Iria

Some companies are already shipping notebooks with Intel's new Core Duo processor, owing to its sooner-than-expected launch date, but larger, less nimble vendors find themselves forced to wait.

Intel formally unveiled the new Core Duo processor at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month. Acer and Sony have started shipping a few notebooks that feature the dual-core processor, formerly known by its Yonah code name. But Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer, Lenovo and Dell are still waiting to release their Core Duo notebooks, even though they have announced the specifications and pricing.

Acer is promoting its TravelMate 4202 and 8204 notebooks at CompUSA stores, though the units were out of stock at most stores, according to CompUSA's call center. Sony's FE-590 series notebooks are also listed on CompUSA's Web site as shipping but are out of stock. Those notebooks have a three- to five-day shipping date listed on Sony's Web site.

Comparable notebooks from Dell and Gateway won't ship until the first week of February, based on those companies' Web sites, while Apple's MacBook Pro won't appear in Apple stores until the second week of February, according to a sales representative at the company's San Francisco store. HP is bringing up the rear, with its Core Duo notebook not scheduled to ship until Feb. 24.
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Read More / Source: News.com