Questions for XPS M1330 build

I am thinking about ordering an XPS M1330, but want to ask a couple of questions.

1. Which hard drive would you recommend for someone who does not use a ton of space. I am looking at the 160 gb 7200 with free fall sensor vs. 250gb 5400 rpm. I am leaning towards the 160 because I really don't have to have lots of room. Also will the 7200rpm be noticeably faster? Is one considered to be more reliable on the XPS than the other? take into account they both cost the same so price is not a factor.

2. Is the wireless N card worth the $50. Also is the card backwards compatible with a or g? I do not want to be left out if everyone goes to N, but I currently only have a g network setup, and am not sure if my network at school supports N.

Thanks for any help, I appreciate your time,

Levi King

 

I am not sure about #1.

But, with #2, the N-card will only work with N or G. I have a B router at home, and the card does not pick it up.

 

7200rpm is faster for sure, but IMO you wont notice that musch of a difference. Personaly i would recomend 160gb 5400 rpm; but if given a choice between 160gb 7200 and 250gb 5400 rpm, i would take 160gb 7200 in a heart beat.

 

1. If space is not an issue, I would go with the 160GB @ 7200rpm. The speed would make your overall system faster; and the free fall sensor would prevent data loss from dropping your laptop, so in a sense it is more reliable.

2. The draft-n card means that it's based off the 802.11n draft specifications. When 802.11n is finalized (est. June '09), your laptop's wifi card could already be obsolete. I went with the g card; $50 for beta hardware doesn't sound right to me.

 

I just received my M1330 and other than a few quality issues, like backlight bleed, i'm happy with it and will likely keep it.

I got the 7200RPM 160 gig HD and I'm very happy I did. It is silent and noticeably faster than my other laptop with a 5400RPM drive, and especially faster than my GF's 4200 drive.

As for N-draft, I went for it as the N-draft will at least be compliant with N-hardware in the future, but don't expect 300Mbps, but N-draft is faster than G for network transfers and such. I added it because I'm paying per month and I won't notice a $40 (CDN) increase over 4 years. I'm using it right now with my universities network and it is running perfectly, much better reception than my old 600m with 802.11b only.

 

Thank you for all the quick, great informative replies.

One more question, other than price (paying for technology that may not be the final N version), is there a downside to going with the wireless N card? As I understand it most networks are G, so having backwards compatibility with that would not be a problem right, but I am unsure if there are any other issues I should consider.

 

Yup, the n card is compatible with g. I am proof of that now It won't pick up anything lower though.

I don't really see a downside of the n card, except the price. But, I am just a general user....I don't know all the details about it. I just know that it works great for me

 

If you get the "Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card," you will be all good as it's A / B / G / N compatible. Plus, it has really good performance

 

I haven't experienced this. I have a b router at home, and my card (Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N mini-card) will not pick it up. I called Dell and they confirmed this. Although, since it has A in its name, maybe it will pick that up.

Is the Next-Gen card a different card than from what I have? In that case, I have no clue and you are probably right

Sorry, I probably wasn't much help, huh?

 

Reading the responses i have a similar conundrum.

I have just bought an M1330 with its Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N mini-card.

I am looking to buy a wireless router/modem for this N card. All the router bench tests i viewed seem to test the router with same manufacturers wifi card/adapter. I dont particularly want to fork out more money but obviously use the in-built Intel wireless-N card. This is my first wireless venture but i want to share network with my old desktop PC (XP sp2) which i can "ethernet hardwire".

Can anyone offer suggestions to a reliable router/modem for my XPS1330? I suppose i will not get N speeds but i would like to get as best a speed and range as possible. (and an easy set up - i am not a techie!)

 

Well I been using netgear and got this one not so long ago and fine so far WNDR3300 but what works for me will differ to others. Also since your or your friends are into games look for also Gigabit (1000 Mbps) wired ports support. routers

 

Get the XPS 1330 already running Windows XP Professional and all drivers working from ebay. I saved myself all the headache by buying off this url

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=130202147823&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=003

 

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