BFMracing
General Category => Tech Support and Chat => Topic started by: ThE BrIcK on November 27, 2007, 07:10:39 PM
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Ok, well, my mom asked me if I would like a laptop for Christmas. So, I've been looking around for some cheap, good laptops. I've found 2 that are pretty good for the price.
Compaq V6500Z (Compaq and HP merged BTW)
Operating system -- Genuine Windows Vista ( :'( ) Home Premium (32-bit)
Processor -- AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-55 (1.8 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache)
Display -- 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
Memory -- 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M
Networking -- 802.11b/g WLAN
Hard Drive -- 80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive -- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer
Primary Battery -- High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity Software -- Microsoft(R) Office Home and Student 2007
Total - $766.99
Dell Inspiron 1521
PROCESSOR -- AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-58 (1.9GHz/1MB)
OPERATING SYSTEM -- Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
DISPLAY -- Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
VIDEO CARD -- ATI RADEON® Xpress1270 HyperMemory™
MEMORY -- 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE -- Size: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE -- CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS -- Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card
BATTERY OPTIONS -- 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
SOUND OPTIONS -- High Definition Audio 2.0
Total - $749
Soooo, what do you guys think? What's better?
If you have a better deal please, show me. Budget of around $800.
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ide take the compaq. but see if you can upgrade to a faster RPM harddrive. even throught its dulecore, it will be dumbed down by the harddrive
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All the hard drive RPM upgrades are the same. 5400RPM. Just the capacity is different.
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oh well... i gess you can do aftermarket upgrades if you want.
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ide take the compaq. but see if you can upgrade to a faster RPM harddrive. even throught its dulecore, it will be dumbed down by the harddrive
I completely agree with this, the majority of Laptops are completely bottlenecked by their harddrives, try to get a slower processor if you can if that enables you to get a 7200rpm harddisk, as otherwise the processor will sit idle waiting for data from the drive much of the time.
There are two Inspiron 1521s, you chose the one with the faster processor, if you look at the one that starts at 599 it has a slower processor (TK-55) but has the option of a faster 120gb 7200rpm harddisk, i recommend having a look at that.
Despite what people say, there's nothing inherently wrong with Vista, so don't worry about that.
Are you planning to play Halo on this? It may not run at full settings on those mobile gpus, and they certainly won't run more modern games. Unfortunately its quite hard to find laptops with a decent gpu, particularly for that price. Between the ATI and Nvidia one, performance will probably be about the same, so i would tend to favour the ATI one as they have better drivers imo. That said i prefer HP over dell but the dell website is a lot easier to use for configuring and such, and tbh i doubt there's much difference between dell and HP quality wise.
I don't know about you but i find these glossy lcds quite irritating, they look very nice but they are extremely reflective. Its a personal preference thing, but if you haven't used a glossy screen before i recommend having a look at one with a glossy screen before you choose that. Same goes for HP's brightview.
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The processor upgrades are:
Mobile AMD Sempron(TM) Processor 3600+ (2.0 GHz, 256KB L2 Cache) - (Included in price)
AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-55 (1.8 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache) - $35 (What I have listed above)
AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-58 (1.9 GHz, 512KB+512KB L2 Cache ) - $100
AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60 (2.0 GHz, 512KB+512KB L2 Cache ) - $150
AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-62 (2.1 GHz, 512KB+512KB L2 Cache ) - $225
There is a free upgrade for the hard drive now.
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive from 80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Does that help?
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Its the harddrive rpm that counts. A larger harddisk will usually be a little faster, but its the rpm that makes the difference.
Looking on the HP website, that model isn't offered with a faster harddisk. It looks like HP don't do any model in your price range with the faster harddisk, which is a pity.
Its not a major problem if you can't get one with a faster harddisk, i recommend doing some price comparisons between HP and Dell though as it looks to me like you can get a Dell with a faster harddisk for the same price as an HP without...
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How is the graphics?
Which one is better?
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Performance wise, I don't really know. Problem is, they don't do 3D stuff like gaming very well so no-one bothers to test them and publish the results. That said, i doubt there's much in it at all.
