Packard Bell today became the next system builder to update its line with newer platforms from AMD and Intel.

The 13.3-inch EasyNote RS65 runs on a Centrino 2 chipset with an unspecified Core 2 Duo processor and joins the increasing ranks of ultraportables at its screen size, with a very thin and extremely stylized design; Packard Bell’s signature circular trackpad sports hidden buttons while the rest of the system is backed by chrome trim and brushed black metal. Few other details are available beyond its use of a slot-load optical drive and HDMI video out. The company has also revealed itself as one of the first to pick up 15.6-inch notebook displays with the EasyNote TN65: the system has the same 16:9 movie ratio as Acer’s Gemstone Blue notebooks but in a smaller shape. The system has an unknown dedicated video chipset but is believed to have a Mobility Radeon HD 3000-series like some of the other systems introduced today.

RS65

Four other notebooks fill out the mainstream of Packard Bell’s lineup and vary primarily by their root processors. The 15.4- and 17-inch ML61 and SL81 both share AMD’s Turion X2 Ultra platform and use Hybrid CrossFire X to switch from dedicated Mobility Radeon HD video to its integrated version to conserve power; the MT85 and ST85 use the Centrino 2 platform to achieve the same effect with a mix of both AMD’s dedicated graphics and Intel’s GMA X4500 onboard.

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AMD is working with PC builders to offer its own answer to a slew of micro notebooks based on Intel chips, visitors to AMD’s booth at Computex have found today. Systems will follow a similar pattern and use Linux with lower-end systems and Windows on some higher-end models. One company, Malata, has been identified as making one system and will include an unknown AMD chip as well as 1GB of memory, an 8.9-inch screen and Linux. A high-end system from an unspecified manufacturer shrinks the screen to seven inches but boosts the resolution to 1024×600 (incorrectly identified as 1280×600), uses a 60GB or 80GB hard drive, and runs Windows XP.

These systems should start appearing in the second half of 2008 and will be priced between approximately $300 and $400, matching the cost of most lower-priced micro notebooks. Whether any such systems will be available in the US is unknown, as most major PC makers including Acer, ASUS, Dell, and HP are all using either Intel or VIA processors.