MSI CR650 Notebook Gets Debut--Packs Zacate Processor

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Like the Avis slogan says: when you’re number two, you try harder. And it sure looks like MSI is taking that adage to heart, because even though they’re not number two–pretty far down from it, I’d say, what with big names like Dell and HP and Apple in the market–they’re definitely working harder. That hard work shows in their announcement of the CR650 notebook, which is packing an AMD Zacate processor.

And it’s not just the Zacate processor that makes this one look at least fairly interesting for those who want as much power as they can get but for whom space is the ultimate consideration. It’s also packing a 15.6 inch screen, Radeon HD6310 graphics, a DVD drive, webcam, six-cell battery (with an as yet undetermined life) and speakers backed up by SRS systems, which have done a lot of amazing things for television speakers.

You’ll also get your choice of hard drive–250, 320, or 500 gig–and an also as yet undetermined amount of DDR3 RAM, though as is often the case, you’ll likely get your choice of just how much of that DDR3 finds its way into your systems.

It does look, at least from checking out the spec sheets, that this should be able to handle most of your netsurfing basics. Video, downloads, office tasks and assorted what have you should be taken care of pretty well here, and getting HD video out of this shouldn’t be much of a hassle either. You can probably cruise through Azeroth on this without much effort, but I doubt it’ll tackle the more processor-intensive functions.

We don’t have word yet on release dates or pricing, though early projections are pegging this one in the $600 range. The question remains, though, if it can compete against similarly priced laptops and notebooks already on shelves; just leafing through a couple Sunday circulars shows me dual-core Intel laptops for under $600, some of which even have bigger displays. But still, it should be interesting to see how this one fares once it gets released.