Next release for Prime P640RE ?

I'm looking to buy a portable laptop in the next 1-3 months and was wondering if anyone knows if there is likely to be a new model to replace the Prime P640RE in that time frame? Seems like it would be due for a refresh sometime soon?

I want something pretty portable and with good battery life. Was looking at the Dell XPS 15 but there are soooo many horror stories with QA issues that I have been put off. The Prime P640RE looks like a good alternative and I can spec it up with more hard drive space than many of the other laptops in this size range.

 

xps 15 QC issue

@iunlock

 

As of right now, there are no time frames for new releases. Any new models with new graphics cards are still under NDAs.

 

Assuming you're from Aus? (given Metabox use the Prime tag on the P series)

Technically there already is a refresh of it called the P640RF (drop to 965M but added USB 3.1 type-C, better battery life somehow etc). However I don't believe Metabox will carry them as it kind of bites into the N150RF sales.

In that case, I get the feeling we won't be seeing much until the complete refresh later in the year which could be anywhere from 2-6 months out. Around October seems to be the usual time Clevo release their new models.

 

New models being released are generally based on new CPU/GPU releases. I think the last couple years that there were new models in October/November, but that was for a new CPU and new GPU series. It wasn't so much that Clevo was releasing at that time, like you would see new model cars come out at the end of the year, every year, but just because of new parts availability.

 

Thanks (yes, from Aus). Hmmm, might need to keep searching then.

 

A refresh would require a new cpu/gpu to be worth doing.

 

A refresh is a bit pointless without some new feature to add, be it chipset/cpu/gpu.

 

Yeah, most likely Kaby Lake with Pascal together for next Clevos.

 

1070/1080
TB3
Battery life that isn't crap..

Just somethings that would be on my list of reasons why a refresh is required.

 

While both Intel's Kaby Lake and Nvidia's Pascal for notebooks will not hit the mainstream products until much later this year, there are many good reasons to update with Thunderbolt 3 today.
There is cross-generation motherboard support between Skylake and Kaby Lake (Kaby Lake processors will be compatible with the current 100 series motherboards, Skylake processors will be compatible with the new 200 series platform). Work on refreshing current notebooks today with TB3 would not be wasted or temporary.
...but will Clevo do it soon? Somehow I doubt it. Wait till 2017 Q1/Q2.

 

Quoting myself - love it
Maybe I was a bit pessimistic - I just found this:
"A screenshot of Clevo gaming notebook surfaced out of Computex (via Videocardz). The graphics information quite clearly showed 2048 CUDA Cores for the GPU used in the notebook. The CUDA Core count is less than desktop GTX 1080’s 2560 cores and leaves us to believe there will indeed be M variants in the Pascal lineup"
http://www.thecountrycaller.com/387...-pascal-mobile-gpu-lineup-may-be-coming-soon/

 

Even if that article is correct, and a mobile version can marginally beat out a Titan X, that is still a pretty powerful graphics card in a laptop.

 

Absolutely.
Back to the OP: it is my feeling that a refreshed P640 is around six month away. Of course it will come one day, but when, is pure guesswork. Yes, there are snippets of information from various sources, but not sufficient to say when.

 

There's also a good reason not to (right now). Kayby Lake will have Thunderbolt 3 integrated into the PCH itself and not an add-in chip. No point shipping a bunch of Alpine ridge chips or redrawing motherboards when that cost will be integrated into the cpu/pch package in 6 months.

 

Not so. Intel promised support for Thunderbolt 3, but never said is it integrated or requires add-on chip. At this stage no reputable source claims integrated solution, we simply do not know (there will be native USB 3.1 support).

 

Would seem silly not to. The previous Skylake chipsets do no specifically state "support" for USB 3.1/Type-C or Thunderbolt 3. The Alpine Ridge chip was basically a combined USB3.1 controller, TB3 and DP mux.

Granted "Support for Thunderbolt3" is a bit vague, listing it as a feature of the 200 series chipset would suggest integration to me. If USB 3.1 is integrated directly, the PCIE lanes are already present in the PCH. Going back to an add-on chip would be utterly pointless.

What may happen, is that TB3 may only be integrated into the higher end chipsets (Z270 and equivalent Z or X series).

 

They currently do have tiers of mobile chipset with the big difference being supporting PCI-E raid or not.