The producers have all the reasons for being mad with it

Jan 3, 2008 13:35 GMT  ·  By

Intel's series of 45-nanometer processors, codenamed " Penryn" has been unveiled back in November with all the due fuss. Back then, Intel promised notebooks built around Penryns to emerge on January the 6th. More to the point, the announced headlines were the Core 2 Duo T8100, T8300, T9300, T9500 and Core 2 Xtreme X9000, with frequencies ranging from 2.1GHz on the T8100 on up to 2.8GHz on the X9000.

Despite Intel's continual effort to keep the goodies off the enthusiasts until the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, it seems that notebook manufacturers spilled the beans and flushed all the chip manufacturer's enthusiasm. Detailed specifications and snapshots are already available from Acer, Fujitsu and Sony.

According to the rumors, Acer will launch this month an impressive number of eight Penryn-based notebooks. The lowest model will be the 12.1-inch Aspire 2920 with a Core 2 Duo T8300 processor and 320GB HDD. The series' star is going to be the more powerful Aspire, featuring a 20.1-inch WXSGA+ screen resolution display, a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT GPU, a Core 2 Duo T8100 processor and 500GB of storage space on two 250GB disks.

Fujitsu will only release two new Penryn notebooks, namely the Amilo Pi 2550 and the Amilo Xi 2428. The Amilo Pi 2550 will be powered by a Core 2 Duo T8300 processor, 2GB of DDR2 memory, 15.4-inch WXGA screen, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400 GPU and a 240GB HDD from an unknown manufacturer. The Amilo Xi 2428 is an improved version, and will include a Core 2 Duo T9300, 2GB of DDR2 memory, 15.4-inch WXGA screen, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS GPU and a 250GB HDD.

Last, but not least, Sony will reveal a full set of five new VAIO units. The lowest in the series will be the 13.3" VAIO SZ71XN/C while the high-end buyers would enjoy the 17.1-inch VAIO AR61ZU. While the SZ71XN/C model can only "carry" a T8100 processor, WXGA screen resolution, Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics and a 200GB HDD, the AR61ZU comes rigged with a T8300 graphics processor, 3GB of DDR2 memory, WUXGA screen resolution, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor, 500GB of storage space (250GB x 2) and a Blu-ray/DL DVD burner to satisfy all your high-definition needs.

These goodies are just the prelude to a whole new breed of Penryn-based notebooks. Although the above-mentioned models promise to be an enthusiast's dreams, the heavy artillery is about to arrive. Let's just wait and see what the other major producers, such as HP, Dell and Asus have cooked for the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show.

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The Acer Aspire 9920
The Amilo Xi 2428The Sony Vaio FZ3
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