Notebook News: Intel Pentium M 705, Apple Notebooks Sales, Dell & HP Recycling Program

Intel now Shipping lowend Pentium M 705 processor that runs at 1.5GHz

In a never ending quest to confuse the general public Intel has released yet another Pentium M chip. But here's the kicker; it's new but it is based on the old Banias generation chipset and not the new Dothan. Furthermore, the Pentium M 705 runs at 1.5GHz, which is slower than any recently released chip by Intel. And just to top this all off, the M 705 has only 1MB of cache memory on board, and not the 2MB of cache the Pentium M 715 1.5GHz processor has.

So what the heck is Intel doing taking a step back in its evolution of chip releases? Basically they're making this chip to make HP and Dell happy. As the Banias generation of chips gets phased out there's a bit of a hole in that there's no lowend Pentium M chip that conforms to the new numbering convention Intel has for its chips (Intel has stopped promoting processor speed but is instead using the chip number, such as Pentium M 705, 715, 735 and so on to indicate the performance). So HP and Dell still want to make notebooks with cheaper 1.5GHz Pentium M processors, but they want to move away from the old Banias chips that don't have the new Intel chip numbering convention applied. So Intel decided to tweak the old Pentium M 1.5GHz, making minor architectural changes, and then slapping the "Intel Pentium M 705" moniker onto it.

Confused? I thought so, that's really the aim of the chip makers and notebook manufacturers. Just remember, when looking at Pentium M chips from now on a higher number means the chip is faster, just ignore the processor speed. Although that's easier said than done when we're all so used to MHz and GHz measurements of chip speed.

Excellent Apple PowerBook and iBook Notebook SalesBoost Q3 Revenue

People love Apple for three things these days: the iPod, iBook and PowerBook. The iBook and PowerBook are of course Apple's entrants into the hot notebook market. Apple reported today that record notebook shipments helped to provide a profitable Q3. The sales of the PowerBook were up a whopping 37% and sales of the iBook up a very healthy 25% compared to last years numbers. The PowerBook accounted for 21.5% of Apple's revenue and the iBook contributed to 13.6% of the revenue. The iPod provided 12.3% of Apple's revenue, so as popular as the iPod is, it still couldn't match dollar sales of the more expensive notebook products that Apple sells.

Free Notebook Computer Recycling by Dell and HP

Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. announced free, temporary programs Tuesday to encourage U.S. consumers to recycle toxin-filled computers and electronics. In what Dell called a first-of-its-kind program, consumers who buy a new Dimension desktop or Inspiron notebook computer can recycle their old computers free.

The offer, which begins for U.S. consumers next week, expands on a free recycling program the company has had for printers since March 2003.

Rival Hewlett-Packard, meanwhile, has teamed up with retailer Office Depot to offer free recycling for computers, digital cameras, fax machines, cellular phones and other electronics.

Though limited to one computer system or other electronic device per customer per day, consumers can drop off electronics at any of the more than 850 Office Depot stores between Sunday and Labor Day.

AMD and Intel Stocks Punished Even After Record Revenue Quarters

Intel and AMD recently published their quarterly earnings from their sales quarter just ended. Both companies had record sales revenue, but the fact that Intel indicated that its inventory of chips was increasing was a huge red flag to investors worried about a tech slowdown. When inventories increase it means that manufacturers are overproducing and have overestimated demand for their product. This is bad news as it is expensive to have inventory and it also serves to indicate the market is softer than Intel guessed.

AMD did not indicate it was having quite the same inventory problems as Intel, they in fact noted that strong sales of their notebook mobileline of processors helped to boost sales:, according to an AMD press release: "Demand for AMD64 processors accelerated significantly during the quarter. Increased AMD Opteron processor sales were largely due to growing enterprise demand and increased shipments to tier-one customers. Additionally, consumer sales of notebook PCs powered by Mobile AMD Athlon 64 processors increased considerably. "

 

Is the 'new' Intel PM 705 (1.5GHz) the same as the Banias 1.5GHz with some 'facelifting'?

The reason I'm asking is that I have been looking at machines with PM 1.5GGHz (1MB cache) all along (b4 Dothan's). I think this is plenty fast for me for what I need to do (programming, web surfing, emails, light games...e.g. MONOPOLY). So, do I really need to get a Dothan? The zt3000 I'm considering comes with the 'new' Intel PM 705 which I think is fine for me. (?) New to notebooks...Need Advice.

Thanks in advance.

 

Yes, you are right, the "New" Pentium M 705 is basically the same as the old one but with a few tweaks and very little performance difference (Intel has not indicated there is any actually, but it is different so you'd think it might just be slightly better rather than worse).

I think the Pentium M 705 would suit your needs just fine, it'll still be a good performer for all the normal tasks and 1.5GHz is nothing to sniff at.

 

One more question if you don't mind. I am a IT professional that takes occassional programming classes to keep my skills honed and to learn new ones (like Java and .Net, etc). I am also contemplating grad school within a year and will need the notebook to last throughout that time (about 3 years). Do you think it is better to stay with the 1.5 (banias) or move up and get the 1.6 (dothan)?

Do you know if it will make a difference for a programmer learning the latest and greatest programming languages and technologies to have a banias or dothan?

OK that is two questions. I still hope you will answer them for me.[ ]

Thank you in advance.

 

a processor speed difference of .1GHz will have little affect on development applications or compiling code. If the price is comparable get the 1.6, if there's a big price difference then save money.

 

Thank Abaxter for replying.

Yes, I agree about the .1Ghz difference. I guess I was more concerned with the L2 Cache difference and compiling code. With the dothans having 2MB L2 and banias have 1MB L2 (which use to be the big thing to make sure you had on your desktop version for compiling the latest code), I am wondering if it is worth the $75 dollars to upgrade to the 1.6 dothan. Even though $75 looks small, at this moment it is seems big to my budget (trying to spend the least possible for the best machine I can get). Especially, now that I found out you can not stack the HP coupons. However, I am trying to justify it because I plan to have it 3+ years. Also later on, I may be grateful I sacrificed the $75 now if some new technology works better with it.

Thanks for your advice.[ ] I think I just convinced myself to get it.[:I]