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Vendors have unleashed a fleet of new notebooks, most of them featuring Intel's newest and fastest mobile processor, the 1.8-GHz Pentium 4 Processor-M. Dell announced both high-end and budget notebooks on Tuesday, and Toshiba also released a system with built-in wireless capability.

Dell's Precision Workstation M50 is a high-end notebook designed for professional users. Available now, it is priced at $3599. At the other end of the scale, Dell released the Inspiron 2650, running a slower model of mobile Pentium and priced at $1299.

Toshiba is using the new 1.8-GHz Pentium 4 Processor-M in one of its new models, the Tecra 9100 Series, which is also among the first corporate notebooks to include a Secure Digital (SD) Media slot. The user-configurable notebook is priced starting at $2619. Also available immediately is Toshiba's $1399 Satellite 1200, with built-in 802.11b high-speed wireless connectivity.

Compaq announced several new wireless-ready Evo and Presario notebooks, several featuring the newest mobile Pentium processor. The Presario 2800 is shipping now, with prices starting at $1399. The new Evo Notebook N800 Series is scheduled for release in May starting at $1959.

IBM Adopts Mobile CPU

Intel released the newest mobile Pentiums Tuesday. This release boosts the Processor-M to 1.8 GHz, from the 1.6- and 1.7-GHz CPUs introduced in March when the Pentium 4 made its debut as a mobile processor.

Vendors participating in Intel's launch included IBM, Dell, Compaq, and WinBook. IBM is offering the new mobile CPU in two of its lines of ThinkPad notebooks.

The ThinkPad A Series, priced from $1599, is positioned as a desktop alternative. They are user-configurable, but all have a travel weight starting at 6.6 pounds, and can have up to a 15-inch TFT display. All include ATI graphics and two removable drive bays.

The ThinkPad T Series, priced from $2099, are also user-configurable, and slightly slimmer at 4.9 pounds with a 14.1-inch TFT display. Select models support built-in wireless technology.

Compaq Picks New CPU

All of Compaq's new notebooks use the new mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor-M, and all support Compaq's MultiPort wireless technology for mobile connectivity. MultiPort is available in either an 802.11b or Bluetooth module.

The Presario 2800 weighs less than 5.6 pounds and measures 1.3 inches deep. It is available with a mobile Pentium in speeds from 1.4 GHz to 1.8 GHz, and can have up to a 60GB hard drive. The notebook uses ATI's Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics controller, has a 15-inch TFT display, and includes USB 2.0 support. Buyers have a choice of MultiBay optical drives, including a DVD/CD-RW combo drive.

Models in the Evo Notebook N800 Series also weigh less than 5.6 pounds and are 1.3 inches deep. The notebooks use the new mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor-M, at a choice of speeds. Any notebook in the line can use the same docking station or MultiBay optical drive. All have an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics controller, and all support dual batteries for seven hours of operation.

The N800v series are designed for mainstream business notebook users. The N800c series notebooks are also appropriate for business, and differ by including a combination touchpad/point stick.

Dell System Details

The Precision Workstation M50 from Dell packs a 1.8-GHz Pentium 4 processor, 256MB of memory expandable to 1048MB, and a 40GB hard drive. It has a 15-inch TFT screen, modem and Ethernet support, and bundles Windows XP or Windows 2000 Professional edition.

The M50 uses a NVidia Quadro4 500 graphics processor with 64MB of memory and a graphics controller with 4X AGP. Dell priced the M50 at $3599, with immediate availability.

The budget Inspiron 2650 also sports a mobile Pentium but in a base configuration of 1.4 GHz. That unit comes with 128MB of memory expandable to 512MB. It has a 14.1-inch display, an NVidia GeForce graphics processor with 8MB of memory, a 20GB hard drive, an integrated modem, and built-in Ethernet support.

Buyers of the Inspiron 2650 may choose a 24X CD-ROM, 8X DVD, 8X CD-RW, or an 8X DVD and CD-RW combination drive for the installed drive bay, for the same price.

Toshiba: Built-in Wireless

Toshiba's Tecra 9100 Series notebook, shipping since early March with the 1.7-GHz Pentium 4 Processor-M, is now available with the 1.8-GHz mobile CPU. The line is designed for enterprise customers, and along with the standard SD slot, models have built-in wireless connectivity, with both Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) and Bluetooth antennas embedded directly into the lid of the notebook.

The Tecra 9100 comes standard with 256MB of DDR SDRAM, and has a 14.1-inch TFT display and a 40GB hard drive. It weighs 5.3 pounds. Windows XP is preloaded.

Toshiba's Satellite 1200 has built-in 802.11b high-speed wireless connectivity for an integrated wireless wide area network. It uses an Intel 1.2-GHz Celeron processor and has 256MB of memory, a 20GB hard drive, a modem and Ethernet connection, and a 14.1-inch TFT color display. It comes with Windows XP. The Satellite 1200 retail price is $1,399, with immediate availability.

George A. Chidi Jr. of IDG News Service contributed to this report.

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