TV tuner in XPS M1210?

Hey fellows. First off, I am not a computer expert. More like how there are amateur astronomers, I consider myself a novice when it comes to technology. Atleast know what I like when I see it, and I like this M1210. Well, to put it straight, this forum caught my eye. I like it and I am here for some advice.

I want my first Laptop to be the Dell XPS M1210. I have a XPS gen 4 desktop computer at home and in my opinion, when it comes to their xps line Dell can serve to be pretty reliable, and sexy.
First off, this M1210 is going to be Primarily for university, secondarily for gaming. I always want to make the best of what I buy. Why settle for second best? That is why I am considering loading the thing with a TV-Tuner. What do you guys think? I have a duel-tuner on my XPS gen 4, and love taping, watching and doing whatever else tickles my fansy on my second moniter set up which has media center running non-stop.
What I don't know is, will dell install a tv card into the laptop that takes a coaxial cable? How much heavier will it be? Should I leave out the tv-tuner completely?

I mean what is the point of a TV tuner in any lap-top? Can anyone list the advantages? What do you do with it? I already have one anyway in my desktop xps, and if I am at home, why not just bring the laptop into the tv room, and presto, I got my media center. Is the Dell supplied tv-tuner an internal or external? Doesn't that make it inconvinent? Heavier? Hotter? Is it possible to watch TV on the go? In school? I know, stupid question but, is it possible to catch some signals flying around and somehow catch CSI while I bus home from school? Or does that require some kind of internal/external satellite not included with Dell? Not to mention some subscription to a satellite tv service!? Bah a lot of questions, I know. Whew. Consider I leave out the tuner, should I get professional instead of media center? (I love media center, you can consider me a media center fanboy, and it will be sad to see it go. Especially with vista coming.)

Other then the tuner difficulties, is there some way that when ordering my M1210, I could somehow chat or call up a dell representative and request an AUO LCD? I have heard that their Toshiba LCD's are not as crisp.
Also, if I am going to be playing games, should I be getting a 7200RPM drive no questions asked (how ironic). It's pretty expensive, and it wears down the battery faster.

Finally, I noticed when configuring, the M1210 comes stock with 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2 Dimms), and there's the option to switch to 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms) at absolutely no cost. Where do the differences lie? Don't bigger numbers mean better performance? 667>533? This made no sense to me, and I am trying to decide on the 2GB but the same problem arises with the (shared 667MHZ vs non-shared 533).

Thanking you all in advanced for taking your time to help out a brother in need.

 

OK, whew lots of question, but thats ok. Just FYI im getting mine 1st for college and 2nd for gaming also, so I can answer your questions coming from the same place.

Well first off with the TV tuner, it its external, and not integrated into the computer. Its a little box connected via USB. Now I didnt get it, so I dont know how portable it is, if it gets all it power through USB (portable then) or throuhg an external power source (not as much portable, more stuff to carry). Now what can you do with it? Well you have dual on your desktop, you can do the same things. Watch TV, record TV onto your HDD. Excpt with a single you cant do both at the same time like you can do on your desktop. Now I dont think its wireless like your thinking. I think it needs to be hooked into a coaxial cable to get a signal. So no you wouldnt be able to watch tv on the go.

So for ordering. You can just customize it online, chat and customize, or talk to a real person. If your doing the latter, and ask specifically for an AUO monitor, they will say that they can give you a certain one, its all luck of the draw. They cant do that. Think if everyone did that, and everyone asked for AUO, they would have a million Toshiba monitors sitting around taking up space. So its luck of the draw.

HDD. I would recommend the 7200RPM. Your computer is only as fast as its slowest component, and thats always the HDD, even if it was a 10k, which dont exist on notebooks yet. Yeah it costs a little bit more, bit it will make everytthing you do a little faster. About it creating more hear or using more power, thats bull. Its been throughly discussed here and both of those myths are completly false. Its the same as a 5400, excpt its faster and better.

Memory, if it costs the same get the 667. Now if your going to upgrade to Vista, get 2 gb, this is a must as Vista uses alot of memory. Also, be sure to get shared memory. The 7400 is a turbocache card (it only has 64mb of ram on it and it takes the other 192 from the system ram). Your system ram needs to be shared or else the turbochache wont work and your graphics performance will be horrible. So my advice for memory, 2gb of 667 shared, its what I got and its great.

