I need help deciding on the E1505 I want to buy!

I have decided to buy a E1505 but I need a little help deciding on a few of the specs. I love to play Sims 2 and want to configure my new E1505 to get the best game play possible at the cheapest price. I'd like my Sims to run faster (as fast as possible really), instead of the five minutes or more wait time to load the game and move between houses and the neighborhood that I'm experiencing now with my old Gateway laptop. I would like the graphics to look nice but they don't have to be so good that it slows game play. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Here are the Specs I'm considering:

Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T7200 (4MB Cache/2.00GHz/667MHz FSB)

LCD Panel 15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife™
I'm not sure if I should get this screen or the other one (the 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™) What is the benefit of the SXGA? What are the differences between these two screens?

Memory 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 DIMM

Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™Go 7300 TurboCache or should I get the 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™? What's the benefit of getting the NVIDIA? Which is better for Sims2?

Hard Drive 120GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Combo or DVD+RW Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability

Sound Options Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ HD Software Edition Do I really need this? Will it help Sims 2 game performance and speed at all?

Hi-Speed Wireless Card Only: Dell Draft N Wireless or is the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g a reasonable option? I plan on using my laptop mainly at home, but I will take it on trips with me. I live in an apartment so if the Intel Pro will give me adequate speed and range in my apartment that is more than acceptable

 

No a soundblaster wont help you at all. It is great if your connecting your notebook to a home audio system but not performance.

Go with the X1400. Playing The Sims 2 on the 7300 is a horrible experience, that is if you want it to look good.

The SXGA is a higher resolution then XGA. Much higher infact. if you have eyesight problems then the XGA is fine.

Wireless N is better than A/g but is usually costly. They're both perfectly fine, you will see no difference.

 

If you're trying to save a some bucks, I'd say go for the T2400 1.83 ghz unless you're looking at the long run. But if you're getting it just to play sims then i'd say T7200 is overkill. But it will be a good processor for future 64-bit apps to come.

 

The Audigy program gives you a mixer program, EAX effects, a program for recording audio, and some synthesizer program. They wont help much from a performance perspective, but I find them to be cool novelty programs, especially the EAX effects, plus you can tell people that your laptop has integrated Creative Audigy sound.

The Wireless N standard hasnt been standardized yet, and the draft-N hardware may not be compatible with a standardized 802.11n standard. Go with the Intel card, from what I hear its got better performance and battery life than the Dell/Broadcom cards.

 

Hey,
I am about to buy a similar thing. And it is a pretty decent configuration. You should definitely go with the X1400 video card, because everyone says it is better.(and it is cheaper)

If the purpose of your laptop is regular word processing, internet, dvd watching and sims 2 playing, I don't think you need t7200 or 2 gb ram. You can go with T5x00 series and 1 gb. To be honest, I am getting t7400 with 2 gb, but I am going to do some mediocre level of gaming and more importantly I will do lots of scientific statistical calculations. And bigger is always better. But marginally how much better? It depends on what you are going to do with your computer.. If those (t7200 and 2 gb) are not free upgrades or a part of a deal, I think you can save a couple of hundred dollars with a downgrade. t5x00 will be 64 bit, and you have decent video card, so vista will look good on it.

I also could not decide on the screen, but people say that sxga+ screen is higher quality and my observation is that on wxga screens everything is big so if you have no problems with your eyes, I think you should go with sxga+. Well, I could not decide yet since I have problematic eyes.

and get a 3 yr warranty, my girlfriend's toshiba is broken at age 1.5 and mainboard is gone, so it will cost her 1000 bucks to fix, which is a little less than a brand new one.


good luck

 

How would I go about hooking up my e1505 to a home audio sytem or just a set of computer speakers for that matter?

ucb9999

 

For most computer speakers, just connect the green audio cable to your headphone out.

To a home audio system, heaphone out to your reciever's aux input (actually any input is fine but make sure that you have that input selected on your reciever).

 

I've heard some say that the Dell/Broadcom wireless cards offer better performance and connection the Intel. The Intel will offer a little better battery life though. Personally i would just go with the default Dell 1390 wireless unless you have the serious need for more.

The headphone jack is currently you're only option unless you want to purchase a USB audio processor. Hopefully we will start seeing some Creative Audigy cards in the ExpressCard flavor pretty soon. I would like to seen an X-Fi Notebook for the new ExpressCard slot.

 

will recieving sound from the headphone jack alter the performance of the speakers?

ucb9999

 

The Sims 2 doesn't need much GPU processing power (GMA 950 is enough)so as long as you're equipted with core duo and 1gb RAM, your sims will run smoothly

but for the long run you better pick the X1400

 

Well that would depend on what kind of speakers you are using. If you've got some cheap PC speakers then you probably won't notice much difference. If you have some $200+ PC speakers like the Logitech Z-5500's or a more expensive home audio setup then the sound quality isn't going to sound as good being output by the integrated audio on the laptop compared to if you had like an X-Fi on a desktop machine. I have mine hooked up to a set of Z-5500's and it sounds alright though.

 

My friends x-230s sound great on his desktopbut the sound like some one is muffling/toning down the bass when I plug them into my laptop. I have the Creative Audigy Intergrated sound card on my laptop but It doesn't compare to a regular sound card since it only provides me with a headphone and mic jack. This set of features seems to be the cause of my problem but I'm not positive on it.

ucb9999

 

Keep in mind that the integrated Creative Audigy HD sound card on your laptop isn't actually a sound card at all. It's only a software implementation in that all you're getting extra is some Creative software that runs on the laptop to improve the sound profile some. Your still using the same integrated sound hardware as all the other E1505's. That's why most people don't pay extra for the upgrade.

 

I realize that but i find the audiio converter and other software very useful. But why is there a difference between my friends desktop and my laptop when using the same speakers?

ucb9999

 

Never mind I answered my own question when I remembered I have intergrated graphics and he does not.

ucb9999