E1705 C2D question

When i bought my e1705 in july i was told by the sales rep that there wouldnt be any new processors for it, but then Merom came out, so do you guys think i can get one for no money and just switch them?

 

In short, no.

 

oh boy. i just ordered my e1705 last thursday. Then, the day I get it, dell announces that the e1705 will start coming with c2d processors.

I contacted dell customer support with the same exact question, but the best they could do for me was give me a restocking fee of 10% instead of 20%.

I don't know what I'm gonna eventually wind up doing. Let me know if you made any progress towards a c2d.

 

what about a discounted price?

 

just say its defective... make up some good reason, and to hell with what u have right now, u usually have 30 days to give it back... try it, its worth a shot...

 

Seriously, dont worry about not having C2D. Unless you really need power, then get it. Other than that, Core Duo will be sufficent enough for the next few years.

 

i second that

 

Guys, if you already ordered a Core Duo, stick with it. There's no reason to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo - you will not notice the performance difference, which only exists when the processor is running at 100% doing rendering, encoding, or floating point calculations. Thirding what has been said above.

 

Hell No. lol Dell will hang up the phone on you lol

 

Well, if you are within the 21-day period, you probably could negotiate a deal.
After all, you are getting another machine from them and the only difference is that it will be Core 2 Duo instead of your existing Core Duo. My understanding is that if you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase, they would allow a return or an exchange. I am not aware of the restocking fee. I guess the restocking fee kicks in after the 21-day period. But I might be wrong.
Also, you were misinformed by their reps. The new Core 2 Duo was well advertised by Intel and all major notebook manufacturers were expected to upgrade their existing models with it or come up with newer models. And I do not understand why they gave you the wrong answer.
Try talking to them repeatedly.


BGeo

 

People are catching the <echo>Core 2 Duo</echo> fever left and right.

H-E-L-L-O-H-O

From what i can tell, a 5 to 20% performance increase, most of the time near 10%.
This means a 2.16GHz core (1) duo will go faster than a 1.66GHz core (2).

Is it really worth getting all ansy about it? A plain C1D is good enough - it really is!

And look how Dell is selling it. In Canada I'd have to pay $500 CDN extra just to get the C2D. The C1D can be had with all the goodies with that "deal" they've been throwing around - with the 120GB hd, ATI 1400, wuxga, 80Whr battery, and with the bear care and everything. But the C2D starts in the 1400 $ range, but that one is all scaled back, with a combo drive (as I recall), and crap like that. Upgrade every to the C1D deal specs, and I end up with about $500 more.

Worth it - no !

 

Well, the choice depends on a lot of factors.

1) Timing: It is a well known fact that manufacturers will try to extract a premium price for a new processor. The best thing is to wait till the price settles down. From what I have heard, Intel would be phasing out C1D in Q4. Which means the price will definitely go down then. When a new model/processor/tech is launched, it's always good to wait out for a few weeks, if possible.

2) Do you actually need a 64 bit enabled processor ? There are very few commercial applications and packages available today to take advantage of 64-bit computing. But this will change, with newer applications embracing 64-bit arch. However, it doesn't mean that 32 bit applications will be phased out all of a sudden. We will see 32 bit applications for some more years.

3) What do you use the machine for ? If you are a developer/high-end system user and want to design/use 64 bit applications, then you would need a 64 bit machine right ? Of course, 64 bit arch is backward compatible with 32 bit. For ordinary use C1D will be enough.

4) Performance: Like a1mint quoted, do not expect a big performance gain. I agree with a1mint that we may get an approx 5 - 20% gain. Unlike, Intel's claims, there is no significant gain in battery life as well.

5) Some people would want the latest that tech has to offer.

As for me, I need a system with a 64-bit processor, premium graphics card, 7200RPM disk etc. That is because I would be developing/using 64 bit database applications, advanced video editing etc. So, my strategy is to wait for the price to settle down. I would probably buy by end of Sept or early Oct (when C2D totally replaces C1D). That's also because I can afford to wait till then. But if you do not have such requirements, then a C2D may not be worth it. Then, C1D with all the goodies such as 80WHr battery, 120GB HDD etc would be a better choice.


