XPS 2 performance?

I've recently began to look at the Dell XPS 2 laptop as a potential investment. I originally had planned on the 9300, but after reading in this forum, I've decided it's worth it to throw a bit more money into the process.

My question is: How will the XPS 2 fare a year from now? I talked to some friends who said that AMD 64-bit architecture is the only way to go right now, and I don't want to be saddled with a computer that's only fast for 4 months and then needs a major overhaul. Any thoughts as to the 2 Ghz Pentium M that comes with the XPS 2 in terms of performance/longevity?

*edit* Any clue as to the battery life? I know the XPS 2 will be a hog, but with the M processor, how much of a difference can I expect?

 

There are plenty of reviews out(eg anandtech) there that compare PM to AMD64 to P4, and in terms of performance the PM holds up very well to the others except in 3d rendering and a few other specialised areas.

Thus if you plan to do gaming, web, office, multimedia then the PM is fine.
Battery performance goes PM>AMD>P4 as does heat, I would look to reviews on the XPS2 for exact numbers.

I'm assuming your friends are refering to 64bit, if so then I don't see it as such a major issue. Sure window64 is coming soon, but most of the apps that you use won't be 64 compatible for quite some time, so having a 64bit cpu aint gonna make that much difference.
Although if its just on a price/performance situation then AMD is a very good choice.
Best advice I can give is to figure out what you want to do with the lappie. If your thinkin of an XPS then mobility isn't top of your list thus battery life is a mute point in some respects. eg it ain't the type of notebook that your gonna wanna take out on the subway for some gaming....nor will you want to carry it everyday to class.
Good luck
a



ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 1Gb RAM

 

Check around, the XPS 2 is a smoking laptop for gaming. Since it uses the P-M processor it is still able to achieve about 2 hours of battery life, which ain't bad for a system so big and powerful. Out of the box the XPS 2 has been scoring in the mid- upper 5000's on 3dmark 2005. The I9300 is mid 3000's. The XPS 2 will last you into next year, thats for sure. Will it still be able to play games at the max, probably not, but you would still be able to have it it at high res with most settings up there.

*Dell Inspiron 9300, P-M 1.86ghz 533mhz FSB, 1GB DDR2 533mhz ram, 17inch UXGA+ screen with TrueLife, 256mb Nvidia GeForce 6800, 60gb 7200rpm drive, XP Pro SP2, WiFi*

*Sony MDR-G74SL Headphones for music and gaming, best 40 dollar pair i have ever bought!*

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Underpantman