Time to get a Duo 2 E1505, couple of questions...

Well i have been wanting to get a different config on my laptop and regret getting the WXGA screen anyways, so the Duo 2 gives me an excuse to get a new lappy.

1. It is 100$ to go to the 1.6ghz duo2 2mb Cache, and 225$ to go to the 2ghz 4mb Cache, will i see a big difference between these 2 chips? is it worth $125?

2. I want to get a glossy screen. The only difference between true life and true life with ultra sharp is that the ultra sharp has a high resolution correct? My main question is, is this going to tax the graphics card more? As it is right now i can only play battlefield 2 on medium settings, if having this higher native res is going to put more stress on the graphics card, then i will probably go with just true life.

3. Is there ever going to be any coupons higher than 20%?

 

1. I don't know if you'll notice it but I'd upgrade if it's only $25.
EDIT: This is how dell get's you; it costs $225 to upgrade to the 2 ghz core 2 duo from the bas config. It's actually $125 more than the 1.6 ghz core 2. I still think its worth it, but I don't know how much better the 2ghz is.

2. You can change the settings in the game so it'll run at lower than normal rez, the the max resolution shouldn't matter for gaming. People say it looks worse when you dot that compared to native rez but I can't tell the difference.

3. There used to be, but dell recently announced getting rid of coupons to make it easier for the customer but that's just an excuse to charge a bit more. They might not come back for a while, if at all.

 

sorry i meant $125

So as far as the screen, what is the point of ultrasharp? The true life already makes the screen glossy - brighter etc., so the only point of ultrasharp is the option to set it at a slightly higher res? $100 seems like a ripoff for just that.

 

AH! I am about to get the E1505 ... you regret getting the WSXGA? I am having a panic attack about which one to get myself! How is BF2 performance with that x1400? More importantly have you ran WoW at all on that system?

As far as your questions, I have asked the same question about UltraSharp to a few people. I have gotten the response anywhere from "it's just higher resoultion" to "its a whole color production technology built into the panel that will make games come to life! (The second one was from a Dell cust. assistant heh).

I am guessing it's just a slightly brighter display with slightly better viewing angles.

 

it's a glossy screen meaning that the colors should appear to be better, and the screen should be brighter. but it also means that it may be difficult to use the laptop outdoors because the screen is highly reflective.

if you're going to be using the computer indoors, it's worth getting TruLife. otherwise, stick with the normal matte screen.

 

the matte screen that i have now is dull, i would recommend getting truelife. BF2 is ok on the X1400, i can play everything at medium settings with textures on high, looks decent. WOW should run on med/high

 

Also,

Is the only difference between the Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps) and the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Internal Wireless that the Intel PRO accepts A wireless routers? They are both internal right?

 

They're both internal mini-pci cards. the 1390 is actually a Broadcom part, and the 3945 is an Intel part. Take a look a the Dell Draft N card offered. It's also a Broadcom part, and supports the new draft n stuff, and supposedly has an improved range on even standard 802.11g networks.

When you say BF2 is "ok" is that like .. 30fps @ 1680x1050, or are you running non-native res. to get the ok performance.

 

Thanks Digitaltrav


Can anyone answer this one for me? Thank you

 

The configurations from Dell I'm seeing, is that for the Core 2 ones, the rest of the stuff is all scaled down with smaller drives, cd/dvd non writable "combo" drive, low res screen, and all the rest of it. After adding everything back in, I'm seeing an about $500 jump.

It is *NOT* worth the $500 jump just so you can boast about having a <echo>Core 2 Duo</echo>.

In all honestly, I think you'll see a 0 to 20% performance increase with the Core 2 Duo over the Core duo, with most of the time it closer to the 10% mark.

This means that a 2 GHz core (1) duo will probably outperform a 1.66 GHz core (2) duo most of the time. I haven't completely concluded this, but by looking at preliminary comparisons from sources *other* than Intel themselves, this is what I've been seeing.

 

The cheapest possible configuration is default @ $629. That is with a 1.6ghz Core Duo. The 1.66ghz Core 2 Duo upgrade is $100, and to go from 1.66 to 2.0ghz its another $125. This is what the OP is refering to as far as costs.

