March of the Dell Core i7 Laptops

For those of you who keep up with the technology industry, you may have caught some of the buzz from that Intel's annual round up known as Intel Developer's Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. One of today's highpoints is Intel serving notice they have raised the bar in mobile performance by releasing the mobile version of Core i7 quad core processors (a.k.a. Clarksfield).

Note from Lionel: I saw that some readers were giving Engadget a hard time because Dell.com wasn't updated with the mobile Core i7 goodness. Some of it is now. Click on the banner above  to look at our i7-based laptop offerings. I'll add the Studio XPS 16 link when it's updated. Done.

Make no mistake, putting a quad core processor in a laptop does a lot for performance and there is an elite group of folks out there who always feel the need for speed: gamers. For these acceleration aficionados, Dell has delivered the new Alienware M15x—a 15-inch laptop that reinforces that nobody – but nobody – knows how to pack more into the 15-inch gaming laptop than the Dell/Alienware gaming engineers and designers.

But enough about the expected – let's talk about the unexpected – like the fact that Dell is actually offering these new high-powered processors as an option on three other laptop models, including a Studio 15 laptop powered by the new mobile Core i7 processors with a starting price of  $999. The other news of the day is that we have significantly updated the Studio 17 laptop and have launched mobile Core i7 edition starting at $1,099. And just to make sure all the bases are covered, we've added a Core i7 processor option to the elegant Studio XPS 16 (more on that in a bit). Any one of these systems should definitely appeal to those of you who are "obsolescence paranoid" as well as the performance enthusiast who can't quite fit the aggressive Alienware design into their personal style.

Let's dive into some of the details around the new Studio 17 which frankly lands near the top of the entertainment powerhouse list – excelling at both creating and consuming multimedia content. First up, we have added a JBL-branded 2.1 audio solution with SRS Premium Sound – two 1.5-watt speakers in the palmrest and a 6-watt subwoofer in the base. The colossal 17.3-inch HD+ 16:9 display is great for watching HD content, and includes a 2.0MP webcam. A few other items of interest: this is the first Studio laptop to feature a 1GB graphic solution, and also supports dual hard drives. And while the engineers were upgrading just about every possible feature, the designers were trimming it down, the result being the new Studio 17 is slightly thinner and lighter than its predecessor. For $1,099 you get:

  • Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (1333 FSB/6MB L3 Cache)
  • Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) – eligible for Windows 7 upgrade
  • 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
  • 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
  • 250GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
  • Slot load CD/DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW)
  • 17.3-inch HD+ (1600×900) WLED display with built-in 2.0MP webcam
  • JBL-branded 2.1 audio solution with subwoofer
  • Full-size keyboard with separate keypad
  • 9-cell Battery
  • Black Chainlink exterior color

While the Studio 17 is primarily a desktop replacement than can be moved from room to room, there are those who need a laptop that balances performance with portability, and so the Studio 15 will also include a Core i7 option. For $999 you get:

  • Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (1333 FSB/6MB L3 Cache)
  • Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) – eligible for Windows 7 upgrade
  • 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570
  • 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 1066MHz
  • 250GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
  • Slot load CD/DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW)
  • 15.6-inch HD (1366×768) WLED display with built-in 2.0MP webcam
  • 6-cell Battery
  • Black Chainlink exterior color

Of course you can put your own personal mark on a new Studio 17 or Studio 15 with a choice of color options ($40) or one of more than 200 original designs ($85) found at www.dell.com/designstudio

Finally, we are also offering a Core i7 option on the award-winning Studio XPS 16, with a starting price of $1,249 and it should be available on dell.com by Thursday.

  • Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (1333 FSB/6MB L3 Cache)
  • Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) – eligible for Windows 7 upgrade
  • 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
  • 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1067MHz
  • 250GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
  • Slot load CD/DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW)
  • 15.6-inch HD+ (1600×900) edge-to-edge WLED display
  • Built-in 2.0MP webcam and facial recognition security software
  • 7W audio solution with subwoofer
  • Full-size backlit keyboard
  • 9-cell Battery
  • Obsidian Black high gloss finish exterior

The Studio 15 and Studio XPS 16 with Core i7 are available worldwide this week. The new Studio 17 is available in the U.S., Canada and Latin America now and expected to be available in the rest of the world next month.

What makes this processor family stand out is the fact that the appropriate number of cores kick into "turbo mode" as needed. (Warning -geek out section ahead). Here's how it was explained to me: If you are running a single-threaded application (word processing, web surfing) then a single core will ramp up to max "Turbo Boost" speed as needed. If, however, the application requires two or more threads, (Gaming, Photoshop, some Excel functions) then the appropriate number of cores ramp up to a higher speed, somewhere less that "max" but still enough to boost performance. Basically whatever you are doing, the processor will crank up the horsepower as needed to get things done, and then drop back down to a more battery-friendly level when you don't. There is no special action required, like fiddling in the BIOS or fussing with power management settings to make this happen, it's all done on the fly dynamically based on what the system needs at the time. If you want more insight on this, check out what the folks at Anandtech said about turbo mode in their Lynnfield review.

And let me end on this note – for those of you who are wondering if the new mobile Core i7 quad core processors are worth the additional coinage, following are some internal benchmarks hot off the line by the engineers in the performance lab. I think the results speak for themselves.

  • The Intel Core i7 720QM processor performs up to 151% faster than the Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 processor.
  • The Intel Core i7 720QM processor (1.60GHz) performs up to 137% faster than the Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor.
  • The Intel Core i7 720QM processor (1.60GHz) performs up to 101% faster than the Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 processor.
  • The Intel Core i7 720QM processor (1.60GHz) performs up to 74% faster than the Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 processor.

(Fine Print: Based on 3DMark Vantage CPU overall score results by Dell Labs in August 2009. Actual performance will vary based on configuration, usage, and manufacturing variability.)

So there you have it – three laptop options that can handle the needs and deeds of any multi-media or entertainment enthusiast and one gaming laptop to rule them all.  Fasten your seatbelts!

About the Author: Anne Camden