What's next for IBM?

[IgoByte]

Thinking about buying a new notebook and I love the T series, so I'm looking at the T42P with pretty much the best available components. Is it a good time to buy a laptop now or should I wait for something up and coming?

 

[eriqesque]

This is an age old question.
There is no real answer.
If you like something out now, then buy it.

You could do this for years as there will always be something new.

On the other hand there are alot of new technologies coming to notebooks
But you probably aren't going to see the for at least 6-8 months.
So if you are in absolutely no hurry then wait.

 

[IgoByte]

Originally posted by: eriqesque
This is an age old question.
There is no real answer.
If you like something out now, then buy it.

You could do this for years as there will always be something new.

On the other hand there are alot of new technologies coming to notebooks
But you probably aren't going to see the for at least 6-8 months.
So if you are in absolutely no hurry then wait.

Yeah, I realize that... It's applicable to all computers... But I'm not asking a rhetorical quastion - I was wondering if there are any radical new developments in the works that might be worth waiting until, say the end of the year, for... I've just been a little removed from the scene the last couple of months, so I'm not exactly on top of things...

 

[Dre]

I read something somehwere (sorry so vague) about upgradeable graphics cards coming to notebooks in the future. It said something like you would be able to just swap it out, kinda like a harddrive compartment on laptops now. It also said that they might go in a PCMCIA slot. If it is, hopefully someone with more info can chime in. Dunno if this is something that would interest you.

That's the only, what I would consider major, advancement I can think of.

Oh and this info was more about laptops in general, not specifically IBM. Dunno if IBM would do this since thay are more business oriented.

 

[jvarszegi]

I was wondering if there are any radical new developments in the works that might be worth waiting until, say the end of the year, for...

PCI Express for laptops will be part of the next mobile chipset from Intel. Besides a faster bus speed, this means that laptops from all manufacturers will start featuring things like upgradable graphics. Since you picked the T42p, graphics are presumably important for you.

Also coming out at the same time will be SATA support for laptop hard drives (and the drives themselves will also start coming out then). The next chipset (IIRC, named 'Nocona' but I'm not sure) will also feature lower power consumption for most of the components, great integrated wireless b/g with low power consumption, and other goodies.

Like eriqesque said, you'll have to wait around six months for these things. If you do manage to wait that long, though, you'll also get the benefit of several screen power consumption reduction technologies hitting the market at the same time, and battery improvements too. If you can wait, I would (and am). Sometime around mid-next-year you'll be able to buy a machine to last you at least five years.


Edit: Okay, it appears that 'Nocona' is the name for a new flavor of Xeon. I seem to have surpassed some sort of brand-name event horizon: future marketing blurbs will just disappear into my brain without a trace, occasionally throwing back just the name without any other information. I'm too lazy to hunt up information on the new chipset, but if you browse back in the AnandTech 'Mobile' section a bit you should find plenty of info.

 

[IgoByte]

Originally posted by: jvarszegi

I was wondering if there are any radical new developments in the works that might be worth waiting until, say the end of the year, for...

PCI Express for laptops will be part of the next mobile chipset from Intel. Besides a faster bus speed, this means that laptops from all manufacturers will start featuring things like upgradable graphics. Since you picked the T42p, graphics are presumably important for you.

Also coming out at the same time will be SATA support for laptop hard drives (and the drives themselves will also start coming out then). The next chipset (IIRC, named 'Nocona' but I'm not sure) will also feature lower power consumption for most of the components, great integrated wireless b/g with low power consumption, and other goodies.

Like eriqesque said, you'll have to wait around six months for these things. If you do manage to wait that long, though, you'll also get the benefit of several screen power consumption reduction technologies hitting the market at the same time, and battery improvements too. If you can wait, I would (and am). Sometime around mid-next-year you'll be able to buy a machine to last you at least five years.


Edit: Okay, it appears that 'Nocona' is the name for a new flavor of Xeon. I seem to have surpassed some sort of brand-name event horizon: future marketing blurbs will just disappear into my brain without a trace, occasionally throwing back just the name without any other information. I'm too lazy to hunt up information on the new chipset, but if you browse back in the AnandTech 'Mobile' section a bit you should find plenty of info.

That's kinda what I thought I'd read too... I'd call those radical improvements - definitely worth waiting for... Thanks a bunch for the info...

