Dell's XPS M1330 goes Penryn as a free upgrade

We've been waiting for Dell to pop a Penryn chip inside one of its laptops -- so far it's been HP and Toshiba sitting pretty with some of the few Penryn laptop offerings in existence -- but we didn't think it'd come for free. Dell is pushing Penryn on consumers with an upgrade to the existing XPS M1330 line, which is a far sight smaller than what HP and Toshiba intro'd Penryn in, but the best news is that if you build out the AUD$2,000 model (which includes 4GB of RAM and other perks) you get a free "upgarde" [sic] to the Core 2 Duo T9300 processor, at least for today. As you might've guessed from that currency, this deal is only in Australia so far, but new Dell products and deals usually start there and end up in the States whenever the international date line swings around.

[Thanks, Rupert]

[paul34 @ Feb 6th 2008 10:40AM]

Yes!

Free UPGARDE!

[Dan @ Feb 6th 2008 10:42AM]

dang, you beat me!!!

[Chebwa @ Feb 6th 2008 10:52AM]

Beat you to what?! Pointing out a typo that the article already pointed out?

[JAmerican @ Feb 6th 2008 11:00AM]

Let me UPGARDE you :)

[Dan @ Feb 6th 2008 10:41AM]

wait, what? UPGARDE?????

[Kiwi616 @ Feb 6th 2008 10:42AM]

I will not UPGARDE for any price :)

[paragraph @ Feb 6th 2008 10:42AM]

Ackbar: IT'S A TARP!

Ahh, Dyslexia, natures little comedian.

Hopefully they fix that SNAFU before it comes stateside... and hopefully i chance upon a decent haul of cash... i need a new laptop :D

[Gremlin @ Feb 6th 2008 10:43AM]

So it took 6 months for my m1330 to get outdated? Rough.

[paragraph @ Feb 6th 2008 10:45AM]

:\

Sorry to say this, but i just spec'd out a M1330, and i'm not pleased :( it was outdated before it hit the line...

[mbc @ Feb 6th 2008 11:08AM]

maybe upgarde like engarde a warning

or avant garde, a processor so good that its pushing past social norms

[pquistgard @ Feb 6th 2008 11:14AM]

I come from Australia. Too bad I got a Vostro 1700 laptop from America and am now living in UK. So I got the wrong model and am living in the wrong country.

At least I got a great system for half the price! US market is way cheaper anyway, and the Vostro is amazingly cheap for the specs you can ramp it up to.

But it's things like this (and other little quirks) that make the XPS the machine meant for the power-user.

[Ellianth @ Feb 6th 2008 11:17AM]

Since they're giving away the upgrade for free, they won't have any problems upgrading my system when they send me my next replacement.

[Gremlin @ Feb 6th 2008 1:03PM]

Do you think they will replace old systems with the new penryns? I got my m1330 way back when it first came out with the accidental damage protection of 3 years. I'm very tempted to just claim a dead pixel or something so that they will send me a new chassis (laptop body with CPU, RAM, LCD, but no battery or HDD). I've had a lot of experience with Gateway's accidental damage program, and they were great about sending me a new chassis whenever I needed (like 3 or 4 times in 3 years). I wonder if Dell will be so lenient...

[Ellianth @ Feb 6th 2008 2:36PM]

I am a special case. They have sent me many replacements. All of which suck. All of which are brand new. I got my computer in october and it had many build defects, and everyone they have sent since (all brand new) have had build defects. Since they will be sending another new one (no way in hell I'm accepting the one they sent yesterday) they might as well upgrade the cpu. Since one of the problems is processor related.

That was to make a long story short :p.

[darobin @ Feb 6th 2008 11:33AM]

Would it be possible to do this
upgrade myself? I assume the processor
is accessible?

[nizzy1115 @ Feb 6th 2008 5:02PM]

Yes you can swap the processor out. However, it will void your warranty.

[Dave @ Feb 6th 2008 12:38PM]

Hmm.... I've got an XPS1530 currently "in production" right now. I presume I won't be lucky enough to get this upgrade for free?

[Conda @ Feb 6th 2008 1:41PM]

yah, same here, i dont think they'll extend it to us in building

[Dave @ Feb 6th 2008 1:44PM]

Guess that's what their return-policy is for.

[Adam K @ Feb 6th 2008 7:27PM]

I understand that we can return it, but I imagine the reason for the steep discounts was because of this transition to the Penryn chips. If it's the same price, then sure, I'll return it, but probably not.

[Iam9376 @ Feb 6th 2008 1:48PM]

Alright Lenovo, where is my Thinkpad X tablet with penryn inside?! (and 5+ hours of battery life!)

[Ryan Rife @ Feb 6th 2008 2:02PM]

I placed an order for an M1330 Monday afternoon and soon after read that they were about to roll out the new processors in the M1330. I've been trying to cancel or change my order ever since they w/o any luck and I just got noticed that my new old obsolete system just shipped.

[Gremlin @ Feb 6th 2008 2:21PM]

If you don't mind waiting another month or so before you get your Penryn-based m1330, then you could easily return it. Dell is pretty good about returns within the first 14 days.

[BoozeRob @ Feb 6th 2008 3:19PM]

Brutal, I just got my brand new m1330 on Monday. I ordered it last week to take advantage of that sweet $850 of the best system and got the 2.2 Ghz T7500 processor included in the price. I wish I could return it and get the same price.

[Dave Van den Eynde @ Feb 6th 2008 2:09PM]

I don't think this is an 'upgrade' as in "we'll upgrade the system you bought last week for free". I think it's simply an update of their current line, in which they'll "upgrade" you for free, because they don't have the older CPU's anymore and the new motherboards are just in. As in "we'll let you fly business cuz' everything else is full, sir!"

I'm awaiting their Penryn upgrade to the XPS1730..

[Praneeth @ Feb 6th 2008 3:38PM]

This has been available in Australia for about a week. No sign of US site incorporating. It's also only available on the most upgraded configuration and only the one Penryn processor T9300. I would hope Dell will enable the full lineup like Lenovo is doing on the T61.

[Ben @ Feb 6th 2008 5:00PM]

Australia getting something before America?.....thats WOW

[Stu @ Feb 6th 2008 5:20PM]

Dell were offering quickship models last week with the T7500, 2GB RAM, slim screen and 250GB drive for AUS$1600. Bargain if you ask me. Is Penryn really all that good anyway?!?

[Praneeth @ Feb 6th 2008 5:54PM]

Now available in Hongkong and New Zealand as well.. HK site allows you to choose the full series of penryn processors.

[AL @ Feb 7th 2008 12:37AM]

I just got my replacement (1st one had cosmetic defects), and now to hear that Penryn's Inside? Yes, how much better is Penryn s'posed to be?

[Jorge @ Feb 7th 2008 7:46AM]

T9300 and T9500 are now available options in the US, but they aren't cheap...362 and 637 respectively..doubt they are worth that price..what happened to the free upgrade for the US? too much money to me made here?