What should I be looking out for from Dell over the next few months?

I was planning on getting a laptop for my 18th birthday to use when I travel during my gap year. I don't plan to start travelling until September so I thought I may as well put off buying a laptop now and just sit and wait for some sweet deals to come.

Has anything been announced so far in the way of Dell moving forward with the XPS range? M1530 seems pretty good, but the 8600M GT seems a pretty average video card. Think dell will offer the M1350 with something like an 8700M GT or will they keep the higher end cards to the 17" XPS range?

I'm thinking of waiting until the XPS M1730 can be found for around the £750 mark. Think it will be possible within the next few months? Already refurbished ones are selling for around £700.

So basically is there anything I should keep my head up for from Dell over the next few months?

Thanks

 

Nothing. 8700M GT will never be going into any 15.4 inch notebooks because the power consumption is much higher which is why you only see it in 17 inch notebooks. The price will be higher once the new ones come out which Im guessing is probably around October with the Montevina technology. Buying right now gives you the best value, price, and the best that is not montevina. Sure you could get refurbish for cheaper, but if you are like me and want it brand new and freshly made, you are not going to get good prices at least 8-10 months after Montevina shows up in a Dell laptop.

The M1730 will be replaced if Dell comes up with a new model, so you will only be able to buy it refurbished or "brand new" on ebay being sold by a seller who assures everything is brand new, but... who knows what they might have done with it. My advice, buy it now and have fun with it. It will last you for a good number of years.

 

There are rumors of an ultraportable, but that's about it.

 

Montevina chipset will be announced on June 3rd. Google it for details. All laptop makers will then announce the new laptops using the new Montevina chipset in the weeks that follow. It is like clockwork.

 

Uh, I don't know how much traveling you're going to be doing, but the 1730 is huge. If you're simply traveling to another location and staying, OK. But if you'll be doing a lot of moving around, I'd steer clear of a 17 inch notebook.

But that's just me.

 

I'll be travelling and then staying. Probably for around a month before travelling again, by car. Hope to travel around Canada during ski season.

It would be a lot cheaper probably to order it while I was in Canada, the only problem is that I wouldn't have a permanent address. And if delivery took any more than 2 weeks it could screw me over.

How good is this new montevina suposed to be? Don't new XPS's come with the Penryn core? Doesn't the Montevina platform use Penryn?

Anyyyway, when Dell finally does sell Monteverdi systems, will they just stick them in the current systems they have, or offer a new range? Or is this stuff thats going to be announced lol . I could possibly afford to wait to October if its really going to be worth it :|.

 

The motevina's will be running 1066mhz FSB's and a smaller fab process, so they'll run faster and yet use up less battery power than present Penryn CPU's.

I'm running an XPS M1730 now, and unless it's plugged into the AC power adapter, its performance drops as a stand-alone laptop. Awesome desktop replacement / gaming unit, but not-so-good unless plugged in. Not to mention... it's HUGE! I'm OK with its size, but I'm sure others are not as accepting of its battleship proportions.

 

hmm its ashame the brick is so huge for the M1730. I wouldn't mind travelling with it if the brick wasn't so huge. Looks difficult to put into a bag.. I'm still weighing up which to get.

How much can be expected of Montevina? Core2Duo was a huge break for notebooks, think this new montevina platform will be anything special?

Surely when its announced, dell will gradually begin to drop prices and increase offers?

 

have you seen the new inspiron range that will be coming out.looks better than the xps range,the keyboard looks like the macbook.dont know when they are coming out tho.but the xps range does look awesome aswell.

 

I heard of the new Inspirons 1435 - 1535 - 1735.

 

dell's cutting back on its XPS 'gamer' line...... too much competition with its Alienware division..... so don't plan on any super-gamer XPS machine.... Dell will probably update its portable XPS line(ultraportable m1330 and m1530), probably an update with montevina if they want to

 

You need to change your nVidia and Windows Mobile settings to performance rather than battery to be able to experience the same performance as to when you are plugged in.

 

This is a myth. Dell will not be phasing out its XPS line any time soon. They won't emphasize gaming as much but they still will maintain their XPS line for high end computing performance.

http://yourblog.direct2dell.com/2008/05/13/calling-all-gamers/

 

ya.... thats why i say cutting back, not removing =P

 

There should be more information as soon as Montevina is released. New Vostros have already come out and the new Inspirons look a lot like the current M1330/1530 line.