Next big development in the PC world?

Been thinking of buying my wife a new laptop, as hers is showing its age
at 5 years old.

Should I buy now, or is there something coming over the horizon within the
next few months that I should wait for? Would like to get something
within the next few months since I don't think her current laptop will
last much longer.

On a much less urgent note, I'm also thinking of getting a new desktop.
I've heard something about some big changes coming to PCs with regards to
bus architecture, and a shift to a new motherboard standard (the end of ATX
is upon us?) Is any of this coming this true, or is it just hype for 2006?

Doug Jacobs wrote:
Should I buy now, or is there something coming over the horizon within the
next few months that I should wait for?

There is _always_ some big new _something_ coming Real Soon Now. If
you need a new machine, buy the best one you can within your budget
and be happy with it.

"Doug Jacobs" wrote in message
...
Been thinking of buying my wife a new laptop, as hers is showing its
age
at 5 years old.

Should I buy now, or is there something coming over the horizon
within the
next few months that I should wait for? Would like to get something
within the next few months since I don't think her current laptop
will
last much longer.

I have owned computers since 1973, and there has always been something
new about every 3 months. If you wait around for the "latest" you'll
never but another computer. the 1st one I bought had 8K memory and a
360K single sided 5 1/4 disk that set me back a little over $7,000.
The last one I bought had 512 MEG and an 80 GIG hard drive that cost
$350 and they threw in a printer/scanner/copier. They are so cheap now
that they are down to 'throw-a-way prices, like TV's, irons, toasters
you name it. Buy what you want or can afford and enjoy.

Tom J

"Doug Jacobs" wrote in message
...
Been thinking of buying my wife a new laptop, as hers is showing its age
at 5 years old.

Should I buy now, or is there something coming over the horizon within the
next few months that I should wait for? Would like to get something
within the next few months since I don't think her current laptop will
last much longer.

The current "big thing" in the laptop world is the new Sonoma mobile
platform from Intel. It's the next generation of the Centrino platform
(Sonoma is just the internal codename; it will still be branded as
Centrino). The big things it brings are support for PCI Express; faster,
dual-channel RAM; faster front-side bus; and improved integrated video (if
you choose the integrated video). It is just appearing on newer laptops.
It's available on the new Inspiron 6000, and it's rumored to be used in the
upcoming Inspiron 9300.

Details on the chipset are available he
http://www.cnet.com/4520-6022_1-5621...?tag=cnetfd.sd

Is it worth waiting for? Probably not. I doubt you would see much
real-world performance difference between a Sonoma laptop and a current
Centrino laptop. But it's something you might want to be aware of.

64 bit laptops; currently available with the AMD64 processor, but in a few
weeks we will see the introduction of the AMD Turion 64; it will smoke any
candy-*ss centrino and will give sonoma a run for the money.

32 bit technology RIP.

Bobby

"Doug Jacobs" wrote in message
...
Been thinking of buying my wife a new laptop, as hers is showing its age
at 5 years old.

Should I buy now, or is there something coming over the horizon within the
next few months that I should wait for? Would like to get something
within the next few months since I don't think her current laptop will
last much longer.

On a much less urgent note, I'm also thinking of getting a new desktop.
I've heard something about some big changes coming to PCs with regards to
bus architecture, and a shift to a new motherboard standard (the end of
ATX
is upon us?) Is any of this coming this true, or is it just hype for
2006?



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Tom J wrote:

"Doug Jacobs" wrote in message
...

Been thinking of buying my wife a new laptop, as hers is showing its
age
at 5 years old.

Should I buy now, or is there something coming over the horizon
within the
next few months that I should wait for? Would like to get something
within the next few months since I don't think her current laptop
will
last much longer.


I have owned computers since 1973,

Exactly what did you own in 1973?

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 05:29:51 -0500, Sparky wrote:

Tom J wrote:


I have owned computers since 1973,

Exactly what did you own in 1973?


IBM 360 maybe?

Garry Owen wrote:

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 05:29:51 -0500, Sparky wrote:

Tom J wrote:

I have owned computers since 1973,

Exactly what did you own in 1973?

IBM 360 maybe?

Nah, the S/370s were out by then.

Maybe it wasn't Big Blue?

"Doug Jacobs" wrote in message
...
Been thinking of buying my wife a new laptop, as hers is showing its age
at 5 years old.

Should I buy now, or is there something coming over the horizon within the
next few months that I should wait for? Would like to get something
within the next few months since I don't think her current laptop will
last much longer.

On a much less urgent note, I'm also thinking of getting a new desktop.
I've heard something about some big changes coming to PCs with regards to
bus architecture, and a shift to a new motherboard standard (the end of
ATX
is upon us?) Is any of this coming this true, or is it just hype for
2006?


One of the biggest new development will be the new Nforce5 chipsets from
Nvidia used for the first time on Intel motherboard.
Nforce5 will also have SLI which means it can use 2 video cards at once.

http://hardware.earthweb.com/news/article.php/3438301

Craig

Sparky wrote in :

Tom J wrote:

"Doug Jacobs" wrote in message
...

I have owned computers since 1973,

Exactly what did you own in 1973?

DEC PDP-11 ? Came out about '71 or '72 as I recall.

- FM -

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their
home." -- Ken Olson, DEC founder and chairman

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
--Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949