XPS M1530 vs. ASUS F8Sn-C1

Hi,

I'm in the process of buying a 14 to 15 inch laptop (the more mobile the better), and it seems like the 1530 and Asus F8 are among the best I've found. Here's what I have configured for the Dell 1530:

PROCESSOR T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)
LCD High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900)
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
HARD DRIVE 250GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive Free Fall Sensor
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
6.3 pounds
$1850

Here are the configurations for the Asus F8 I'm looking at:

CPU Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 2.5G
Screen 14.1" WXGA+ (1440 x 900)
Memory Size 3GB DDR2
Hard Disk 320GB 5400 RPM
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS
5.7 pounds
$1400

Here are my main questions/concerns:
1) Is there a big difference between the 9500 GS and the 8600 GT (DDR3)?
2) What about a 5400 RPM hdd vs 7200 RPM?
3) Is the LED LCD worth a $150 premium over the base screen?
4) Which one would you go with, and why?

At this point I really like the ASUS because it is so cheap and weighs under 6 pounds. It also has good battery life (3 hours). The main thing I'm worried about is the 5400 RPM HDD and possibly the 3GB of ram.

Any and all input are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

1) from what i have read, negligible
2) 5400RPM should be faster
3) not sure im a newb
4) Personally I would go with the ASUS because it's 14inch...I find 15.4inch too big to carry around.. can't you use the coupon for the DELL ?

 

You're saying the 5400 RPM should be faster than the 7200 RPM? Am I missing something here?

Also, the $1850 is after the coupon price I believe. Original price was somewhere around $2400

 

oh i meant 7200 sry, but I dont think theres a significant difference because 5400 one has higher data density...the sensor is nice..

5400 vs 7200

 

go for the led screen, get better batlife and brighter screen with bigger more vivid colors. sound like an ad don't i?

 

Yes I would love to have those features, but iis it worth the added 1 pound of weight and $450?

 

This is a very biased place to post this in a DELL section of the forums. The only people you'd see who'd say the ASUS are most likely those who already ordered their M1530 and are getting frustrated of waiting for their systems to be built because of the immense popularity of the laptop. Go for the XPS. Don't get the 4GB of RAM. i got similar specs to yours for 1,243 so..

Order the ram from newegg for much cheaper.

 

Yeah, if you feel comfortable installing your own RAM, get it from newegg. Either way, get 4 GIG though because then you can have dual sharing capabilities... the DVDRW drive speeds have only a barely noticeable difference in load times, if noticeable at all... and the 5400 actually could be faster anyways (for reasons I've read about but don't remember). i have the WSXGA+ LG screen, and it's plenty bright and overall the laptop doesn't feel too heavy... I have the M1530 though, so I know about it... i don't have experience with the Asus, but going by the specs, i'd say go for the Dell.

 

Wow thanks for the heads up. Now I got it down to $1270 with a newly configured 2 GB system. What kind of RAM do I buy to make sure it is compatible with the factory stick of memory? I want to be able to run dual channel. I'm assuming by ordering the 2 GB m1530, they'll have 1 x 2GB instead of 2 x 1GB configuration..

Would something like this work?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231164

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can probably just get a whole 4 Gig for not much more... like maybe $5 more... If I felt comfortable opening up my laptop I'd just get a whole brand new 4 Gigs... but I'm chicken and just ordered with 4.

 

Dell is overpriced and support is all India based. Go with the ASUS, they get some great reviews.

P.S. I have the LED LCD and it looks good, it's bright but I'm not totally amazed by it or anything.

 

Having used both Asus and dell systems, I can tell you that the 1530 will give you much more battery life than the Asus. Other than that, the rest of the features are not going to be much different.

The LED screen is nice to have, but isn't something that you should solely rely on to make a decision..

 

If you are ordering 2gb of ram from Dell it will be 1GB X 2 You will need to buy 2 x 2GB of ram to get 4 GB.

 

Uhhh... no ASUS. Dell all the way!

 

The 7200 rpm and 5400 rpm will run at very similar speeds. However, the 7200 will have the advantage of conserving more battery.

 

I think you mean the 5400RPM will use less power...