INSPIRON 1420 *MAXED OUT*?? Good Or Not?

I just purchased a Dell Inspiron 1420, and was wondering if this is a good configuration for light gaming, for games like Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2. It was under $1,053.00.

*Inspiron 1420, Intel Core 2 Duo T8300(2.4GHz, 800Mhz, 3M L2 Cache)

*3GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm

*High Resolution, glossy widescreen 14.1 inch display (1440x900)

*NVIDIA (R) GeForce TM Go 8400M GS with 128MB dedicated graphic memory

*250 GB Hard drive

*Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 Home Premium Edition

--- I think its a good deal, not really much of a gamer but would like to play Rainbow Six, GTA San Andreas and the like on it. Would this be ok with those games and more? Let me know if this is a good setup, thanks...

 

i think the 1420 is one of the best price dell pcs..good choice.. everything on the laptop is good. but the Nvidia 8400M limits you to very light gaming, not expect it to be a not sure about that games though..i think they might run on lower/lowest settings..

 

I agree, my daughter does some light gaming and I use mine mostly for web surfing e-mail, and photos. We have had no problems with either. I think the 1420 is a solid laptop and there are not alot of negative posts here compared to some other models.

 

Hey, I was thinking about getting the 1420 back in Dec/Jan...and then the 1530 came out.

If it hadn't, I would've surely bought the 1420..I think it is a very nice lappy! It would've served my needs very well!

I say Go For It!


Cin

 

...hmmm... I just came accross some posts about the nvidia 8400... Wondering if it would be to my benifit or, should I change it to the default Intel graphics chip? If I use the laptop for web browsing, itunes, and DVD Watching would I see any improvements with the 8400? or should I go back to a default Intel chip?

 

For those and other general usage, no difference.

 

for light use, (internet, MP3s, DVDs). i would say the intel graphics would do just fine. (even provide more power efficiency).
but dont forget, its still a step down from the 8400M..
if you dont plan on gaming, its the perfect choice.

 

By power efficiency, do you mean longer battery life? So should I change to the basic Intel chip?

 

yea should get a little extra.
if no games yes..

 

Don't get it if you want more batterylife. However, there are very few times that you will go 5-6 hours without seeing an outlet. If you wanna play Rainbow the graphics card will help. Light gaming I would still say get a gfx card. GTA San Andreas ran on my PC without a GFX card at really low settings(it's such a great game I don't think that the graphics mattered to me) but if you wanna be able to tab in and out of it and whatever and just turn up the gfx a bit then get the 8400M.

I would personally look at the Lenovo T400 and see how you can configure it if you are worried about battery life and the 8400M. It'll give much longer battery life when you need it and has a better card(in terms of stability). Of course you give up the Inpisiron's more colorful design.

 

...battery life doesn't matter at all... I'm just wondering If the 8400 would have a positive effect on my laptop, for my main uses, browsing the web, watching video etc. Or will it have a negative effect, like making the laptop overheat , heavy, taking up ram etc? Anyone know what negatives the 8400 would have for my uses? And what advantages, if any? I got the extra money for the 8400, so I figure I'd get it, thinking it will improve the overall performance of my laptop...does this make sense? Please help...