Dell Dumps AMD, Launches Intel Penryn-Based Inspiron Laptops

It's been only a few days since Dell dropped all the AMD-based systems off its online store, and now plans to introduce several Inspiron laptops built around Intel's latest 5-nanometer Penryn processors.

According to Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden, the new Penryn-powered laptops will kick in during the next few weeks. Dell customers will be able to pick Penryn-based Inspiron 1420, 1525 and 1720 systems in the next few weeks, but only in the United States market. UK availability has not been announced yet. The company spokeswoman also said that Dell will also introduce Intel's processor to its XPS M1330 for starters, with other XPS notebooks to follow during the spring.

"People want it because it's Intel's newest processor technology," Camden said. "The 45nm technology delivers better performance, and it also brings in better battery performance." Dell has quite a history with Intel's 45-nanometer Penryn CPUs: the PC manufacturer was the first vendor to ship Intel Penryn workstations.

However, back in November, IT analysts were expecting that the new 45-nanometer technology would bring significant performance boosts over the previous generations of CPUs. They were partly disappointed to note that the processors were faster, but they did not mark a milestone in desktop computing performance.

The news about the Penryn turn comes right after Dell's announcement that it's cutting back on online sales of consumer systems based on AMD chips. The AMD-based computers will keep on selling, but only at Dell's retail partners' shops, which is an important drawback for the customers who would like to customize their systems. "Any stories about us backing off AMD altogether are completely false," said David Lord, a spokesman for Dell. "It's a merchandising position."