When will the new W models be released?

A friend of mine wishes to purchase a Panasonic W5 laptop. I told him to wait until Santa Rosa is released in order to get a faster machine that will most likely be more compatible with Vista. In the midst of the talking, I kept wondering how long it will take Panasonic to implement the new chips built into the machines and if they will release a W6 model soon.

Any word or anything on this? We need it by June or so-ish.

Thanks for any help and reading this thread.

 

I would think that having gone from from core Solo to core Duo in the W series and still kept the "5" designation, it suggests that the W6 will be not only a ULV Santa Rosa but also a major chassis update. Maybe small external screen and flash memory to take advantage of Santa Rosa features etc? Why not - makes sense for the W series.

I would guess they would be looking to sell lots of these for xmas so working backwards maybe a late August-Sept-Oct release date?

I wouldnt expect much more speed though. The W series is fanless and that right there means there is only so much heat (read: speed) that it will be spec'ed for. Otherwise you end up with internal damage and dead units - it would cost them in warranty money and you the buyer in headaches.

Therefore I dont see the W5 going past 1.3Ghz. And that would be a ULV Core 2 Duo I guess. Only thing that would really change the game is if they put a fan and more heat sinks into the W6 - which of course mean it weighs more. To be honest Vista is a also speed and memory hog and in some ways that kinda puts it at odds with ultraportables, which are lean mean machines not do-it-all machines. I dont know if you could ever really get the best out of the "W" on Vista.

If you want any more speed to run Vista I would say look out for either the Y5M (out now with LV 1.83Ghz Core Due ) or the Y6 when it comes (probably with LV Core 2 Duo).