It's OFFICIAL- Studio 15 "Centrino 2" now available!!!

Better late than never, I suppose....the DELL U.S. website is now showing a Studio 15 available with either the 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 or 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo T9400 Montevina processors! The standard, and only, wireless adapter is the Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN. The 256mb ATI Radeon Mobility HD 3450 is the default graphics card.

It's only offered in the one configuration at the moment, but should trickle down the product line quickly. The upgrade from the Intel X3100 integrated graphics to the much-improved Intel 4500MHD will be very welcome. The discrete graphics cards offered, especially the HD 3450 on the Studio 15, may be upgraded to make the upgrade worthwhile from the 4500....

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=283163&page=30

KingRaptor posted the news that Studio1537 was avail on US site last week in the Studio15 Owner's Thread...

 

Is the Studio 17 next?

 

wish it didn't have the 5100 but oh well...

 

How can you tell if it is a centrino?

 

To be labeled "Centrino 2", it must have one of the following processors-
2.0GHz P7350
2.26GHz P8400
2.4GHz P8600
2.53GHz P9500
2.53GHz T9400
2.8GHz T9600
(these are the only mobile C2Ds with the 1066MHz FSB)

The other feature required for Centrino 2 is one of Intel's newest wireless adapters-
Intel WiFi Link 5100
Intel WiFi Link 5300

A Centrino 2 with integrated graphics will have the new Intel 4500MHD instead of the former GMA X3100. They can also have an nVIDIA 9000-series or ATI 3000-series discrete graphics card.

Models that don't meet all the criteria, such as DELL models using the Pentium Dual Core T3200 or Core 2 Duo T5800 will continue to be branded as regular Centrino technology.

 

Was there not a new chipset for Centrino 2 as well?

 

^ Yes. Here's a good overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino

 

That's sweet. Now I would like to see some benchmarks.

I believe that when the 1066FSB and 1333FSB came out on the desktop lines, it did not necessarily do a whole lot for overall performance. Still, its good to see things continuing to move forward.

 

I wonder if Dell can sell me this "upgrade", I want to have Centrino 2 and eSATA

 

Centrino 2 did not show any performance improvement. Battery life did get improved though with the new Pxxxx CPUs.

 

all right then... I have to take these thoughts out my head!!

 

At the moment, they're only offering two processor options- the 2.26GHz P8400 and 2.53GHz T9400 (both with 1066MHz FSB). The difference in between the older T9300 (2.5GHz, 800MHz FSB) and the T9400 won't be huge.

For whatever reason, DELL didn't offer the 2.4GHz T8300 on the Studio 15 or 17. The option list jumped from the 2.1GHz T8100 to the 2.5GHz T9300. With the addition of the P8400, the gap is much smaller. The P8400, having a .16GHz faster clock speed and 266MHz faster FSB, should be a significantly better performer than the T8100.

It will be interesting to see which additional processors will be added. The 2.0GHz T3200 or T5800 is a good bet for entry-level and possibly the 2.2GHz T5900 (not technically Centrino 2 but still an improvement). The 2.0GHz P7350 has the 1066MHz FSB as does the 2.4GHz P8400, so they'd both be likely choices, too.

Of the four starting configurations on the website, three still have the older processors. The T8100 and T9300 are gone from the option list on all three, though.

 

Theres no need for this hype. I had a Thinkpad T400 with a Centrino 2 processor. The battery life was no better than my friend's centrino laptop. It ran with the same temps. Performance was also almost the same. Its just that Centrino2 processors are supposed be 25W while the older Centrino processors were 35W. This reduced wattage doesn't translate to better battery life since the CPU is the least utilized component unless you're doing heavy duty computation all the time...

 

It isn't just the CPU, it's all the other parts that would come with Centrino 2 that would be useful like LED screen (at least more options with that type), switchable graphics, backlit keyboard, new graphics card and other updated components. If you add all parts together you'd get a notebook that is (or at least should be) much better.

 

It's not worth it considering what you would have to replace.

 

Personally, I think the most significant improvement of the Centrino 2 platform is the integrated graphics. The Intel GMA 4500MHD offers more than double the performance of the GMA X3100. The "take rate" on integrated graphics will definitely increase and those buyers, who might have chosen a low-end discrete graphics card previously, will see a nice boost in battery life.

 

Existing Studio owners have no need to regret as there is hardly any performance difference with Centrino 2!

 

Centrino 2 will only benefit those who do things like video editing or high definition audio or graphic work. Otherwise, its no big deal.

 

Not even that is a benefit because the newer chips just have a lower power consumption and not really a boost in speed.

 

I just wish this was brought over to a smaller laptop where people actually care about battery life. People generally need battery life on more portable 13 inch models than 15 and 17 inch models.

 

I wonder how the new Wifi 5100 will perform overall . I think the laptop M4400 at my school has that option but i never try it.

 

When will the Studio's get the newer chipset?

 

Montevina is the newer chipset.

 

I knew that, it is a question of 'when'? They are still using the GMA x3100.

 

They aren't offering any integrated right now on the Studio 15 with Centrino 2. But they have already added the Centrino 2 platform; CPU, Montevina chipset, and Intel 5100 wifi.

 

Well, the Dell fact checker has been off again!
In the Dell advert pull out in this months UK ComputerShopper magazine, it has the Studio 15 with Intel Core 2 duo processor T5800, but also the Studio 17 with "Intel Centrino 2 processor technology T5800"