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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.

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. ®