Tough Choice Between 2 Machines

panthro

panthro

panthro

Soldato
Joined
19 Nov 2004
Posts
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Location
Wokingham
Hey guys, I could do with some help. Im looking for a laptop and Ive narrowed it down to two. The Dell Vostro 1700 and the Acer 5920G. I dont want to spend more than £800. Both are similarly priced but I think I can knock Dell down by 10%. Could use some help deciding. I listed the specs of each one below and highlighted the items I have upgraded in the spec.

Dell - Pros - much better screen, bluetooth, 7.2krpm HDD, good battery
Dell - Cons - No HDMI or DVI - Just VGA so will have to do a VGA - VGA connection which wont give the best picture - Vista Business
Acer - Pros - HDMI - looks a lot nicer - Vista Home Premium
Cons - The Dell Pros!!

As you can see its pretty much a question of HDMI. Is it really worth it?

Vostro™ 1700 NB - £816 before discount - hoping to pay around £730
Base Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor (2.0GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache)
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English
Memory 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
Video Card 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT
Hard Drive 160GB (7200RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Optical Devices Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
Wireless Networking Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card - Europe
Bluetooth Dell™ Wireless 355 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (up to 3Mbps)
Primary Battery Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr)
Colour Choice Matte Jet Black with 2.0 mega pixel camera
LCD 17.0" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WUXGA (1900x1200) TFT Display with TrueLife™

Acer 5920G - £799
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 2GHz (x2), 800MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache
RAM: 2GB Fast DDR2 RAM! (2 x 1024Mb)
Hard Drive: 160GB Hard Disk
Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFT (1280x800 - 16:10) with CrystalBrite Technology
Optical Drive: DVD Re-writer (DVD±RW Super Multi Double Layer)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 1GB of TurboCache memory
Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g/n - Wireless Internet Connection
Battery Life (Depending on Use): 3.5 hours 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Weight: 3kg
Warranty: 1 Year Collect and Return (Europe-wide)-
Operating System: New Windows Vista Home Premium
Built-in 0.3Mp CrystalEye Web Camera
Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000
HDMI port with HDCP
5-in-1 card reader

EDIT - Should have posted in Laptops, sorry.
 
No external monitor will be used at this present moment. I plan to take it with me to Singapore in the new year when I relocate, so wanted something portable, but big enough as Im so used to desktops.
I will connect it to my 40" HDTV though, but it only has 1 HDMI port which will be used by my PS3.
 
I like the look of the Vostro, but the res of the screen 1920 x 1200 doesn't seem well balanced with the graphics card (8600GT) if you were planning on gaming.

No gaming, situation is reversed and you get a much higher res screen with the dell. Better for docs and general windows experience.

If it was me I'd prefer the Dell because of Vista Business over Home Premium, the high res screen, hard drive, etc... Couldn't you play dvds etc over your PS3, and if yes then what else would you use the hdmi port for?
 
melbourne720 said:
I like the look of the Vostro, but the res of the screen 1920 x 1200 doesn't seem well balanced with the graphics card (8600GT) if you were planning on gaming.

No gaming, situation is reversed and you get a much higher res screen with the dell. Better for docs and general windows experience.

If it was me I'd prefer the Dell because of Vista Business over Home Premium, the high res screen, hard drive, etc... Couldn't you play dvds etc over your PS3, and if yes then what else would you use the hdmi port for?
Click to expand...

Does the screen have to run at that high res? I was figuring on lowering it for when I play the odd game, but to be honest, most of my time will be spent surfing the net and using windows based apps! I will use my PS3 for most of my gaming I expect.

Your point about the HDMI port is a good one, I was just planning on watching torrents off it and thought the HDMI would be good due to sending the sound to the TV as well as the picture, but I guess this isnt a huge issue.

Also, why is Business better than Home Premium?
 
Me too. While DVI will often give a better picture than VGA on an external monitor, I use an all-VGA setup on a 27in panel and have no PQ complaints whatsoever. Other than that, you only really need HDMI for watching HD-DVD/Blu-ray content, and if you have a PS3 already you already have a solution to that problem.

In short, HDMI isn't all that important - get the Dell. :)
 
would love to know how you plan on getting that for £730 like :O I was going to order a lappy with 1gb ram and a 7600 in for £600, damn you people teasing me to spending more
 
peetee said:
would love to know how you plan on getting that for £730 like :O I was going to order a lappy with 1gb ram and a 7600 in for £600, damn you people teasing me to spending more
Click to expand...

Spec that exact model. It comes to £816. I can get a friends and family 10% discount from someone I know, but most people have told me that if you phone the Dell sales team and tell them that youre close to ordering but want to know what they can do on the price, they will knock money off. So, I will phone and say I will buy it right now if you can do me a deal.
 
o cool, sounds goooood.
Ill have a pop at doing that then, my mate just bought practically that exact PC from work(purpe shirt brigage, but hes one of the actual technicians- hahaaha) and it cost him £1000, they reduced it to clear from £2000, haha.
 
just had a look and its pretty impressive, had a look at the top vostro 1500 though? smaller/lower res screen, looks like its a newer CPU(its an xx50, has less cache but think the 50 would point towards it being a smaller chip)
Not shabby tho!
 
peetee said:
just had a look and its pretty impressive, had a look at the top vostro 1500 though? smaller/lower res screen, looks like its a newer CPU(its an xx50, has less cache but think the 50 would point towards it being a smaller chip)
Not shabby tho!
Click to expand...

I did consider it, but when I specced it, I had to upgrade lots of the standard spec to bring it up to scratch with the 1700, that has all the extras as standard.

The 7250 has the same clock speed but half the cache of the 7300. I think I would prefer the extra cache. Going to give them a call in a bit place the order :D
 
you had to upgrade it lots? Hmm the 7250 is a newer process is it not, meaning less power consumption - cache doesnt really make much of a difference unless video editing or rendering etc. Hardly a rendering rig is it :)
Both have 2gb ram.. same clock speed..same graphics..?
Not sure bout HDD, but iv got a 500 external anyway :)

Each to there own anyway, both are good deals really!
 
Not too bothered about the power consumption, as I doubt it would be much, and the laptop will never be too far away from a power supply. Just made the deal over the phone, was a bit rubbish as I only got £20 off but I managed to get Vista Home Premium over Vista Business. Either way, £800 for that spec is pretty decent IMO.
 
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