I recommend going for the ATI, because there have been a lot of problems in the past with nvidia drivers, particularly their chipset drivers. Their desktop chipsets also make a lot of heat, bad for a laptop, although i don't know what their laptop ones are like.
The chipset btw is the bit that connects the cpu to everything else, and it will be the same chip that does the graphics (gpu) in a laptop.
I prefer HP as a brand but it looks to me like Dell have a better product...
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I checked the nvidia on the HP and it says it will do fine for gaming.
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Depends what you mean by gaming. It'll play solitaire fine... :LOL:
Seriously, its not a gaming gpu by any stretch of the imagination, it'll play older games, but that's because the games are old, not because the gpu is a gaming gpu. Try playing modern games like BF2142, Oblivion, Flight sim X, Bioshock, Orange Box, COD 4, and none of them will be playable i.e less than 10fps on the lowest settings.
However, i just noticed that HP are offering the GeForce 8400M as an option on the 6500z, and that is considerably better and probably can play the above games in low settings. Try a configuration with that and see if it fits your budget. I don't think dell offer it...
Edit: Dell offer it too, and they offer the 8600M which really is a mid range gaming card. I guess its just a matter of juggling the numbers until it fits the budget, but if you want gaming i recommend getting either the 8400M or 8600M.
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I would go for the HP myself Brick. That is what I have and I am happy with it. I also would recommend upgrading the processor as much as possible. I believe that you graphics is the kind that is on the motherboard. If it is then your main processor will be doing the graphics work. I have a 2.4 Ghz processor and it is great. Burns the battery fast on performance mode but it does well in battery saver mode. Vista has the option to adjust your power consumption of your processor. The problem with the Dell computer is that they are hard to upgrade. I personally wouldnt worry so much about the speed of the hard drive. Gaming doesnt pull from the drive that much. I actually used to load maps faster at the start of a game than many people with gaming specific computers. Dont worry too much about Vista also. Give it a good tryout before you just erase it. Also, I believe that you have to ask for a disk of your operating system when ordering your computer. Remember to do that.
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Depends what you mean by gaming. It'll play solitaire fine... :LOL:
Seriously, its not a gaming gpu by any stretch of the imagination, it'll play older games, but that's because the games are old, not because the gpu is a gaming gpu. Try playing modern games like BF2142, Oblivion, Flight sim X, Bioshock, Orange Box, COD 4, and none of them will be playable i.e less than 10fps on the lowest settings.
However, i just noticed that HP are offering the GeForce 8400M as an option on the 6500z, and that is considerably better and probably can play the above games in low settings. Try a configuration with that and see if it fits your budget. I don't think dell offer it...
Edit: Dell offer it too, and they offer the 8600M which really is a mid range gaming card. I guess its just a matter of juggling the numbers until it fits the budget, but if you want gaming i recommend getting either the 8400M or 8600M.
The 6500z is my first choice ^^^^
I would go for the HP myself Brick. That is what I have and I am happy with it. I also would recommend upgrading the processor as much as possible. I believe that you graphics is the kind that is on the motherboard. If it is then your main processor will be doing the graphics work. I have a 2.4 Ghz processor and it is great. Burns the battery fast on performance mode but it does well in battery saver mode. Vista has the option to adjust your power consumption of your processor. The problem with the Dell computer is that they are hard to upgrade. I personally wouldnt worry so much about the speed of the hard drive. Gaming doesnt pull from the drive that much. I actually used to load maps faster at the start of a game than many people with gaming specific computers. Dont worry too much about Vista also. Give it a good tryout before you just erase it. Also, I believe that you have to ask for a disk of your operating system when ordering your computer. Remember to do that.
Rebel - I have the processors that I can upgrade listed in my 6th post. The only problem with that is, the best processor they offer is an extra $225.
