Packard Bell is set to become the first major notebook vendor to offer a portable PC based on AMD's Athlon 64 chip.

According the company's Belgian web site, the EasyNote M3308 will contain an Athlon 64 3000+, along with 512MB of DDR SDRAM, a 60GB hard drive and a DVD-RW optical unit. The machine's 15.4in 1280 x 800 screen is powered by an ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 chip with 64MB of dedicated graphics memory

The M3308 offers six USB 2.0 ports, a 1394 connector, TV out, PC Card slot, a four-in-one memory card reader (SD, MMC, SmartMedia and Memory Stick), a 56Kbps modem and 10/100Mbps Ethernet for wired connectivity, and an integrated 802.11b card from wireless communications. The whole thing weighs 3.8kg (8.4lb) and the Lithium Ion battery yields a three-hour work time, the company claims.

So far, the M3308 is only available in Germany, for €2399 ($2826). Packard Bell had not responded to our request for UK availability at press time. ®