Getting ready to order, need a few questions answered first though please

I'm getting ready to order a lappy today and I have a few questions. I'm either getting the 1420 or 1520 but I'm not %100 percent sure. The 1420 is smaller but my campus is small and I don't think a 15.4 incher will bother me to much. My campus has everything within about 5 minutes of each other but a smaller laptop would be nice, is there any significant difference carrying around the two? I also want to know if the 8400GS on the 1420 or the 1520's 8600GT will be able to play current and future games like Crysis and Bioshock at acceptable settings. I do want to be able to play games on this for the next two years. One of the reasons I'm leaning toward the 1520 is the 8600GT and the bigger screen. In the past I've had a 15.4 inch before and loved it so I'm not sure how I'd do with a smaller one.

 

Hi my personal opinion is that if you are used to a 15 inch dell then you probably wont notice a difference. Surprisingly my E1505 seems heavier than the vostro 1500 which is similar to 1520. If you plan on gaming I would get the 1520 bcause of the video card. Im sure the gs will play current games on medium settings while the gt will probably be able to play them on high settings. IF you dont mind the weight I would go for the 1520.

 

Do you know how much more the 1520 weighs than the 1420?\

Also, is the 1280x800 or 1400x900 or whatever a better buy? Would the higher resolution strain the GPU more?

 

with the 9-cell, the 1520 is about 7 pounds, the 1420 6 pounds.

 

I think the 1440 resolution's a good middle of the road. Good real estate and not too tiny. You could always get the highest res screen and increase DPI or any other tricks folks use around here.

 

Thanks, I also read that the 1440's are the ones that are usually grainy, is this true or is it just the luck of the draw?

 

Its just a matter of people being really picky and nitty gritty every little thing, they're all great pcs but if you want a all arround pc and don't mind carry arround the excess weight i would recomend the 1520 due to the fact you can play a game and get the graphics resource when you want it

 

Thanks for your help guys I have one last question, I'd prefer Vista Ultimate but I can live with Home Premium but I would like 64 bit due to extra security features and stuff. Am I being paranoid or should I invest in a 64-bit OS (BTW I know I'd have to buy and install it seperately cause its not an option through Dell)?

 

I thought Vista was 64 bit minus the Home Basic?