Price drops by Alviso and more

[Guest]

Okay I have been reading about Intel’s new Alviso and Sonoma stuff and some other new platforms, chips, etc. that are coming out at the end of this year and beginning of next year. I have been reading all about the prices of processors dropping. It seems people and writers talking about the chips' prices dropping but not computers.

My questions were do manufactures automatically reduced their computers right away by the same amount? Will computers be $200 dollars? Does IBM drop prices quickly? Also since it is such a big company do they have too? I was planning on buying my T41 through my school. It came with 30G HD, IBM a/b/g 1.5banias. It costs only $1619. It is the least expensive T on the list and I assume one of the first to go in the fall? Do you think that IBM will stop giving my school certain models or that model when the prices drop. You know, rather than give them for a smaller price just stop making them or giving them to the school???

[jephhy]

When Intel introduces new processors, it usually keeps all the same price points, it just "waterfalls" the older products down in price and introduces the new stuff at the highest price point (which stays the same). So the slowest processor ends up getting dropped and the fastest processor costs the exactly the same as fastest processor from the previous generation. Make sense?

That way companies like IBM can keep the same system prices, and the consumer ends up gettting more for the same price. If IBM dropped system prices every time something new came out from Intel, then we'd all be getting our Thinkpads for close to free. Too bad it isn't like that.

Seems like fairly recent older model Thinkpads (T40, T41) don't get that much of a discount over the newer models...but I haven't checked too closely so maybe other people have noticed differently.

Jeff

[BillMorrow]

in my experience, ibm will drop prices of the current top model when a newer faster cpu arrives on the scene, and intro the new cpu on the next generation of thinkpads..

minor enhancements/changes happen all the time with little notice..

shelf life of electronics in general and computers in particular is like the shelf life of an ice cube on a hot day..
i.e. very short..!

[Guest]

When Intel introduces new processors, it usually keeps all the same price points, it just "waterfalls" the older products down in price and introduces the new stuff at the highest price point (which stays the same). So the slowest processor ends up getting dropped and the fastest processor costs the exactly the same as fastest processor from the previous generation. Make sense?

That way companies like IBM can keep the same system prices, and the consumer ends up gettting more for the same price. If IBM dropped system prices every time something new came out from Intel, then we'd all be getting our Thinkpads for close to free. Too bad it isn't like that.

Jeff

I guess you are right.

T41
2373-7FU $1,869.00 [/b][/b]XP Pro Pent. M 1.6 14.1" XGA 40GB 512MB 1Gb Y Centrino (b) UltraNav 32MB Radeon 7500 Combo 6 cell 3 Yr. Dep. 4.9 lbs.

T42
2373-6VU $1,899.00 XP Pro Pent. M 1.7 14.1" XGA 40GB 512MB 1Gb Y Centrino (b/g) UltraNav 32MB Radeon 7500 Combo 6 cell 3 Yr. Dep. 4.9 lbs.


Only 20 Dollars for a Dothan and faster processor.and centrino G, and no fan problems

[K. Eng]

The IBM direct prices tend not to fall. I remember that the 2373-19U T40 stayed constant in price until it was discontinued.

On the other hand, third party vendor prices will fall as demand for the older models falls.

[BillMorrow]

The IBM direct prices tend not to fall. I remember that the 2373-19U T40 stayed constant in price until it was discontinued.

On the other hand, third party vendor prices will fall as demand for the older models falls.

bear in mind that ibm sells LOTS of thinkpads to large enterprise customers..
as such, these LE's want to buy 1000 237219U T40's for their sales force..
then they develop a company preload for that particular thinkpad model..
6 months later they add 500 sales people and need more of the same thinkpad model..
under normal circuimstances the 237319U would not be made any longer..
but with what ibm calls the "workhorse" models, they will continue to produce the same model for a year or longer..

that way the LE can bank on getting more of the same and not being required to reinvent the company preload every 6 months and thus be forced to have either two tiers of sales people with T40's and T42's squabbling over who has the best thinkpad or buy 1500 new thinkpads and redo the preload..

i see some of this with, among others, state farm agents who get T20 or T23 series thinkpads and who buy a new HDD which they use for personal stuff while retaining the company preload as the company wants it..
sacred and free from possible virus's or dumb games or the like..

so these older models stay in the manufacturing "list" and stay at the more or less original retail price..

was all that clear or should i just go back to my cat nap..?