AMD announces Athlon Neo CPU

Robert Hallock January 6, 2009 10:02 AM ET in Tech

In just early November, AMD CEO Dirk Meyer announced that AMD had no intention to compete in the Netbook market. Instead, AMD and Meyer reasoned that it would be more lucrative to fill a slice of the market that lay between the ~$500 netbook and the ~$1500 ultra-portable. In that regard, AMD has just recently announced the AMD Athlon Neo processor. The new chip debuts as a part of the Yukon platform which includes an integrated ATI Radeon X1250 or an optional ATI Radeon X3410 discrete GPU.

The newest addition to the AMD family of processors is built on existing 65nm technology, though it’s uncertain as to what CPU the Neo has descended from. Though the new chip doesn’t sip battery life quite as daintily as the Atom, it offers horsepower in exchange; it can smoothly decode 1080p, run Windows Vista, and even take on some moderately intense gaming.

The HP Pavilion DV2 with the AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 (1.6GHz) CPU.

“Before today, there was a compromise associated with selecting a highly portable notebook, forcing consumers to choose either the full PC experience of an ultraportable at a high price or the limited PC experience of a mininotebook at a low price,” said Chris Cloran, corporate vice president, client division, AMD.

The Athlon Neo finds its first home inside the HP DV2 notebook, a sleek little number weighing in at less than 4 pounds. Topping out at 1.3″ thick, the Pavilion DV2 also provides Blu-ray, a 1200×800 12″ screen, a keyboard that’s just 8% shy of a full notebook, and the discrete X3410 GPU we previously mentioned.

The Neo processor is expected to be replaced by the purpose-built 45nm Conesus CPU by the end of 2009. In the interim, the DV2 and other Neo-equipped notebooks are expected by the end of April.

13 Comments:

1. DrLiam

   FoxtoN

   
   6 Jan '09, 3:31 pm

   I like where the notebook market is going. This Neo processor looks like a step in the right direction for AMD and this CPU is one I would be very interested in.
2. Komete

   DIY Haxx0r

   
   6 Jan '09, 11:29 pm

   Atfreaking finnaly. AMD is better than Intel in one segment. It's just been a slew of 3 bad years for AMD. GJ AMD!
3. Leonardo

   F@H Reign of Terror is back!

   
   6 Jan '09, 11:56 pm

   There seem to be about 63 sub-sub-niches of notebooks...or is it ulta-thins/ultra-lights...

   OK these CPUs, best I can make out, will marketed at the higher priced, small, tiny, thinlightsmall lapnotebooks that aren't quite as diminished in some way as other classes of notebooks. Geez, some one will find a market segment that is only imaginary and will flop big time. Hope it's not AMD.

   Obviously, I'm not up to date in this arena.
4. Leonardo

   F@H Reign of Terror is back!

   
   7 Jan '09, 12:26 am

   AMD's message is "you've tried Atom and it didn't deliver the performance you wanted... and it has really really crap multimedia features. Now we've got something that's slightly more expensive, but will deliver a really good overall experience without breaking the bank... or your back."

   Here.

   Alright, you guys who keep up with ultra portable notebook trends, what do you think. (Please don't give me the "I wish," "I hope," "I love AMD" comments. Those are irrelevant.) No, what do you really think, is this a market winner, one that will actually bring in market share and money?
5. Leonardo

   F@H Reign of Terror is back!

   
   7 Jan '09, 12:28 am

   It's interesting to see AMD is fighting back using Intel's own weapons. They're creating their own market niche, just like Atom did.

   Hmm. Think so? Well, OK, will it work, or will it cause big yawns at BestBuy, Circuit City, and Office Depot?
6. Robert Hallock

   Cad

   
   7 Jan '09, 8:07 am

   People will love it. I promise they will.

   Working at Best Buy for two years, I cannot reinforce enough how much people do not want to spend $1000 on a notebook. They want the most inexpensive thing money can buy, usually the sale item, and there's nothing you can do to get them to buy a more expensive notebook for their own damn good.

   On the flip, just this week I went to Microcenter and Best Buy to purchase an MSI Wind. Both stores have a fairly large stock of Atom-powered Netbooks aside from the Wind, and I heard a great number of customers talking about how the Netbooks were TOO small for them. They're old and blind and they don't like the small screens. This may sound like me being a dick, but this is the prevailing complaint I overheard.

