Digital has claimed to be the first notebook designer to incorporate the low-voltage Pentium 150 megahertz microprocessor from Intel into its range of notebook PCs. While Acer previewed a 150MHz Nuovo notebook in June, well before Intel Semiconductor announced the availability of the sixth microprocessor optimised for portable computers last week, Digital timed the launch of its 150MHz Pentium HiNote Ultra II to coincide with the Intel announcement. Acer is expecting to have its model available next month. Digital refreshed its HiNote Ultra II model in the middle of last month, announcing a larger 11.3 inch screen to its all-Pentium range. David Tang, marketing and business development director with Digital's Asia-Pacific PC business unit, said the screen update gave Digital an advantage in integrating a new chip option because the company had already planned a significant component change. The new model is the HiNote Ultra II LTS5150. The series previously included 100MHz and 133MHz optimised chip options within the HiNote Ultra II and HiNote VP models. Intel said the new 150MHz chip was likely to bring the entry-level for all notebook computers up to the Pentium 100MHz level. Some makers are still shipping Pentium 75MHz notebooks but not in great quantities. Digital's HiNote update also reflects the acceptance of 16 megabytes as the bare minimum level of memory required for notebook computers running Windows 95.
