We've been looking forward to testing AMD's Nile Ultrathin platform since the first press releases went out. It's no secret that AMD's mobile offerings have trailed in performance and battery life for quite a while; in fact, pricing has been just about the only area where AMD could compete with Intel's mobile juggernaut. Nile—as well as the higher performing Danube platform—are supposed to increase performance by up to 38% in some cases while also boosting battery life. AMD claims some models will offer as much as 7.5 hours of mobility, which is a far cry from the sub-5 hour mark set by the old Congo platform. Does the Nile platform live up to the hype? Is there finally a reasonable alternative to Intel's CULV and ULV offerings?

AMD sent us a Toshiba T235D to let us see for ourselves, and frankly this is the first AMD laptop that I can recommend without a whole bunch of caveats. It's not going to be everything to everyone, but for the intended market there's plenty to like. The HD 4225 IGP is significantly better than Intel's old CULV with GMA 4500MHD, and roughly on the same level as the newer Intel HD Graphics found in Arrandale ULV. While Intel still has the outright CPU performance crown, there's also pricing to consider. So join us as we show how AMD's mobile offerings just got a much-needed kick in the pants.

Our review of the Toshiba A505D-S6987 brings us to an interesting crossroads. In recent years Toshiba has made a habit of producing fairly well-rounded and inexpensive notebooks that are good values. The A505D we have on hand adds an AMD Turion II Ultra to the equation, specifically the M600 that exists near the top of AMD's mobile line—or at least it did until the Phenom II refresh last month that's starting to show up in the marketplace. Toshiba aims to bring a strong value-oriented mainstream notebook to market. Can it compete? We'll look at the A505D as well as the M600 to see where they stand.