Now it seems that the blurring will take on an exponential leap with the announcement of an Intel Core i7-based notebook with all the trimmings.
The image is taken from Eurocom's listing page and details an upcoming desktop-replacement laptop with some tasty specs.
Based on the Clevo D900F chassis, the large notebook, supposedly released on May 1, 2009, is reckoned to feature Intel Core i7 CPUs up to a speed-grade of 3.2GHz; NVIDIA's unreleased mobile G280-based GPU; and up to three hard drives, providing 1.5TB of potential storage.
The 17-inch WUXGA screen would be a good fit for the graphics card, and you can expect everything bar the kitchen sink to be thrown into the 5.4kg laptop, as well. A chunky 12-cell battery, whilst capacious, won't power the hungry components for long in mobile form, though.
What's interesting is that Clarksfield, the mobile variant of Nehalem, the technology underpinning Core i7, is reckoned to be on a different form-factor to the also-stated LGA1366, taking into account the dual-channel nature of its memory interface. The D900F is reckoned to work off triple-channel DDR3 SODIMMs.
Reading between the lines, it would be sensible to assume, given a potential launch-date of May 1, that Eurocom is simply using desktop chips with the supporting X58 and ICH10R combination, and they're not particularly suited to mobile form. Perhaps the company knows something we don't - energy-efficient Core i7s in the offing?
Looking at the stated graphics, however, they may well be the mobile variant of GTX 280, helped along by a dollop of GDDR5 RAM, not present on current models, for superior bandwidth.
The sensible thinking is that the notebook will probably be available a fair while later than 'launch' date, because NVIDIA and Intel need to have their respective ducks in a row, as well as catering for the design cycles of big-name ODMs. Also, workstation-based laptops are rarely first out of the gate with brand-new products. In fact, the very name, Phantom, may well be more fitting than it first appears.
A desktop masquerading as a workstation notebook, then? At 5.4kg, one would think so. Any guesses on price for the loaded-to-the-hilt model?
