Dell AMD notebooks priced high

Equipping them both similarly, the AMD with a TL-56 and a Core 2 Foreign Numeral Signifier 1.83, 2GB of RAM, 80GB HDs, and a few more goodies, you end up at nearly the same place. With the same specs, the AMD is $1049, Intel came in at $1019. To make matters more interesting, You can spec the Intel way up from there, bigger HDs, GPUs, and vastly better screens. The AMD tops out pretty light.

For even money, I am willing to bet the Intel has better battery life and little better performance, so why AMD premium? There are two trains of thought here, one is the rushing it out the door, the other is milking profit. Both make a good deal of sense.

The rushing out bit is quite simple, a lot of people were telling us that the laptops would be out the day that the AMD platforms were done, but many people seemed to think it would be Q1/07 before they surfaced. If the rush theory holds, Dell pushed things, and got them out the door, but at a price. I somehow don't buy this one.

The more plausible scenario seems to be milking the market pure and simple. Dell is aware that there is a huge pent-up demand for AMD products, or at least they keep mentioning demand when you ask them 'why AMD now?'. If they know people will buy, why not charge them for it? Well, I guess they are.

In any case, you can play with the options the Intel notebooks are here, the AMDs here. Whatever the cause ends up being, something is not right. µ