The OFFICIAL Montevina / Centrino 2 Thread

monakh, love your setup!!! I'm very jealous, but also can't figure out why the heck you got an Eee PC when you have a 13.3" lappie?

Also what does "ITM" stand for??

 

You are correct.

 

Intel Turbo Memory is my guess

 

^^^You are right, sir. Although, I don't think it makes too much of a difference with SSD.

Edit: Thanks, shaba Actually, believe it or not, I used the Eee more than my XPS before I lent it to my kid. It is just so much easier to carry. Next on the list is the Atom/Intel version of HP 2133 since its current CPU is such a dog. I have managed to tweak my nlited XP image to the point that it boots on the Eee in 20 seconds flat to the desktop with wireless. I should really try it on my XPS! XP would probably be just as fast on the current version of the 2133 but I would rather wait till the next iteration to be safe.

 

well, now's the time to buy a pre-montevina m1530 for a lower price!

 

I agree, if you need a computer and you can afford it, you should make good on one of the deals. Last month, I configured a fully loaded T9300 M1530 with the BD drive and the new SSD for $2200 (1600 off!) delivered. I don't think we will see prices like that for a while after the montevina refresh.

 

It seems that at least one company has a centrino 2 system listed on their site: http://www.pcmicroworks.com/edge.htm
It is even configurable, but basic system starts at $1899,-

 

If anything the huge discounts Dell are giving on the XPS line at the moment suggests that a Montevina refresh is imminent..hopefully very soon after the launch.

I hadn't planned to buy until end of June anyway, so I'm gonna sit back and wait. Even if they dont refresh until a month or two after that, it works out well for me...I'll simply have more savings in the piggy bank to blow .

One thing - do Dell tend to roll out their refreshes internationally at the same time, or do US get it and the rest of us have to sit tight for another month or two? Im UK here.

 

Could someone please explain what the "XPS 1530/1330 refresh" means?

 

refresh simply means new versions of the M1530/M1330 with new things such as LED backlit displays for all resolutions, Montevina support, better options available, etc.

I highly doubt that it will happen anytime soon at least not till October.

 

I think it will be much earlier than that, if Montevina is officially released early June, then I would hope we see a refresh in July. Firstly, Dell seem to be selling off the current XPS line of laptops with big discounts, perhaps inidicating they want to clear old stock. Secondly I would think that students are a prime demographic that the XPS line is aimed at, and most students purchase laptops around June/July/August ahead of university in September. I would think they want to cash in on this. Thirdly, the XPS line is meant to be the cutting edge of Dell machines....why would they wait 4 months before implementing the Montevina CPU? If they leave it that long Calpella will only be a few months off. I think they'll be keen to refresh ASAP so they don't fall behind...I mean, even now the M1330 is beginning to lag behind compared to LG's P300.


All purely speculation..at the end of the day, who knows

 

Let me disagree here again publicly with my distinguished forum colleague above. I agree with Foto, and my ten year experience with Dell product lines suggests that there will be a refresh with at least the new chipset and the T9400 CPU (a match made in heaven) immediately after or at the Intel announcement.

Dell will never lose an X amount of sales to HP or others, for that matter, just so that refresh can take place 4 months later which is almost a generation in computer hardware terms. Even Sony TZs, the notoriously slow to refresh laptop series, gets incremental updates with faster CPUs every 2-3 months.

I will bet my meager 401K savings that the refresh is near. It may be an evolutionary step (i.e. no LED-based WUXGA+ display yet) but it will happen by next month. The refresh rollouts typically hit the US first but there have been exceptions. For example, ANZ saw the Penryn refresh sooner than we did. So did Europe. So we don't know how Dell is planning this. It may end up being a matter of global logistics (i.e. Asia/Pac being close to the global supply lines and getting the goods sooner). Who knows. What I do firmly believe is the word imminent desribes the situation most appropriately.

 

Building on speculation, it is obvious Dell wants the Montevina Inspiron line to be available for students once that Back to School period comes around. Inspiron refresh will be in June/July period, but the XPS will wait a bit to around October just because they know they will pull some people who got an Inspiron to want to sell theirs or spend money for the new XPS. Helps them out in the long run. Regardless one things for sure. We won't be seeing huge discounts like 25% off anytime soon once the refreshes do happen.