 

[trikster2]

6 months before the technology hits the market.

But how long before IBM takes advanatage of it?

I give it a year.

If you have that long to wait fine, personally I'll be 1/2 way through a laptop by that time. Buy something that works for you now, then upgrade in two years. At that point the technology will be everywhere and past version 1.0.

And what's special about the P? Do you really nead a chipset optimized for apps like autocad?

If you do. Oh. That's why you spend 3 grand on a laptop. Ok.

If you don't need autocad etc, go for something with the ATI 9600 chipset. The T42 with an ATI 9600 chipset starts at $1900, $1600 if you have stock.

 

[jvarszegi]

trikster,

I don't see IBM waiting six months longer than average to advantage of a new chipset. They're not slow to implement new technology, they just have a different focus from manufacturers like Dell; they make solid business laptops. I think they'll be quick to take advantage of the new chipset, but they may not offer the latest gaming graphics cards right off the bat (although I'll bet that they will design the next generation for upgradable graphics). I can easily be wrong, though.

I'm curious about the difference between the FireGL and the 9600 chipsets. Lots of people have been claiming that the FireGL is the same, but with different drivers; it seems to be a 9600 clocked slightly slower. Is that right? Also, are there any problems with using the Omega drivers with the FireGL, or not? They're supposed to work with all Mobility Radeons, right? I have to agree, though, that I definitely wouldn't spend over a thousand bucks just to get a bump from 64 to 128 megs on my graphics card, all else being equal. Unless I were some highly-paid CAD designer with money to burn.

 

[dannybek]

Well a good way of buying semi top of the line IBM products and not spending a wad of cash is to wait. For example, in 1998 the 600X was ~$3000.00. Now it is considered obsolete in technology standards. However, it is still usable and personally, it is one of my favorites. Same went for the T30 which peaked in price early 2000 and 2001 for $3000.00 Now it is about $1000. If you wait for an year, you can get the thinkpad what you currently wanted, but a newer top of the line will probably grab your attention. Thus it is a vicious cycle that will never end. Patience and determination is key in buying want you truly want.

$.02

 

[IgoByte]

I don't need it for CAD but if I'm to get a 15" screen, I want one that has 1600x1200 resolution and currently that's only offered with the FireGL chip.
I'm actually thinking that I might buy a Dell i700M (the really small one) for now, use it and then sell it and buy whatever IBM brings out later...

 

[EvanAdams]

I saw in a news article somewhere that IBM has been playing with colors overseas.

 

[Conroy9]

Intel Outlines Mobile Roadmap at Developer Forum

Alviso (the chipset for Sonoma) is scheduled to be out in the first quarter of 2005; it's probably worth waiting for that. I'm not sure there will be much to wait for soon after that though - it seems that all of the technologies coming up in the near future will require more power, and according to that article, Intel expects new battery technology in 3-5 years.

Look up sonoma and alviso to find out more about the new features, but that's what I've been waiting for.

 

[piasabird]

There was an article out this week on ATI developing Graphics cards using PCI Express and DDR2. They claim that these 2 technologies when coupled together make memory access of main memory as fast as a video card Memory. This is what ATI is working on now.

 

[Turkish]

Originally posted by: EvanAdams
I saw in a news article somewhere that IBM has been playing with colors overseas.

care to elaborate?

 

[trikster2]

scuttlebut on forums.thinkbad.com:

Minor product updates in october (unspecified)
Major product update in Q1 (including all new "P" models)


http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=3850

 

[EvanAdams]

yea boss I'm not sure where it was but I deffinetly remember it that they were experimenting with colors overseas only. I think it was in an interview with someone from Ibm but I just dont remember where it was. It was a long time ago.

 

[trikster2]

Based on what I read I'm going to see what happens on october, then buy or wait to Q1.

Intel will have latop CPU price drop in october too, IBM may be waiting to coincide new october releases with the price drop.

I think when sonoma comes out it might be a good time to buy any laptop. The chip set has been delayed and the laptop makers must be chomping at the bit to release new laptops for some time now. I can see dell, sony, acer, everyone coming out with new laptops within a month or two of each other. Competitions is good food.

In Q1 I may end up just getting a discounted older model, a lot of the new changes like no PCMCIA on the new laptops scare me.....