CES 2009 : HP Pavilion dv2 laptop: AMD Yukon done right

[HEXUS]

Sleek lines and low power, but we wait for machines based on the 8W Neo CPU.

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[Biscuit]

I think its to late to really make a hit in the market. Completely forgetting the high price tag and the fact that the entire world is skint for a minute, so many people have gone out and bought much cheaper and less functional netbooks which clearly shows where the niche in the market is. I cant see people wanting to upgrade them so soon after when all they do is basic activities on them.

Im not slating the product i think its real nice looking and definately takes things up a notch but i just cant see there being a huge mob of people buying them.

[this_is_gav]

This is another niche altogether though. It should provide performance akin to a lower-end laptop with what should prove excellent battery life. It is expensive, but there aren't many 12" laptops for this sort of money. It's more of an alternative take on your traditional laptop than a direct rival to the underclocked Celerons and Atoms.

Obviously at the moment the price is going to be inflated - it's the only one out there. If it heads down to the main Atom area of the market (£230-300) it should walk all over it for those in the know, unless your requirement is the sub-12" size in most netbooks (and I'd imagine there'll be sub-12" Neo netbooks too), but I'll guess it will command a small premium over Atom equivalents - it is better than them.

Only real shame is that it's only got the 690G at the moment.

I'm hoping for some of this in MicroATX (and MiniITX) format. A 780G version would be perfect for an HTPC, where the Atom is just a bit too slow (and consumes far more power at the moment too).

[scaryjim]

Personally, once more than one model comes to market I'll be convincing my boss to replace our aging but effective sony ultramobiles (which cost upwards of £1000) with Yukon / Congo based alternatives. If anyone does bring out a 12" netwbook based on a 8w chipset + 8w processor, I'll be buying one - I've pondered netbooks since their incpetion but I've never felt they provided enough oomph at the £250 price point to compete with full-size laptops at the £300 price point. If cheaper Yukon-based "netbooks" can come in at ~£350 with a 12" screen I'll be convinced ;^)