Intel announced a new round of mobile microprocessors Monday designed to bring greater power to low-priced notebooks that serve demanding users, according to the company.
The seven new processors are all built with Intel's 0.13-micron fabrication process, which allows the company to produce smaller chips that use up to 40 percent less power but can offer performance boosts of up to 20 percent more than chips built with Intel's older 0.18-micron process, Intel officials said.
For the "ultra-portable" segment of the mobile market, defined as high-powered notebooks that consume minimal energy, Intel launched three new Pentium III-M processors and a new Celeron chip. Speeds in this group of energy-saving chips reach up to 886MHz, officials said.
The new Pentium III-M processors also feature Intel's SpeedStep technology, which allows the chip to automatically switch between maximum performance mode and battery saving mode. They include a "deeper sleep" mode as well, which helps save a notebook's battery life by utilizing even less energy than the low power mode, as little as two-tenths of a watt, Intel officials said.
Intel also launched three mobile Celeron processors with speeds up to 1.2GHz . These chips are designed for lower-cost notebooks and put less of an emphasis on reducing energy consumption.
Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., NEC Corp., Toshiba Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., and Fujitsu Ltd. are among the computer makers that plan to use these new chips in their products, Intel officials said.
In the low-voltage processor group, the 866MHz Pentium III-M and the 850MHz Pentium III-M are each priced at US$316. The 750MHz Pentium III-M is priced at $209, and the 650MHz low-voltage Celeron processor is priced at $144.
The new Celeron processors designed for low-priced notebooks cost $170 for the 1.2GHz version, $134 for the 1.13 GHz processor, and $107 for the 1.06GHz chip.
All prices apply to purchases in thousand-unit lots.