Inspiron 9110 and XPS Gen2 - Page 3

no one has hinted that it will be pci express - wouldnt keep your hopes up on mxm or axiom - wonder why everyone keeps assuming that pci express will automatically include those formats... like i said, 9100 owners don't need to worry yet =0)

I'm not really sure why anyone should be "worried" anyway - I would hope that no one here is silly enough to actually replace their laptop every time something newer and faster appears (if you do, you'll be replacing systems two times a year....) The fact is, no matter how cutting edge you are, in less than a year you'll be at least a step back, maybe two, no matter what you get and when you get it. The tech treadmill stops for no one.

But, and here's the key thing, you current system STILL WORKS. Just as well as it did before that new gee whiz whatever came out. So if you're happy with your 9100 today, there's no reason to think you'll be less happy with it when a 9200 appears. Will the 9200 be better? Probably, but it doesn't mean you can't keep chugging along nicely with the current system. It won't curl up and die just because the next gen has appeared.

I think it is going to be PCI-Express based because dell people have hinted toward that many times. It makes sense too- Sager is releasing its PCI-Express laptop any time now, and it has a 17-in screen. PCI-Express is going to allow people to keep up with that "tech treadmill" far better than before because of the possiblities of standardized graphics controller modules which will speed up design and increase future compatability. That's what I want out of it.

I wouldn't count on that. It's possible that may happen, but it's no more automatic than it was for AGP. AGP is a standard too in desktop land, just like PCI-E, but in laptops the form factor of the cards has not been standardised so far. Remember that ATI and NVidia both have proposed "standards" for laptop cards - which are not compatible with one another.

Basically, neither ATI nor NVidia has anything to gain by the format being standardised - as it stands now, if you buy a laptop that's equipped with ATI for example, your upgrade path is to another ATI card. No NVidia cards will fit. ATI likes this just fine as it means they've got a semi-captive market (you could buy a whole new laptop of course, so it's not completely captive). NVidia's thinking is the same with any laptops sold with their cards.

I would certainly like to see standardization, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it happening. The only way I see it happening is if Dell, Compaq, and maybe eMachines all put their foot down and demand a common form factor - and that will only happen if the laptop manufacturers decide that doing so will sell more laptops.

At the end of the day, follow the money. How would standardisation make any of the companies involved more money?

problem is, it can't be anything BUT pci-e. nVidia and ATI are no longer making "new" agp mobile cards. They'll keep making agp compatible models for desktop for a while, but in mobile, they are already switching. ATI announced at the mr9800's release it was to be the last AGP mobile part. The go6800 was announced as a pci-e as i understand it, and no agp planned.

So it's not like the laptop makers have much of a choice, they have to match up to what is being offered, and they have no reason not to since that is the new standard for the bus protocal/interface.

Im with rogue on this one i dont see why dell would pull there flagship model (outside the US) only to replace it with a model with a bigger screen but a dead or dying interface why not carry on calling it the 9100 if thats true.

I'm sticking with the XPS I have. My money tree is a little low right now Also, I normally wait about 18 months to buy a new laptop, so I still have a ways to go...

What makes you so sure it's going to be another desktop replacement like the 9100? My money is on it being a 17 inch version of a 8600

Then wouldn't it just be the i8600gen2, or "86**"?

not if they still wanted to have a 15.4inch portable. The 8600 is one of their most popular lines. The 9100 is one of their least popular. Only makes sense to enter the market with a portable 17inch portable in it's place.

Ah, thanks, that's good to hear. So whatever "it" is, it's probably not much of an improvement over the 9100/XPS. (Maybe it's even a step back or sideways, in some respects.)

So, it sounds like we can hope for a separate next gen 8600 line early next year with the new Centrino chipset.

problem is, the 9xxx series is associated with DTR, the 8xxx series with more mobile systems, then there are the Latitude lines, etc. There would be NO reason to create another line of every day laptops based on a mobile cpu and call it a 9xxx series. You might keep the 8600 and add an 8700 or something like that, but if the plan was a NON cutting edge unit, with a mobile cpu, 17" screen, good battery life, no upgradeable graphics for the future, would you call that a 9200 or an 8700? Seeing as it would fit the mold of an upgraded 8xxx, that would actually make sense.

Also, all the 17" units Dell would be competing against, or at least the ones I've bothered to look at , are DTR, so it would not be competitive to put a non DTR against a DTR. Also, consider the 9xxx series is now synonimous (hope I spelled that correctly) with upgradeable graphics, upgradeable desktop based cpu's, and cutting edge performance, why go thru the hassle of creating that type of image for the 9xxx series to then turn it into a glorified 8xxx? Regardless of mxm and axiom, there's no reason to think Dell wouldn't design the next XPS/9200 to have an upgradable gpu, it doesn't seem like they're loosing money or interest or name recognition from this move. If anything, Dell is taking business away from the likes of Sager and AW etc.

And without regard to the standards that may or may not show up for laptops, unless the new line is going to have the mr9800 graphics card, which is end of life, the new laptop would have to be pci-e, and use the mrX600 which is pci-e only until ATI announces a mrX800 card. Or it would have to use nVidia's go6800.

of course, if you are right and they decide to bastardize the 9200 into a glorified 8600, then they'd probably scrap all the other techy things most of us love about the 9100/XPS, and we'll all be depressed there might not be a future upgrade for us that's a nice and inexpensive as Dell offered this time. And of course, for those who hadn't bought yet or couldn't afford an XPS yet, they'd be out of luck which would bite as well

How can you say the 9100 is one of the least popular? So far, surveys on this forum have shown 9100 users outweigh the XPS 3-1. I saw where a Dell sales rep said something along those lines but they have been known to give 8 answers to the same question.

What I DID notice about Dell and the 9100 is they never promoted it. I never saw advertisements highlighting the 9100 in the weekend papers or on TV. Even their catalogs just seemed to slip it into the lineup under the radar.

Dell is a good company but they are more than "ONLY $499 for this Desktop and $799 for that laptop* .......* after rebates." They need to work on their marketing.

The 9100 essentialy IS the XPS, he's saying least popular compared to the 8600's, 700m's, etc.

Exactly.

OK.

9100 vs. XPS = 9100 < XPS > 9100.

LOL. OK, now I understand.

I don't know...I just really have a feeling that they are going to slap a 17 inch screen on a Pentium-M laptop and call it a desktop replacement. And since I don't think intel will be unveiling a new Pentium-M enabled PCI-E chipset around the launch of this thing, I'm thinking it's going to be AGP. Just a reminder for folks PCI-E does not equal standardized upgradable graphics. Standardized upgradable graphics would require a universal form factor for a laptop, which I don't see happening as soon as everyone thinks. I guess we'll see come mid november what this 9200 will be.

Okay guys time to pay up

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=47025

the new XPS will be here next year late Q1 05....

True 'nuff. What I meant was, don't count on NVidia PCI-E and ATI PCI-E cards being swappable. But yes, AGP is close to EOL.