 

Still waiting on this last question i have, thanks guys

 

I'm also very interested in an accurate response as to what the hell UltraSharp *REALLY* means. Like I said, even the cust. assistant from dell just fed me some intangibles such as "it brings games to life!".

If UltraSharp really does just mean higher res or whatever, then I think it's an easy decision to just get the 1280x800 for me, because with the lower native res, games run better. My father has a gateway with that res. and its a perfectly acceptable size for random windows tasks. I can't invision myself wanting more screen realestate. Hell, if it turns out I have extra gpu left @ 1280 i'll just kick up the visual settings or something.

 

But if you look for "dell coupons" in google, it will likely lead to a special deal with an additions $100 or another pre-configured system, that includes all kinds of things like a 120GB harddrive, 1GB memory, dvd writer (not the combo thing), ati 1400 (vs intel gma 950). If you want a Core 2 Duo system with all those same or close to specs, then you will find that a core 2 duo system costs significantly more money.

About that "special deal". I found one on the Canadian website. The way it shows that configuration is a little different from the normal configurations that you're seeing when you simply go to the Dell website and start there. With this "special" thing, most options are already selected, and you can *not* make changes to the cpu, the memory, harddrive, and things like that. I couldn't even add more warranty. It had 1 year with the care bare.

So I ordered one. Can't wait to get it. I'm now fighting all this core 2 duo hype. All these people getting all mushy over it - the "core 2 duo fever".
Pfff... their 1.66 C2D will run slower than my 2 C1D for most things anyway. And that little bit of a boost...
I saw this other guy getting a XPS just because of the video card. He's paying more than (get this TWICE the amount of money than my 9400 (e1705).

Anyway - I'll be the C1D rebel - bring it on !

 

In the USA site you can start with the bare minimum configuration right from the Dell Home site. From there you can add whatever you want as far as upgrades. The pre-configs are just these systems with the options already added on to avoid confusing newbie users. The only discounts that usually end up on the preconfig machines is warrenty price cuts.

Dell is good at marketing. What they will often do is tack on a 3year warrenty to a package, and use the price of that warrenty to change the system configuration around so it looks like you are getting "FREE 120GB HDD, FREE 1GB RAM, FREE DVD BURNER" .. and then if you look, you are paying full price for the warrenty which you can't remove from the pre-config.

Start with the cheap $629 system, configure up all your options, apply your coupon at checkout. 9 times out of 10 it'll be cheaper to go this route than finding a pre-config with specs close to what you want but not exactly. That is unless you are shopping for a good warrenty. Even then, the pre-configs usually are nearly as fully cuztomizeable.

At any rate, good on you for getting the C1D. It's by no means a slouch. Awesome chip for the money, and so are the C2D.

 

K. UltraSharp = better viewing angles, brighter screen, and higher resoultion (and with that resoultion comes lower pixel pitch.)

The 15.4 inch WXGA with TrueLife = 180 nits, +/- 40 degrees horizontal viewing angle, +15/-30 degrees vertical viewing angle. 0.258 mm pixel pitch.

15.4 inch Ultra Sharp WSXGA+ with TrueLife = 185 nits, +/- 65 degrees horizontal viewing angle, + 50/- 50 degrees vertical viewing angle. 0.197 mm pixel pitch.

Nits being the measurement of brightness.
Pixel Pitch being distance between pixels on the screen. Lower = sharper.

HOPE THIS HELPS!

 

The video card alone is worth a crapload of money, you were trying to compare a X1400 to a 7900GS, that's like comparing a fiat to a F1 car. The XPS also has way better build quality than the 9400. And his CPU is 64 bit, so eventually when software starts utilizing 64 bit processing (hence Windows Vista), that will put his laptop at a pretty large advantage.

 

Thanks for the info, i've decided to just go truelife, $100 for more resolution(which is pointless in my opinion), and a slightly better viewing angle isn't worth it to me.

 

Same here. 5nits is barely measureable let alone visually obvious. And who looks at a notebook from a cockeyed view anyways. I'm not showing movies to a room of people on this thing =D.

Lower native resoultion will allow for better framerates and imagequality given that the gpu is so shortchanged.

$100 in the bank!

PS: I've decided that the 1.66ghz Core 2 Duo is plenty enough processing power for me as well .. so make that $225 in the bank!

