The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    M1330 .. video option

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Schlotkins, Jul 26, 2007.

  1. Schlotkins

    Schlotkins Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hello-

    I think I've decided to go for a M1330 even though it may be 6 weeks until I see it. The one option I'm debating is the video card option (8400). I don't play any video games at all. The only two reasons I can think of is:

    1) The X3100 would eat up system RAM (probably not a big deal if I have 4GB)

    2) The 8400 may perform better if I hook up an external Blu-ray drive and play movies out over the HDMI.

    Any suggestions?

    Also, can you get sound out over the HDMI port?

    Thanks!
     
    Schlotkins, Jul 26, 2007
    #1
  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,857
    Messages:
    16,212
    Likes Received:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    466
    1) Not much though...during regular desktop use I don't think it uses more than like 8-32MB. Gaming (hahah!) maybe 256MB. Vista might allocate more, but if you are gaming you probably aren't multitasking either so...
    2) Yes, it would help...but I believe that any Core 2 about 2.0GHz or faster can decode the entire thing if you need it to. More GPU just means a lower processor load.
     
    Greg, Jul 26, 2007
    #2
  3. DirectGirl

    DirectGirl Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    11
    Messages:
    209
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Don't get the NVIDIA if you care about battery life.
     
    DirectGirl, Jul 26, 2007
    #3
  4. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

    Reputations:
    860
    Messages:
    2,979
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Get the U3 - it'll have an option to turn off the NVIDIA card to save battery life.
     
    taelrak, Jul 26, 2007
    #4
  5. Schlotkins

    Schlotkins Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    U3? Not sure what that is...
     
    Schlotkins, Jul 26, 2007
    #5
  6. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

    Reputations:
    860
    Messages:
    2,979
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Asus U3 - the Asus competitor to the Dell M1330. Also a 13" with backlit LEDs, onboard GPS, etc.
     
    taelrak, Jul 26, 2007
    #6
  7. pmayo

    pmayo Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    29
    Messages:
    73
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    By definition HDMI -- includes sound.
     
    pmayo, Jul 26, 2007
    #7