Just been offered a good deal on the precision m90. Should I take it? Screen quality questions.

Hi,
I've just been offered a really good deal on the precision m 90, but have a few quick questions.
Is there a great deal of difference in screen quality on Dell laptops, between a 15.4 in. and a 17 in.? I've read a lot about poor quality 17 in. screens.
I'm thinking about either the latitude or vostro 15.4 in. versus the precision m90 17 in...
Is the screen on the precision m90 very glossy? I really hate glossy screens, but I'm slightly tempted because I have such a good deal. People have said its between 50 to 60% glossy.
I'm not a gamer, but do use voice operated software so need a fast machine. I've been offered a deal which is not much more expensive than the vostro 1500, and wonder whether there is any downside to having a machine that is really more powerful than I need graphics wise. I am going to be using vista, so there is some point to a decent graphics card.
Thanks for any help,
Sophie

 

My father has an M90 workstation from his company and it's fantastic. It's big and heavy (the power brick is twice as big as my M1530), but it performs well.

The screen is great. It's matte, and not really glossy at all. It's WUXGA (1920x1200) and looks fantastic. Gaming is great on it, as it has a nVidia Quadro 2500M. It doesn't perform as well as my 8600M GT, but if you flashed its BIOS and made it a Go 7900 GTX, I'm sure it would kick my puny GPU's butt.

Now, oddly enough, the reason my Dad had his company buy this was so that it would run his voice control software. His old computer (an older Latitude with a Pentium 4 or something) was too sluggish. The T7200 and 2GB of memory makes it very fast.

The one downside is that this is not a portable machine. It's a desktop you can carry around a little easier. It's big and heavy, and probably has an overpowered GPU for your needs. If you get a Vostro with 2GB of RAM and at least a T7250, it'll be blazing fast.

 

Thanks for getting back to me.

The weight really bothers me. I'm in bed for much of the day, and then move to an arm chair for a couple of hours in the afternoon. My current setup really is the only option for me -- with the laptop on a butler's tray (I don't know what you call in the US -- a tray with legs, for eating breakfast in bed etc). That way it can be stored away in the cupboard, and brought out and put over my legs in bed, and then on a chair in front of me in the afternoon.
I currently only ever use the laptop on mains electricity, as my battery stopped working years ago. Obviously if I chose to do this with my new laptop, I would be able to reduce the weight by not having a battery. However, if I'm running vista then I'm going to need 3GB of RAM, which will obviously be heavy.
I could easily remove the Maxtor external hard drive, which currently sits on the tray beside my laptop -- therefore reducing the total weight of the tray.
It's hard to know how heavy the precision m 90 would be with 3GB of RAM and/or without the battery. I'm relying on carers to lift the tray around. Does anyone know the true weight in real life -- as opposed to the 'starting weight' listed on the Dell web site?
I know I've got a cracking deal, as I believe the machine is a much better build than the vostro, and I am tempted -- but if it really is to heavy then I will have to forego it.

 

It's really heavy for a laptop. I can weigh it tomorrow and try to give you some estimate.

 

thanks - thats very kind

 

Hi,
I've now read this in a review at digital arts online.
" this mobile workstation is heavy on the main RAM too. Our test unit featured a full 4GB of RAM – though only 3GB of that is usable by single applications, and we had to tweak settings to make more than 2GB available. Like most laptops, the M90 has only two RAM slots, so if you want more than 2GB you have to plump for the full 4GB – though the price quoted by Dell for the unit is fair for the usable amount. Photoshop certainly appreciated the extra RAM – after the tweak – taking just over three minutes to complete our Photoshop actions."

On this web site http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewID=643
and I'm confused...
I'm planning to use vista, and will need at least 3GB of RAM. It is the above paragraph something to do with the fact that they are using xp?
Please help, I must buy this computer soon!