 

I have to disagree. Why would they give the Inspiron line this update before the XPS? The Inspiron line is aimed more at the average consumer, whereas the XPS line is aimed at high end users. Which user is going to be more concerned about what generation of CPU their laptop has inside? How many average-joes know/care what Montevina is?

If anything, I suspect it'll be the other way around, the XPS will take priority and the Inspiron series will follow. Dell will sell Inspiron laptops to students regardless of the CPU inside. However, I dont think the same can be said about the XPS line.

I do, however, agree with you that we won't be seeing the heavy discounts available now. But that is - quite literally - the price you pay for buying new technology

 

Guess we will all find out soon enough. FWIW, the refesh should take place across all product lines sooner or later. The only delays are normally with the Latitudes but that has more to do with legacy supportability. This won't apply here either because we have all seen the oft publicized E-series to be released next month.

 

Your right, I guess things may become clearer next week after the official Montevina launch at Computex Taipei. Whats the usual Dell way of dealing with new products...do they announce and then launch a month or so later, or announce things that are "available from today" Apple-style?

Also I hope us in the UK aren't made to wait too much longer than USA!

 

Dell does both.
Apple doesn't always do "available from today" also.
Of course, Dell product launches aren't overhyped like Apple.

 

Question:

I mean, is Montevina really that freakin revolutionary? I'm torn between waiting and paying a higher price for average specs or buying now with the T9300 and 320GB and all that jazz.

All I know is that right now, ANYTHING would probably be better than my ancient Inspiron 5150. And from what i've heard, Penryn processors are pretty solid. All I want is a laptop that can run Crysis smoothly at medium settings and something that will keep up with the gaming industry for the next couple of years, as i'll be taking this laptop to college. I don't care about power consumption, I just want it to run my games and be able to handle 4-5 apps open at the same time!

Wait or buy?

 

Buy now. The current M1530 meets your requirements and should last you 2-3 years.

 

Yeah, your right about Apple eg. the iPhone was announced 6 / 11 months be its US / UK launches. But most the iPod refreshes tend to be imediately available I think. I have never bought anything from Dell so I'm not so familiar with their marketing.

So back to Montevina,...so what actual processors models are we likely to see? and what clock speeds etc? TBH I know little about the technical specifications of the platform

As I said above....I'm not really well informed enough to give you a solid answer based on the technical merits.
But for me personally I cant buy a laptop until the end of June [lack of funds ] so I'm just thinking I might as well wait and see what happens. I dont *need* a new laptop until the middle of September, but to be honest I would prefer to get one sooner. So I guess I will just wait and see how things unfold....

 

Aside from pricing being the BEST bang for your buck before Montevina, you must think also about this.

Most people who get an XPS is for not only its aesthetically pleasing, but many like the advantage of using it to do a little gaming... or more. Though montevina may be coming out next month, Dell throws out their refreshes, if next month, sure you may get the higher FSB, sure you may get the better battery life, though the graphics card WILL BE THE SAME (for the M1530 or whatever its refresh is).

Dell might throw in the 9500GS into it instead of 8600MGT, but they are the same cards with the same performance, just under a different name. So most people who expect to game better with montevina, will essentially be screwed if they think they are getting the best in tech, which they are, but a few or many months after montevina comes out, Nividia will most likely come out with a 9600GT that will be a better graphics card over the 8600GT and the 9500GS, meaning that gaming performance will be much improved.

By that time, Nehalem might be out, and regardless, the people who decided to pay that extra premium for the latest tech will be screwed because they can't simply upgrade their GFX since its soddered onto their mother board so they are forced to buy a whole new M1530 refresh in order to up their gaming experience.

As such, it is much more wise to buy now to get the best thats offered now, than to wait for june or july and jumping to buy Montevina M1535 or M1540 once it comes out simply because the improvements will not be that big of a deal.

Windows Vista rating wise, depending on what specs you get, the lowest is the Graphics Card if you have 4GB of RAM and a decent processor like the T9300. If you get the montevina, sure you'll up your score in the processor arena, but your gfx will still stay the same unless nvidia releases something like the 9600M GT.

Not to mention, pricing for processors will be a big impact and instead of getting that 2.5 ghz processor now, for the amount of money you can spend once the new Montevinas come out, you may end up with a 2.0 or 2.2ghz processor.

 

Thats some good points about the graphics cards, I agree totally, I dont think we're gunna see and significant improvement in that arena with the refresh.

