Wait for Penryl?

I'm a college student and looking into buying a new laptop (probably a T61) and there is the Holiday sale going on right now (through the 19th). But in January, the Intel's new chips ("Penryl") are going to come out. Does anybody know how the new chips get adopted? Do they all replace the old ones as default or are they a more expensive upgrade? I don't need the fastest chip, and wouldn't pay for an upgrade, but I'm wondering if I get a computer in a few weeks will it have a newer chip for the same price? If so, its worth the wait. If not, might as well get the computer now while its on sale.
Thanks.

 

I think if you are willing to wait, at least wait until January when Penryl is released to see what happens. I dont know much about how long it would take to implement, but it never hurts to wait .

 

Hi mjrabin,

I would say wait until the last day of the sale, and buy then. Lenovo price matches for 21 days, so that's useful.

In terms of getting the new chip for the same price - taking a look at the price trends of last year, it looks like the Thinkpads stayed a lot more expensive after the holidays until about summer time. Then I think the back to school sale comes, which is probably the best deal that they have altogether. So, even if they adopt the new chips right away, I think they're going to use that opportunity to not give as much of a discount at all, which will essentially mean that you're paying more for the computer.

Depending on which computer you're thinking of, and what your needs are, I would say waiting is not necessarily worth it (unless you'd like to wait until the next back to school sale?). Technology is always going forward, so in that sense you can wait forever The T's are pretty nicely equipped, and you likely wouldn't even feel the difference with the new chip.

But, that's just my opinion

If you do decide to make the purchase during this holiday season, don't forget to use the coupon in addition to their savings, and you can try to go with FatWallet cashback as well.


Julie

 

penryl won't be available for notebooks till summer 08 at the minimum. They are first coming out for desktops and then the whole transition has to occur desktops to notebooks

 

it doesn't?

 

if you need the laptop badly, get it now. Or just wait until the back to school. If you are a student, you won't notice the speed difference when you take notes or doing powerpoint anyways. lol. IMO, spend the money on a faster internet connection or food.

 

BTW, it's Penry n and not Penryl.

 

The first desktop Penryn, QX9650, was launched in December; the rest will launch in January.

The first generation (35W) of mobile Penryn's is set to launch on January 6.

I expect that some companies will start shipping laptops with the first generation mobile Penryn and Santa Rosa Refresh chipset in January, and all companies will be shipping them by March at the latest.

The second generation (25W) of Penryns with the Montevina chipset is reportedly due in May 2008.

http://www.dailytech.com/Intels+Penryn+Mobile+Processor+Schedule+Revealed/article9893.htm
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/05/intel_core_2_penryn_mobile/

 

Thanks all! (especially Fuzzy, you definately know the issue )