Intel, Microsoft and notebook brand vendors are preparing to push entry-level notebooks priced at US$199-249 in the second half, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
For the US$199-249 notebooks, Intel and Microsoft's specification preferences are 10.1- to 15.6-inch clamshell non-touchscreen models using Intel's Bay Trail-M series processors or upcoming Braswell-based processors, which are set to release in the second quarter of 2015.
Their thickness needs to be smaller than 25mm with a battery longevity of five hours. Memory setups are 1-4GB DDR3 memory and 500GB HDD or 16-32GB SSD. The machines will use Windows 8.1 with Bing.
In addition to US$199-249 models, Intel also has reference designs for US$249-399 and US$399-599 models with screen sizes ranging from 11.6- to 17.3-inch and has no limitations over the operating system.
For 13.3- to 14-inch and 10.1- to 12.5-inch 2-in-1 devices, Intel and Microsoft also have corresponding plans that come with Windows 8.
The sources pointed out that Wintel's US$199-249 solutions are very similar to what they have done for netbooks except with better performance and a larger display. The new products are expected to attract demand from consumers who only need document processing and surfing the Internet, and are also expected to attract demand from enterprises.





