The weekend before last, a new Dell sources AMD rumour floated to the surface, courtesy of a report in Taiwanese newspaper The Commercial and Industrial Times, and amplified by way of the press-clippings service on chip firm VIA's Web site.

We thought we had, with the help of many readers, nailed the story (Wanted: Taiwanese to confirm Dell-AMD lovefest) - i.e. it was wrong, but probably not a hoax.

But if you want more background, here is a report from our special correspondent in Taiwan, filed with me on October 11.

" Just spoke to VIA about the Dell / AMD issue. According to VIA, the issue is a misunderstanding, in which the reporter concerned got his facts wrong, and mixed up CPU for chipset. Dell may be talking to AMD, but VIA has no knowledge of this.

The original mistake was included in a report included in a compilation of news posted on VIA's website. That has since been corrected. I checked the Chinese of the Ctech report, and there it was. Ctech has yet to get back to me, but knowing the way reports tend to borrow from reports here, there could be a case of repeated mistake here. And mistake it is, VIA emphasizes adamantly." ®