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Notebooks

AsusTek has introduced its latest Centrino-based notebook line, the M6000N series, which will feature Intel's upcoming 90nm 'Dothan' processor.

Offering 14.1, 15.1 and 15.4in screen options, the range features 40, 60 and 80GB hard drives; DVD-RW and DVD-ROM/CD-RW optical options;512MB of 333MHz DDR SDRAM, expandable to 2GB; ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 graphics with 64MB of video RAM; and a range of I/O, including 1394, four USB 2.0 ports, a four-in-one card reader (SD, MMC, MemoryStick and MemoryStick Pro) and a four-speaker surround sound system.

The family's wireless networking support comes courtesy of Intel's WirelessPro 2100 802.11b/g add-in card.

The M6000N series will ship with 1.3GHz to 1.7GHz Pentium M processors with 1MB of L2 cache - the current 130nm 'Banias' chip - and a 1.8GHz version with 2MB of cache: Dothan. Asus doesn't name the processor as such, but it's clear that's what it is from the cache size.

Asus did not disclose pricing or availability.

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Toshiba has extended its Portégé line with the A100 - the company's attempt to match the look of Apple's 12in PowerBook G4.

The A100 sports "brushed aluminium-style keys and neutral silver polycarbonate casing", so it lacks the PowerBook's aluminium shell, but like the Apple notebook offers a 1024 x 768 12.1in display. The screen is driven by the notebook's integrated Intel 855GM chipset, using 64MB of main RAM as a video buffer. The A100 ships with 256MB of DDR SDRAM.

The Portégé is powered by a 1.4GHz Pentium M. A Centrino machine, it offers 802.11b wireless networking, backed by wired 56Kbps modem and 10/100Mbps Ethernet connectivity.

Storage comes courtesy of a 40GB hard drive and integrated DVD/CD-RW optical unit.

The Portégé A100 is available from Toshiba's website for £949 (excluding sales tax). It will also shortly be available from the company's reseller channel. ®