Intel Corp is launching its latest chips for mobile computers today (Monday): 400MHz versions of the Celeron and Pentium II processors. And although Intel isn’t highlighting the fact, the new Celeron is the first of its .18 micron process chips.
The change to .18 micron – the first in the industry, says Intel – doesn’t give the new Celeron part a speed advantage over the standard 400MHz Celeron, which is why Intel isn9t emphasizing the change. But it does result in a significant improvement in power consumption, the company says. It also paves the way for Intel’s ramp up to high volume .18 micron parts with the Mobile Pentium III later this year, with higher clock speeds, faster front-side bus and streaming SIMD extensions.
The new parts also add the MicroPGA packaging announced with the 366MHz Celerons around six weeks ago. The packaging is one of reasons why Intel is so far holding on to the emerging mini- notebook sector, as competitive chips aren’t thin and light enough to fit in the new machines, it says.
Intel is pushing to catch up with its mainstream desktop product line in the mobile space, and promises to be at or on at near par with the higher desktop speeds by later this year. It says that many companies – including Intel itself – are moving users over to mobile systems and notebooks from desktops for their main PC. One way it will achieve this is through the use of its Guiserville power management technology, demonstrated earlier this year.
The Pentium II 400 costs $530 in quantities of 1000, and the Celeron 400 costs $187 in the same quantities. They are shipping immediately.
