AMD officially introduced its new Mullins processors a couple of months ago as part of its latest strategy to compete in mobile devices, whether low-cost laptops or tablets (though not low-cost ones). But so far the company hasn't had the chance to toot its horn much when it comes to design wins, though that may be about to change.
That's because AMD has scored a big "get" with HP's latest notebook, the Pavilion 10z, which is the first major device to ship with a Mullins chip. And at a price of $249.99, it's part of a trend of cheaper Windows laptops that will compete against the Chromebook insurgency.
The 10z features an AMD dual-core E1 Micro-6200T processor with Radeon R2 graphics powering Windows 8.1, 2GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, and 1,366x768 10.1-inch touchscreen. No optical drive is included, though that's hardly surprising given the price point, form factor (0.89 inches thick, 2.5 pounds) and trend away from built-in DVD drives. At the moment, there doesn't appear to be an option to add more RAM or storage.
It remains to be seen how well the new Mullins processor performs, though it does include a Turbo mode to boost the clock speed in certain situations (which the last generation of AMD low-power mobile chips lacked). AMD is also touting its Enduro technology for improved battery life, but HP's own spec sheet is not encouraging in this regard, claiming that the 10z will only get up to 4 hours of battery life. (In AMD's defense, the 10z only comes with a meager 24WHr battery.)
It also remains to be seen if other manufacturers will embrace the Mullins processor lineup, though snaring HP is certainly a good start.
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