1.) Mobile AMD Sempron(TM) Processor 3600+ (2.0 GHz, 256KB L2 Cache) - Total cost = $781.99
2.) AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-55 (1.8 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache) - Total cost = $816.99
3.) AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-58 (1.9 GHz, 512KB+512KB L2 Cache ) - Total cost = $881.99
4.) AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60 (2.0 GHz, 512KB+512KB L2 Cache ) - Total cost = $931.99
5.) AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-62 (2.1 GHz, 512KB+512KB L2 Cache ) - Total cost = $1006.99
Because of cost issues, the highest is probably #2. Maybe #3.
Now, I upgraded the memory to 2GB instead of 1GB because I don't want Vista to get mad. :P
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Can you afford the 6500z with the 8400M? That seems like the best route to go down...
Edit: I also would recommend upgrading the processor as much as possible. I believe that you graphics is the kind that is on the motherboard. If it is then your main processor will be doing the graphics work.
I disagree, no amount of extra processor speed will make up for a slow gpu, you simply wouldn't notice the improvement. Particularly when you can probably get the better 8400M for the price of a cpu upgrade.
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Can you afford the 6500z with the 8400M? That seems like the best route to go down...
8400M for the Hard Drive? I don't see any upgrades for that.
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Ya might want to reread my post ;) The onboard graphics in my laptop uses the Cpu to process the graphics instead of using a graphics dedicated processor. If that was the case with the particular graphics set that he is getting (I am not sure, havent googled it) then the CPU will be doing the work.
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Can you afford the 6500z with the 8400M? That seems like the best route to go down...
8400M for the Hard Drive? I don't see any upgrades for that.
No, the graphics (gpu). HP don't offer the faster harddisks unfortunately.
Here's a quick config...
Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) edit
Processor AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-55 (1.8 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache) edit
Display 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800) edit
Memory 75% OFF Upgrade to 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!! edit
Graphics Card 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS edit
Personalization HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Microphone edit
Networking 802.11b/g WLAN edit
Hard Drive 80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
Primary CD/DVD Drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support edit
TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control edit
Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit
Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works 8.0
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Can you send me the link to that? Because the one I'm looking at and the one your looking at are different. Yet they have the same name.
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Ya might want to reread my post ;) The onboard graphics in my laptop uses the Cpu to process the graphics instead of using a graphics dedicated processor. If that was the case with the particular graphics set that he is getting (I am not sure, havent googled it) then the CPU will be doing the work.
It is the case with the models in his first post, but no amount of added cpu speed makes much of a discernible difference. It will be dog slow whatever you do, its simply not designed for gaming. Ok so you might go up from 10fps to 14 fps with the faster cpu, but its still going to be unplayable, and for the money you spent on the cpu upgrade you could probably get the 8400M instead of the onboard gpu and get playable frame rates like 30fps.
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Can you send me the link to that? Because the one I'm looking at and the one your looking at are different. Yet they have the same name.
Unfortunately not, HP's system is generating the pages and doesn't give them unique URLs so if i give you the URL it just goes to an error.
Its in Notebooks > Entertainment > dv6500z > base configuration customise and buy (top right)
The dv6500t is also much the same, see which is cheaper with the options you want, both offer the 8400M for the Graphics.
Edit: This is quite helpful for me actually because I'm probably going to be getting a new laptop soon... current one is an HP btw, and I've had no problems with it.
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Both are $902.99 after all the upgrades.
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Both are $902.99 after all the upgrades.
Hmm over budget... can you paste the specs list in here? I was getting it at under 800. Is that with the rebate thing?
Edit: Its late here in the Uk so I'll have a look at it tomorrow...
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DV6500t
Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) dual core processor T2310 (1.46 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Display 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
Memory 75% OFF Upgrade to 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!!
Graphics Card 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
Personalization HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Microphone
Networking Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Hard Drive FREE Upgrade to 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive!!
Primary CD/DVD Drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control
Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Office Home and Student 2007
DV6500z
Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
Processor AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-55 (1.8 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache)
Display 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
Memory 75% OFF Upgrade to 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!!
Graphics Card 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
Personalization HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Microphone
Networking 802.11b/g WLAN
Hard Drive FREE Upgrade to 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive!!
