Systems using low-power Intel chips could fill the gap between netbooks and standard laptops Laptops using Intel’s low-power chips for machines bigger than a netbook checkered PC displays at Computex Taipei on Tuesday, revealing growing popularity for the chips and the class of laptop.Intel displayed laptops powered by the CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) chips from a half dozen PC makers on the same day it announced the Pentium SU2700, a new addition to the chip line.[ Check out other news from Computex Taipei. | Stay ahead of advances in mobile technology with InfoWorld’s Mobile Report blog and Mobilize newsletter. ] The Intel microprocessors are meant for a new class of ultra-thin laptops that are as light as a netbook but pack bigger screens and stronger computing power. Such machines could fill the gap for buyers between standard laptops, which usually cost over $1,000, and netbooks that sell for as little as $250 but do not run complex applications well.Asustek Computer displayed a CULV laptop called the UX50V that comes with a graphics chip, the Nvidia GeForce G105M, for gaming. The Nvidia chip outperforms the graphics unit in the Intel chip set, but it can also be toggled off to save power, a company representative said.The laptop, with a 15.6-inch screen and a backlit keyboard, tapers from 1.13 inches to 0.73 inch thick. It weighs 5.7 pounds (2.6 kilograms) and comes with a hard drive size up to 500GB. The laptop will go to market in the third quarter as one of a series of notebooks that will cost between $799 and $1,099, the representative said. Asustek also displayed the UX30, a smaller system just 0.27 inch at its thinnest point that is expected to be released by the early fourth quarter. The UX30 has a 13.3-inch screen, battery life of over four hours, and a weight of 3.5 pounds.Both Asustek machines will be offered with Intel’s latest CULV chip, which runs at 1.3GHz.Acer, which showed its line of CULV laptops at its booth, is developing a product that will use the new Intel chip, a company representative said. Taiwan-based Micro-Star International showed off its CULV laptops as well, and Intel displayed models from Lenovo, Taiwanese PC designer Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), and Pegatron, a former contract manufacturing arm of Asustek. One Chinese PC designer, Lengda Technology, displayed a CULV laptop that it expects a partner to brand and ship next month.Taiwanese laptop maker Mitac Technology was one of few companies to display a notebook actually using Intel’s new chip. The laptop, the Mitac 9223, has a 13.3-inch screen and is 1.24 inches thick. Its price will start from $799 when it hits the market next month, and Mitac expects to follow it with another model using Intel’s new chip in August, a company representative said.Intel is tracking work on over 50 CULV laptops by other companies, most of which it expects to launch this year, a company representative said. Technology Industry