Few Queries rearding Inspiron 6400

I have decided to buy Inspiron 6400 with Intel Duo core processor T5200 1.6Ghz and 533Mhz FSB and Vista Home Premium. Now here are few queries that are confusing me, since I am college student I will using my laptop mostly for these purpose like presentation, programming, Xilinx & Modelsim Tools, working with openGL(ray tracing -- simple one) + few application like adobe photoshop, macromedia, movies, and games like NFS, Halo, Quake 3, CS, Age of Empire 3, UT(all with average settings no hi-fi settings). So should I go for
1) 2 gb ram with Intel media accelerator 950
2) 1 gb ram with 256mb ATI X1400 or Nvidia Go 7300 Turbocache
Since my budget is constrained I can go only with one of the options mentioned above. I am thinking of going with option 1 since it satisfy my purpose, 950 does support openGL 1.4 but I wanted to clarify games supported by 950 gpu??

Also is DELL large nylon case sufficient or should I go for Targus Pulse II backpack case???

Then should I go for XGA TFT display or XGA TFT display with truelife??

Also what all is included with dell laptop delivered to me?? Does it include vista dvd also??

Thanks.

 

1.) If you want to do ANY gaming, purchase the x1400--you can upgrade RAM later if necessary but not the GPU.
2.) No idea, sorry.
3.) Personal preference--go and see a few in person and decide.
4.) Should get a Drivers disk, power adapter, laptop, battery, manual(s) and the Vista DVD if you ordered the recovery media (I think).

 

I have hte Dell Nylon case with my e1505, I like it. It depends, do you want to carry it in a backpack, or a shoulder/messanger bag type of case

 

If you want to use Opengl check well the X1400 sometime Ati chips are not well supporting the Opengl(for example the xpress200 and xpress1100)

 

Get the 1 GB of Ram and ATI X1400 Now! You can upgrade your ram for much less later. You can get 2 GB of DDR2 PC4200 from Newegg for like $130 shipped...later

Bob

 

Definitey go for the X1400 because as you know the RAM can be easily upgraded and it is a lot cheaper. Also try to get the RAM as 1 DIMM so all you have to do in the future is buy 1 Stick of ram to make it 2GB. The shoulder bag is great and it will take up a lot less space then the backpack. But it is really personal preference. As for the X1400 there are drivers that turn it into a FireGL card so that it will be overclocked to use OpenGL programs better. Truelife does make the screen look better but if you plan on being outside more often then in I would suggest to avoid it. You can request for the vista CD to be shipped with your purchase.

 

Thanks to all for your replies. On your advise I will be going with option 2 since ram can be easily upgraded and also I will be doing most of my academic work on linux(fedora) and windows xp for which I think 1gb ram is more than enough. But which one is better X1400 or Go 7300 Turbocache?? Also can we easily get linux drivers for X1400 and 7300 turbocache??
One more question since processor has 533Mhz FSB should I go with 533Mhz or 667Mhz? How much is the performance difference between these two??

Thanks

 

Definatly go with the better graphics card, you can easliy upgrade the RAM but once you drop that integrated card into that laptop you can't upgrade to dedicated. Most people say you wont notice to much of a difference between the 533 and the 667 but I would probably go with the 667 if your running Vista on it. But I always like to get the best of my options..

 

The difference is price between the ATI and the NVIDIA isn't justified considering the performance difference between the two, I'd just go for the ATI