 

Keep in mind that Core 2 Duo is futureproof, ready for Vista and all it's components. Core Duo will run Vista, but not at full capacity. As for everyday tasks, you're unlikely to see a real difference between the two processors. Clear off the junk Dell sends with the machine and you'll be flying either way.

 

Yep, the $100 upgrade to 1.66ghz Core 2 Duo (the cpu I am getting) is worth it in my opinion and was worth waiting for. If for nothing else, piece of mind that when Vista64 comes I can run it.

 

When you start your ordering process at the website, you might simply see a $100 difference to get the C2D.

But there are special pre-configured deals. It's like getting a whole bunch of stuff at a great discount. 120GB hd, 2GB mem, 9 cell battery, cpu upgrade, and the care bear.
To get that same configuration, but instead with the new C2D chip, you have to spend like $500 extra.

I've been explaining this in a number of messages now. I think I'm telling Dell exactly what the heck is wrong with their marketing strategy.

 

The pre-config they had for Canada was most definitely a good deal.
Trying to create that config from scratch costed many 100's more - really !

 

I've read on a number of occasions now that the wuxga is a lot better than the wsxga+. It has less light leakage, and the wuxga is more glossy and more contrasty.

A higher framerate? You should be able to lower the resolution. Yes pixels would scale, but the crummy Quake graphics, while running through the hallways, you wouln't notice it.

 

This is the E1505 we are talking about. No WUXGA option available. It's XGA vs. SXGA (widescreen versions). The more gloss the worse the display in my opinion. The reason glossy screens are good is because they are able to bring out blacks and whites and pronounce colors very well .. so more contrasty .. yea .. good stuff .. but the trick is to be more contrasty and LESS glossy. At any rate you are wrong about both of those observations when comparing WXGA vs. WSXGA. They're both coated with exactly the same TrueLife procedure, and both have the same 300:1 contrast ratio. The difference is 5 nits of brightness, and wider viewing angles. (and obviously resolution)

As far as framerates go I'd much rather play at a lower native res, because scaling pixels is horrible. Unless you simply don't care AT ALL about image quality. It seems as tho you don't tho with your Quake comment. I could play Quake on a Pentium 1 .. why are you talking about a 10 year old game's poor textures?

And before it's even mentioned, DVD's are 720 x 480 so even movie viewing wouldn't provide higher image quality unless you were scaling with ffdshow or something.

 

Actually, it's WXGA vs WSXGA+ (1680x1050). Don't forget the plus.
I think the WSXGA+ is a very good choice on a 15.4" display. It's quite ideal.
I'm used to an inspiron 8200, with 15" 1400x1050 screen. It's the perfect ratio.

I agree with most of what you say. I think that with laptops, you tend to have the screen closer by, making gloss not so bad.

For a *really* high res screen, like WUXGA, you'd get sandy sparkling with those roughed anti gloss surfaces.

 

DigitalTrav, what config are you going with?


Here is my config, havn't ordered yet, but I'm pretty positive I am going to go this route.

Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5500 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
512MB Shared Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHZ, 1 DIMM
256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Integrated Audio
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support

TOTAL:$802.40 (before tax)


...only thing i am not 100% sure of yet is the HD, not sure if i want a 80GB 5400rpm drive, or a 60GB 7200rpm drive.

 

The old CD @ 2GHz will run faster for most thing than your 1.66, just so you know.

But, your pick is not bad. I'd go with the richer WSXGA+ screen though. But I'm guessin you're trying to keep the price down. Not bad (I think).

 

This is the setup I am going for:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5500 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
120GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps)

$886.40 pre-tax ..

for my $85 I'm getting the 120gb hard drive (40gb more), and 1gb of ram (512mb more). I know i could buy 2gb from newegg for like $160, but this way if I don't need 2gb, i'm good cuz i am running dual channel with the 1gb option. $65 for a stick of 512 isn't terrible .. like $10 more than newegg charges, and this way they'll be somewhat matched. And heck if I do need 2gb, I can sell the 512 sticks on ebay or something.

As far as the hard drive goes, the 120gb seems like an OK upgrade .. it is only 5400rpm but it does have 8mb of cache instead of 2mb like all the other 5400's. I am still somewhat debating this as well. 60gb seems like it might be enough.

