Toshiba Corp. has disclosed details of a new range of laptop computers based on processors from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. — the first AMD-based machines the company has sold in about seven years.
The Satellite A215 series laptops will be based on AMD’s Turion 64 X2 dual-core processors and also feature Radeon X1200 graphics from ATI, which AMD bought last year. Other specifications include a 15.4-inch widescreen display with 1,280 pixel by 800 pixel resolution, serial ATA (SATA) hard-disk drive and DVD super-multi-drive, compatible with 11 disc formats, including DVD+/-R dual-layer discs.
Toshiba stopped using AMD processors in its laptop computers in 2000, making its complete line Intel-only. The company didn’t disclose the reason for dropping the chips, but about two years ago AMD alleged in a lawsuit against Intel Corp. that Toshiba had received a “very substantial” payment from Intel.
Like other PC vendors, Toshiba was receiving “market development funds” from Intel worth about US$25 million to $30 million per quarter and those would have been jeopardized if it used AMD chips, the lawsuit alleged. The case between AMD and Intel continues.
In a statement Tuesday Toshiba said it has seen “increased consumer demand over the past two years for AMD-based platforms.”
The computers will be available built-to-order from Toshiba’s online shop.A featured configuration, the Satellite A215-S4767, combines the Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology Gold Edition TL64 processor with 2G bytes of memory, a 250G byte hard-disk drive, DVD supermulti drive, 802.11b/g wireless LAN, embedded Web cam and fingerprint reader for US$1,300.