Please Critique Future M1210

Hey
I just wanted to get some feedback on the M1210 I was planning on building before I send in the final order.

-Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2GHz/667MHz/4MB)
-Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
-2GB Dual Shared Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
-12 inch WXGA Wide Screen with TrueLife™ and A/V Communications Pack (Intg. web cam, earbuds)

Either the:100GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive or 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive would appreciate some suggestions regarding this.

-256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7400 TurboCache
-8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
-85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
-Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Mini Card (802.11 a/g, 54Mbps)
-Integrated Audio


That's the setup that I plan on getting so any recomendations or comments about this would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks

-Ricco

 

can't really comment unless you explain what you want to do with it

 

i have the same setup with T7400 and Dell Wireless N card. everything is fast. games such as source and fear run okay. can't really crank up the gfx.

consider buying from the outlet because you will save BIG TIME.

heres m setup

2.16ghz core 2 duo
2 gigs ram
120gig 5400rpm
7400 geforce
bluetooth
camera
dell 1500
std and 9 cell battery
sound blaster audigy software

all this for about 1550 shipped and taxed

edit: and 2 ac adapters

 

it looks like a top notch sytem, big thing would be the price, and hernz is right, go for the outlet, the m1210 can be tricky to find there, they get snatched up real quick, I found the best time to look has been between 2 to 4 am EST, just sit and refresh often,as soon as you see the main specs you want in your price range,cart it immediately, then other that look promising, then check out the fine details, and even if your searches come up dry, throw something in your cart, leave the cart alone for 15 minutes, and it'll purge its self, I just spent two hours earlier finding mine, got a t5600,2gig667,gf 7400,dvd/rw and 60 gig hd for $978 with tax and shipping, it only has the 6 cell batt, but I've found new dell branded batteries on ebay for around 70 bucks shipped, so I'm extremely pleased, good luck

 

You could consider upgrading the RAM aftermarket. Check out www.newegg.com , could save you some bucks.

As far as the hard drive is concerned, if you don't think you'll die without the extra 20 GB on the disk itself, go for the faster drive. You can always use an external disk for mass storage.

7200 RPM will give you much faster loading times in games, windows startup and just generally better performance.

 

Always get the min Ram from dell then upgrade it yourself it will be alot cheaper

 

Well It will be used for school so basic word processing, powerpoint, excel, and surfing the web. I like to plays FPS's like battlefield 2 and some racing games like need for speed mos wanted.. I don't use programs that are too hard on the system but I just want a fast comp. thanks...

 

It's not really the space that I'm concerned about, the thing is the 120G 5400RPM is cheaper than the 100G 7200RPM. So I was jus woundering if the extra price is worth it to have the 100G 7200rpm drive. thanks

 

I have always used 5400 RPM drives, so it is hard for me to comment on the issue. I can say that I have not been dissapointed with the speed of the drive so far, at least for what I use it for.

Consider this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=112

 

Well, having experience with both 5400rpm and 7200rpm HDDs, here's my opinion.

Unless you are using very disc I/O intensive applications and move files back and forth a lot, then, under a general usage pattern of office/productivity apps, surfing the internet, light gaming etc., then there really isn't too much a difference between the 5400rpm or 7200rpm.

Here's a very recent example with my own M1210 system. It originally shipped with a 60GB 5400rpm SATA Toshiba drive, which I have since upgraded to a 100GB 7200rpm SATA HGST drive.

With the 60GB 5400rpm, I get:
- 25-40MB/s sequential read transfer rate
- 4.1/5.9 under Vista's Windows Experience Index for Hard Drives
With the 100GB 7200rpm, I get:
- 35-50MB/s sequential read transfer rate
- 5.1/5.9 under Vista's Windows Experience Index for Hard Drives

As far as battery life and heat goes, I did not notice a significant drop in battery life (maybe 5 minutes less out of the 4-4.5 hours I get, therefore not significant), and according to NHC/I8kFanGUI, they run and idle at around the same temperatures (35C idle to around 43C when being used intensively). I know a lot of other people have said "7200rpm is going to give you shorter battery life and runs hotter" but its all academic really, I have had actual experience with both and I say in real world usage, the difference is close to negligible really.

I also notice faster game map/level load times (e.g. Guild Wars, HL2: Lost Coast), and slightly speedier Photoshop response when caching/swapping to disc with the 7200rpm unit.

If you are obsessed with squeezing out every last inch of performance out of the system, then go for the 7200rpm unit. However, I'd say 90% of users out there would just be well served by a 5400rpm unit, which is cheaper and comes in larger capacities.

 

Get the 100GB 7200RPM who caires about 20 GIG

 

i am in the market for the same system.

what i am going to do is get the 5400 rpm drive and in a couple of months i will get a 7200 rpm drive from newegg.com.

then i will get a 2.5 external drive enclosure to put the 5400 drive in.

dell wants way too much money for the upgrade. i think its like $200 if im not mistaken. you can get one for a cheaper price and you will have the original one for backup/pics/music or whatever.

its out of stock right now but the egg has the hitachi 100gb sata 7200 rpm for 149.99. add in about 30 for the 2.5 enclosure and your 20 ahead plus have more storage.

 

One more question.. Should I get the upgrade for Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium from XP Media Center Edition seeing as i'll have the media center operating system?? Whats exactly is the Vista upgrade? I guess what I'm asking is if I should get the upgrade or not.. thanks

-Ricco

 

one thing to consider with the ram is the m1210 only has one easily accessed ram slot I believe , you will have to dissasemble the unit to get to the other slot, so two gig might be the way to go off the bat depending on how comfortable you are or arent with taking apart the system,

if you want a free copy of vista go for it, you dont have to install it if you dont want to use it, but it could be a handy thing to have, vista is the new MS OS, thats slated to come out around the start of 07

 

Just placed my order.. thanks to everyone for their comments and advice..

Here's the system:

Components:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2GHz/667MHz/4MB)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium from XP Media Center Edition
FREE upgrade to 2GB at 667MHz (2 DIMM) from 1GB - $250 Value
12 inch WXGA Wide Screen with TrueLife™ and A/V Communications Pack (Intg. web cam, earbuds)
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7400 TurboCache™
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Accessories:

Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Mini Card (802.11 a/g, 54Mbps)
Integrated Audio

 

How did you get the free RAM upgrade?

Thanks,
Mario64

 

I was curious about this as well (I ordered an M1210 on Tuesday). There is one slot that is on the bottom of the notebook, the other one is under the keyboard. So, to get to it you need to remove the keyboard first. It doesn't look too scary:

XPS M1210 Memory Modules (service documentation)

 

dell changes their deals every thursday and are effective every friday morning.. wile i was lookin for my m1210 i spent 3 weeks so the deals wer: free graphics card upgrade to nvideo geforce 7400 tc, then free communicatiosn pack plus upgraded harddrive, and now its free 2gb ram .... all of them are worth 250 bucks so nothin lost really