Only other thing I am considering is maybe gettin a quicksnap cover for the $30 or whatever it is ... I dunno seems like it might make it look halfway decent. Then again, sort of a waste of cash.

 

Your comments about the cpu make NO sense at all. The 2.0ghz option on this system is a Core 2 Duo. The 2ghz Core Duo's are no longer being offered. And when it was, it was offered at the same price as the new Core 2 Duo 2.0ghz.

You need to stop trolling the Core 2 Duo cpu. We get it, you think it's overpriced for some reason. You are wrong. Now move along.

As far as the screen goes, that's been discussed in this exact same thread also. It's 5nits of brightness, resoultion that won't get used, and improved viewing angles.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.


How did you get both those upgrades for only an extra 80 bucks? The ony coupon you are using is the 20% off right? And ya the quick snap covers look tempting, especially the black leather one.

 

Hmmm. Well It's $65 for the ram, $40 for the hard drive vs. the 80 you picked. $105 * .8 = $84.

 

ah i see. What do you think about 5400 vs. 7200? I have never owned a 7200rpm drive. For games like BF2 and CS:S i'm guessing it makes no difference?

 

Meh, it's a toss up. BF2 and CS:S will deffinatly load the levels faster when you start a new map, but as far as actual gaming performance .. unless you run out of ram and are swapping to the drive, it will mean almost nothing. 2mb vs. 8mb cache is like meeting half-way I think. With the 120gb it's 5400rpm 8mb cache. With the 60gb-100gb 5400rpm it's only 2mb cache. For the same price as the 120gb 5400rpm 8mb cache drive, you can instead get a 60gb 7200rpm 8mb cache drive.

I'd rather have twice the space for the same price rather than cut my space in half like that for a very small upgrade in speed.

The thing about these faster drives tho, when the data isn't compacted as tightly on the platter the performance isn't as good. So a 100gb 7200rpm drive will actually perform noticebly better than the 60gb 7200rpm. But I don't really like the pricing on the bigger faster drives. The cost to performance just goes out the window.

For me it will either be 120gb 5400rpm 8mb cache or the 60gb 5400rpm 2mb cache.

 

Good point, i dropped the quick snap cover and i went with the 120gb, just ordered

 

I am tempted to order right now too, but I think I am going to make one last hold out until Labor Day to make sure there isn't crazy good deals that come up.

 

Hey Trav are you going to go for the Dell Wireless N ?

 

Nah it seemed like an OK idea at first, then I was like .. meh the standard isn't even finalized yet ... and I don't plan on buying a DraftN router any time soon. If I was in the market for another router I think I would have gone DraftN .. but nah.

 

My comments about the cpu make perfect sense.

I'm looking at multiple options on the Dell website with the C1D right now.

To get a C2D, it costs more - p-e-r-i-o-d.

See this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=75279&page=3#23

It really did come out many 100's more, you can't say I'm wrong because I'm not.

On the 15.4" size, WSXGA+ is definitely way nicer than WXGA.
On the 17" size, WUXGA has less light leakage (apparently, haven't actually seen it though), but is a tad high on the resolution, making things small - but you can increase the dpi and font size to counteract it.

end-of-day I think what's really pissing the hell out of me is Dell's pricing structures. It's a smartly crafted combination making each somehow think they got the exact perfect deal with some an advantage they don't want to miss out on.
I bet Dell's getting sick and tired of having to deal with all those returns.
Perhaps a more stable constant approach, like Lenovo, might result in more stability. Not the same, more something less irratic, and more predictable.

 

You -ARE- wrong, and you are comparing a "bundle" deal on an entirely different model, which cuts you a break on the warrenty and forces options vs. the fully customizable model.

Core 2 Duo is -NOT- $100's more on the E1505.

see this page:
www.dell.com

And finally ...

You win at the english language. p-e-r-i-o-d

 

Actually it is only $100 dollars more. 100$ for a faster processor that is future proof and 64-bit capable is a steal, you would be stupid not to upgrade.

If you read the thread, you would realize that we are not discussing the 17" screens, notice the E1505 in the title? We know that the WSXGA is nicer than the WXGA, i made this evident in my first post.

