It appears that Dell is ready to start offering an AMD-based notebook.
Although no formal announcement was made Nov. 1 by the PC maker, Dells Web site displayed the Inspiron 1501 notebook, offering customers a chance to order the notebook with Advanced Micro Devices Turion 64 X2 dual-core processors.
Dell also offers notebooks with AMDs Sempron processor. Two of the Inspiron notebooks offer AMDs Turion 64 MK-36 processor—a single-core chip that runs at 2.0GHz.
On its site, Dell tells its customers that the notebook can be upgraded from the MK-36 processor to the Turion 64 X2 dual-core TL-56 for $100 or the Turion 64 X2 dual-core TL-50 for $50.
For years, Dell had only used Intels processors in its desktops, notebooks and servers. That changed when Dell announced that more and more of its customers wanted AMD-based products.
On Sept. 13, Dell announced that it would offer AMD processors in its E521 and C521 desktops. Later, on Oct. 23, Dell announced that it would use the chip makers Opteron processors in its servers.
Dell offered no formal announcement about the Inspiron 1501 notebook line as it had with its AMD-based desktops and servers. A day after the notebook appeared on the site, a spokesperson for the Round Rock, Texas, company confirmed to eWEEK that Dell had started selling the notebook, but she said the company would not have any additional comments.
On its Web site, Dell lists the starting price for the Sempron-based notebook as $549, while the higher-end notebooks that use the MK-36 processor are priced at $704 and $859.
The lower-priced notebook offers an AMD Sempron 3500+ processor, which runs at 1.8GHz, 512MB of memory and a 60GB hard drive. Dell also offers its customers a chance to upgrade the notebook to either AMDs Turion 64 MK-36 processor or the Turion 64 2X dual-core processor.
The other two models in the Inspiron line come standard with the Turion MK-36 processor standard. One offers 512MB of memory and a 60GB hard drive, while the other offers 1GB of memory and an 80GB hard drive.
All three notebooks offer a 15.4-inch display and use Microsofts Windows operating system. Dell announced that the notebooks are Vista-ready.
Dells Web site did not make clear whether the company was just starting to take orders for the notebooks or if the notebooks were immediately available to customers.
Editors Note: This story was updated to include a comment from Dell.