Primary CD/DVD Drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control
Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Office Home and Student 2007
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for the prosseser, with we seem we havent covered. I strongely recomend the Althon. beacuse of its quite and cool technology. It takes less volts to run and it stays much MUCH colder. My friends had an intell prosser of the same equivilance and his runs at 70-80c. i run at 20-30c. sorry for rant. Just voicing my point lol
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for the prosseser, with we seem we havent covered. I strongely recomend the Althon. beacuse of its quite and cool technology. It takes less volts to run and it stays much MUCH colder. My friends had an intell prosser of the same equivilance and his runs at 70-80c. i run at 20-30c. sorry for rant. Just voicing my point lol
Ok, but that still doesn't solve the cost problem. :P
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i know :)
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I'm going to ask my mom again for a price range. If she ups it $100 then I can get dv6500z priced at $902.99
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Found something to consider. it's refurbished, but, so what.
HP DV6265us
Microprocessor: Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo 1.66GHz T5500
Memory: 2GB 667MHz DDR2 System
Video Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 up to 256MB(shared
Hard Drive: 160GB 5400RPM (SATA)
Multimedia Drive: LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±RW with Double Layer Support
Display: 15.4 WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) Display
Fax/Modem: High speed 56k modem
Network Card: Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Connectivity: 802.11b/g WLAN
HP Features: HP Pavilion WebCam with Integrated Microphone
Sound: Altec Lansing
Keyboard: 101-key compatible, 2 Quick Launch Buttons (HP Quick Play Music and DVD buttons)
Device: Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad PC Card Slots: 1
ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
External Ports
Total = $795
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seems a little underpower. dousent cost much less than the new ones. its up to you
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I just stumbled on it. I wasn't sure how good it was. I'm still leaning towards the HP though. I'll keep looking.
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NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M:
NVIDIA's(R) GeForce(R) Go 7150M combines with NVIDIA nForce(R) 630M to create a notebook motherboard GPU on a single chip. It is designed to support the graphic and audio capabilities of today's popular games and media on a single chip solution. NVIDIA has taken the two chips used in the older dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 products, combined them into one, and added some more memory buffering. This implementation makes it possible to see an improvement in performance and battery life. Included in this graphics solution are the following: NVIDIA(R) PureVideo(TM) technology which provides enhanced picture clarity and images will appear more life-like, NVIDIA DisplayCache technology which helps to manage graphics performance to extend typical battery life and NVIDIA(R) PowerMizer(TM) SX technology which helps you enjoy excellent HD audio, storage and communications performance without sacrificing battery life. DISCLAIMERS: System memory dedicated to video performance is not available for other use by other programs. Note - this disclaimer affects system memory and Graphics. Battery life will vary depending on the product model, configuration, loaded applications, features, and power management settings. The maximum capacity of the battery will decrease with time and usage.
So, it says its designed to support the graphic capabilities of today's games. This goes to the HP in my first post. So, this might be the one. Unless someone can persuade me enough to not get it.
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i reckon if you can. get a apple macbook or macbook pro and make sure u have moc os 10.5 (leopard). use bootcamp and install windows. and away u go. with atleast 6 hours of battery. and they are light as. i got mine on sat for chrisi. its fab and they are dual core. give it a try.
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i reckon if you can. get a apple macbook or macbook pro and make sure u have moc os 10.5 (leopard). use bootcamp and install windows. and away u go. with atleast 6 hours of battery. and they are light as. i got mine on sat for chrisi. its fab and they are dual core. give it a try.
I've been thinking about that. I'm not sure if I want to or not.
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for the prosseser, with we seem we havent covered. I strongely recomend the Althon. beacuse of its quite and cool technology. It takes less volts to run and it stays much MUCH colder. My friends had an intell prosser of the same equivilance and his runs at 70-80c. i run at 20-30c. sorry for rant. Just voicing my point lol
The Intel ones have an equivalent technology, called speedstep i think, but its just as good if not better. Your friend most likely had a mobile P4, which were truly terrible, and were just slower versions of the desktop P4s, which also ran very hot at high clock speeds but were not particularly fast (remember, clock speed does not equal performance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megahertz_myth), nor does more cores).