The pricing structure is really not that complicated. You build a machine, when you upgrade components they cost more, then you throw in a 20% coupon - and you get your final price, i really don't understand how you are getting confused by that.

 

Ok, so we're comparing apples and oranges. Sorry for bringing the 1705 into this 1505 mix.

End of day: In Canada, to get a 17" 9400 (e1705) with C2D costs $300 CDN more, because package deals make the C1D attractive.
In the US, the e1505 can be had with a C2D for around $100 more - not considering any special package deals that may be found in flyers, as-advertised sections, online coupons, and such (this is the part that doesn't seem to register with you).

Dell's pricing structure is highly annoying. Yes, you can completely ignore any pre-config'ed offers, and you can simply go the site, start with one of the choices right on the home / small business section, but, there are as-advertised sections, flyers, online flyers, coupons (other than that 20% flyer that was brought up), etc. Hunting and sifting through all that is nerve wrecking because you might not be getting the best deal because you might not have found that ideal deal when you place that order.

And even with just starting with the website. You get like 5 columns with starting configs for a particular model. I'm seeing 4 columns for the 6400 (e1505), each with different configs. You can upgrade each. When upgrading each to a full config, each come out with a different price. When I want to put something together that might have most things maxed out, and 1 or 2 things one step lower to save money, I have to try out each starting config to see if I can come out with a better price. I'm then faced with having to make a decision which features I'm willing to compromise.

That's on the Canadian site. On the US site, I'm seeing 3 columns for the e1505. I *do* see that things look a different. You can upgrade to a C2D within the same config - something you can't do on the CDN site. I'm also seeing a message about how a C2D might delay the shipping.

Still, on the US site, you still have to play around and compare 3 different configs with carefully chosen compromises to come up with an acceptable deal.
I'm also seeing an "as advertised" and "promotions" section, which also needs to be considered. Then there are coupons that will only work on certain configs, which you only discover once you create a cart.

You call this a simple and straightforward ordering system? Sure, for the sucker that doesn't know how to extract the right deal from Dell...

 

There is not really all that many deals going at once. There's a few coupon codes, there's the 3 pre-configured systems for most models, and that's it.

Maybe in Canadaland they make this a complicated process, but all these "special crazy super savings as-advertised flyer coupon" simply aren't around on the US site. The dell ordering process is quite simple here in the USA. There isn't anything complicated at all.

Start with a pre-config, see if there are coupons that will sweeten the deal, order, and done.

 

Those hoping for 64-bit useful OS are due for rude awakening. By the time there are widely present standard 64-bit applications (that are performing better than their 32-bit counterparts) both CPUs will be obsolete.

I bought HP laptop with AMD64 two yrs ago. I have ran 64-bit OS just one day, formatted the drive same day, and never bothered with it again. The HP never supported it for 64-bit purpose, so there's no drivers for half of hardware. It is enough to not have synaptics driver to make your laptop half useless.

 

If the OS was XP64, that was basically a hack on XP to prove that microsoft could write a 64bit os .. nobody ever supported it in a retail outlet.

Vista is different because it was always aimed to be the "64bit OS for the masses". It's going to be put on machines to be sold in stores, so the install base will go through the roof. See with XP64, the install base was always way too small for most hardware manufactureres to bother writing drivers for it. System builders ran the opposite direction from it because their users would be up poop-creek if they wanted to add-on devices. With Vista, hardware manufacteres won't have the same luxury of ignoring it.

As far as performance gains, 64bit never really presented any huge advantages over 32bit .. but there is a few things here and there that will likely be 64bit only with Vista. The difference in perfomance might not be a big deal but .. if you have a 32bit cpu and something is 64bit only that means .. too bad so sad. If you have 64bit .. then you can still run 32bit for however and whenever you need to .. and if 64bit is an option, or the only alternative, bam, got that covered too.

 

And being that in order to use the coupon you need to have the laptop $999+, it would be pointless not to spend some of your money to get the core duo 2.

 

I've been running Fedora Core 4 64 bit on a dual AMD 64 for well over a year.

It's been rock solid, except Java 64 bit has given me problems, and the latest open office 64 crashes a lot. Other than that it's been good.

With those newer processors, you should be able to run windows inside linux through virtualization. You could do this before, but with a new feature in the cpu it is more efficient than before.