Dell launches first laptop with Intel's Core i7

SAN FRANCISCO--Dell is launching its first laptops with Intel's new Core i7 processor for laptops.

The Intel "Clarksfield" Core i7 processor boasts four cores and is the chipmaker's first mobile chip based on its new Nehalem microarchitecture. Most Intel processors will move to this design in 2010.

Dell is trying to take an early lead in embracing the new technology. Dell's flagship product for the mobile Core i7 will be the 15-inch Alienware M15x gaming laptop. Dell is also offering the chip as an option on other laptop models worldwide, including the Studio 15 and Studio 17.

At the Intel Developer Forum today, David Perlmutter, executive vice president and co-general manager of Intel Corporation's Intel Architecture Group, is discussing Intel's mobile Nehalem platform that also includes a future chip codenamed "Arrandale," which will integrate graphics into the CPU, or central processing unit.

The Core i7 is packaged with the Intel PM55 Express chipset--companion silicon that assists the processor in communicating with the rest of the system. Two features that differentiate Core i7 from Core 2 Duo processors (the most-widely-used chips in laptops today) is Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading. Turbo Boost speeds up and slows down individual cores to meet processing and power-efficiency needs, respectively. Hyper-Threading can double the number of tasks--or threads--a processor can execute.

The Alienware M15x configurations include the Intel Core 920XM CPU and 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M graphics chip.

The Alienware M15x will come with Intel's first Core i7 mobile processor.

(Credit: Dell)

The Dell Studio 17 will feature the Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz processor, a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics chip, 17.3-inch HD+ (1600x900) display, and 9-cell battery.

The Studio 17 starts at $1,099.

Dell will also offer the Studio 15 with Core i7. Configurations include Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz, 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics chip, and 4GB of memory. Pricing start at $999.

And the Dell Studio XPS 16 will come with a Core i7 option, with a starting price of $1,249, Dell said.

[anthonyjstewart]

I recently, in July, bought a Dell XPS 435MT with the i7 processor. It was an -7-920 Quad core. This PC is the final PC I will ever own. I just switched to an iMac 24" Dual Core. Considering I spend near $1400 on this new PC wehich was well specced with blu ray and 6Gb RAM for most things it was slower than my 3 year old Toshiba laptop.

I will never buy another PC again. After 15 years of hell working with Windows I refuse to give them or any PC manufacturer another cent. My Mac on the first day was hell, reinstalling the O/S due to some issue but since then I have fallen in love with my iMac, this is 2 weeks ago. Everything really does just work. I wish I had made the move years ago. I suppose it's more Vista than the architecture but who cares, not my problem any more.

[tektaktyks]

try windows 7 on that pc

[SlimGem]

@ anthonyjstewart,

I'm also a Mac lover, but I agree with others here who suggest removing the Dell crapware. I went through this several years ago with my Dell and XP, but once I reformatted, it was a totally different experience.

It sounds like your PC has some sweet hardware, so I too would recommend installing Win7. It's not half bad.

[Darthfett]

"refuse to give them or any PC manufacturer another cent"

Sorry to burst your bubble, but if this is what you truly intend to do, then I'd quit buying computers altogether. Apple does not have a monopoly on Intel chips, so unless you're planning on having Apple yank it out of your computer before selling it to you and replacing it with a nonexistant Apple chip, I'd say you'd better rethink your purchasing policy.

[Mr. Dee]

Why didn't you do the same thing with the Dell you did with the iMac on the same day you got it? Its obvious the bloatware is what gave you the wrong experience, not the hardware and Windows OS.

[Hokulea]

@anthonyjstewart

I bought a Dell Studio XPS 435MT in May. It came with Vista x64 Home Premium which I upgraded to Ultimate. I haven't had any problems with it. It's very fast at everything. Opens Ps CS4 in a few seconds. With Ps, Ai, and Bridge all open at the same time I can still browse the web, edit a document in Word, and check my email in Outlook, all without any system slowdown.

