Santa Rosa - Dell

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post in (sorry if it isn't) but I've got a couple of questions regarding Intel's Santa Rosa and Dell.

Firstly to clear up a couple of things about Santa Rosa. I read this on CNET.com:

"Santa Rosa is the codename for the latest iteration of Intel's Centrino platform. It's been in development for several years now under the codename Santa Rosa, but will be known as Centrino Duo in consumer laptops, or as Centrino Pro for business machines."

But aren't the current line of Centrinos already known as the 'Duo'? How is the average consumer meant to know the difference between the old and new if they've got the same name... why don't they call it the Pro as well?

I know Dell has already announced they will be releasing a new line of Centrino Pro powered Latitudes shorty, but I haven't heard anything about new Inspirons. Since Inspirons are marketed as home laptops I guess they'll have the Duo version of Santa Rosa... does that sound right? If so, will they be released at about the same time as the Latitudes?

Sorry to bombard you with questions but I would greatly appreciate any insight. Thanks!

 

It will be called Centrino Pro if it uses Intel vPro. That is a bunch of virtualisation and security featuers. Most consumer laptops will not have this so they will be called Centrino Duo.
Santa Rosa has new CPU so you can tell by the CPU which laptop generation you are getting. The new CPUs are T7100 T7300 T7500 and a few others mostly they are odd numbers after the T7.

 

Yeah, there's not much differentiation between the branding, so you'll have to look for CPU models. In fact, I'm sure many laptops will be built on the 'Santa Rosa' platform but actually come with 667MHz FSB CPUs, much like Napa often comes equipped with 533MHz FSB CPUs.

The big features of Santa Rosa come in the form of the faster FSB (800MHz), the 4965AGN wireless card, and hybrid hard drives/Intel Turbo Memory. So it really doesn't matter what they call it, if it's got those features, you're pretty much good to go.

 

Don't forget the true 64bit platform, so finally full 4Gb RAM support (instead of just 3.25)

 

Thanks for your help guys.

Any idea when we're likely to see the new Centrino in a Dell Inspiron? I know they'll be in the Latitudes shortly, but I don't want to pay more for the extra features that come with the Pro variety - I don't think I'll need them.

 

I am also interested in when the santa rosa inspiron is coming out. Looking to replace my b130 within the next few months but I dont want to go out and buy an e1505 only for it to be replaced the next minute.

 

Santa Rosa Inspirons are coming in June, you can view this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=120895&page=2 for a quote from Michael Dell that spilled the beans on that fact. They'll be color customizable, that's all we know.

 

Thanks Andrew... Is it fair to assume they'll be about the same price as the current model?

 

its fair to assume it wont be.

 

if it was the same price....i'll greatly regret my purchase.

 

what about the non-santa rosa platforms? those should drop in price right?

I'm thinking of holding off until June to get the new inspiron design, but not with the new santa rosa processors...

 

they typically dont jump up significantly. what may have been $2000 for a top M1210, would now be $2100 for example. just what ive seen over the years.

 

yeah but will the 500 off or 30% off at sb coupon be available? i doubt it.

 

What I'm really waiting for is word on when the XPS line of notebooks will be refreshed to Santa Rosa. I hope to get a Santa Rosa M1210 (or whatever it gets changed to). So far I haven't found a single bit of information about XPS Santa Rosa notebooks anywhere on the net.