(Abridged) We revisit the problem of parameter estimation of gravitational-wave chirp signals from inspiralling non-spinning compact binaries in the light of the recent extension of the post-Newtonian (PN) phasing formula to order (v/c)^7 beyond the leading Newtonian order. We study in detail the implications of higher post-Newtonian orders from 1PN up to 3.5PN in steps of 0.5PN (∼ v/c), and examine their convergence. In both initial and advanced detectors the estimation of the chirp mass ( M)

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... nd symmetric mass ratio (η) improve at higher PN orders but oscillate with every half-a-PN order. We compare parameter estimation in different detectors and assess their relative performance in two different ways: at a fixed SNR, with the aim of understanding how the bandwidth improves parameter estimation, and for a fixed source, to gauge the importance of sensitivity. Errors in parameter estimation at a fixed SNR are smaller for VIRGO than for both initial and advanced LIGO. However, for sources at a fixed distance it is advanced LIGO that achieves the lowest errors owing to its greater sensitivity. Finally, we compute the amplitude corrections due to the 'frequency-sweep' in the Fourier domain representation of the waveform within the stationary phase approximation and discuss its implication on parameter estimation.