Inspiron 1545 - Processor upgrade

I just bought a inspiron 1545 and after buying it I have a little bit of buyers remorse concerning the processor. I opted for the Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 at 2.1Ghz, but now I think I would have been better off with a faster processor as I am planning on keeping this laptop for as long as possible.

The two processors within my budget that I am looking to upgrade to are:
P8700 (2.53Ghz) (currently an option for the inspiron 1545 configuration)
or
P8800 (2.66Ghz)

My question is whether or not the inspiron 1545 can handle these processors? I know that on the spec page for the inspiron 1545 it says that it can handle any core 2 duo. I just want to make sure that is true. I tried asking a dell tech person but he was unsure/didn't really know anything.

In addition, would I be able to upgrade to a P9700 if I wanted to?

 

You can use any Socket P processor with a TDP of 35W or less. This includes the P8700, P8800, and P9700. Quads and Extremes will most likely not work. Chances are, if you aren't doing anything CPU intensive, the T6500 will be fine.

 

As Commander Wolf said, any of those will work fine, quad cores probably not; but this will be due BIOS restriction.

However, for the vast majority of people, the T6500 will be absolutely fine for many many things. What are you using the notebook for that you think you need an upgrade?

 

I would be using it for the normal everyday stuff, maybe some minor gaming, possibly illustrator or photoshop

I was thinking about it and I most likely wouldn't upgrade right now, maybe in a few years since I would like to keep the laptop for as long as I feasibly can. I just wanted to make sure that I had the option to upgrade in the future.

Hopefully by then, something like the P9700 will be much cheaper.

 

Exactly what I would suggest.

 

I just recently talked with dell about the issue and someone from dell told me that the max processor speed that I could have would be 2.53Ghz.
I also read this somewhere on the dell forums here:
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19301541/19578322.aspx#19578322
Is this true?

Has anyone actually upgraded their inspiron 1545 past that number?

Now I believe it would be easier for me to return the laptop, reconfigure it with the better processor, and buy it again.
Because if I upgrade through dell, it would cost over $500.
If I buy the upgrade myself, dell won't install it for me, and the processor is not covered by the warrenty even though dell sells the same type of processor (intel core 2 duo).

 

can anyone confirm 100% that 2.53Ghz is the max or not?

 

The P8700 might be the fastest thing Dell'll put in there for you, but there's no reason something like a T9900 or T9800 shouldn't work. Then again, depending on what you're doing, you probably won't notice too much of a difference...

 

Ok, that's what I was thinking, but still wasn't sure.
Thanks for the help.