New Core Duo 2

This has probably been asked already, but is the Core Duo 2 worth waiting another month or so for? How much more expensive will it be on laptops? I have waited out about a year now to buy a notebook, but i'm getting towards the point where a purchase will be made soon, however, would it be worthwhile to muscle out another month in anticipation?

It seems like i've been waiting for one technology upgrade after another, and have remained laptopless in doing so...

 

This has been answered several times, but that is ok. Basically it boils down to this, if you can wait, then wait. If not then don't. Merom does not offer earth-shattering improvements over Yonah. Either way you will get a very fast laptop for the money. It will be greatly faster than what you have now, which is apparently nothing. LOL!

 

Uh huh, thanks for rubbing it in >.< Can you answer the specific questions, because I know, if one can 'wait' than 'wait'. That is with all technology because technology is constantly moving ahead.

 

I'd have to agree with you for the most part, but I think you forgot to mention something.

Whether Merom deserves the wait depends on the consumer. Does he/she want a futureproof gaming notebook? If so, waiting for Merom would be next to worthless. Like it or not, DX10 would become a standard requirement for hardcore gaming in 2-3 years. Hence, getting a DX9 gaming notebook now hoping it'll play the latest games for three or more years would be a bit... naive. In this case, waiting would be next to worthless apart from the minor performance gains of Merom. What's more important is a DX10 GPU.

However, if keeping the notebook for simple word processing tasks for longer is the consumer's only concern, Merom would be worth the wait. Although it's true 32-bit would be around for quite a while, one way or another, there would be a time when 64-bit takes over. Simple office tasks don't require a powerful CPU or dedicated GPU to run, so therefore, a "futureproof" (and I use that word loosely lol) processor with 64-bit support is what he/she needs.

You agree? Some might be looking for the combination (buy gaming notebook now, use it as a secondary machine later) of both categories I mentioned above, but you get what I mean? Hope I made my points clear.

 

You said it yourself, techology is constantly moving ahead. After Core Duo 2 comes Santa Rosa. Are you gonna wait for that? It is difficult for me to make a value judgement for you.

 

"if you can wait, then wait. If not then don't."

That's the perfect mentality for for buying ANY electronics, not just notebooks. Sure, a $2500 LCD will be $2000 in 6 months (not sure if this is accurate), but if you're stuck with a tiny 17" tube that takes 10 minutes to "warm up" before you can watch it, the $500 extra will definitely be worth it. The same with Notebooks. Do you see yourself needing this notebook now? Would your life be vastly improved by buying one?

I bought my notebook from the Dell Outlet and I have no regrets. In 2 months, I can probably find the same configuration for $150 less with better components. The time I've been spending with my notebook will be well worth the extra cost. That's for **** sure.

 

The only real difference is the 64bit support. The extra cache does help the cpu a little bit more but all in all the difference is marginal. I would wait if you plan on running (better yet know your going to run) 64 bit OS and Apps. Otherwise yonah will more then fit the bill. Besides even the t2300 is a total overkill for 75% or more of PC/mac users, so either way youll be suffiecently happy.

 

Don't try to futureproof a laptop. It is nearly impossible. They already start off with a disadvantage of having to be small. Also, 64-bit is NOT the end all be all. It gives you zero gain in most programs. By the time 64-bit is really a concern you will need a new notebook. The only thing I see here is that Merom may be out within a month, and that is a realtively short amount of time, but don't get caught in the hype. In the real world you will not see a difference in speed, battery life looks to be exactly the same and the heat dissapation looks to be MORE than Yonah. If it were me I would look to see if I could score a great deal on a Yonah someone is trying to clear out to make room for a Merom.

 

This was one of my hopes, but seeing as they are going to market merom and yonah at the same prices I started to consider it. I saw that the t2600 went up in price at newegg, hopfully they will lower prices when merom comes out. But from the looks of it yonah prices wont be affected.

 

Interesting. Thanks for the feedback everyone. When (prediction) do you think the transition from 32-bit OS to 64-bit OS will take affect? I mean, one month isn't a very long time to wait, if the machine is going to be 'semi-modern' [atleast] for an ADDITIONAL couple of years running the new 64-bit OS.

 

well windows XP64bit has been around for a little while and vista beta is in use now. Full retail vista is a mid-late next year arrival, so youll be waiting at least a year on that (dont quote me though). But that still doesnt mean anything. Support for 64bit software is very low now so I would say that 64bit has to wait and see how vista catches on and if vendors start shipping PCs with it. When and if 64bit catches on it will take time for developers to write code that will actually improve over 32 applications. SO Id would venture to guess youll have to wait a year (give or take) for vista 64 and then add some time on that for the time needed to develope software for that environment. So in other words youll be waiting a looooogn time (my prediction of course).

 

When the thing, whatever it is, comes along that makes the jump to 64 bit seem necessary. Who knows when that is.

 

How long though, do you think a comp with a T2400, 1 gig of RAM and an X1600 will last without becoming totally obsolete (unable to do office applications and stuff other than games and graphics rendering)?

 

There are people using PIIs for office and internet.

 

I'd wait for merom and get yonah, you could save a lot. Even if you have a 32-bit laptop you'll always be able to use it to access the internet/do word processing/etc, which is what people spend most of their time on. Graphics cards are improving at a crazy pace; there's no point trying to keep up with them. Get the best you can when you need it and try to live w/ it.