Two weeks after Chinese competitor Lenovo became the first mainstream brand in India to move most of its models to the second generation Intel Core i processors, Dell followed suit today.
Second generation Core i processors are upto 40% faster than the Core i processors found in most computer models today and were initially supposed to have been in the market by February. However, a technical snag in the production of the chips delayed their entry by around four months.
Dell launched both the mainstream ‘Inspiron’ series as well as the up-market ‘XPS’ series under the new chip.
As expected the prices start at around Rs 34,000 for the 14 inch Inspiron, moving all the way up to Rs 80,000 for the high end XPS model. As is usual, the Dell prices are moderately higher than Lenovo’s prices for very similar models. The Lenovo IdeaPad G570, armed with the second generation Core i chip, costs only around Rs 29,000. In comparison the starting price of a Core i first generation model is around Rs 27,000, while those with graphics cards is Rs 36,500.
The two announcements have left Acer and HP as the next candidates for the introduction of a wide range of Second Generation Core i chip models. Lenovo has also launched an ultra-portable, netbook-like high-end 13 inch PC that costs around Rs 85,000.
The basic attraction of the new chips would be that they can play-back even 3D content and do not need a separate graphics card to do so. The chips were introduced earlier this year, and are a follow up to the ones introduced early in 2010. The 2010 series had brought HD video playback to the chips, with the 2011 series bringing 3D playback and faster processing of videos.