HP Teams Up With VIA For Low-Cost Notebook

Reports from within the industry are pointing to HP having recently ordered 100,000 C7-M ULV processors from VIA, which comes on the back of VIA announcing that they would be supplying processors for the new 2133 Mini-Note PC from HP.

Speculation has arisen that hardware manufacturers have started to look to VIA to supply processors for both ultra mobile PCs (UMPC) and entry level computers. VIA already has hardware contracts with Gigabyte, as well as HP.

The VIA C7-M ULV processor can work at around 1.0-1.6GHz and has a tidy 3.5 watts of thermal design power. The new greener side to the notebook industry is at play here too, as the C7-M ULV can idle at as low as 0.1 watts, which also leads to an expanded battery life.

This is also a small notebook, yet the market has already taken notice of the fact that the keyboard remains a nearly standard size. So far the machine has drawn notice mainly for being a quick boot up and go notebook, however its functionality is limited to mainly web surfing and office applications.

VIA has moved into a position that was expected to go to Intel, however industry sources believe that Intel’s restriction on how their Atom range may be implemented has caused some to look for a more adaptive platforms.

The chipset for the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is in fact a VIA one (VIA CN896 chipset) as noted on the HP product page where it declares the graphics are integrated VIA Chrome 9 (no specific chipset is mentioned but the VIA Chrome 9 graphics are integrated into the VIA CN896 chipset).

EDITORS NOTE: Correction made in the last paragraph, which suggested the chipset was from Nvidia, when it is in fact a VIA chipset.

Story link: HP Teams Up With VIA For Low-Cost Notebook