While you may haves some issues, it's probably not hardware related. There are many things that can cause a fast PC to run slow, from malware to improper configuration or corrupted files. Vista had a broad array of tools and utilities to help troubleshoot problems. For a guide to optimizing Vista, I suggest you check out tweakguides TGTC. Tweakguide also has a guide to resolving Vista annoyances.

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows has an article on Vista's Reliability Monitor, which is a good tool to start with as it tracks several kinds of issues. The System Stability Chart lists problems on a timeline by date. See the following link:

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_ff_rmon.asp

[PenguinFeather]

I too bought a Dell XPS 435MT with 2.93 GHz Core i7. I also immediately re-installed Vista, and it runs great - very fast! I was also able to order it with the minimum memory, hard drive, and graphics options, so I was able to install the 12 GB memory, VelociRaptor drive, and NVidia graphics I wanted. None of this is possible with the iMac. You also took advantage of the ability to customize your Dell exactly how you wanted it, then tossed it without any effort to find out what was wrong. Since you re-installed OS X without hesitation, but were quick to toss your custom-configured PC, I'm sure you really wanted a Mac and should have gotten one in July.

[McDaveH]

Yeah anthonyjstewart - how dare you compare two products by looking at the actual outcomes as opposed to the implications of the specs as Microsoft have told you to do. It's all your fault the manufacturers build was ineffective and you didn't rebuild that machine yourself (it would have been good practice because Windows demands it on a regular basis just to keep you thinking you've achieved something). And how dare you counter the Wintel Zealot's religion of hardware - after all, it's everything y'know? All 12GB of it!!

[gggg sssss]

You seem to be a complete fool. I baught 48 Vostro notebooks with Vista Home premium on them in March, and have yet to have even ONE glitch of any kind. And have yet to reinstall teh OS on ANY dell notebook or desktop in 10 years.

[cloudmatt]

I don't see the news. AMD has had a quad core laptop out for a while now. I'm sure that the 32 nm helps to keep it cooler with a lower power draw but this is just another fluff Intel story.

read this if you want to hear about Intel
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10356876-92.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

@anthonyjstewart
Don't blame PC on Dell's install and hardware I've been in enough Dell guts to tell you they came preloaded with third party bloat and manufactured with every corner cut while still matching the stats people shop for. ie. dell customer support software, useless tool bars etc and sure it has X amount of RAM and X ghz but usually a no name board, ram and hard drive.

[ManjyomeThunder]

Really? AMD has a Quad-Core notebook? Please do inform me of it's name, please, and where I can purchase one. Though, Intel also has Quad-Core processors in their notebooks as well, and has had such for a while, these are simply Nehalem based rather than Core 2.

[anthonyjstewart]

For me it was more years of having to deinstall crap that came with PC's which is why when I had problems with my Del XPS 435MT it was the last straw. I should have deinstalled everything but I just had had enough with PC's. had removed already any offending software when I first got the dell, I am I.T. literate but did not reinstall the O/S, perhaps i should have.

Anyway it's not just about the O/S the iMac just does so much more than the PC ever did straight out of the box. The Apple TV software that just works with the remote, the quality of the screen, the speed of the machine is excellent even on a dual core. The movie software is very high class compared to movie maker and well it just ticks all my boxes like a PC never did. I always avoided Macs as I just thought they were for people who didn't know what they were doing. But ultimately why whould I need to know what I am doing, software should just work. The minor hickup I had with the keyboard forcing me to reinstall the O/S was minor, the install was fast and without problems. So ultimately I know I made the right choice. I wonder how long it will be before the Mac O/S is being sold on non Apple computers.

[gggg sssss]

@anthonyjstewart IT literate? does not sound like it at all. How hard is it to go to add remove, or programs and features and click remove a few times? And what kind of keyboard hickup woudl require a reinstall of OS? Never seen THAT happen on any wintel box. So it must be user error.

