Intergrated Graphics? or 8400.

Hi everyone. im thinking of buying the m1330 and i want you guy's toughs on this.

im buying the laptop for text processing, photoshop, light gaming, email ext..

i do not plan on playing the new games that require crazy specs

should i got with the intergrated option? or the dedicated.

thanks for your time.

 

What do you define as 'light gaming'? Which games would be included?

 

drift city, gunbound, diablo 2, world of warcraft, trackmania

stuff like that, and not very often

 

If you want to play WoW at higher settings than what an integrated chipset has to offer, go with the 8400GS. personally if I were you I'd go for the 8400GS just in case there is something new comes out that you really wanna play that requires slightly higher gfx requirements. It sorta helps future-proof it to an extent.

 

The 8400 will probably make WoW more enjoyable.

 

I vote for the 8400M GS in the long run. You'll appreciate that decision in the future, because you can make the laptop last longer.

 

is it possible to "disable" the graphics card and run on the intergrated and enable it when i need it?

 

I would go for the dedicated card. While you should be fine running all on the integrated WoW could benefit from the dedicated card.

 

ive heard that the dedicated battery uses way more power then the intergrated.

on a 6 cell battery what approx would be the diffrence?

 

About 30-45 minutes depending on what battery you get based on this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=249672

 

Dedicated will usually use more power, but it is probably not much. Even dedicated cards are very power efficient when all you are doing is 2D work while on battery. You can buy more batteries, or more plug ins, but cannot upgrade a GPU so I think the 8400 is your best bet.

 

i would agree with most of the people on the thread and go with the 8400. you may not need it now, but in a couple years if you still decide to keep this laptop, itll be a little more future proof than the integrated 3100. plus, like another poster said, the trade off for battery life isnt very much. yea 30 mins, but honestly, you would expect more from an integrated card.

 

I would get the Geforce 8400 GS Comes with direct x10 it will be fine card for awhile.

 

If you're going to do gaming at all, I seriously suggest the 8400M GS, overall it'll be better. Battery life, on the other hand, will not be as good with comparison to the integrated X3100. If battery life isn't an issue, get the 8400M GS. I personally suggest the X3100 for those who do not play games at ALL.