I'm going to ask my mom again for a price range. If she ups it $100 then I can get dv6500z priced at $902.99
Your cost problem seems to be caused by you adding Microsoft office to it. Are you eligible for this (http://www.theultimatesteal.com/home.asp)?
seems a little underpower. dousent cost much less than the new ones. its up to you
I agree, my current laptop has a singe core at about that speed and i would want something a little faster if i were to upgrade. Main problem though is the graphics, far worse than the integrated ones in the new laptops, probably won't even run Vista, games are a definite no no. And its not such a good deal anyway...
Insert Quote
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M:
NVIDIA's(R) GeForce(R) Go 7150M combines with NVIDIA nForce(R) 630M to create a notebook motherboard GPU on a single chip. It is designed to support the graphic and audio capabilities of today's popular games and media on a single chip solution. NVIDIA has taken the two chips used in the older dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 products, combined them into one, and added some more memory buffering. This implementation makes it possible to see an improvement in performance and battery life. Included in this graphics solution are the following: NVIDIA(R) PureVideo(TM) technology which provides enhanced picture clarity and images will appear more life-like, NVIDIA DisplayCache technology which helps to manage graphics performance to extend typical battery life and NVIDIA(R) PowerMizer(TM) SX technology which helps you enjoy excellent HD audio, storage and communications performance without sacrificing battery life. DISCLAIMERS: System memory dedicated to video performance is not available for other use by other programs. Note - this disclaimer affects system memory and Graphics. Battery life will vary depending on the product model, configuration, loaded applications, features, and power management settings. The maximum capacity of the battery will decrease with time and usage.
So, it says its designed to support the graphic capabilities of today's games. This goes to the HP in my first post. So, this might be the one. Unless someone can persuade me enough to not get it.
That's complete marketing rubbish, to put it bluntly. It will not play today's popular games, no way. Let me show you why...
Have a look at this (http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html). They have tested most popular desktop graphics cards with some popular games, most of them a year or so old now. The Nvidia 7150M is not as good as the Nvidia 7300GS and ATI X1300HM that they tested, so if those cards can't play it a Laptop with a 7150M certainly can't.
For example, here (http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=740&model2=719&chart=277) they tested BF2142 on a resolution of 1280/1024, which is about the same as this laptop. They got 5fps and 6.6fps. A Playable framerate is 20fps+. See what i mean? Same story for most of the other games. The 8400M is probably a bit worse than the 8500GT that they tested, so that gives you a good way to make some comparisons.
i reckon if you can. get a apple macbook or macbook pro and make sure u have moc os 10.5 (leopard). use bootcamp and install windows. and away u go. with atleast 6 hours of battery. and they are light as. i got mine on sat for chrisi. its fab and they are dual core. give it a try.
I've been temped by this too, but the premium you pay for an apple product is obscene, you compare the specs with Dell and HP and usually find you can get the same thing without the apple badge for $200 less. The other problem is, getting a macbook with a gpu that can play games is probably even harder than an HP or Dell.
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- 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
- 80GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
- Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
- Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
- iWork '08 preinstalled
- AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth
- Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
- Apple Remote
$1328.00
Just gotta get the final "OK".
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Wow, that's a serious increase in budget... having never used OSX i shouldn't really comment, all I'll say is you're getting almost the same specs as the two you looked at earlier, which means you're looking at near $500 extra for OSX and an Apple badge. That's a lot to swallow imo.
Bear in mind the Intel GMA X3100 is going to be as bad at gaming as the 7150M, I imagine it'll play Halo but that's about the limit.
Great productivity laptop if you like working in the OSX environment, but its not a gaming laptop which is what you said you wanted...
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Geez. If you have that much money, might as well look into a better laptop with Windows.
Dell Inspiron 1520
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
- 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
- 120GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
- CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
- 1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
Price: $1,254
Bam, now that's a computer for a good price. Lol.
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Wow, that's a serious increase in budget... having never used OSX i shouldn't really comment, all I'll say is you're getting almost the same specs as the two you looked at earlier, which means you're looking at near $500 extra for OSX and an Apple badge. That's a lot to swallow imo.