I think whether to wait or buy really depends on what you want. For me the GFX card isnt so important. I have an Xbox 360 for gaming, plus I'm getting the M1330 which means I'm stuck witht the 8400M GS anyway. However the battery life is a big thing for me, and I'll be interested to see if there is much of a difference. Also I'm interested to see if the XPS line gets a redesign completely....ie not just a refresh with new CPUs.

 

And the current 8600M WILL NOT be upgradeable to the 9600M, am I correct?

 

http://gizmodo.com/393475/intels-centrino-2-platform-delayed-upshot-no-new-macbooks-at-wwdc

probably new refresh in july/august... but i can't wait that long(need at least a few weeks to set up OS/software, ensure not DOA laptop)....

 

Link for the lazy

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/37644/135/

Looks like a 802.11n /x4500 issue. Hmmmm....I will believe it when Computex passes. This is will be the first misstep for Intel in a couple of years and should let AMD's Puma carve out its own niche nicely.

Assuming, this is true, of course...

 

this really sucks

 

I was delaying my laptop purchase under the assumption that right after the Montevina comes out will be a great time to get good deals on old Santa Rosas. I don't need the newer models, but I figured obsolescence would lead to price drops for current ones.

Now, reading this thread makes it seem like if I wait that long, no Santa Rosas will be available and prices will actually be higher. Is that true in general (for Dell, HP, Lenovo etc.) just for Dell, or for nobody?

 

Well we're finally drawing near to the release of Centrino 2. I've been waiting so long for this.
Once it comes out, it's between the Dell Studio 17 and the HP DV7 for me...

 

Heh .... I am drooling for E-series Latitudes

 

I think it will. But the 9600m GT is a optimized 8600m GT, so performance gain is very limited.

 

Intel Set to Launch Centrino 2 Next Week

Intel on Monday is expected to launch its latest mobile platform, Centrino 2, which will deliver speedier performance and faster wireless connectivity to laptops...

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/148233/intel_set_to_launch_centrino_2_next_week.html

 

All I can say to Dell is LEAK LEAK LEAK LEAK LEAK!

 

So NOTHING on new XPS systems? Honestly I'd mostly just like a lower resolution and LED backlighting on the 1730, and that would be about perfect for me. I'd take those over a FSB speed bump.

 

Nothing, Zilch, Nada. Doubt they will have a lower res and LED backlighting, that would be nice though.

 

one day to go...

 

JPZ, your right. There is many gamers and laptop buyers out there, like me, that have been waiting some time for this moment, and now tmr is the day! Hopefully Dell gets the word from their ideastorm and from other sites that they need to do something with their XPS line, or they will be definately losing some business!

 

Is already 7/14 past 6Am and I don't see Montevina around. Delayed again?

 

Tried configuring the XPS M1330, M1530, and M1730, but was unable to do so. Maybe Dell is updating their website with the Montevina platform.

 

I've noticed that Dell won't allow configuration with any laptop type. I love that there is no Steve Jobs and strobe lights press conference for a processor upgrade with Dell.

 

oops, shoulda checked this thread. noticed this and just posted another thread asking about it.

 

The EPP store still works, though that may not mean anything since it's frequently missing options or otherwise messed up.

 

I wonder what Dell plans to do about that current 25% off coupon code on the XPS notebooks. If they refresh the XPS line with the new Centrino 2, I can't imagine that they'll keep that coupon, right?

 

They didn't refresh it from what I can see. They brought the systems back online, and they're the same as ever (unless I'm missing something).

 

Dell wont release their updated line till July 16th because the 2 coupons this week 20% and 25% both expire July 15th to clear out the inventory

 

well, maybe they could update their Studio line since it doesn't have any coupons currently and also since the Studio line is the newest line and it's kind of made for the new Centrino 2

 

i really want dell to have the q9100 or qx9300 and a 800mhz ram fsb (nt sure bout ddr3 sounds like it will be expenssive)

 

MonteDellay lol.

 

Its not like Dell could do anything about it...

actually Dell could have leaked their Montevina designs a long time ago. Oh well, its just two days till the 16th, we'll see.

 

Forte could you tell me what will happent in the 16th?

I didnt hear anything about the 16th :S.

The end of the coupons???.

 

On the other hand, centrino 2 is still not on intel's website. I assume that intel hasn't release montevina yet.