What's more important?

I'm purchasing my 1st laptop tomorrow and I need a little help with my configuration. I've decided on Dell's e1505, and 2 possible configurations will fit my budget. I could either get a set up including the Intel core 2 Duo T7200 2.00GHz 4MB, 100GB 7200rpm hard drive, and 1GB of memory. OR, I could downgrade the processor to the Intel core 2 Duo T5200 1.83 GHz 2MB, the hard drive to a 120GB 5400rpm and upgrade the memory to 2GB.

I'm going to use the computer for school (PwrPnt, reports, etc.), and entertainment (downloading music and video, occasionally for watching movies). I don't know much about computers, but from what I understand memory will help it run quicker and smoother when I have multiple applications running.

Also, how do the processors and hard drives I'm looking at compare to eachother. What is more important when considering a hard drive: GB's or rpm? I've heard the higher 7200 rpm is primarily for playing games (I doubt I will use it for this). Basically, I'm trying to get the fastest, most powerful computer I can afford.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

ram and hard drive are easily upgraded, and cheaper if bought elsewhere, spend your money on the cpu,gpu,screen etc first, often times your better off getting the minimum hd and ram, and getting the capacities you want off of newegg or ZZF

 

^^^ Exactly.

I configured a E1505 for my cuz and I went with the T7200 and one gig of ram (though he got a 120GB HD as a special offer ). Like what Iceman said, just go onto Newegg or any other online store and buy the notebook ram. Will save you lots o' $$.

Mike.

 

I would say that both configurations would serve you well, however, the extra memory might help a little more. I'd really recommend the first option and upgrade the memory aftermarket when you have a little extra cash. www.newegg.com is a great place to start if you're in the USA. When looking at hard drives, consider both the speed of the drive (rpm) and the density(size). The 100GB 7200 rpm will probably be faster than the 120GB 5400 rpm, but a 80GB 5400 rpm HDD would be slower than either.


A 7200 RPM hard drive will improve loading times (when stuff is pulled off the disk and put into memory) it will not increase FPS. A faster hard disk is nice to have--it will cause everything reliant on loading data (most things) to work faster.

 

I agree you can always get more ram from newegg and install it yourself. It will save you a nice penny

 

I think the 7200 RPM hard drive is worth every penny. I changed from 5400 to 7200 a few years ago on my last laptop and it was a huuuuuge difference. Not only could you measure it with a watch, you could really feel it as well. I opted to have my laptop (ordered last week, not here yet) with the 7200 installed. I may still wipe and reload Windows, but it's one less potential warranty problem, plus I don't have to figure out how to clone over the repair partition, in case I ever do decide to go back for some reason.

I think Memory is also highly important, but I don't like the Dell prices. I ordered mine with 1GB RAM, which I think (just my opinion) will be plenty for now. It's a laptop, I don't hit it nearly as hard as the desktop, so I think it'll be enough. If I change my mind, or when Vista comes out, I will spring for the 2GB from Newegg. Current RAM prices from Newegg: approximately $50 for a 512MB stick, approximately $100 for a 1GB stick. Compare that to Dell's cost... no thanks. And swapping memory is ridiculously easy on these laptops.

If you plan to rip DVD's and do other things that you know will use the CPU, then go for the fast one. If you expect to surf, research, take notes and write papers, etc. then I'd just go for the slower CPU. Besides, "Slower" depends on what you compare it to. Even a 1.6 Core 2 Duo is still pretty darn fast.

 

I would have to agree with previous posters. Go with confiduration one. Ram is often over priced through manufacturers (although HDDs are often as well). You can upgrade the Ram easily to upgrade at some point in the future when you get the money by ordering from newegg.com or zipzoomfly.com. Spend you money on the extra oomph of the T7200 as the CPU's are much harder to upgrade and doing so will void your warrenty. The fast HDD will improve load times. You could upgrade that aftermarket as well though.