For someone who has already got the machine, paying restocking fees and paying premium price may or may not be feasible, depending on their need. If they ever want to return/exchange C1D (within the 21 day time frame), it's only fair from their part to ask not to charge restocking fees. The reps misguided them in the first place. The reps should have told them the actual fact - that they will have a C2D option soon (well, probably they weren't aware of it).

They(buyers) can also do the upgrade themselves and do a BIOS update (provided Dell provides it). I am not sure of the warrantee though...

BGeo

 

I code in Java mostly, but I do have some assembler JNI routines for some of the graphic functions.

I'm gambling on the fact that 32 bit will be enough, and that my drop-shadow algorithms wouldn't be a whole lot faster in 64 bit anyway.

Once I get funding or something, I'll just sell my system to a family member, and buy a new system.
I could probably upgrade anyway, the Merom is pin compatible. If I can't upgrade, it'd be because Dell would not be cooperating, which would result in a life time ban, plus an *enormous* amount of negative press.

 

Well, in my case, I need to use 64 bit Oracle database. That's the sole reason why I have been waiting for C2D. I can definitely install it's 32 bit version on C1D, but that beats the purpose. Further, I hear that other commercial applications such as Adobe premiere, Photoshop etc might be coming up with their own 64 bit versions. But for now, my concern is for 64 bit Oracle only...

Yes, you can very well upgrade to C2D yourself. The merom pin is compatible. But bear in mind that the compatibility changes with the upcoming Santa Rosa platform (in 2007 Q1). That brings up another question: Why didn't Intel straight away go for the Santa Rosa platform, instead of the current set of confusion ?

What's Dell saying regarding BIOS update to C2D? Have they announced the BIOS update ? They wouldn't like it.

BGeo

 

I predict that Dell will keep themselves as stupid as possible, and they'll state something like, the motherboard is different, or, there are fundemantal differences, or, it's not configured for a 64 bit, or whatever excuse they can find, so that they don't have to deal and babysit all those people that want to upgrade themselves. You'll see....

 

I now predict that it will *just work*. It looks like it's kind of the exact same chip, made a tad more efficient, and with extra instructions - that is all.

 

I'm in the same situation I bought my Inspiron 9400 August 25 and a few days after they came out with Core 2 Duo. If only I would of waited a few more days.......

Here is website that compares the Duo Core vs Duo Core 2

The site helped me understand what I might be missing out by having the
Duo Core T2600(2.16Ghz).

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2808

 

Thanks for the link. It's good to read straightforward articles like that, very refreshing.

"Those looking to purchase a new notebook on the other hand have no reason to avoid Core 2 Duo models, assuming pricing is consistent with what Intel is promising. There will be a delay of at least a few more weeks as we await availability, and testing and validation by laptop manufacturers may delay things a bit more, but within the next month or so you should be able to get a Core 2 laptop."

"consistent" - in Canada, an inspiron 9400 (e1705 equivalent), the pricing was such that it would cost almost $300 CDN more to get the C2D. In the US, apparently, or so I was aggressively told, for the e1505 model, a C2D would run only about $100 more. However, I'm not convinced those people were finding those super pre-config packages. You find those by starting on Google and looking for coupons. You don't start with the Dell website, those deals will simply not appear (I couldn't find it anyway).

"a few more weeks" - my 8200 broke, so I need a new one like right now.
I have finally found what I was looking for. Enough arguments so I can sleep at night. And I'm ok now. My C1D laptop is on the way, timely, and it'll be good enough for now, and in February or so, I'll ebay a T7200 Merom, and slap it in then.
In the meantime, I'll stock up on every Bios I can find, just in case Dell wants to spoil things.

Alrighty then, and life continues, unscaved.