Refresh more than once every year?

Thinking about a 8540w. Worth waiting for the next refresh, or will it take too long (4-6 mnths)

 

Probably january or later... after cesces

 

until end of March at latest I guess there should be the new models introduced but you won't get them until August/September?

 

I quess unless someone knows of anything substantial coming up in the next refresh, there's no good reason to wait. Has HP Canada been known to drop prices on existing models when new ones become available. The pre-config
units available on the U.S. site have btter specs for the price than whats available to Canada (XT905UT#ABA in particular)
Thanks for your help.

 

I figure an 8540w update to Sandy Bridge doesn't mean much...
- there's no switchable graphics, so an improved integrated graphics is moot
- improved power efficiency... eh, ~4 hours is plenty for a machine this size
- 15-20% improved CPU... probably won't be noticeable in everyday use

and most importantly, I'm impatient and don't think I could wait around for the next refresh.

 

How do you know there isn't switchable graphics yet?

 

^^ second that, it should have switchable graphics.

But I don't think we will see the new gen before April 2011

 

well i've been told via the grape vine that the refresh will all have integrated graphics, but MXM like we have now, so there will be changable/customisable cards.

I will be able to preorder from beginning of Q2 next year, so yea, will be summer at least.

 

deleted (wrong info).

 

Sandy bridge offer at least 100% more power than current tech.

For example, an i7-720QM vs i7-2720QM (new version),
the new one is 120% better for the same clock speed.

Also, it will have the new HD 2 GPU that offer 10 times the power of the actual intagrated gpu.

It will have native USB 3.0, expressport 2.0 (DIY vidock project for desktop like graphics), better battery life and better heat management...

SO, yes I wait for the refresh.

 

and it should be cheaper, too (hopefully, HP sells it cheaper)

however, for those friends of the 17" 16:10 WUXGA there will be no hope to get Sandy Bridge and that resolution

 

well, i think this post needs some clarification, as it could make people get a wrong opinion about the SB cpus...

no question, the SB generation is definitely better than the previous one, but it is not such a great step forward, as one could think by reading some posts.. the "real" generation jump will be when the ivy bridge generation comes, together with the 7-series chipsets.

..which i have to mention to already disprove the last wrong statement, that about usb 3.0 support. a cpu doesnt "support" usb, a chipset does. and this will be the case with the 7-series chipsets.
regarding the integrated gpu - the really good thing about SB is, that all the cpus feature one, which leads to a great improvment in terms of battery life, compared to the previous mobile quads, that didnt have one. however, regarding "power", one still cannot speak of "power". maybe when ivy bridge comes, and the gpus feature dx11 (but by that time maybe already dx12 will be the way to go, which amds southern islands & nvidias kepler may be based on).

about the cpus:

1. there is no single benchmark where the 2720qm scores 120% better than the 720qm; the advantage is obvious, but it ranges from 10-80%, mainly being some 50-70%.

2. since the clock speeds of the 2 cpus arent the same, one cannot compare them based on "the same clock speed", as the 720qm runs at 1.6ghz (2.8ghz tb) and the 2720qm at 2.2ghz (3.3 at tb).

3. the transistor count is the main factor that counts, as well as the architecture, and these are both reasons for SB being a good step forward. but, as already mentioned before, the real great step forward will be when ivy bridge & 7-series chipsets come

regarding the elitebooks - new elitebook (and the previous hp compaq) series always come somewhere around fall, and there are only some rare hardware component upgrades introduced in the period between. so one could expect some elitebooks/probooks to get a SB upgrade soon, but the elitebook ##5# series probably wont come before fall '11, or, in case HP waits for intel to release ivy bridge & the new chipsets, maybe Q1/2012.


so, if a new notebook is needed soon, definitely wait some weeks to see whether and when the elitebooks get a SB upgrade; if you want to get the most recent hardware, i would wait until the end of the year for a major chipset/cpu/gpu upgrade.

 

Also, to add, the GPUs of current Elitebooks are changeable (as in not soldered in) but they are still limited to what HP offers since there is a lot more variables in changing GPUs than just physical size (ie. power, BIOS support, cooling, etc.) This will not change in the next generation, so it won't be any different than any of the current high end workstations (Dell also does this).