XPS M1210, looking at this thing

Well, i am looking for a nice light laptop that i can carry around. I saw this on display at a Dell kiosk and i love it. I only have a few questions/ concerns.


Ram -

It comes with 1 GB at 667mhz, but i've heard i would need 2 GB to get into gaming with Vista (being a system hog). The problem is, the price jumps up $200 on the website! I was wondering, it says "1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)" - does this mean it has two slots open with one stick of 1024mb ram inside? Or does it mean it has two 512mb sticks?

If it has two slots with one occupied by a 1024mb stick, then i can upgrade it later for less than $200. You get where i'm going?
So i need to know if it has two slots with one 1024mb stick. If that's the case, this thing is perfect for me.

Video card -

I see it's got a nvidia Go 7400, and it has 64mb dedicated vram and the rest shared up to 256mb. Is this good enough to run games like Call of Duty 2 and Halo at adequate frame rates and speeds?





Other than that i think these questions, i think i'm pretty good. I'd get the 9 cell, not get the communications package, probably get the T7200 processor. 80 GB hard drive is fine.
And yeah, this thing is pretty sweet.

 

2 DIMMs means it has two sticks of RAM, 512MB each.

-Zadillo

 

ah, so that explains the price jump to $200.
Is there a way to call and ask for just one stick of 1024mb to leave one slot open? You can't do that on the website unfortunately

 

I'm not sure, probably not, but you never know. It couldn't hurt to call them and ask them. I think you'd have an easier time just going ahead and paying for the memory upgrade. I was just checking the price on XPS M1210 RAM, and it seems to be about $108.47 for a 1GB stick anyway.

-Zadillo

 

AH! Stay away from the SDRAM. 2 GB of SDRAM is the same as 1GB of DDR RAM. And when they recommend 2 GB for Vista they mean the DDR type! So don't dish out $200 especially for SDRAM.

 

You can buy 2x 1GB sticks for around USD 160 from newegg. In addition, if you manage to sell your preinstalled (2x 512MB) DELL ram modules then you can save even more.
Go7400 is quite capable of handling Call of duty and Halo with respectable quality settings.

 

Also you could buy it with 1 GB of DDR RAM (if available) and it is a simple process to go to newegg or some other such vendor and buy more, or to sell the SDRAM on Ebay, buy something better (for cheaper so your not at the disposal of Dell's prices) and put in RAM yourself.

 

Sorry about the previous RAM post. Looking at Dell's site I saw that it is in fact DDR2 SDRAM not plain SDRAM...so you're in the clear. Sorry for the confusion!

 

haha, it's okay. I think i'll probably just go ahead and get 2 GB. But i'll wait, they might have a sale. I have until June to buy a laptop.

 

You should definitely just upgrade and go with the 2GB 667mhz RAM (2 1 GB DIMMs).

However, if you're looking to upgrade later, you can request that Dell install 1 1GB Dimm, but they will charge additional over going with 2 x 512mb Dimms.

 

In response to shoelace_510:

First, DDR or DDR2 are TYPES of SDRAM.

Second, memory type and capacity are completely independent.

1GB of DDR/DDR2 is not equivalent by any means to 2GB of anything else.

DDR/DDR2 simply run at higher frequencies than PC100/PC133 and contain certain optimizations to allow for this.

PCs will utilize 1GB of DDR/DDR2 or older PC100/133 in exactly the same way. Newer DDR/DDR2 memory just allows for faster access.

 

If you are waiting till June, then wait for Santa Rosa platform.

 

I've heard about it before. Correct me if i'm wrong, but is it supposed to be the 64-bit version of Vista? I don't think i'm right. I expect they would make Vista 32-bit better before venturing into the 64.

What are we looking at with Santa Rosa? Will it be more expensive? Is it really worth the wait? Will I need it in the future? Is there an upgrade?

 

Santa Rosa is the next version of the Centrino platform. There wouldn't be a way to "upgrade" a current laptop to the Santa Rosa platform.

Santa Rosa will be branded as "Centrino Pro" when it comes out, and Intel has said it is targeted to mid to high end systems...... so you will probably see it in more expensive systems, relatively, but I don't think they will be significantly more expensive than current mid to high end systems.

Whether it's worth the wait depends on what you do. until we see the real-world benefits of Santa Rosa systems though (i.e. how much performance increase actually occurs, how much battery life improvement is there from the Robson Flash memory stuff, etc.) it is hard to say how much of a difference it will really make over current systems.

Most everyone is shipping the 32-bit version of Vista right now..... drivers will probably need to become more mature before anyone starts actually shipping computers witht he 64-bit version of Vista.

-Zadillo

 

MK, i love wikipedia...

"""Santa Rosa platform (2007)


The code-name Santa Rosa refers to the fourth-generation Centrino platform, scheduled for release in May with the following features:[1]

* second generation Intel Core 2 processor (code-named Merom) that uses Socket P
* 800 MT/s front side bus with Dynamic Front Side Bus Switching to save power during low utilization
* Intel Mobile 965 Express chipset (code named Crestline) with Intel's GMA X3000 graphics technology
* Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n mini-PCIe Wi-Fi adapter (code named Kedron)
* NAND flash-memory caching branded as Turbo Memory (code-named Robson)
* EFI, a successor to BIOS
* Intel Dynamic Acceleration (IDA), better Windows Vista Aero support [1]

The chipset update was originally intended to include WWAN Internet access via HSDPA (code-named Windigo) codeveloped with Nokia [2][3]. After announcing a working partnership, both later retracted the deal citing the lack of a clear business case for the technology. [4]

Support for WiMAX (802.16) was originally scheduled for inclusion in Santa Rosa but appears to have been delayed until Montevina in 2008 [5]. There have however, been reports that WiMax may still be introduced in 2007.

The Santa Rosa platform will be branded as "Centrino Pro" when combined with the enhanced security technologies Intel introduced with vPro and will be called Centrino Duo when they are not used..[6]

The Mobile 965 Express chipset is rumored to be more power hungry than the Mobile 945 Express, consuming 13.8W vs 8.7 by the 945."""


^So will this cost more than the average laptop now? I have a $1,500 USD budget.

 

I would expect most Santa Rosa systems to cost fairly close to their current counterparts. I certainly expect you'll be able to find at least some mid-range Santa Rosa based systems in the $1500 range.

No-one will know for sure until actual pricing is unveiled, etc. in May and June.

-Zadillo