Why does Dell offer a Core 2 Duo on the E5420?

It's rather strange but a T6670 is an option for the E5420, along with a Celeron 925. That's a bit odd considering how old they are. Maybe they had extra stock? But then why would they take the effort of designing a new motherboard for them?

 

My suspicion is that they're selling these the E5420m/E5520m models at deeper discounts than what is shown on the website. The E5420m starts at $529 and the T6670 adds $40, making it $569. The E5420 starts at $569 with an i3-2310M processor but with similar specs otherwise....why would anyone choose the old tech for the same price?

 

For people who don't need the kick of a Sandy Bridge/Westmere processor but the pricing indeed does not make sense. Maybe they are hoping if a couple uninformed people buy it, the profits will justify themselves.

 

Since the E5XX0 series is the low-end line, I don't find it to be strange. These systems aren't designed for performance to begin with.

 

Well right E5xx0 series was always the lower end Latitudes, the pricing still doesn't make sense on the website. You can always phone up Dell and talk to a rep for a discount, but for a few hundred more you can jump to a full blown Latitude with Sandy Bridge..

 

It just doesn't make sense why they would bother engineering a new motherboard for a 3-year old CPU on a full sized notebook. I mean, they didn't offer Core 2 on the E5410/E5510 line did they?

Also not everyone has the extra couple hundred for an E6xxx laptop. I was really close to getting an E5410 or a Vostro 3400 before a 25% Dell Outlet coupon allowed me to get a good E6410.

 

The biggest quirk about the Celeron/C2D "Essential" version of the E5420/E5520 is that the screen upgrade option is noticeably absent, leaving you not only with a crappy processor, but also with a crappy screen resolution! (Especially in the case of the 15.6" E5520)

My view is: if you really don't care about the latest processors, go buy a refurb E6500 or M4400.

EDIT: I wonder if it comes with the same old classic Core 2 Duo sticker :o