Aug 25, 2009 08:20 PM
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Windows 7's launch is going to be a hell of a busy time for laptops. Expect a slew of higher-end Intel Core i7 mobile rigs and thin notebooks powered by new dual-core ULV processors when the OS ships.
Intel's next generation Centrino platform, codenamed Calpella, will be launched at the end of September, says MSI. That means speedy new notebooks with Nehalem based mobile CPUs and chipsets will be arriving just in time to put Windows 7 on the hard drive.
MSI will ship 15.4 and 17-inch notebooks powered by Intel's new Core i7 7200M, Core i7 8200M, and Core i7 920XM with Windows 7. The Clarksfield CPU of the mobile Core i7 platform is expected to be a downscaled version of the desktop version we like so much, but will be one of the biggest jumps in laptop power we have seen in awhile. Intel's mobile Core i5 and i3 (codenamed Arrandale) are not planned until the first quarter of 2010.
Also coming from Intel around the same time (our guess this is all coming at September's Intel Developers Conference) are new dual core ULV processors. Intel's ULV (once called CULV) is aimed at ultra thin laptops (those right in between netbooks and mainstreamers, like the Acer Timeline). MSI plans to use the new Core 2 Duo SU4100 and SU7300 chips in its X420 (update to X400) and X620 (an update to the X600) which will ship with Windows 7.
Why do we care? MSI tells us the price of these seriously slim notebooks will stay in the same ballpark (around $600 to $900), but the chips provide better performance than the Celerons that they were formerly using.
What this all really means is that not only is MSI hitting the market with a crap load of notebooks that have brand spankin' new chips and a fresh Microsoft OS, but the other notebook vendors (yes, Apple) will most likely do the same. You may just want to wait to snatch up a new PC; the notebooks are a coming this fall.
Send an email to Joanna Stern, the author of this post, at jstern@gizmodo.com.
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