   So if they don't want to buy >$999 notebooks with serious mobile hardware, and the Netbook is too small for them, what lies in the middle? The AMD Athlon Neo.

   Leo, even you appeared to be sold on the merits of the idea when it was announced in November:

   This may be a very smart strategy by AMD...If Meyer believes AMD can successfully grab some of the more upscale and lucrative ultra portable market, then that's probably the direction to go.

   There really aren't that many notebook classes in truth. Sorted by size:

   -Desktop Replacement (DTR), 19 or 21" screens.
   -Notebook, 15.4-17" screens
   -Ultra-portable, 12-15" screens and an emphasis on thinness (MacBook Air, VooDoo Envy, Sony Metro)
   -The Athlon Neo market
   -Netbook, 8"-10" screens

   I'm still compelled to give the AMD market a name, but I'm not sure what.

   At any rate, they're larger than the Netbook, and have the multimedia features that normal users are expecting a notebook to have. I bought my Wind with the specific knowledge that it can't do certain things, and I'm okay with that because I wouldn't look to my Notebook for those tasks. Meh.
7. MiracleManS

   Mediocrity Gets You Pears

   
   7 Jan '09, 9:15 am

   Having heard about this, I'm excited. I'd like a small notebook I can take with me on trips that I can use to do some work from wherever I am.

   I want something that has the power to do what I need and is still portable enough that I'm not lugging around a 8-10lb monster.

   I've been using my girlfriend's Dell laptop that has a 17" screen. It's nice, has the processing power for what I need, but it's just heavy as all get out. If I had something in the 4-5 pound range that could still do what I wanted AND was affordable, I'd be all over it.
8. Snarkasm

   The Photographer.

   
   7 Jan '09, 10:33 am

   The affordable part is so completely and totally the key. There are tiny laptops out there that can do what people want in terms of processing power and general usability, but they're upwards of $2k, usually (Lenovo X200, Sony SZ, some of the Asus brands, etc).

   If these guys can get decent size and a small price, they'll sell like bajeezus.
9. Leonardo

   F@H Reign of Terror is back!

   
   7 Jan '09, 11:16 am

   Good explanation, guys, thanks. Yes, when this was initially announced a couple months ago, I did think it was a good idea. When these latest ads articles and announcements came out, it was confusing, because I didn't have mind-picture of what net/lap/Neobooks would be.
   

   They're old and blind and they don't like the small screens.

   Uh, try even as young as 30+. Any time you see something with a tiny screen, you can be fairly sure it was designed by someone fairly young. (like these stinking tiny, moronic reply and PM text boxes - why a postage stamp size in the middle of a large screen - even on a laptop?)

   If someone gave me one of those tiny laptops - pad, or netbook, I'd leave it sealed and sell it without a second thought. I have real adult sized fingers and eyes that have been less than good since I was nine years old.
10. Robert Hallock

    Cad

    
    7 Jan '09, 11:20 am

    I think the point that you're missing about these Netbooks (have you tried one?) is that the keyboards are only 8-10% away from being a full laptop-sized keyboard. They've rearranged the keys just a little to make all the primary typing keys the same size as any other notebook.

    Additionally, the screens don't have a very high pixel density. No crazy small text or icons. 1200x800 screens. The screens are also very crisp, clear and bright.

    They're a lot better than people make them out to be. Few have ever turned one on, much less used one.

    (For the record I'm fairly near-sighted. Life is blurry beyond 4 feet)
11. MiracleManS

    Mediocrity Gets You Pears

    
    7 Jan '09, 11:37 am

    While the screens may be wonderful, I don't think I have enough real estate to get done what I'd like to get done, and that might be the big difference for a lot of people.

    I could be totally wrong though.
12. Snarkasm

    The Photographer.

    
    7 Jan '09, 1:14 pm

    That's a big factor for me as well. I would kill to have one of those in a higher res. Going from a pair of 21" widescreens to a 1280x800 or 1024x576 screen is killer. I can make do, but damn if I can't be a lot more productive on the other rig.
13. Leonardo

    F@H Reign of Terror is back!

    
    8 Jan '09, 3:17 am

    (For the record I'm fairly near-sighted. Life is blurry beyond 4 feet)

    I'll cut you some slack.
    

    keyboards are only 8-10% away from being a full laptop-sized keyboard

    That, to me, is much more important than the speed of the laptop. I had the misfortune of once having to use one of those little (but expensive!) Toughbooks. What a pain.

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