Bear in mind the Intel GMA X3100 is going to be as bad at gaming as the 7150M, I imagine it'll play Halo but that's about the limit.
Great productivity laptop if you like working in the OSX environment, but its not a gaming laptop which is what you said you wanted...
Geez. If you have that much money, might as well look into a better laptop with Windows.
Dell Inspiron 1520
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
- 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
- 120GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
- CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
- 1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
Price: $1,254
Bam, now that's a computer for a good price. Lol.
As I was posting the specs, I was thinking the same thing Xenocide. That was a big price increase. So I was looking at the Dell, te same one that you posted Ediseye.
**EDIT**
SYSTEM COLOR Jet Black
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5250 (1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic Edition
DISPLAY Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE 80GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card
INTEGRATED WEBCAMIntegrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
BATTERY OPTIONS 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0
$1198
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As I was posting the specs, I was thinking the same thing Xenocide. That was a big price increase. So I was looking at the Dell, te same one that you posted Ediseye.
Ediseye's one has the 7200rpm harddisk, which i recommend, and which the HP ones don't offer which puts Dell in front imo. Otherwise that's a fantastic looking laptop.
The upgrade of the graphics is very significant, from 7150M to 8400M you get about an extra 10fps, 8400M to 8600M GT gets you about 40 extra frames per second, which is massive. Its a very capable card, will play almost anything, and worth the extra money.
Again, we can compare them to the desktop ones, here (http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=1059&model2=854&chart=287). Look how high up the 8600 gts is vs the 8400 and the 7300 (roughly equivalent to the 7150M).
Your bigger budget means you can look at the XPS now, which is smaller and lighter and nicer looking than the Inspiron i believe.
Here's an XPS M1530:
SYSTEM COLOR Tuxedo Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5250 (2MB cache/1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition edit
LCD AND CAMERA Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch LCD (1280x800) & 2.0 MP Camera edit
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms) edit
HARD DRIVE Speed: 120GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write) edit
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT edit
WIRELESS CARDS Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0
$1,324
You seem to pay a bit of a premium for the XPS though, so here's an Inspiron 1520:
My Components
SYSTEM COLOR Jet Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5250 (1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition edit
DISPLAY High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1440x900) edit
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT edit
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz edit
HARD DRIVE Speed: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive) edit
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card edit
INTEGRATED WEBCAM No Webcam Option edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell) edit
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0 edit
$1,199
With both of these, i recommend a small processor upgrade to the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5450 (1.66GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache) for $50 if your budget allows. Depends whether you want XPS or if you're fine with the ordinary inspiron. Personally i'd probably have the inspiron with a small processor upgrade to bring it up to $1,250 - $1,300 depending on what you can afford.
I added a higher resolution display to the inspiron as that seems like a good option to me, but you could always drop it in favour of a bigger processor upgrade or a lower price.
They will both beat the Macbooks hands down, and they will both play halo on full settings, because I had a 6600GT which is somewhat slower than the 8600 GT and it played halo on full settings fine. They'll run most other games on high settings fine too.
Are the prices of these too low or too high? Set a maximum budget and i'll spec one up to fit if you like.
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Brick, you want to go with a fast processor than what you got listed on your edit. At least upgrade one or two models. Lol. Also, go with the 7,200RPM hard drive if you can. Makes a difference when accessing music and games that are stores on the hard drive, as well as boot times. Take away the webcam if you need some more money to work with. It isn't all that needed and it might help save some cash for faster hardware.
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Webcam is only and extra $25
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Upgrade the processor with that money. Lolz.
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I didn't feel like typing in all the specs so, you can view and edit it there.
*EDIT*
Doesn't work, I'll post later.
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FYI, with regards to hard drive speed, it's not just the RPM speed that matters, but a combination of speed and size.
Since the physical platters are the same size in the 2.5" drives, that means that a larger HD has MORE data packed into the same physical space on the drives. Therefore, with a larger capacity drive, it doesn't NEED to spin as fast to read the same amount of data in the same time.
So, if you go to the first example, of an 80G 7200 RPM drive and a 120GB 5400 RPM drive, the 120G will probably read the data just as fast as the 80G.
