Questions about my E1505 purchase

I just ordered a Dell E1505 a couple days ago

heres the specs:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WXGA+ Display with TrueLife™ 1200x800
2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM
256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
100GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™HD Software Edition
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
2Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)




anyways as i was reading thru the topics in this forum about gfx cards...i know the choices of graphics cards dell offers for this model suck (from what everyone has said)


is it possible to switch out the graphics card that comes w/ my laptop (Ati X1400) and buy a new one at a site like NewEgg and replace it myself? is it a tough task or even possible? if so what cards would work and be easy to install in my Dell E1505


on a side note...Cnet gave horrible reviews for a E1505 w/ vista home premium w/ my same exact specs

what was to blame for the poor preformance? was it just the fact that vista consumes more resources? or is the gfx card to blame,the motherboard,the ram,etc


and i didnt see anyone give a personal review of a e1505 w/ vista on it in here...does anyone have exp. w/ this combo yet?

 

NO you cannot, desktop cards will never work in a notebook. If dell ever offers a better card for the E1505 you could upgrade to that, though its doubtful they will, and more than likely it will not be worth the cost. You can only upgrade to a dell branded card made specifically for your model.

Vista needs more time to mature, it has a long ways to go to catch up with XP in terms of performance and stability.

 

First up.. Welcome dude. May the bliss of notebook computing be upon you.

For your question- No, Not possible for a e1505 to have the Graphics card replaced.

 

i dont think you can change the graphic card as i have heard that it is soldered on to the motherboard
the x1400 isnt such a bad card either its a midrange card and will play most games on medium settings
as iceman has said above vista is real new and itll take quite sum time to mature so youll have to wait to see how itll really turn out once all the right drivers and support is out
btw nice configuration
cheers,

 

Its not solderd on unless you get the GMA950, if you start with that you are stuck with that, the E1505 has two versions of the motherboards, integrated and discrete, discrete give you a slot for a dedicated card, and as stated in my first post, you can only use dell cards made for your model, anything else even if it fit wiould not have bios support, the only cards you can use are the dell X1300,X1400, and GF7300, of those the X1400 is the best gaming card.

 

wonder if the e1505 will support dx10 cards when they come out then....
or would they require a complete new motherboard
if one could swap the card then it would be real worth it dont you think?

 

thnx for your advice and comments

 

I doubt it, my guess is when Dx10 notebook cards come out, and hte intel santa rosa platform, dell will change all the models with new designs. Already the body style is two years old, and was used on two models already, the 6000 and the e1505/6400

 

I dont know if the chassis will change, but I wouldnt expect any new cards for current models, I agree that DX 10 cards will roll out with santa rosa, which would mean a mobo upgrade as well as a video card.

 

The Radeon X1400 card is not a bad card to be honest, I find it suitable for my budget and the stuff I play.

 

My new e1505 arrived today.
core2duo 1.66 ghz
ati 1400 graphics
80 gig sata
hiz rez screen
9 cell battery
intell wifi

First of all, with the white border, this is one of the ugliest laptops you can buy. But who cares, Dells cost less.

I freaked out at first when I saw how dim the screen was. I was about to return it. then i discovered that on battery power the screen runs dim. so i changed the setting and presto! bright screen. And ya the fonts are small. but you can make them bigger.

The graphics card. Well, I have no idea what graphics cards do any how so i'll skip that part.

I bought the slightly upgraded intel wireless card, it's works really well, I'm about a 100 feet from the router and it's getting a great signal. it was also a cinch to log on to the network. maybe the stock wifi card would be just as good. i dont know.

i think if you plan to use a full lit screen on bat power you should get the 9 cell battery. it runs down pretty fast even with the 9 cell. i really cannot imagine anyone using this computer with the half brightness setting the unplugged unit defaults to.

not sure why people dog dell on build quality. this thing seems solid enough to me.

I think the computer is fine, but Vista is pure junk. I've already called tech support many times just to get Vista to do certain things like uninstalling software and until now I still can't use my flash drive. But I don't see how this would be in any way unique to the e1505.

One thing I don't get is why placing the cursor on a link will open the link even if you don't click it.

For the money though, I don't think you can beat it.

 

Disable the double tap feature for the touchpad, its set so that two taps act like a double left mouse click, personally I love the feature, but it does take some getting used to.

 

The x1400 isn't a bad card as most have stated. In fact I have the Inspiron 6000 with an OCed x300 and it holds its own in many games. If you really want to get all the power out of the card, start reading some overclocking forums! By the way, you have some nice specs on that rig!

 

the aging inspiron model line has been needing a face lift since ages
i just hope that the chassis changes when dx10 cards roll out im sure itll be a welcome change

 

i read the same thing, DX10 card for laptops coming with Santa Rose. but its funny that the 6000 had the X700 and some people say its better then the X1400 since it has the 8/4 pixel shaders. interesting right?