While I am a huge AMD fan, they run quite hot when used in notebook PCs. So I am wondering just what the Turion 64 will be using to keep the heat down to a min.

Two years after Intel Corp. made a splash with computer chips specially designed for notebook PCs, rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. jumped on the bandwagon with a microprocessor similarly pitched to the portable crowd.

Like Intel’s Centrino processors, the AMD Turion 64 is supposed to offer zippy performance but use significantly less power than chips designed for regular desktop computers.

To see how the new AMD chip stacks up, I borrowed Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Special Edition L2000 “LiveStrong” notebook.

Not only does it run on a Turion. It also — rather unusually — has the name of cyclist Lance Armstrong’s foundation printed on the case.

The LiveStrong notebook line starts at about $900 but my model as configured runs about $1,249. (For each of these notebooks sold, HP and AMD are donating $50 the LiveStrong Foundation to promote cancer survivorship programs.) [Read the rest]