Hey. It could happen. Besides, maybe "Joe" isn't really a plumber. Joe is most likely a Mavericky Intel® AMT developer. Today I'm going to pick on Intel AMT version 4.0 for a couple reasons. 1- if Joe is really a plumber, he isn't going to to want to lug around a desktop all day (although even desktops are getting quite slim) and 2, we recently launched Intel® Centrino® 2 with vPro™ Technology. (ie, Intel AMT 4.0)
Buying a vPro system should be easy so Joe decides to find a few OEMs and compare prices.
Hint: Here are some things Joe will have to figure out during the course of this exercise, if he doesn't already know them:
Joe goes to the HP website first. He sees there are a lot of systems to chose from and aslo sees that HP has information on their website regarding HP's product number/naming characteristics. HP adds the following letters to the end of their product numbers: s,b,p and w. "s" notebooks will have the fewest features while "w" will have the most. Joe quickly finds that he needs to purchase a notebook with "p" or "w" at the end of the product number. Now Joe can start shopping. He sees that there are 3 HP notebooks that will fit his criteria: the HP8530p, the HP 8710p, and the HP8510p. Should Joe stop here? No he should not. Joe is noticing that the webpages do not actually state what version of Intel AMT comes on each system. (Good catch, Joe!)
Joe first looks at the 8510p model. Joe goes into the "Specifications" Tab. There is a link for learning more about Intel Centrino vPro Technology (hmmm - this is not saying anything about Centrino 2 with vPro) The webpage indicates "Specialized Design" as Intel Centrino with vPro (this is AMT version 2.6 - this isn't the latest and greatest version of Intel AMT!) Joe wants to see the "More Detailed Specs". He sees that it has the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN or 4965AG - this is indeed an Intel AMT 2.6 system based on the wireless adapter. This is not what Joe is looking for.
Then Joe looks at the 8710p - same thing. This system is has the older version of Intel AMT.
Then Joe looks at the 8530p. The specification page is still referencing "Intel Centrino vPro" rather than Intel Centrino 2 with vPro... Hmmm. Joe goes into the more detailed specs. Score! The "more detailed" specs lists Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology and this model has the Intel WiFi Link 5300 which is one of the adapters that Intel AMT 4.0 can use. Joe has found a system and it is around $1500!
Joe actually just got a call from Roger who has a lot of experience with the HP product line. This is what Roger told him: All of the HP notebooks in the "P" and "W" lines support vPro. This includes: the 2510p, 2710p, 6910p, 8510p/w, and 8710p/w which all support AMT 2.6; and the 2530p, 2730p, 6930p, 8530p/w, and 8730p/w which all support AMT 4.0. The only limitations are that AMT isn't supported on systems with Windows 2000 or Windows XP64, because of the lack of drivers; and the Extreme Edition processors on the portable workstations aren't vPro compliant, so you can't get vPro on a system with an EE processor.
Now Joe takes a look at Toshiba: (this goes a little quicker for Joe as he now knows what peices to look for.) Toshiba has 5 notebook brands (Protege, Satellite, Satellite Pro, Tecra and Qosmio.) Since Joes does not see a link that will have a nice comparison of features, he must click on each one to see if it has vPro Technology. Joe thought that the Satellite Pro would have vPro technology, but he was mistaken. Joe finally found that the Tecra models have Intel vPro technology. There are 5 Tecra Models (M9, M10, R10, A9, A10.) Joe noticed that when he followed the M9 link, the webpage said that "some" models come with vPro. Hmmmm. Only one of the model's webpages does not actually say anything about vPro (but it actually does have vPro.) Joe looks at the M9 webpage and sees that it shows the "Intel Centrino vPro" logo instead of the "Intel Centrino 2 vPro" logo (Joe is extremely observant.) Joe finds that the models with 9 at the end have the AMT 2.6 wireless adapter - this is not what Joe wants. Wow that was a little tricky because Joe wants a notebook with AMT 4.0. So then Joe checks out the models with 10 at the end and they all have the Intel Centrino 2 vPro logo - this is a good sign and he sees that they also have the required Wireless WiFi Link 5100 AGN. Excellent. Joe has found the notebooks having AMT 4.0. If Joe wants to purchase a Toshiba with vPro technology, he can spend between $1300 and $1600.
