Did I make a crucial mistake in my 1520 order config?

My laptop is currently in the boxing stage, so it is to late to change, however I was wondering if I made a crucial mistake by not getting the NVIDIA 8600M GT graphics card. I got the config below for a really good price ($1013 before tax), so that's another reason not to cancel. I will be using it basically for surfing the internet, and watching TV while traveling and overseas. I know the 8400 can handle those tasks. However, I am a stickler for the display. I want the best possible resolution, brightest colors, and least graininess that is possible from this laptop. I am not going to be playing games with it. Will the 8600M improve those characteristics more than the 8400M, or is it only an improvement for performance in games?

Alpine White
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1680x1050)
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
160G 7200RPM SATA HDD
CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
High Definition Audio 2.0

 

You'll be just fine, don't worry. The NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT is not designed for users who will not be playing games. Also, your battery life will be longer with the 128 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS.

 

Did you use any coupons? Theres a pretty good coupon, I'm not sure if its still here but its 300$ off when you spend over 1300$. WHen I configured a inspiron for that I was able to put in the 8600 and still only spend 1000$. I would definately try to get the 8600 since your not really losing anything w/ the same price your only gaining. I'm not sure though if the 8600 will boost regular task performance but I'm sure things have a higher chance of looking nicer

 

since your not gaming it should be fine...
your getting a cheaper system, less heat, and more battery life

 

yup yup...i got an inspiron 1420 with the integrated graphics card and the matte display and im suprising very satisfied with the resolution/contrast/non-graininess.

 

I also wanted to know if I made a crucial mistake on my 1520, my order is in boxing stage so I can't change it. I wanted to know if I made a mistake by choosing 5400RPM Hard Drive instead of 7200RPM SATA HDD, what I'm afraid is that my gaming might lag because of hard drive speed.

My config is

 

The difference in speed will be negligible when gaming, along the lines of a few percent. I have the 5400rpm drive, and it's been perfectly fine for gaming.

 

Alright thanks, my friend told me that it would not really effect gaming, probably the loading of the game, but only by a second or two. But the ram/video card/cpu are the main factors in gaming.

 

The 8600M GT and the 8400M GS will provide the same image quality outside of games and 3d modeling/rendering. The resolution, colors, and graininess is a function of the display, not the video card. The 8400M GS will give you increased battery life over the 8600M GT.

Yeah, loading will be the main difference and even then it should be relatively small. Another benefit would be for page file performance, but if you're paging in a game, you should be worrying about other stuff, like amount of RAM.

 

Only for games. Won't affect resolution, colors, brightness, or graininess in the slightest.

 

Thanks guys. I feel better now...

Day 2 of "Boxing" stage...

Hopefully shipping soon.

 

Yep only for playing games a 8600 GT would be really necessary.... IMO even a 8400 GS is a good GPU suitable for playing old directx 9 games at med or slightly high res and the new games at med res

 

Yep, I think it's been beat to death. 8600M GT is nice to have, but all in all it's still a gaming card. If anything you should order a Soundblaster Expresscard (separately for $65 as opposed to the upgrade, which costs $75), which will boost your sound quality.