by , 2:15 PM EST, February 5th, 2008

Toshiba has announced Penryn-based notebooks, using the Core 2 Duo T8100, in its Satellite X205 and U305 models, according to Digital Trends on Tuesday. Other major PC vendors have introduced theirs.

The U305 model is designed for customers looking for a thin, high performance notebook while the X205 caters to serious gamers. The U305 starts at US$1,349, has a 2.1 GHz Penryn/T8100, 2 GB RAM, a 250 GB hard disk, and DVD�RW dual layer DVD burner. and a 13.3 inch LCD screen driven by an Intel GMA X3100 graphics card.

Other companies that have recently introduced Penryn notebooks include Asus (M51SN), Fujitsu-Siemens (Amilo Xi2550), Lenovo (Thinkpad R61 and T61), HP Compaq (6820s) and Sony (FZ VAIO). The Sony includes an HDMI out connector.

There are several models of the mobile Penryn. The T8100 is the cheapest of the mobile Penryn series (Intel priced at US$209) and clocks at 2.1 GHz. Also available from Intel are the T8300 (2.4 GHz, $241), the T9300 (2.5 GHz, $316), the T9500 (2.6 GHz, $530) and the X9000 (2.8 GHz) which lists for $851 from Intel. The lower two have 3 MB of L2 cache while the top three have 6 MB.

With competition like this, Apple is likely not far behind with its own introduction of a Penryn-based MacBook Pro.