The budget PC maker launched on Tuesday five new products, priced between $399 and $799 after rebates, all of which use at least 1GHz processors.
The latest lineup also includes a twist: a new desktop based on Advanced Micro Devices" Athlon XP 1600+ chip. The T1400 PC is Emachines" first to use an AMD chip in about a year and a half. The machine pairs the 1600+ chip with 256MB of SDRAM, a 40GB hard drive and a CD-rewritable drive for $599 after a $75 rebate.
Emachines, which normally offers several products at $399, $499, $599 and $699, used the AMD chip to keep the price down on the new T1400, executives said.
The T1400 PC fits into a specific price target in the middle of Emachines" lineup, flanked on either side by low-priced Intel Celeron machines and higher-priced Intel Pentium 4 models.
However, Gary Elsasser, Emachines" vice president of technology and platform development, said he"d "keep an open mind" with regard to expanding the company"s use of Athlon XP chips in future computers.
Looks to me like another win for AMD...