The PC maker will run ads in Sunday circulars and offer the notebooks at CompUSA and Fry's Electronics stores, sources said. HP will use the new chip to launch its newest consumer model, the Pavilion N6395, sources said. The new Pavilion weighs in at 5.8 pounds and is about 1-inch thick. Notebooks from major manufacturers featuring AMD's Athlon chip are expected toward June. The 1GHz notebook chip comes at a time when notebooks are becoming increasingly important to PC makers and Intel alike as the portables sales are generally growing more quickly than desktop PCs.
Analysts say the speed boost for notebooks is needed in more ways than one.
It's important for notebooks not to lag too far behind desktop PCs in terms of performance, he added. As a result, the 1GHz Pentium III will receive a groundswell of support from PC makers. Most new 1GHz Pentium III notebooks will be full-size models. Models will be coming for both the consumer and corporate markets. PC makers glom on Toshiba will announce on Monday a new Satellite Pro 4600 for consumers, sources said.