Is this Laptop MUCH better than my Desktop?

Guru

Guru

Guru

Soldato
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8 Jun 2005
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Ok, My desktop computer is:

AMD 64 4000+ San Diego
2 Gig Geil PC3200 (4x512mb @ DDR400)
1x 200gig WD Caviar (Sata)
1x 80gig IDE Maxtor Diamondmax
ATI Sapphire Radeon X850XTPE 256mb GDDR3


I'm thinking about getting a Vostro detailed below....Is it MUCH better than my PC?? My pc basically runs everything I need, it plays BF2 on full at 1680x1050 etc.

I've still not decided on a few things for my new lappy and was hoping you guys could help me decide...


CPU:
Help me choose:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor (2.0GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache)
or
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 Processor (2.2GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache) [add £60.00]

Is there much difference in real life performance between these two??? Does it Justify the extra £60

Operating System:

Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English [Included in Price]
or
Genuine Windows® XP Professional - English add £0.00

I am new to Vista, is it really worth having instead of the XP that I am used to?

LCD:
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display [Included in Price]
or
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™ [add £10.00]
or
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Display with TrueLife™ [add £40.00]
or
15.4" UltraSharp™ Widescreen WSXGA+ (1680x1050) TFT Display with TrueLife™ [add £90.00]

Really not sure what to do here... I do NOT like the glossy screens. Do they do higher res screens without truelife??

I would potentially pay the extra £90 for the increased res if it wasn't a reflective screen. But at the same time I'm wondering would it be worth paying £90 extra if it is likely to have a performance hit on my games? What do these screens run like at lower than native res?? Would like high res for photoshop but maybe run games lower.


Memory:

2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)

Hard Drive:

160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive

Graphics Card:

256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT

Is this much of an improvement over my X850XTPE? I don't know anything about Nvidia cards.

Primary Battery:

Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr) [Included in Price]

Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr) [add £10.00]

How much extra time would you get on the battery for this extra £10? I'm not sure about this one, I don't like the idea of adding size to the back of the laptop by having the 9cell. Especially as I will usually have it plugged in.

I need to find out if it will still fit in my laptop bag with the extra battery. The laptop that fits at the moment is 10.5" from front to back 14.25" Wide and 1.5" Deep Does anyone know the dimensions of the Vostro 1500 with the 6 cell and with the 9 cell??

So will this laptop be an improvement from my desktop machine?

Thanks very much in advance for any replies/suggestions.

Cheers,

G
 
ok, no replies... some of you must know the answer :p

Ignoring all my other questions in this thread....

is THIS:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor (2.0GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache)
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT

Much better than this?:

AMD 64 4000+ San Diego
2 Gig Geil PC3200 (4x512mb @ DDR400)
ATI Sapphire Radeon X850XTPE 256mb GDDR3

Someone in here knows :p

Cheers,

G

/edit as far as I know my 4000+ runs at 2.4ghz but has a 1/4 of the L2 Cache
 
Last edited:
CPU wise, yes. However your desktop will trounce the laptop for hard drive I/O. So in face in use the desktop will probably seem quicker (say re-compressing video) I believe your desktop videocard is faster.
 
So what would perform better in BF2?

The desktop?

Basically I'm looking to upgrade my desktop in the form of a laptop. From what you've posted I may not be achieving this with the Vostro.
 
Guru said:
ok, no replies... some of you must know the answer :p

Ignoring all my other questions in this thread....

is THIS:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor (2.0GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache)
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT

Much better than this?:

AMD 64 4000+ San Diego
2 Gig Geil PC3200 (4x512mb @ DDR400)
ATI Sapphire Radeon X850XTPE 256mb GDDR3

Someone in here knows :p

Cheers,

G

/edit as far as I know my 4000+ runs at 2.4ghz but has a 1/4 of the L2 Cache
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say "much" better, but yes it is a step up. One thing to remember is that overclocking is both more challanging (if not impossible) on most laptops.

It depends on entirely on how you use your machine, if it's primarily a work machine, then the CPU improvement will be felt.
 
Personally id look for something a LITTLE stronger from the graphics on the lappy. I plumped for an X1700 on my current laptop, it isnt however my primary machine so I just needed something decent rather than top end. Take a look at some of the Asus laptops. They are generally quite cheap and well specced. The Asus F3 series of laptops are around the same price/spec of the vostro's (if not a little cheaper) and have 2 year warrenty by default.

Mine is an Asus F3JP-AP104C, currently available for around £600 with the below spec:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 - 1.66GHz (x2), 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache
RAM: 2048MB DDR2
Hard Drive: 160GB
Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFT
Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1700 supporting 512MB HyperMemory (256 Dedicated)
Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g - Call for advice on Wireless Networking
Warranty: 2 Year Warranty
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
Built-In 1.3 MegaPixel Camera
 
Last edited:
DAVEM said:
I wouldn't say "much" better, but yes it is a step up. One thing to remember is that overclocking is both more challanging (if not impossible) on most laptops.

It depends on entirely on how you use your machine, if it's primarily a work machine, then the CPU improvement will be felt.
Click to expand...

I would be using it for....

Office Applications
Photoshop
Internet Browsing/downloading etc
Condition Zero
BF2

I have no intention to overclock.

The main thing that's put me off in this thread is that the gfx card might be a step down. I was hoping it would run my games better than my desktop.

G
 
I would buy cheaper laptop and use it for

Office Applications
Photoshop
Internet Browsing/downloading etc

then desktop for gaming
 
I was planning to sell my desktop and old laptop to fund the new laptop.

I wanted to be able to have the laptop so I could move it to a room where my son is not sleeping when I want to game.
 
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