Not a bad idea at all. But I think the problem is this idea would fit Intel more than AMD.
From the AMD laptops I have used which include recent ones, they all felt sluggish, particularly when they are removed from the outlet and are running on battery.
I think a problem AMD has with using your concept is the burden of windows 8. Windows 8 I feel is too taxing on AMD processors and I would never use an low power one AMD processor with it. Even for day to day tasks and running office stuff, they just seem too slow, particularly if your running in battery mode.
The speed I get from something like an Intel ultrabook, is just about the minimum I want from a laptop as far as performance goes. And this is why your idea is better for intel processors, Intel ulv processors in their ultrabook perform better than AMD best and biggest in everyday usage(maybe not video editing).
This allows intel processor ULV processors to fit the form factor of an ultrabooks, but have the power of an AMD desktop replacement chip.
Put them in a similar platform with an SSD and AMD solution just feel too slow when you compare them(( samsung ativ 9 vs ativ 9 lite)) and you will see what I am talking about.
For me Intel ULV performance with the option of a high performance mode just a step behind a Intel desktop processors on the same chip seems like an attractive idea.
An AMD processor running netbook performance in low power mode and running Intel ULV processor in performance mode isn't a very attractive option for me. I would rather pay that extra 100-200 dollars and get the performance of high performance all the time(high performance for AMD standards being an INTEL ULV processor performance) while maintaining the 6 to 8 hour battery life. Then have to pick slow and longer battery life mode or AMD high performance mode and 2 hour battery life. Plus the larger form factor that goes along with desktop replacement CPU's.
AMD needs to get their ULV processors to run 2 to 3 times faster to catch up to Intel ULV and thus why they need to start focusing on making their mobile processors better.
Below is some benchmarks for laptops.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-A-S...r.92900.0.html
This is AMD current top of the line processor meant for bigger laptops and is a 35w chip.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-C...r.93563.0.html
Above is the most common ULV processor from Intel the i5 u4200 which is a 15w chip.
The intel beats it in every category and often by huge differences.
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