Oh no! Joe has to go fix an exploding sink now and he is also hungry. He will get back to his shopping after he finishes this emergency job and buys a new toolbelt! (Joe will exercise everything he has learned as he continues shopping later.)
Buying a vPro system should be easy so Joe decides to find a few OEMs and compare prices.
Hint: Here are some things Joe will have to figure out during the course of this exercise, if he doesn't already know them:
- One give-away for a system having vPro Technology is that it should have the Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965 AG (AMT 2.6) or the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5100 or 5300 AGN (AMT 4.0) adapters.
- AMT 4.0 systems should be branded as Intel Centrino 2 with vPro Technology (note the 2)
- ATM 2.6 notebooks will be branded as Intel Centrino with vPro Technology (note there is no 2)
- AMT 4.0 notebooks will have the M45 series Chipset (joe may have to dig through specs...)
- AMT 2.6 notebooks will have the 965 series Chipset (again... specs may come in handy...)
Joe goes to the HP website first. He sees there are a lot of systems to chose from and aslo sees that HP has information on their website regarding HP's product number/naming characteristics. HP adds the following letters to the end of their product numbers: s,b,p and w. "s" notebooks will have the fewest features while "w" will have the most. Joe quickly finds that he needs to purchase a notebook with "p" or "w" at the end of the product number. Now Joe can start shopping. He sees that there are 3 HP notebooks that will fit his criteria: the HP8530p, the HP 8710p, and the HP8510p. Should Joe stop here? No he should not. Joe is noticing that the webpages do not actually state what version of Intel AMT comes on each system. (Good catch, Joe!)
Joe first looks at the 8510p model. Joe goes into the "Specifications" Tab. There is a link for learning more about Intel Centrino vPro Technology (hmmm - this is not saying anything about Centrino 2 with vPro) The webpage indicates "Specialized Design" as Intel Centrino with vPro (this is AMT version 2.6 - this isn't the latest and greatest version of Intel AMT!) Joe wants to see the "More Detailed Specs". He sees that it has the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN or 4965AG - this is indeed an Intel AMT 2.6 system based on the wireless adapter. This is not what Joe is looking for.
Then Joe looks at the 8710p - same thing. This system is has the older version of Intel AMT.
Then Joe looks at the 8530p. The specification page is still referencing "Intel Centrino vPro" rather than Intel Centrino 2 with vPro... Hmmm. Joe goes into the more detailed specs. Score! The "more detailed" specs lists Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology and this model has the Intel WiFi Link 5300 which is one of the adapters that Intel AMT 4.0 can use. Joe has found a system and it is around $1500!
Joe actually just got a call from Roger who has a lot of experience with the HP product line. This is what Roger told him: All of the HP notebooks in the "P" and "W" lines support vPro. This includes: the 2510p, 2710p, 6910p, 8510p/w, and 8710p/w which all support AMT 2.6; and the 2530p, 2730p, 6930p, 8530p/w, and 8730p/w which all support AMT 4.0. The only limitations are that AMT isn't supported on systems with Windows 2000 or Windows XP64, because of the lack of drivers; and the Extreme Edition processors on the portable workstations aren't vPro compliant, so you can't get vPro on a system with an EE processor.
Now Joe takes a look at Toshiba: (this goes a little quicker for Joe as he now knows what peices to look for.) Toshiba has 5 notebook brands (Protege, Satellite, Satellite Pro, Tecra and Qosmio.) Since Joes does not see a link that will have a nice comparison of features, he must click on each one to see if it has vPro Technology. Joe thought that the Satellite Pro would have vPro technology, but he was mistaken. Joe finally found that the Tecra models have Intel vPro technology. There are 5 Tecra Models (M9, M10, R10, A9, A10.) Joe noticed that when he followed the M9 link, the webpage said that "some" models come with vPro. Hmmmm. Only one of the model's webpages does not actually say anything about vPro (but it actually does have vPro.) Joe looks at the M9 webpage and sees that it shows the "Intel Centrino vPro" logo instead of the "Intel Centrino 2 vPro" logo (Joe is extremely observant.) Joe finds that the models with 9 at the end have the AMT 2.6 wireless adapter - this is not what Joe wants. Wow that was a little tricky because Joe wants a notebook with AMT 4.0. So then Joe checks out the models with 10 at the end and they all have the Intel Centrino 2 vPro logo - this is a good sign and he sees that they also have the required Wireless WiFi Link 5100 AGN. Excellent. Joe has found the notebooks having AMT 4.0. If Joe wants to purchase a Toshiba with vPro technology, he can spend between $1300 and $1600.
