A new Asus Eee PC 1015BX has shown up for order at Amazon Germany for 206 Euros. The netbook is typical in terms of its 10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display but it is powered AMD’s latest low power processor.

AMD’s C-60 dual core chip is a small upgrade to the 1 GHz C-50 dual core processor which launched earlier this year. it should offer a bit of a performance boost,  but while neither of these AMD chips is in the same class as an Intel Core i-series chip (or AMD E-series chip, for that matter). But they do offer much better graphics performance than Atom chips, with support for HD video playback and DirectX 11 graphics.

via nDevil

Asus’s Eee PC 1215B is their current 12.1 inch notebook available with a 1.6 GHz AMD E-350 chip or lower power AMD C-30 or C-50 processors. However, Asus has stated that they’ll soon upgrade the Eee PC 1215B notebook with the latest and greatest 1.65 GHz AMD E-450 processor.

Although AMD hasn’t yet officially launched the new E-450 processor, it should be available on the market in the next month or two. The E-450 will be a dual-core chip with Radeon HD 6320 graphics with support for 1080p HD video playback and DirectX 11 graphics.  The new chip features Turbo Core technology which has the ability to overclock a single core while underclocking the second core. This is beneficial for tasks not optimized for  multi-core chips and reduces power consumption thus extending battery life.

AMD’s current E-350 processor is a nice combination of moderate performance, decent graphics, and relatively low power consumption.  Major manufacturers such as HP, Asus, and Lenovo have  all embraced the Fusion chip and released netbooks and laptops utilizing it. Now AMD is working on a new model which packs a little mroe punch.

Fudzilla reports that the AMD E-450 processor will bring more powerful graphics and a slightly higher CPU clock speed to the table, while keeping the same 18W TDP.  The E-350 is a 1.6 GHz dual core chip that uses Radeon HD 6310 graphics. The new AMD E-450 will be a 1.65 GHz dual core processor with faster Radeon HD 6320 graphics. Both chips are capable of handling DirectX 11 graphics and 1080p HD video playback.

There’s no word on the release date for the new AMD E-450.

Sony’s new Vaio YB is a portable laptop fitting somewhere between the Sony Vaio W 10 inch netbook and the company’s more ambitious (and expensive) products such as the Vaio P 8.9 inch ultraportable.

Unlike the netbook Vaio which all have low power Intel Atom processors, the Sony Vaio YB has an AMD E-350 dual core processor and Radeon HD 6310 graphics. With a price tag of $599 (in the US), it’s quite reasonably priced.

In a recent review, folks at Laptop Magazine  found the machine to be stylish, light weight, and reasonably powerful — especially when compared with an Intel Atom-based notebook. The notebook ran for about 5 hours on a charge, which isn’t bad, but it’s about an hour less time than Laptop Magazine got from HP and Lenovo’s AMD E-350-equipped notebooks.

You can find more details and plenty of photos at Laptop Magazine.

There have been quite a few new netbooks and laptops with AMD’s new Fusion chips including the low-power Ontario and Zacate processors, and we expect to see even more at CES next week.   Today, someone at Toshiba Germany apparently didn’t feel like waiting, and published a product page for a new model called theT oshiba NB550D with a 1GHz dual core AMD C50 (Ontario) chip.

The new Toshiba NB550d features AMD Radeon HD 6250M graphics, Harman Kardon speakers, a 6 cell battery good for up to 9.5 hours of run time, HDMI ouput, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and the netbook-standard 1GB of RAM and 250GB hard drive. The machine runs Windows 7 Home Premium and will be available in green, orange, or brown.

via Notebook Italia

AMD is putting their game on the table, they’ve released a couple of roadmaps outlining their processor plans for the next few years.  As expected, efficient lower power chips feature prominently.  In the low power and mobile space, the upcoming “Bobcat” will be at the forefront. The first Bobcat chips will include the upcoming Ontario and Zacate chips.  Then, in 2012 AMD plans to launch new chips named Krishna and Wichita which will have 1-4 Bobcat CPU cores.

All of the upcoming chips will be  bundled with a graphics processing element which can handle DirectX 11 and HD video. AMD calls the new chips with CPU and GPU components APUs, for Accelerated Processing Unit.  This is what AMD calls the ‘fusion’ platform.  The 2012 Krishna and Wichita chips will be the first APUs built with a 28nm process. These chips will be used in tablets, notebooks, netbooks, and small form-factor desktops and all-in-one PCs.

A few weeks ago we heard about AMD’s new low power Bobcat core.  Today,  Hard OCP got a sneak peak, and test, of a new system with the new AMD Zacate chip .  That chip uses ‘less than 18 watts of power, and is based on the platform that also includess the upcoming Ontario chips which are destined for netbooks and other low thin and light laptops.   The dual core Ontario chips will top out at just 9W of power and have integrated Radeon HD 6250 graphics. Just like the Intel Atom chips, these “Fusion” chips from AMD, which combine the graphics and processor onto a single piece chip. They’ll support DDR3 memory, 3D and HD graphics, and DirectX 11.

The machine Hard OCP tried out was able to handle 720p HD video, and was actually able to play Crysis at 720p resolution with the graphics settings set to their lowest. But that was with a Zacate chip, not an Ontario chip.

AMD has released some more details about it’s upcoming low power processor called ‘Bobcat’ .  Bobcat core is capable of running on less than one watt of power, while offering 90% of the performance of today’s chips on less than half the silicon area,.  That also leads to lower power consumption and reduced heat generation.   Finally, unlike Intel’s Atom chips, the Bobcat core is a 64-bit chip.

The Ontario platform will pair the Bobcat CPU core with an AMD graphics processor on the same chip, making it the first system-on-a-chip from AMD.

via Engadget

The Asus Eee PC 1201K is an AMD powered version of the  Eee PC 1201N.  It’s powered by the low power AMD Geode 1.4GHz AMD Geode NX1750 processor.  Since it runs Window XP, there’s a good chance Asus is slotting the 1201K as a budget model. First spotted earlier this summer, the laptop is now available for purchase for 328.99 Euros in Italy.

Rounding out the notebook’s specs are a 1366 x 768 pixel 12.1 inch display, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and a 4400mAh battery.

via Eee PC.it

AMD’s new low power, moderate performance chips feature in the new Acer Aspire One 521 and Dell Inspiron M101z.  But, AMD is not content to leave it there.  Today AMD unveiled new details about its upcoming Bobcat platform for small, low power devices such as netbooks, nettops, and tablets.

The new Bobcat is the processor core that will show up in the Ontario chips due out in early 2011. AMD says Bobcat is capable of operating on less than a watt of energy, but it’s an x86 processor with out0of-order execution, which means it should be more than capable of powering Windows and other complex operating systems. The Bobcat core offers 90% of the power you expect from a mainstream chip today, while using less than half the silicon area. Ontario chips will combine the Bobcat CPU with a graphics processor and high speed bus to offer a complete chipset.

No word yet on how the AMD Bobcat chops will compare  to the goliath on the block – namely Intel with their Intel’s Atom  and ULV platforms.   By the time these new chips are released early next year Intel will likely have launched its next-generation Oak Trail platform for mobile devices.  Likely provding stiff competition.