Notebook Replacement in 2007

[nismo91]

As you know my laptop (#2) is getting outdated as time flies.
I need to upgrade it too a newer laptop soon, but it's not soon as i know intel core 2 duo have been hangin around for 1/2 a year. I know that i MUST wait until the successor of intel centrino core 2 duo come by the end of this year.
Deadline for myself to use this old laptop is up to end 2007.

What i've found is this : Intel mobile processor Gilo - 65 nm, multi-core (Q4 2007)*

Since windows vista is booming out and i think i'll be using both vista and xp on a same "future" notebook, i decided to take a look at current product, especially the mobile graphic card.

AFAIK, ATIX2X00 series and nVidia 8X00 series are the only series which is "windows vista certified" or "DirectX 10" compatible. But the problem is that both of the mobile gpu are going to be released about Q2 or Q3 2007*.
I'm only interested in 8600 and x2600 or higher as x2300 is a low-end card.

I've been offered a new laptop but i refused to upgrade because of these reasons.

My question is :
Are the abovelisted roadmap are true?
I mean is the intel gilo is released in Q4 and ATI R600 is released before Q4?

It's because i'm confused whether to buy a new laptop this June or this November... I only have this 2 months chance to buy a laptop cause of private reason.

I hope anyone will give me some description. I really2 need confirmation when will be intel gilo and ati r600 come out, because i really need to upgrade my 2-years old lappy by this year. Final deadline of my notebook is end 2007 (3-years old).

In a short-form = Do you recommend me getting new laptop:
This june, core 2 duo based, X1600
OR
This november - january 08, intel "gilo", ati x2600 (or x2800 hopefully)

Thank you for your time reading this story and i thank you 4 good reply pal...

 

[Nodsu]

Sorry about your TravelMate.. Got my ThinkPad in Nov 2004 and it's still going stong

No roadmaps are true. That's why they are called roadmaps. Also, paper specs are nothing but glorified wishful thinking by the manufacturer. Don't trust anything that isn't out there for real. There can be delays, manufacturing issues, limited supply to select partners, astronomical pricetags, unexpected performance issues, driver problems..

Whether to buy something now or wait for a while.. Do you need a new laptop now or only after a while? If you waited three years, you could get something amazingly fast

 

[nismo91]

Thanks for the reply and infos.

Actually, im 50% okay with my travelmate because i don't play crazy games anymore. But i feel that this machine is really slow, for example with my desktop which is now im using (in a holiday).

My friend recommend me upgrading to a 1GB ram, but i think that okay, rather than im upgrading ram, it's better if i change the whole system am i right? My DVD-RW drive also could not read few brand of disc and frequently error burning recordable media (not re-writable).

This makes me think of upgrading especially my cousins have bought 2 new laptops recently. They offer me to upgrade too, but it's not the money issue, it's the 'worth' issue.

I agree with you about not to believe roadmaps. recently i've come across a page telling that another 45nm intel processor to be delayed to Q1 2008 from Q4 2007.

Well, im still thinking about this LAST question then....
This year... (Q3) or Next year (Q1)?

because i only afraid of 1 thing : after i bought a machine, a week after that some new platform released. this happen to my travelmate before and i don't want it to be repeated.

 

[Nodsu]

If you want to use Vista, then wait as long as possible. I don't recommend going anywhere near this "booming out" blob before Microsoft has managed to get some sort of a service pack together.

If I were you, I'd get a solid business class Core 2 Duo laptop with proper discrete graphics and run XP on it for now. If you really can't stay away from Vista, you can always max out the RAM in this (to 3 or 4 gigs probably) and have it run quite OK.

 

[nismo91]

okay then, i'll wait up to the end of this year - early 2008. After all, i will be getting a 3-4gb ram laptop with superb graphics (atir600 midrange-hi) in order to make a high-jump from my current lappy.
actually i can stay away from vista as currently there's no important program which require vista to me. I'll stick to XP this year...

Thanks for the input