AMD is well known for the very good price-performance ratio of its desktop processors. The announcement of Athlon XP's mobile variation at the beginning of the year means AMD now intends to write the next chapter of its success story, set in the realm of portability. This is no simple endeavor -- users expect a notebook processor to have the power of a desktop model and energy consumption that allows for the longest possible battery life. To meet this challenge, AMD's engineers have incorporated "PowerNow!," a truly "intelligent" processor power management utility, into the mobile Athlon XP.

The reward for this stroke of engineering genius has been numerous design honors: companies like Compaq/ Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu-Siemens Computers, NEC and Sony are using the mobile CPU in their latest notebooks.

THG can confirm the power and energy savings potential of the mobile Athlon XP as demonstrated by Compaq's Evo N1015v. The notebook is a classic three-spindle device designed for the small and mid-sized business environment. Within a price range of $900US to $1800US, Compaq Evo N1015v offers various accessories that are attractive even to notebook novices.

The version we tested has a mobile Athlon XP-1800+ CPU, 256MB RAM, 15.1" TFT display, 40GB HD, and a CD/ RW-DVD combination drive. It sells for about $1500US.

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