Intel Corp has added two more members to its Celeron family for mobile systems. The new mobile Celerons run at 466 and 433MHz, and they join the existing 400, 366, 333 and 300MHz versions, all using 0.25 micron technology. The faster clock speeds are said to result in a 10% to 20% performance boost over the 400MHz part. In quantities of 1,000, they cost $209 and $159. Prices for the older versions were also reduced, with the 400MHz version cut to $106 from $187, the 366Mhz version down to $85 from $170, and the 333MHz version down to $75 from $106.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc’s mobile K6-IIIP running at 380MHz currently costs $349, and the K6-2-P mobile running at 400MHz, costs $187. Last week the company cut prices on its desktop chips by up to 25%, but left prices on its mobile range and high-end Athlon line as they were.
Dell Computer Corp and Compaq Computer Corp immediately launched new notebooks based on the new Intel chips. Dell introduced the Inspiron 7500 notebook, priced at $2,100, and Compaq launched the Presario 300 Series Internet mini-notebook PC, at the same price. GateWay Inc also launched a new Solo 9300 notebook with a starting price of $2,500. Other machines are expected shortly from Fujitsu Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Co, IBM Corp and Toshiba Corp.
Mobile Celerons run at a lower voltage and use Intel’s Quickstart technology that Intel says further improves battery life by reducing processor power to 0.4 watts when a machine is idle. They also use Micro Pin Grid Array packaging to reduce the size of the board.
