Intel is certainly wasting no time getting it's Core Duo solutions out and into the mainstream. Major player Dell is the first company to offer two laptops featuring a dual core chip under the $1k mark. From Digitimes: Dell has lowered the price of its Inspiron E1705 series, a consumer notebook that features Intel’s Core Duo T2600 processor and 17-inch widescreen display, to US$999. Meanwhile, the Latitude D620 line, which is based on Intel’s Core Duo T2300 processor and has a 14.1-inch widescreen display, is also available from US$899. If you look at Intel's pricing, they have a very competitive strategy with their dual core CPU's...which is something AMD is still loosing ground on. With the Conroe and Merom chips sporting some real silicon muscle this time around, the company is certainly coming back with a vengance.
For mobile low power CPU's Intel beats AMD hands down. AMD wins in the Desktop and server markets, Intel wins in the mobile market. A good strategy though - get the CPU's into lower priced laptops then more people will be able to come into contact with them and see their real user and power - hopefully more people will be 'raving' about the CPU's if they perform well.
With Conroe/Merom coming I'm not all confident that AMD will still hold the performance crown in the desktop arena. Unless they pull something magic with the core revisions as AM2 isn't a big deal.
