HP Airs $599 AMD Trinity Sleekbook, $999 Intel Ivy Bridge Ultrabook

From DailyTech: Hewlett-Packard Comp. (HPQ) is the world's largest seller of personal computers and hence a key battleground for processor makers Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and Intel Corp. (INTC).

Both companies' latest and greatest chip are on parade in a trio of new ultrathin lines unveiled by HP, a refresh to the company's "Envy" ultramobile brand. Interestingly, the Ivy Bridge (Intel) and Trinity (AMD) notebooks have the same battery life rating from HP -- 9 hours (though of course real-world testing is likely to reveal a winner and a loser).

The AMD designs are substantially cheaper than the Ivy Bridge ones. HP's most affordable "Sleekbook" line will first launch with higher priced Intel designs, but in June will be expanded to include less costly models powered by AMD's new Trinity accelerated processing unit (APU), which features "discrete quality" on-die graphics.

The body designs for all the models are relatively similar with sleek brushed metal (black or silver available) cases colored in black or silver hues. The Ivy Bridge models do not come with discrete graphics by default, but customers can pay extra to get a discrete GPU. Larger hard drives or more memory are among the other customization options consumers can pony up extra cash for.

Ultimately, the AMD vs. Intel Ivy Bridge thin notebooks are shaping up to be much as what thought -- the Intel will be slightly thinner and lighter, but will be well over $1,000 USD with discrete graphics added. By contrast, an AMD Sleekbook with matching performance (other than the slower HDD) will start at ~$600. Build quality (packaging) will be almost identical for both competing designs, other than size and weight.

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