Several Dell Notebooks to Get Core 2 Duo Option

A couple of Core 2 Duo related items have appeared on the Dell website over the weekend. On the Dell UK site the XPS M1210 / M1710 / M2010 and Inspiron 9400 / 6400 (same as e1705 and e1505)have shown up with the Core 2 Duo T7200 processor available. Meanwhile, on the U.S. support site a BIOS update is available to allow for current owners of these notebooks the ability to upgrade to Merom.

Screen shot of Core 2 Duo listings on Dell Europe (view large image)

The listings for the Core 2 Duo machines from Dell can be found on the Dell Europe website. There is no online order available to get these notebooks, it indicates the necessity to call in, the ship dates for these Core 2 Duo notebooks with the T7200 processor would likely not be until the end of the month.

In addition, a BIOS update for the XPS M1210 has popped up on the Dell support website that includes the necessary updates to support an upgrade to the Core 2 Duo processor.

Link to Dell Support site with new XPS M1210 BIOS update.

In the screen shot below you can see that the #1 and #2 listings are to update support for new Intel processors. In addition, a mention is made for added support of 64-bit Windows flash program which is an OS that of course becomes more useful with the 64-bit Intel processors. Though many might be eager to upgrade their processor as the Core 2 Duo becomes available, Dell has made no official comments on whether such an upgrade would void the manufacturer warranty or not. Nor have they announced any program in which customers could pay to have Dell do the upgrade. We assume more information regarding these issues will become available as the processor begins to ship and is officially made available (and not through leaks).

(view large image)

Discussand ask questions in the Dell forums on NotebookReview.com

For benchmarks on the Core Duo versus the new Core 2 Duo performance differences see AnandTech.com.

 

this is great news! I've been waiting to get the XPS M1210 with merom. Hopefully i can get a good back to school deal.

 

Good news about the dell's and merom! Now the Core Duo vs Core Duo 2 benchmarks were a little bit disappointing... From those benchmarks on an average Core Duo 2 seemed to be around 15% faster. I was hoping for more like 20-30% increase per clock. It did little or nothing for gaming, but did a little for 3d rendering and other office programs.... Battery life had a very slight improvement. Thanks for the dell update and the link!

 

So will Dell be selling the processors, or will we have to get 3rd party suppliers?

 

Dell does not sell notebook processors (that I'm aware of) but you can but server processors from them. So yes, 3rd party supplier -- which further leads one to believe they won't support the upgrade without the warranty being voided if you go your own way.

 

Looks like we're better off just buying a new lappy...

Look for a future post from me on "What should I buy?"

 

You're sure a rich one aren't ya?

About the news of current Dell models being equipped with Merom processors, good news to say the least. I'd undoubtedly get one of these laptops in two weeks. Does anyone know if there'd be new graphics solutions for the Inspiron 6400? Might it if it comes with a Radeon Mobility X1600/ GeForce Go 7600 GPU.

 

the site only talks about europe....will it be availiable in the US also?

Guess i'm stuck with getting a dell...not a fan of dell but it seems like dell has new good deals...

 

Do the euros get them 1st or some thing werd LOL sorry im a noob Thanks by the way

 

i really hope not cuz i want it too...

Question:
Is £1 = $1.28 ?

in the US dell site, it starts out the 17" @ $2,300 but if if i convert the price from the europeran dell site, the 17" is about $1,662....is there something i am doing wrong in converting or something i'm not getting?

 

I think they just sit their price relative to what they want it to cost. I've heard computers tend to be more expensive overseas.

 

Just checked the Dell site and they have a new BIOS up for the M90 that adds support for Core 2 Duo.

 

1 English Pound = $1.89 almost 2 dollar$

 

you're thinking Euros my friend

edit: I mean that to smartz34, not mopete