Well-equipped 15-inch HP laptop drops to $349

The specifications on the 15.6-inch HP laptop (model: 2000-219DX) are respectable for a $349 system, including Windows 7 Home Premium, 3GB of memory, a 320GB hard-disk drive (5400rpm), a Webcam, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and an optical drive.

Feature of HP laptop :1.6GHz E-350 processor from Advanced Micro Devices. The all-in-one chip integrates AMD's Radeon 6310 graphics silicon onto the main dual-core processor, yielding good performance for its price class. AMD's claim to fame is its graphics silicon (formerly branded as ATI), which offers better performance than the graphics silicon found in processor offerings from Intel.
Staples is selling a similarly configured Acer laptop (model: LX.RD502.032) for the same price--$349, sporting a dual-core AMD C-50 processor with Radeon HD 6250 graphics.The price breaks on these two machines herald systems based on newer AMD A series processors. These laptops are expected to become available in the coming weeks from PC makers like HP and Toshiba.