If you are comparing a 120GB 5400 and 120GB 7200, then the data size is the same, and then the RPM speed does make a difference.
If you really want to compare hard drives, you have to look at the manufacturer specs for the read/write/seek speeds for each drive and compare that way.
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You're absolutely right, however often the larger drives are just multi-platter versions of the smaller drives, so you can end up with an 80gb drive with the same data density as a 160gb drive.
Also, while an increased data density and lower rpm drive may equal the read speed of a higher rpm drive with lesser density, your higher rpm drive would still have a better seek time, because it takes less time for a given sector to reach the head because its spinning faster.
Looking at the options available for the Dells, you can have a 160gb 5200rpm for +$75, a 250gb 5200rpm for +$150, or a 120gb 7200rpm for +$100.
My primary system is my desktop so i find my laptop with 40gb is more than enough, so i'd have a higher rpm one with less space... which drive is better may depend on whether Brick wants more than 120gb of storage space or not?
Dell probably use a mixture of OEMs for their drives but lets assume they use seagate. Looking at the seagate 7200rpm drives the 120gb one has 2 disks and 3 heads which looks like 40gb per platter to me. They spec a sustained write of about 59MB/s, seek of 11ms.
Looking at the 5400rpm drives the 250gb is 60gb per platter, transfer rate of 58, seek of 12. Nothing in it, or so they say. The 160gb 5400rpm drive with a data density of about 54 apparently has the same specs... not sure if i believe that. I wonder if the 160 also uses 60gb platters with a bit wasted? In which case, apart from the seek time that might make a good option.
Problem is, dell could be using an older 160gb drive with 4 40gb platters, and i bet its impossible to find out.
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Brick I went to iBuyPower and I configured this. It's less than the Mac and a LITTLE more than the others they are showing you. They have a financing plan just as Dell does, and I truly believe this ( or another configured one on this website ) would be your best Bang for the Buck...
http://www.ibuypower.com
* SPECIFICATIONS *
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Case ( Battalion-101 C-90S 15.4" 16:10 Wide Screen WSXGA 1680x1050 LCD TFT Notebook w/Li-Ion Battery, Universal AC Power Adapter, Deluxe Carrying Case Original Metallic Silver/Black 2-Tone Color )
Processor ( Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB) )
Memory ( 2048MB(1024MB X2) DDR2-667 PC5300 [Notebook Memory] Mushkin )
Video Card ( Mobility 512MB NVIDIA 8600GT PCI-Express 3D Video (C90S) )
Hard Drive ( 120 GB 7200rpm Serial-ATA-150 Super Slim Notebook Hard Drive )
External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( 8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [C-90S] )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Fax Modem ( Build-in 56K V.92 Fax Modem [Notebook] )
Network Card ( Build-in 10/100/1000 Network LAN [Notebook] )
Mouse ( None )
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Build-in 3x USB 2.0 Ports [Notebook] )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( Build-in 8-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Notebook] )
Carrying Case ( Free Deluxe Carrying Case )
Operation System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 32-Bit )
Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner ( None )
IEEE-1394 Fire Wire Card ( Build-in 1x IEEE-1394 Firewire Port [Notebook] )
USB Flash Drive ( None )
TV Tuner ( None )
Video Camera ( Build-in 2.0 Mega Pixels Digital Web Video Camera )
Headset ( None )
Internal Wireless Network Adapter ( [Free !!!] Wireless 802.11 a/b/g 3945 Mini-Card )
Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard One(1) Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )
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The 'Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB' is a desktop processor.
Not good in a notebook, it will give a massive increase in heat and decrease in battery life. Intel do sell a mobile processor at that speed, so either they made a mistake or they're cutting costs. If its the latter i wouldn't touch them with a barge pole as they are conning customers in a big way, putting cheaper desktop components in a laptop which most customers probably won't notice until its too late.
'3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard' also looks a little dodgy, what chipset are they using that supports a desktop C2D in a Laptop i wonder? Not an Intel one.
I haven't had a proper look at their site yet, but those things jump out at me from the spec sheet.