Dell Vostro 1500

fish99 · 13 Apr 2008 at 22:10

Nevertheless I'm back with the Dell drivers now and the problem is gone. Also tried 163.75 which were the latest WHQL drivers on laptopvideo2go and they had the same problem as the 169.09s. I'm using XP btw.

The tearing is quite a subtle problem, although to me it's obvious, but some people may not notice it, and it's only noticeable on movies that have certain types of motion in them like camera pans, and it's not there in games. Oh well, these Dell drivers will have to do, there's nothing particularly wrong with them.

davestar_delux · 15 Apr 2008 at 10:40

My Vostro is broke, can't get to Windows getting a BSOD stop error, is there a support number for them?

peetee · 15 Apr 2008 at 10:42

mines doing that on vista, never use it though, use XP. Should be a support number on the email you got confirming order or something.

Bradmax57 · 15 Apr 2008 at 10:54

davestar_delux said:
My Vostro is broke, can't get to Windows getting a BSOD stop error, is there a support number for them?

how much ram? and have you installed sp1?

davestar_delux · 15 Apr 2008 at 11:01

Bradmax57 said:
how much ram? and have you installed sp1?

Um maybe 1Gb, not sure. Don't know about SP1 either but I don't have automatic updates on. I've got a sneaky feeling might be something with the hard drive. But I can't even get into Windows in Safe Mode, I get the loading screen and then BSOD.

I'm running the Dell in-built diagnostics at the moment.

Bradmax57 · 15 Apr 2008 at 11:04

I had BSOD's after id installed 4gb ram and sp1, work around was take 2gb out install vista, install sp1 then updates then reinstall 2gb, obviously not the issue in your case

Mobius 1 · 15 Apr 2008 at 20:29

im thinking of getting the vostro 1310

1.8ghz c2d, is that proc fast enough? bear in mind im used to a single core amd opteron 2.2

jamief · 15 Apr 2008 at 21:18

-Tauren- said:
im thinking of getting the vostro 1310

1.8ghz c2d, is that proc fast enough? bear in mind im used to a single core amd opteron 2.2

Fast enough for what is the pertinent question!

Mobius 1 · 15 Apr 2008 at 21:27

jamief said:
Fast enough for what is the pertinent question!

ok ?

Bradmax57 · 15 Apr 2008 at 21:39

-Tauren- said:
im thinking of getting the vostro 1310

1.8ghz c2d, is that proc fast enough? bear in mind im used to a single core amd opteron 2.2

not seen them before, pretty much a dull looking XPS M1330

jamief · 15 Apr 2008 at 21:43

-Tauren- said:
ok ?

I think you misunderstood!

You said "is this fast enough"

I asked "fast enough for what" i.e. what do you need the laptop for! Games?

Mobius 1 · 15 Apr 2008 at 21:51

jamief said:
I think you misunderstood!

You said "is this fast enough"

I asked "fast enough for what" i.e. what do you need the laptop for! Games?

just everyday stuff, music, internet etc... i know vista is a little laggy on my current desktop is all

so i was wondering if the 1.8 c2d will be up to the task

riddlermarc · 16 Apr 2008 at 03:51

FWIW my Vostro 1700 is running a C2D 2.1GHz and it is plenty fast enough under Vista.. Visual Studio 2005 runs nicely (well, as best it can), I don't play any games other than the occasional hour of WoW (everything turned to max).

I imagine a C2D 1.8GHz should be fine

Mobius 1 · 16 Apr 2008 at 11:14

riddlermarc said:
FWIW my Vostro 1700 is running a C2D 2.1GHz and it is plenty fast enough under Vista.. Visual Studio 2005 runs nicely (well, as best it can), I don't play any games other than the occasional hour of WoW (everything turned to max).

I imagine a C2D 1.8GHz should be fine

thanks mate, all i needed to know! gonna place an order

jamie2497 · 16 Apr 2008 at 11:18

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5270 (1.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2-cache)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Included - No Upgrade Selected
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
Matte Jet Black without Camera
2048MB (2x1024) 667MHz DDR2 Dual Channel
120GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)

About to place an order for this for £450

Will this spec be enough for some sort of gaming? (C+C 3, Steam games, possibly oblivion and rainbow six?)

Also can you get a port replicator for the vostro 1500?

Many thanks

fish99 · 16 Apr 2008 at 11:48

jamie2497 said:
Will this spec be enough for some sort of gaming? (C+C 3, Steam games, possibly oblivion and rainbow six?)

Assuming you don't mean rainbow six vegas (which is very demanding), then yeah it should run those games just fine. Oblivion is definitely playable on the 8600M GT on fairly high settings (1280*800, HDR on, no AA, 4x AF, tree shadows on, sliders around half way = 30-50 fps most of the time, occasionally down to 20s). HL2 runs very well, same with C&C3.

If you've got the extra money I would go for a better CPU though, maybe a 1.8/2.0, although I don't know for sure that the 1.4 isn't enough for those games. If you can find a money off code (I never did when ordering mine, but then I didn't look too hard for one either) then maybe you could get a better CPU for the same price.

jamie2497 · 16 Apr 2008 at 13:30

Thanks for your help fish.

I can get the Vostro 1700 with a Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5670 (1.8 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB), for £30 more.
Is it worth it for the extra size in the laptop?

peetee · 16 Apr 2008 at 13:36

theres nothin different about them bar the screen size, depends if you wanted a bigger screen or wanted a smaller laptop.

fish99 · 16 Apr 2008 at 15:02

It's worth paying £30 for a 1.8 C2D instead of a 1.4, but whether you should get a 1700 rather than 1500 depends on where it's going to be used and whether you're going to be carrying it around. I personally find 17" laptops quite cumbersome. If it's just going to be planted on a desk the whole time though, then a 1700 is probably better for the full keyboard and bigger screen.

jamie2497 · 16 Apr 2008 at 15:05

Thanks guys.

The full keyboard and the left aligned touchpad is whats stopping me with the 1700.