core i7 fresh off Intel's assembly line contains DNA that dates back over three decades. The same is true if you roll with AMD's latest silicon, the Phenom II X4. We're of course referring to the longstanding x86 microprocessor architecture that has dominated the desktop and mobile scene since before some of you were even born, and will probably be a mainstay still yet for many more years to come.

Invented by Intel in 1978, the x86 architecture has evolved through the ages, not only getting faster, but increasingly flexible as more and more extensions and instruction sets accompany each new release. It's been a wild ride the past 30 years, and whether you lived through it all or have only recently picked up your first processor, we invite you to join as we look back at not only the most popular x86 CPUs in its history, but ones you may never even have heard of.

Buckle up, sit back, and join us after the jump for a look back at the x86 timeline.

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Posted 03/23/09 at 03:00:12 PM by Andy Salisbury

According to DigiTimes, Intel is looking to release two new processor models, which would most likely drop the prices on their current releases by up to 20 percent.

The two new rumored chips are slated to release on April 19th, and both will clock in at 2.66GHz. The first chip, the Q8400 (95W) will cost $183, while its sibling, the Q8400S (65W), will run $245. The report continued to state that in late May further Celeron and Pentium Dual-Core processors would see their way to the market.

For a full list of all the rumored price cuts and releases, be sure to check out a full report here.

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Posted 03/18/09 at 09:52:49 AM by Paul Lilly

Intel's crazy-popular Atom processor already dominates the netbook and nettop segments, but that might turn out to be only a glimpse of things to come. By the end of the year, look for Atom CPUs to have found a home in more than half of all entry-level desktops. What the Caesar?

Citing un-named industry sources in Taiwan, DigiTimes says Intel has had to adjust its target shipment ratio of single-core Atom 230 and dual-core Atom 330 processors as a percentage of total CPU shipments with nettops and entry-level desktops. And what an increase Intel puportely projects. According to the report, Intel expects Atom growth to increase from 4 percent (nettops) and 6 percent (desktops) in the first quarter to 10 percent and 52 percent, respectively, by the fourth quarter of 2009.

As a result, DigiTimes says Intel's 65nm dual-core Celeron E1000-series and 45nm single-core Celeron 200-series CPUs will account for less than a fifth of th shipment makeup by the end of the year.

If the projections hold true, both entry-level and mid-range desktop pricing is likely to go down.

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Posted 07/04/08 at 01:14:38 PM by Paul Lilly

As previously rumored, Asus' new Eee PC 904 will sport both a larger keyboard and bigger chassis akin to the Eee PC 1000, while also carrying a comfortable price tag of just £269 when it ships in the UK in mid-July. But in order to reach the low price point (and perhaps cope with Intel's Atom shortage), the new model will feature an Intel Celeron M processor instead of the popular Atom chip. Asus previously indicated the shortage of Atom processors would continue through September, a scenario which has low-cost panel makers more than a little bit nervous.

But the Atom chip isn't the only component playing a disappearing act; Asus plans to go with an 80GB hard drive for storage duties instead of a speedier SSD commonly found on other Eee PCs. Rounding out the spec sheet will be 1GB DDR2 RAM and Windows XP instead of the oft used Linux OS.

No word yet on when U.S. residents can expect to see the 1.4kg ultraportable on store shelves.

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