Inspiron 1420 for IT boy

I plan to do

• Genuine Windows Vista(R) Home Basic 32 bit,
• Dreamweaver,
• Photoshop,
• Norton,
• Watching movies,
• Counter Strike and so on.

I'm going to buy Inspiron 1420.

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7250 1.5 GHz, 2MB Cache, 667 MHz FSB
• 2GB (2 X 1024MB) 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
• 120GB SATA 7200RPM
• Intel(R) Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

Q1. Is it a proper combination for my planned use?
Q2. For my uses, Is dedicated graphic memory (Geforce) essential?
Q3. According to current market price, which is a good choice to upgrade?

• 1.66 GHz, 2MB Cache, 667 MHz FSB (+AU$ 79)
• 2.0GHz, 2MB Cache, 800 MHz FSB (+AU$ 168)
• 2.2 GHz, 4MB Cache, 800 MHz FSB (+AU$ 242)

• NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS with 128MB GDDR3 dedicated graphic memory [+AU$ 93.50]

• 160GB SATA Hard Drive (+AU$ 15.40)
• 120GB SATA 7200RPM Performance Hard Drive (+AU$ 53.90)

Thank in advance for your suggestion.

 

For those tasks your configuration should be fine. Counter-strike will run on medium settings, but if you plan on playing any newer games I would defintely recommend getting the 8400M GS upgrade. I would also look at getting the 2Ghz processor for faster performance.

 

I recommend you get the Nvidia GeForce 8400m. That's a dedicated graphics card and the intel is integrated. It might be a little expensive, but it's worth it in the long run. The other configuration seems to be fine though. By the way, what color Dell are you getting? Just curious...

 

With Photoshop and any gaming, I'd go for the dedicated video card rather than the integrated Intel, and if you're working with very large files, you may see a performance increase in getting a processor with 4MB cache.

 

I would ditch the 7200rpm drive, and use the 160gig 5400rpm drive... The computer will feel slightly more sluggish, but if you are doing content creation, the extra space, saved battery life, and saved $50(which could buy some after-market ram, allowing you to bump the 2 gigs down to 1 gig and saving prob. ANOTHER $50-$75) are prob. worth the sacrifice.

 

I would definitely get the 160GB HDD. Its a really cheap upgrade and 40GB is a lot of space, specially if you want to watch movies or work with large images.

As for the games, I think an 8400M GS will be right for you. Although you may be able to make do with the built-in, you probably won't be able to play any new version of CS if its released.

 

I would go with the 8400 as well. Great video card there.

Go for the 160 GB HD. Trust me.

I would recommend the 2.0 ghz.

 

My roommate can't even run CS on his computer with the Intel X3100. I don't know if it's source or the original but yeah. Half Life 2 doesn't work either apparently.

 

Half Life 2 and CS:S work on the x3100, but they work much better on the 8400m GS.

 

There're 8 colors I can choose. But when I visited and see these colors in Dell direct store (physical store), the colors were ridiculous although attractive on the web and TV ad. The color difference is only in LCD lid. It's not the color of the whole notebook. So I'll choose jack back or Alpine white.

 

im using white right now... its very nice... altho it depends on ur taste. the white is the only one with a glossy type cover so its easy to clean... very reflective coating... and since its white.. ppl won't see the fingerprints... u have to put it on an angle to see it... and either way... its easy to wipe off.

get the t7300 ... trust me.. well worth it. along with the 8400gs card.

 

I'd also go with the largest harddrive space you can afford. more harddrive space > few milliseconds access time.

 

In theory (I read this at a different thread on NBR, I think), the larger the HDD, the more densely packed together the data is, so it takes less time to physically move from one location to another on the disk.

 

It's not always the case. depending on what harddrives you are comparing, there could just be more platters, instead of the data being closer together. It all depends.