Will I be outdated soon? You tell me.

Dell Inspiron E1505
80 GB HD
Intel Core Duo 2GhZ processor
1 GB RAM
XP Professional
DVD-RW
15.4" Widescreen

Thats about all I can think of. I bought it about two years ago when I started college.

 

Well the Core Duo is outdated. I guess it really depends on what you want to do with it.

I have a very similar configuration in my Thinkpad T60 ... I carry it to classes and it still works fine for me. If you want to do gaming ... then its probably not the best.

 

That looks like $400 so yes it is kind of

 

It depends if you're a gamer and/or what type of software you usually run.

If there's room to add or max out the ram then you could breathe some new life into it.

 

Miller is right; it depends on waht you do with it. If you just take notes and web browse then youre fine. But if you want to play games or do cad type things, then yes youre a bit behind.

 

I always go by a certain rule. If I plan on using the software that came with the computer then the laptop will last you as long as the hardware stays running. If you are looking to buy some of the latest games then you'll be disappointed very quickly.

From that configuration it appears you're just using it for the basics like web browsing, email, music, videos, taking notes. If that's the case you'll be just fine.

 

Top program use
Firefox
Microsoft Office Suite
iTunes

Those are the top the things used. I paid like $1k when I bought it 2 years ago.

 

You're fine.

 

I hate it when people say things like "the Core Duo is outdated." People act like just because the Quad is available, that's "normal" all of a sudden and anyone without a Quad is basically just using a stone tablet and a chisel. It's like with the M1730's Aegis processor. Sure, since that's around, technically you could say that everything else is "outdated," but in reality that's just being silly. Number of games using it? Um, like, FIVE. And can you play those without it? Yeah.

I'm not saying his configuration is top-of-the-line, it's not, but let's keep things in perspective. A number of people on this forum have said in the past that anything out on the market right now is outdated literally as soon as you buy it. People who say that are nimrods.

 

^But what they say is right - whatever you buy, it will be surpassed in a matter of weeks, months if you're lucky. Because things are constantly progressing, "component X" is being left further and further behind.

It doesn't mean it's no good, but it does mean it is becoming outdated in comparison to the moving goalposts of what represents the pinnacle of technology.

Core Duo was released more than 2 years ago. It is, by the very definition of the computing industry, now out of date.

But it'll still do everything it could do the day it was released. And it is very much overkill for web browsing, emailing, and listening to music.

 

You're probably right. But you know how it is......when you buy a computer you gotta get the latest and greatest

 

Anymore, when you buy a notebook, it is outdated as soon as you get it. LOL.

 

Think of it this way... all that stuff runs fine on smart phones with single core, < 1 GHz ARM processors. Your laptop is more than fine for that stuff for as long as the hardware holds up.

 

Unless one uses their head, focuses on the screen, keyboard, and heat generation, realising that even the lowest CPU currently available is plenty for the trivial tasks we all do on a daily basis.

And that in a years time, the latest Pentium 7 with hyper-lightspeed cache and a dozen cores can be had for the cost of a handful of DVDs. And that their friend with a screwdriver will gladly install it for the sum of a dozen cans of good beer.

You often see socket M core duo's going on eBay for £15 or thereabouts, guaranteed working. A couple of years back they'd have been £500 more than a Celeron on a new build. Anyone not gaming or routinely compressing video/compiling kernels wouldn't notice much of a difference.

I've always wondered just how many customers would remain in the dark about how much grunt their new computer has, if they were shipped a Celeron but had a more expensive sticker on the casing...

A couple I know do kitchen design - the 3D rendering took ~5s on a Duron 950. A new system with an Athlon 64 resulted in that time coming down to ~3s. For everything else, there is little difference evident...

 

Thank you for calling me a nimrod! I fully appreciate your concerns with my opinions.

I suppose you use a Pentium II still and call it top of the line? I didn't mean outdated in a bad way, I mean outdated in what is out there now.