Intel’s Australian Centrino Duo (Napa) launch yesterday showcased new systems from more than a dozen system builders.

First and second tier vendors showed off systems, most of which won’t be available for another six weeks or more. Pricing, said most representatives is not yet finalized, but is likely to be in line with existing systems offering users significant price/performance improvements.

Lenovo introduced two new ThinkPad models designed around the Centrino Duo platform including the X60 Series which includes the lightest ever ThinkPad weighing in at only 1.22kg. The 12.1-inch XGA feature a T2400 or L2400 processor, 512MB RAM and 60GB SATA drives, while the T60 model on show shared the T2400 (1.83GHz) processor in the standard ThinkPad formfactor.

Pricing for all three models announced were in the $3,500 – $3,900 range. From April, the new ThinkPads will come equipped with a 3G wireless antenna and Vodafone SIM for easy connectivity to wireless broadband.

Toshiba’s Centrino Duo offering included two new Tecra’s and a Satellite.Teh 15.4 inch widescreen Tecra A7 for business fleets uses either the T2300 or T2400 processor 60 or 100GB disk and DVD dual combo drive. Depending on config the pricing ranges significantly from $2,420 to $3,080. The Tecra A6 at $2,200 is a 14.1 inch widescreen using the &230 CPU and available only with a 60GB drive.

Finally, form Toshiba, the Satellite Pro P100 is the new high end offering priced at $3,100 and featuring a T2400, 100GB SATA drive and a 17-inch widescreen. Like the Lenovo systems the Satellite features a fingerprint scanner.

From Acer the Aspire 5670 features an in-built, rotating 1.3 Megapixel digital camera with 225-degree rotation. To round out the collaborative features, the 5670 also features a Bluetooth IP phone fro accessing VoIP services.

Used in conjunction with the in-built camera, the Bluetooth IP phone provides an ideal communications package for video calls and live picture feeds from out on the road. The notebook’s 15.4 inch widescreen display, 100GB SATA drive, dual layer DVD Multi, card reader and a full GB of RAM will retail at $2,799.

Acer also announced a TravelMate, the 8200, leveraging the Centrino Duo platform. The device’s carbon fibre casing features the phone and webcam capabilities of its sibling, and also has an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics card with up to 512MB to drive images to its 15.4″ WSXGA+ widescreen display.

Based on the T2500 CPU, the 8200comes with a Gig of RAM, a 120GB drive with anti-shock protection and weighs in at 3.0kg. Acer quotes a 3.5 hour battery life with 9-cell battery somewhat less than some second tier vendors were quoting for their systems.

Case in point was the Pioneer Computers Dreambook (which the company received a rap on the knuckles for announcing early) which boasts a 6 hour battery life with a 6 cell powerplant.

Optima Technology Solutions, talked up their power-saving features in its Centoris range. The company announced three ranges, the Centoris DW, TW, SW Series. The 15.4-inch widescreen TW Series, for graphic intensive applications, features an NVIDIA G72M mobile graphics processor specifically designed for use in thin, lightweight notebooks.

Weighing under 2.1kg, the Centoris DW Series ultra portable includes an embedded graphics chip and 12-inch widescreen display, while the Centoris SW Series for corporate users has a 14-inch widescreen display.

BenQ is planning on two models for th new Centrino. Both will use a T2300 processor to begin with. The S61 series has a 12.1 inch widescreen and weigh 1.45kg, while the S73 serie has a larer, 14.1 inch widescreen, is slimmer and weighs in at 1.97kg. While some of the notebooks showcased either have no tuner or digital tuners as standard, BenQ is offering DTV as an option on both models.

LG is planning a range of four notebooks, (M1, T1, P1 and S1) with the dual core processor. Priced from the $2,199, 15 inch M1 to the premium 15.4 inch widescreen S1 for $3,999 the range comes in a variety of options. The ultra-slim (21.5mm) T1 features an attractive Piano black/white finish and will be available in March for $2,999.

Sumsung is offering the PC X60 and R65. The X60 is a 15.4 widescreen while the R65 features a regular ratio 15 inch display. Hard drives are available up to 120GB in the latter but only 100GB in the X60. Both come standard with half a Gig of RAM.

NECs S5200 is a 14.1 inch device weighing only 1.9kg. Based on the T2300 processor the notebook comes with 1GB RAM and 80GB SATA drive and was independently tested to deliver a battery life of 3.37 hours by Ziff-Davis.

The showcase included two DUO models from Bluechip Infotech – the OpenBook 3100 series and Z62F, both of which support processors down to the Celeron-M. The 3100 series 15.4 widescreen has similar spec’s to the 14.1 inch (wide) Z62F, though the latter built-in camera and microphone.

Another distributor offering build to order Centrino Duo is Synnex which will carry the BTO series built around the 915GM chipset. Just a shade over 2kg the M31EI will hold a disk from 40-120GB and a 13-inch widescreen.

Protac will have two notebooks in its initial range. The Excel M555N has a 15 inch 4:3 aspect ratio display while the ECS G410 offers a widescreen 14 inch. Both will support 100GB standard IDE drives.

Finally, Fujitsu and Sony both promise to deliver Centrino DUO machines, Fujitsu had such early manufacturing samples, one still had Japanese writing and for Sony, it’s VAIO sample was stuck on the docks locked up in a Customs cage on the day.