August 18, 1997

Notebooks Set To Hit New Height s Intel chip will boost performance while using less power By Tom Davey and Bob Francis otebook computers are about to scale to new performance levels while offering more flexibility and longer battery life. IBM and Gateway 2000 Inc. on Sept. 8 will introduce systems based on Intel's next-generation Pentium chip, code-named Tillamook. Compaq Computer, Hewlett-Packard, and Digital Equipment are expected to follow suit soon after. Notebooks using the Tillamook chip run at clock speeds of 200 MHz and 233 MHz, and use a stingy 1.8 volts. The fastest notebooks currently available from major manufacturers use 166-MHz Pentium chips that consume 2.5 volts of power. The adv ances come at a price, however: The machines will have a $4,000 starting price. A 266-MHz model is expected by year's end. Digital's portable will offer a 14.1-inch screen, the largest available on a notebook; a 3-Gbyte hard drive; and 2 Mbytes of video memory. The price: more than $6,000. Even with larger displays and hard drives, the new machines should deliver significantly longer battery life. A source at one notebook maker says he powered up a 233-MHz Tillamook machine with a 13.3-inch display for 4-1/2 hours on a single charge. The high-powered notebooks, which come with a minimum of 32 Mbytes of memory, will let more notebook customers standardize on Windows NT. "Tillamook will make Windows NT a more viable OS on mobile systems," says Kevin Mulroy, marketing manager for Digital's mobile computer group. The introduction also reflects a move by Intel to standardize more notebook components, which, in turn, will keep prices down. The CPUs, along with cache memory and some controller chips , will be mounted in a module. This allows notebook manufacturers to reduce the time needed to design and manufacture their systems and lets them bring new products to market more quickly. Although Intel officials insist the module is not designed for the upgrade market, industry observers say that for the first time, users with some technical know-how will be able to replace the notebook CPU without replacing the motherboard. Furthermore, users will be able to upgrade to forthcoming generations of processors. For example, a system with the Tillamook chip could be upgraded next year to the next generation of the Pentium II, dubbed Deschutes. Back to News in Review Send Us Your Feedback Top of the Page

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