Oh no! Joe has to go fix an exploding sink now and he is also hungry. He will get back to his shopping after he finishes this emergency job and buys a new toolbelt! (Joe will exercise everything he has learned as he continues shopping later.)
Comments
Joe the Plumber has a cousin "Dave the DBA" Perhaps he too is interested in buying a machine but something a little beefier than Joe's. To learn more about "Dave the DBA" visit my blog at http://blogs.ingres.com/emmamcgrattan/2008/10/21/dave-the-dba/
Now if only "Joe" decided he would research a little bit more about intel based notebooks which (Open)Solaris supports out of the box, and write another article on that...
Excellent Post Gael!!!!
This tips for selecting a VPro PC are really useful, I have found specially at the dell.com website that it is not easy to find VPro PCs they dont include Chipset specs, they have an online sales chat but sales people don't know anything about VPro (at least at the Dell Latin America Site).
I would love to see Joe's experience while shopping at Dell ;)
I just thought that I would add some information about HP business notebooks that support vPro.
All of the HP notebooks in the "P" and "W" lines support vPro. This includes: the 2510p, 2710p, 6910p, 8510p/w, and 8710p/w which all support AMT 2.6; and the 2530p, 2730p, 6930p, 8530p/w, and 8730p/w which all support AMT 4.0. The only limitations are that AMT isn't supported on systems with Windows 2000 or Windows XP64, because of the lack of drivers; and the Extreme Edition processors on the portable workstations aren't vPro compliant, so you can't get vPro on a system with an EE processor.
Roger
Thanks for the info, Roger. I may stick this up in the blog so that it isn't buried.
Im looking for software discussion to get info on purchasing softw dev tools. The place Ive trusted in the past has been Intel. Now I see a political themed thing about Joe the Plumber? ok, then it says "His name isnt Joe and he isnt a plumber"? Is this a democrat/liberal kind of place? Is there sheer hatred for John McCain, and America here? Reading that the famous Joe the Plumber isnt a plumber is only a leftwing statement, and its a lie.
So if thats the first thing, and its a lie, then what else is a lie? Its been a while since Ive seen an Intel thread or sw discussion, Intel used to be serious if I remember? Is it now a left wing political and profane joke place also?
IS V-Pro LIKE A V-TWIN? (H-D) JUST KIDDING! WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT A DELL W/V-Pro? DELL IS JUST ANOTHER "MACHINE". IF ONE WANT'S TO STAY CURRENT W/TECHNOLOGY I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A KNIFE DEVELOPED THAT WOULD CUT THROUGH ALL THE MARKETING BS, AND CUT IT "TO THE QUICK".
I KNOW THAT YOU PAY MORE FOR HP ..... BUT YOU GET SOMETHING THAT IN BUSINESS IS INVALUABLE. 24/7/365 SUPPORT TALKING TO KNOWLEDGEABLE, HIGHLY TRAINED PERSONEL. I HAVE BEEN IN THIS GAME A LONG TIME AND FIND THAT MARKETING HAS OUTPACED TECHNOLOGY OVER THE YEARS. I THINK ALL WEBSITES, FOR ANY GIVEN MANUFACTURER, TAKES A LOT OF VALUABLE TIME TO "WADE" THROUGH. I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, BUT I LIKE MUCH PREFER SITTING BACK WITH A CUP OF COFFEE, OR A COCKTAIL, AT 3:00 AM ..... THEN GETTING "PLEASE CALL BACK BETWEEN 6:00 AM & 8:00 PM PACIFIC TIME. OR THE OLD "SORRY WE ARE CLOSED AT THIS TIME, CALL BACK BETWEEN ..... MON-FRI!
HOW'S ABOUT YOUSE GUYS? I THINK "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR" APPLIES!