First off, my apologies as I am knowingly cross-posting this in the Dell Core Duo forum. It's just that I posted it there first and then thought that I should probably have put it in here. Having said that, here goes -
Yeah, yeah, I hate those questions too. But honestly, while I've been trying to poke around the forums in the last week or two trying to get some information on my own, I've come to the realization that it's either I do that and fail out of school or I ask for some answers/opinions from those more knowledgeable that might clear things up a bit so I can make a more informed decision without spending all day reading articles or forum threads.
Some history:
I'm in the second year of medical school. Come August, I will be moving away from home and leaving my desktop behind (too large to take with me) which is my primary means of computing. I also have a hand-me-down Inspiron 8000 (900 MHz P3) that's good enough for web browsing, e-mail, viewing PowerPoint slides, etc. So I'll be looking to get a nice powerful notebook that will last me for the next 3 years or so.
Core Duo looks very nice. I'm a heavy multi-tasker so I understand the benefits. When I have the time (which is usually during breaks), I do some video editing/encodes (mostly home video stuff from DV to MP4 or Xvid) and also some basic Photoshop work - nothing too serious, just photo retouching and editing. I do not game at all. Ever. I guess I'd refer to myself as a computer hobbyist more than anything else.
My concern is that there is so much talk about Merom coming out apparently just after I am planning on making my purchase. I know that all the details aren't out yet, but I would hate to buy the "old hardware" right before the new, enhanced stuff comes out. I am aware that this will always be the case (so save the comments about if I always want the latest and greatest that I will either never be happy or will end up waiting forever) and I am not going to be upset that I bought a 2.13 GHz processor just before a 2.3 one got released, for example. But it seems (from my reading) that Merom is going to be a very major upgrade that everyone is excited about and eagerly anticipating. And so, I am wondering if it would be worth it to wait a bit longer.
I can get by with the Inspiron 8000 for a month or two if Merom will be worth doing so for. My understanding is that it will be 64-bit? With Vista getting released in Q4 2006, it is a concern to "future proof" my machine as much as possible. I do not intend to upgrade to Vista right away as I am quite happy with XP Pro and I'd like the bugs to be worked out first, but I know that I will likely do the upgrade at some point.
So, thank you to anyone who might be able to suggest if it's worth holding off for Merom or not.
[edit]
I was so focused on Merom since all the buxx seems to be about it that I forgot to mention that I'm not averse to the Turion X2 either. In fact, I have an Athlon 64 2800+ in my desktop.
[/edit]
- Jumbie
Yeah, yeah, I hate those questions too. But honestly, while I've been trying to poke around the forums in the last week or two trying to get some information on my own, I've come to the realization that it's either I do that and fail out of school or I ask for some answers/opinions from those more knowledgeable that might clear things up a bit so I can make a more informed decision without spending all day reading articles or forum threads.
Some history:
I'm in the second year of medical school. Come August, I will be moving away from home and leaving my desktop behind (too large to take with me) which is my primary means of computing. I also have a hand-me-down Inspiron 8000 (900 MHz P3) that's good enough for web browsing, e-mail, viewing PowerPoint slides, etc. So I'll be looking to get a nice powerful notebook that will last me for the next 3 years or so.
Core Duo looks very nice. I'm a heavy multi-tasker so I understand the benefits. When I have the time (which is usually during breaks), I do some video editing/encodes (mostly home video stuff from DV to MP4 or Xvid) and also some basic Photoshop work - nothing too serious, just photo retouching and editing. I do not game at all. Ever. I guess I'd refer to myself as a computer hobbyist more than anything else.
My concern is that there is so much talk about Merom coming out apparently just after I am planning on making my purchase. I know that all the details aren't out yet, but I would hate to buy the "old hardware" right before the new, enhanced stuff comes out. I am aware that this will always be the case (so save the comments about if I always want the latest and greatest that I will either never be happy or will end up waiting forever) and I am not going to be upset that I bought a 2.13 GHz processor just before a 2.3 one got released, for example. But it seems (from my reading) that Merom is going to be a very major upgrade that everyone is excited about and eagerly anticipating. And so, I am wondering if it would be worth it to wait a bit longer.
I can get by with the Inspiron 8000 for a month or two if Merom will be worth doing so for. My understanding is that it will be 64-bit? With Vista getting released in Q4 2006, it is a concern to "future proof" my machine as much as possible. I do not intend to upgrade to Vista right away as I am quite happy with XP Pro and I'd like the bugs to be worked out first, but I know that I will likely do the upgrade at some point.
So, thank you to anyone who might be able to suggest if it's worth holding off for Merom or not.
[edit]
I was so focused on Merom since all the buxx seems to be about it that I forgot to mention that I'm not averse to the Turion X2 either. In fact, I have an Athlon 64 2800+ in my desktop.
[/edit]
- Jumbie
