I decided I'm ordering a Dell after dealing with HP. Check out my config

I received a HP 9700t a couple days ago with the following specs...

HP Pavilion dv9700t
Windows Vista Ultimate
Intel(R) Core 2 Duo T93002.50 GHz 6 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
17.0 High-Definition Ultra HP BrightView Widescreen Display
3GB DDR2 System Memory
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
240GB 7200RPM
High Capacity 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery


It turned out to have hardware issues and it kept beeping at me every time I booted it up so I sent it back (well I'm going to its actually right next to me still)

I decided I'm going to get a Dell instead because the 512MB 8600M GS was a terrible graphics card...Anyways

What do you think of this config?


Vostro 1500 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB/6MB cache)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
LCD Panel 15.4 in Wide Screen SXGA+LCD Display w/TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
Video Cards 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
Hard Drive 160GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive, 7200RPM, for Dell Vostro 1500 Notebook

TOTAL:$1,032.00


Vostro 1500 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB/6MB cache)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
LCD Panel 15.4 in Wide Screen SXGA+LCD Display w/TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
Video Cards 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
Hard Drive 80GB 5400RPM Hard Drive

TOTAL:$857.00


What do you guys suggest?

How much better is the 7200RPM then the 5400RPM...Is it worth the extra money?

Should I get vista or XP? I want it for gaming/school.

Anything else you could suggest?

Thanks a lot I want to order this within an hour so let me know please!

 

xp is good for gaming, The faster bigger hard drive is somewhat faster, and has a higher data density, but i hardly think its worth that much more.

 

80GB is like my OS & apps partition only - lol. You could probably buy a bigger/better HDD somewhere else or just order the 160GB from Dell. Either way I would go with more space. You are buying more ram from somewhere else to right?

Otherwise looks like a kickass build!

 

Is not getting Vista for free right now going to hurt me in a couple years or what?

From what I remember I feel like I got more problems with spyware and other things when I had XP but since I've had Vista for a year on this desktop I'm on right now I've never had a problem with any viruses or anything..

As we all know, Vista uses a lot more memory which obviously reduces the gaming performance but what is more important?

Gaming, Security, reliability, being out of date with OS in a couple years? Of course the option of upgrading to Vista is always available but not for free ya know?

Thanks


How much will the gaming decrease with Vista? 10Fps?

 

Yeah I was going to order memory for it right away or drive down to Frys and pick some up. I'm pretty excited about ordering this..I want to right now I just want to figure out if the 7200RPM is worth that much extra and if XP is a good idea..

So far it looks like you guys are saying to skip the faster HD?

 

Common guys I got 60 views and 2 replies!


I just need a couple more peoples input and then I'm ready to order!


Using this lappy for school and games

Windows XP vs. Windows Vista

Any thing else you might add if you were buying it.



Why did I post this in the Dell forum? Should've posted it in the "What notebook should I buy" Thread.

Sorry!

 

I'd get the 7200rpm drive, or buy one from Newegg.
I don't think I'd get the WSXGA+ screen though.
For a gaming computer, lower resolution is better.

You might also check what M1530's are available from the Outlet.
The 8600GT in the M1530 has GDDR3.
The 8600GT in the Vostro only has GDDR2.
So the card in the M1530 is faster.

 

Get the cheaper one and upgrade to a 7200 rpm hard drive later if you think you need it. It's definitely not worth the extra $175. You could buy a 200 GB 7200 RPM hard drive from Newegg ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145160) and slap the 80 GB into an external enclosure for about the same price.

Also, get Vista Home Premium if it's the same price.

 

The GT isn't that much better than the GS, you know. If you think the GS is terrible then the GT would probably be mediocre at best.

Have you considered getting a laptop with the 8800M GTS/GTX card instead?

 

read THIS thread about the differences in hard drives - and get memory from newwegg. I would go with Vista just becasue it is the latest and will get better.

 

K I'm on the phone ordering it and I just changed it to the lower Hard drive.


Real quickly...Should I really not get the higher resoultion one? Can't you just change the resoultion to what you prefer in game?

 

The screen looks sharpest when at Native resolution.
Unless you have some other use where the higher resolution is needed, I'd get the lower resolution. If you can't decide, get the middle resolution WXGA+ (1440x900)

 

15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Anti-Glare Display [Included in Price]
Optimal for everyday business tasks

15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Display with TrueLife™ [ Free!]
Great for movies and graphics

15.4 in Wide Screen XGA+LCD Display w/TrueLife™ [add $50]
15.4 in Wide Screen SXGA+LCD Display w/TrueLife™ [add $100]


These are the options. On the phone still. Which one is 1400X900?

 

XGA+ is 1440x900.

 

Thanks so much for the quick response
OK got it. I downgraded to that one instead.

Phew that was close.

I think they took off my business shipping because I called back and did that but whatever!

 

Been there done that with HP.

Goodby HP & Hello Dell
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=214270

Getting the XPS m1530 is the best notebook I've had yet and I've had over 25 of them since 1985!

 

Congrats! Did you get Vista or XP? I would have said just get Vista it's fine with tweaking. Gaming performance is not a huge difference from XP, just slightly less. Anyways I am sure you will enjoy your new M1530

 

I ended up getting Vista with it!

I'm really excited and thank god Dell's shipping doesn't take as long as HP