Latitude Z600- does a purchase make sense post sandybridge?

I'm new to Dell and am a novice. My needs are fairly simple-However, I also like to research + buy my tech items once, and not have to think about it again for a while. I tend to keep laptops 4-5 years, and am coming from a thinkpad.

Of all the dell offerings, I like the Z600- but Does a Z600 purchase at this point in time make sense? If so, how much should I be willing to pay for an outlet machine w/ 256 gb ssd? (I read that about a year ago people were able to get them for ~$700- hopefully a deal like that will pop up again?) Will there be a sandybridge refresh of the model (im hoping for a battery life increase)?

 

If you like the form factor/features of the Z600 and don't need the extra compute of a Sandy Bridge processor, then I don't see why you shouldn't buy one, especially if you can buy it cheap (I think $700 is a reasonable price). Furthermore, I'd personally be surprised if they refreshed the Z600, so if you can find a good price, just hop on it.

 

The Z600 is the pinnacle of what Dell is capable of, yet fails to achieve on every other notebook they offer.

Thin
Huge Touchpad (Gesture enabled)
Edge Touch LCD sensor
Wireless Dock
Wireless Charger
Facial recognition (Face Aware)

Now, If they could take the Z, add in an i7, a GPU, a real dock connector and a 1920x1200 screen...I'd be a buyer...in a heartbeat.

 

I suppose i am a bit worried about the processor being enough- i dont do anything intense, but I multitask. 2-3 browsers open with 10+ tabs each, while steaming a video and with an office application open. Do you think that under such usage the processor would feel slow?

Otherwise I am most concerned with business grade build quality + a good warranty- and from what Ive read it fits the bill in those areas for the most part.

 

For your usage, you won't tax the CPU much, so don't worry about the Z600's CPU selection.

 

I wonder- anyone how hard would it be to switch out the processor on this machine to a newer ulv- for the sake of futureproofing? Are those things even removable?

It would be worth it to me if i can find a good price on the machine

 

There is no sign of a CPU socket on the heat sink removal instructions. Nor are there any instructions for changing the CPU. This evidence confirms what I would have expected: That the CPU is soldered, which is normal practice for thin notebooks because a CPU socket adds to the thickness.

John

 

As John has stated, the ULV SU9x00 series processors are all BGA soldered onto the motherboard, and it is standard practice in thin notebooks.