Should I switch to Asus?

Hi guys, so I just got my dell xps m1530 last week. Got it Certified Refurbished (I'm cheap) from dell outlet for about 1000 bucks.

t8300, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 8600m gs, WLED 1440X900... DID NOT come with a sleeve or CD case, called CSR, told me that refurbed ones don't come with those . Had to buy one from eBay for 3 dollars + 7 shipping....

Anyway, I wanted to get a laptop that is future proof and can at least play Crysis on med-low settings, and just now I saw a really cool looking Asus laptop at BestBuy with the following specs:

Penry 2.26GHZ 1033MHZ, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD w/7200RPS, WLED 1200X800, and 1 GB 9600m GS(!!!).

It seems that this laptop has the new processor, faster HDD, and the 9600m GS with ONE GIGS OF VRAM. The only downside is that it's a 14.1'' inch and not 15.4, but that's trivial. Plus it's only $899!!! A hundred dollars cheaper than my XPS!

Can you guys tell me if it's a good idea that I return my dell and go for the Asus?? Is it going to be more powerful than my XPS? (And more future proof?) Is the 9600M GS with 1GB of VRam better than the 8600?? (Even though the 9600 uses DDR2 I think...) And is Dell going to charge me like a 15% restocking fee for returning it....

Please enlighten me. Thanks!!!

 

the gpu is about even but get the asus FTW!! newer tech and you can avoid the 8600m gt gpu

 

I believe that Dell has a 30 day no-questions return policy on new units, but I'm not sure whether that applies to the Outlet/refurb purchases - check the Dell forum or email Dell directly. Is the video card in you dell the 8600mGT, by chance (typo??).

The price seems good, but notebooks purchased at BestBuy have lower specs and warranty compared to actual Asus notebooks purchased from resellers etc.

EDIT: Looks like BB's exclusive variant of the F8.

 

Go for the Asus, always a good deal

 

Get rid of 8600GT!!!

 

The model number would be X83Vm-X1.

Here's a link to the laptop I am looking at:

bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9050055&type=product&id=1218012612475

And oh yeah, it's probably the 8600m GT not GS.

And to Simonov....I see your signature and it says you have the 8600m GT yourself... is that like not good or something?

 

Many 8xxx series, particularly the 8600 GPU (not all), suffer from overheating. It's a defect on Nvidia's part, so if you can avoid that particular GPU, I would do so.

 

It seems that a lot of people are talking about this $899 deal from BestBuy...

Hmmm....maybe I should just return my XPS and get that. Would it be worth the trouble?

 

Don't get the toshiba. Get the asus.

 

I was talking about the Asus... lol

 

Is 9600m GS even able to use that much RAM?
It is DDR2?
You can't compare GPU by just looking at the amount of RAM.

 

It's actually quite funny, cause the Geforce 9600M GS is about as powerful as the Dell XPS's Geforce 8600M GT DDR3. And no it can not use 1GB of VRAM. It's all just advertisment to trick simple people into judging the power of a GPU by its amount of VRAM, but still the Geforce 9600M GS is a good card to get the job done with most games at medium-high settings.

 

yes switch