Buy now or wait for Montevina?

Hi, I'm looking foward to buy an XPS any time soon. I've been adviced against Montevina (meaning that the difference won't be that much); the question is: should I buy now? Or should I wait until Montevina to buy? Will the price of the non-Centrino 2 laptops be reduced or will they be discontinued?

Also, I've been told I could get better price by talking to a sales rep, is this true?


Thanks!!
Ed

 

I've noticed that older models are still available for a short time after newer models become available (the M1710 was still available for a short time after the M1730 became available). However, you probably should pull the trigger as soon as you get a good deal. You might not be able to get the configuration that you want if you wait that long.

When I ordered in April (only to cancel after waiting 25 days for a M1530), I decided to speak to a rep to see if I could get a better deal than the $599 off, the person I spoke to gave me another $200 off. Try it.

 

Great! Thanks a lot!! BTW, did you notice some price drop when the 1730 became available? Was it significant?

 

IIRC, the 1710 was priced at $2299, and then some time after the 1730 was released, the price went down to $1999.

 

Sounds nice... I'll try to wait... btw, does a 1066 FSB and 800 RAM mean a big improvement over the current 800/667? (Taking into account 2.5GHz 800 FSB and 2.26 GHz 1066 FSB, which I assume will cost the same as the other one at launch)

 

As far as I can tell from various sources the improvement will be minor. However, next year a big change/improvement is coming when FSB gets replaced by QuickPath.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_QuickPath_Interconnect

 

I don't think I want to wait that much... But yes, it does sound like a big change

 

I say if there's a killer deal going on, get it right now. That's what I did. Performance difference won't be leaps and bounds higher.

 

There's this $699 discount right now, which is tempting, but it'll last till August, so I can take my time

 

One question: When people talk about the new xps are they talking about the montevina/geforce 9 series refresh or a brand new model with a different casing?

 

I think most are talking about the montevina refresh (I know I am)

 

Yes, the difference at this point isn't significant if you care a lot about battery life, and there are a few features missing from the current Montevina that arn't coming out till August.

You should buy now for the best bang for the buck.

The non-Centrino 2 laptops are already reduced, well if you can take advantage of the 25% off discounts that are really awesome.

As for discontinuing, it really depends. If your looking for 15.4'' model, when the M1530 came out, it immediately replaced the model it was replacing. They didn't sell both alongside each other.

You can't get a better deal when talking to sales rep. You might get by with some free expedited shipping, but oftentimes they say they give it to you, but in the end, its still marked as standard.

 

Thanks a lot for the advice Forte!! Still, the 699 discount on the XPS1530 will last till August 7th, so, if by that time no Centrino 2 notebooks appear... I'll be in quite a pinch. For the time being, I think I should sit patiently and hold back that urge to press F5 on the DELL website every 60 seconds or so.

 

Yeah, Dell is clearly holding out for the full fledged version of Montevina to come out. It doesn't matter whether there are people buying other products, in the end, people will want the full fledged version from Dell once they release it. Dell's basically sitting back being all "you'll come back sooner or later"

Yeah, the current 699 discount isnt bad either. Just keep holding out, worst case scenario go with the 699 discount one. If a 25% off coupon shows up... you can bet I'll put it up asap.

 

Thanks Forte!! Really. You spend a lot of time in the forum (That much I noticed from just a couple of posts lol). You were all really helpful. I was kind of worried about the usual: "No matter your choice, in the end you'll screw up". But all your help was really reassuring.

Thanks

 

Nice

Forte is pretty helpful, as you will find basically everyone on the Dell forum is/or trys to be ;

Good luck with your decision (in what you decide to do with the notebook purchase)...In the end you, will make the best choice


Cin

 

What notebook did the M1530 replace? I thought the only other 15.4" XPS was the first generation XPS.

 

You are correct. The M1530 did not replace any other generation. It was a new product, just like the M1330 (M1210 does not count, since it is 12.1)

 

Actually the M1330 did replace to M1210 (the increase in display size was one of the new "features"). Because a lot of people were asking for a 15.4" XPS model and because there was a gap between the M1330 and M1710/30, the M1530 was released. Now we're just waiting for the M1340/50 & M1540/50 to arrive. Maybe even a M1640.

 

i have about 1 month left b4 school.
i'll give dell till the rest of this week to come out with a montevina product. Hp is letting me down, so i turn to you dell, to release a new laptop, or update the 1530 with centrino 2 and a nvidia 9600m GT!

 

Well I ordered now since I wasn't going to get a top of the line processor until I found a great deal on an XPS M1530. I was actually just going to get a T5550 but I got a T8300 instead.