Well I hope I answered all your questions, if you have any more feel free to ask.

 

if you want a tv tuner you'd better not buy one from dell(overpriced) but buy one seperate like this one wich goes in the xps' expresscard slot or buy a seperate usb tv tuner search for it on google

 

a tv tuner MUST be hooked up to a coax cable in order to get tv signal so no you cannot watch it wireless or on the go, so being you already watch it on your desktop, it defeats the purpose. unless you can do what I do which is to buy a slingbox, this way, you can watch your own local programs ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD provided you have a wifi signal. its is so awesome.

 

Yeah I agree with Outrigger, if you want to watch video on the go get a slingbox.

 

Thanks guys! This was very helpful. Sheff's answers were spot on. As for them denying me a AUO screen, do you think they stopped making them with the toshiba screens? Or are people still receiving them?
Tuurtje, you save me $180, and I like that.
I'd like to thank Outrigger for introducing to me this revolutionary "slingbox" i will definately be picking one up! It's crazy cool how far technology has gone. I just hope slingmedia will ship internationally.

One last question/recommendation: I have never gone wireless before, what's the best wireless router? Should I just pick up dell's advertized Linksys for $111? I have a wired Linksys at home so I trust them. However, with the new technologies coming out, we were at a/g, now there's n this, MIMO that. Although i am clueless as to how this applies to the XPS M1210, some advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I dont know alot about wireless. If you want to get wireless in your house yeah you should get a linksys or similar router to hook up your computers. As for this new N band, it became avalable right after I ordered my 1210 But mine has A/B/G and those are the most common today. But this N is very very fast, but not yet really supported since its so new. So if I were you I would pay the extra for it, because in 2-3 years it might start to become more common, and then you'll be glad you have it. But just be sure you also have the B/G bands, since those 2 are really the main ones you see today.

 

again i say dont buy the router from dell, take a look at these sites for the best wireless routers
http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wirelessrouters/tp/80211ghome.htm
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/computers/wireless-routers/index.html
this is also a good router
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1668050,00.asp

 

Hey all! Well I ordered my XPS M1210. (Finally)
Intel Core Duo 1.86GHz
1GB DDR2 RAM @ 667MHz (Ordered 1gb=1024mb stick from ebay)
100GB HD @ 7200 RPM (The free upgrade save $250!)
256MB Geforce Go 7400
A/V Communications Package
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Audio
Dell Wireless 1500 internal pre-n card

$2096 total. Canadian. Well, it would have been 2400 if I had ordered it last week.

Now I have few other regrets/problems:
I neglected to get bluetooth because I hardly ever use it, but forgot about the sexiness of wireless mouse technology using bluetooth! Are there any alternatives to bluetooth for a wireless mouse? Or can I upgrade and get bluetooth on my own (Internal/External) What mouse would you recommend?(for gaming)

I got the Dell 1500 Wireless internal pre-n card, and they claim fast speeds with a wireless router that has Intensi-fi™ technology. Whats this Intensi-fi technology? Well I had my heart set on tuurtje's recommendation of the Belkin Wireless Pre-n router. Does it have intensify in it? Will the dell card be compatible with the Belkin router? This is my most worrisome department. I haven't a clue when it comes to wireless, but I know I want the best.

Thanks everybody!

EDIT: Oh no, so there are only 2 dimms slots in total? I thought there would be 4! So with this ebay 1gb stick that makes it only 1.5gb because i have to remove the other 512?!! What a waste!

 

I you want bluetooth on your laptop just buy a usb bluetooth dongle.
I wouldn't suggest a cordless mouse but they say the logitech mx 1000 has no problem with battery life, for gaming get the g5 laser mouse(corded).
Never heard about the intesifi technology and dont know if the belkin can connect with the dell card. but this router is able to connect to intensifi
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833122099&ATT=33-122-099&CMP=OTC-C173T

 

Thanks tuurtje! You've been very helpful.

 

You're welcome I just used google