[tektaktyks]

yea its sad what they do,cheap bastards

[Intel_Eric]

Here's a Stats Chart for all the products launched today:
http://bit.ly/IDF09products

Also, all of the http://bit.ly/Clarksfield processors:
http://bit.ly/i7-920XM
http://bit.ly/i7-820QM
http://bit.ly/i7-720QM

And the mobile version of http://bit.ly/IbexPeak:
http://bit.ly/PM55chipset

Hope it helps!

[JamesKC]

My hourly rate is $175.00 working for Fortune 500 companies as a certified SAP technical consultant. I cannot afford to spend time on troubleshooting hardware, firmware, software or application issues, and it is not related to money issue, I have very strict timelines to meet. My clients provide me with very strictly controlled hardware and software, accesses to do my job and it is usually using a Windows XP platform, not even Vista.

I have been using Microsoft OS since MS DOS 1.1. I use IBM zOS, IBM System 360/370, FCS 4700, BSD, Unix V, OS400, AIX, Solaris, HPUX, Linuxes, Windows, OSX, iPhone OS, and I also develop my own OS when I had time. Frankly, Windows is not the best OS I have ever used. The OS that best meets its requirements is the IBM zOS, hands down. I can actually buy a Intel box and install a IBM zOS on it and run all kinds of IBM zOS software and applications on it, and it runs like a dream, but 100% business dream, with software like CICS, IMS, LE, VTAM, VSAM, DB2, JES2/3, TSO/ISPF, zOS languages Cobol, C++, PL/1, Assembler, and a whole slew of software which are running and controlling over 80% of all the business data in the world, almost entirely government and huge international conglomerates. For SAP it's almost entirely HPUX 10 running on HP Super Domes that cost more than $10 million, plus teams of experts working on them. Anyone interested in these kind of hardware and software? My dream machine is the IBM RoadRunner Supercomputer (see http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/09/worlds-fastest-ibms-roadrunner-supercomputer-breaks-petaflop/) churning through 1.026 quadrillion calculations per second. The $133 million supercomputer achieved the milestone with the help of 12,960 "improved" Cell processors (yes, like those powering your PS3) and a smaller number of AMD Opteron processors -- 116,640 processor cores in total. The RoadRunner had been faithfully the US military without a single glitch for many years. How would you compare that with either the Dell XPS or Apple iMac?

I had been hunting for a server dedicated to running 2 SQL Server 2008 Enterprise instances for a commercial application and after reading the comments here I am glad I had not considered buying Dell servers. I would buy a no name server built by a local computer store called PCV with a Asus Rampage motherboard, i7-975 3.33 Ghz CPU, 16 DDR3 ram, 2 x 1TB harddrive, and install it with the Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server Developer Edition. No other software will be installed on this machine except for communication purposes. This configuration is perfect for me because it is a single purpose server, that's perfect for Windows machines. For other purposes, I very much prefer the Apple iMac and the iPhone, simply because they save me tons of valuable time with also zero hassle, and the prices are right.

[Jonathan Monahan]

Is that thing fugly or is it just me?

[kelmon]

By definition, all Alienware PCs are ugly unless you are the sort of person who thinks that putting neon lights under your car (the modern-day equivalent of go-faster stripes) makes it "cool". Still, there are people who like things that are different and there is no accounting for taste.

[MrMurder]

It's kind of akward that Dell would use the Core i7 for mainstream laptops

[QA_Tester]

Why is it awkward?

[jakemochas]

it makes the i7 more affordable for students and people like me

[RainCaster]

Until these new laptops have USB 3.0, I'm not buying.

[QA_Tester]

My question why only 8gb of ram supported on the laptp verion?

[tipoo_]

Man...Just a month after i buy a Studio 15, there is a core i7 version of it out...Ah, the life of a tech enthusiast.

[gggg sssss]

what, no Mac? poor Mac fans will just have to wait I guess. Ha Ha.

[Borokini]

In the market for a laptop; help me out.
Is DELL better than Toshiba [actually love Toshiba, but hear DELL is better]
Already made up my mind to get a 2.5 GHz to 2.8 GHz processor Core 2 Duo processor; now royally confused by the i7. Is a 1.6GHz i7 equal to a 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo?
Hope this is not too juvenile.