XPS M170 or e1705 /9400 ?

I need help,

Here's my situation. . . I'm not a gamer, but I use graphics and 3D applications and multi-task business and entertainment. I travel a lot, but am never more than an hour or two away from a power outlet. I am looking for something to use in the hotel room for business applications, dumping photos from my SD card, running mapping and 3D mapping applications, and of course e-mail and web surfing as well as listening to music and possibly watching the occasional DVD. I know either of these two will do more than I will ever ask of it, but with my wife's work giving us 50% back, I want the best machine I can get and I can get either of these systems for within $100 of each other:

Inspiron 9400 / e1705
Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz/667MHz FSB)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
17" UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA with TrueLife
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
256MB NVIDA GeForce Go 7800
100GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Integrated 1 Gigabit Network Card and Modem
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double layer DVD+R write
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11 a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
80 WHr-9cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Dell Nylon Deluxe Carrying Case
Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + EDR)

XPS M170
Intel Pentium M Processor 760 (2GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
17" UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA with TrueLife
256MB NVIDA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra
100GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Integrated 1 Gigabit Network Card and Modem
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double layer DVD+R write
Intel PRO/Wireless 2915 802.11 a/b/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
80 WHr-9cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
XPS Notebook Backpack
Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + EDR)

The only real differences, of course, are the Core Duo versus the Pentium M with and the 6800 versus 7800 graphics. I am not sure of the benefits of Core Duo for what I want, but maybe the experts on this forum will be able to help me make up my mind based solely on the specs. I just can't get over how cool the XPS M170 looks. . . Also, I've heard really good things about the M170 speakers. . . Anyone know if Dell put the same speakers (and subwoofer) on the Inspiron e1705 / 9400 ? Any opinions would be appreciated. Cheers!

Craig.

 

Do not cross post, your other thread has been deleted.

 

I'm fairly new here, waiting for my E1705 to arrive. But I can give my input on how I made my choice. The M170 was very tempting as well, given it's appearance and the wow factor, I have to admit. It depends on what you want to use the machine for primarily or I should rephrase that as, what is more important to you. I think both will do what you needed them for without so much as a hiccup.

Here are some articles, not sure if you've seen them already, but it helped me a bit as far as the regular vs. duo issue. They are from anandtech.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2627
The first one does a general comparison of the new duo with other CPU's in various tasks.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2648
The second one is a continuation where they have a regular Pentium M 2.0Ghz vs. the duo counterpart.

It would seem certain applications in the articles; 3d applications multi threaded applications, multi tasking would benefit from having a duo core. But then again the margin might not be too big to warrant not getting a M170.(On another note, just seeing the specs of the pentium M/Duo in the same performance range as an Athlon64 X2 3800+ is quite amazing.)

Also is the laptop going to be acquired through the office, ie; they are making the purchase, or is it where you make the purchase and they reimburse 50 percent. Reason I was asking, is that you can find coupons that can really drop the price of the E1705 a lot, making the price margin between the two pretty wide. But I did read a poster on here mention that he used the coupon on the M170 as well, so it might be the same.

Also noticed your M170 is configured for a 6800 Go, for what you mentioned you needed it for, it should be fine, but I'd recommend a 7800GTX upgrade to make sure your investment is future proof. But if you had to stick with the 6800, I read somewhere the 7800 on the E1705 is a bit slower if not equal at stock speeds (Dell underclocks the 7800 on the E1705; one can use third party drivers to bring speeds up) to a 6800GT.

Edit: I've heard good things about the E1705/9400 sound system, and that it does in fact have a subwoofer. Whether it's the same as the M170, I'm not sure.

 

The only reason to get the XPS m170 is the option of the 7800gtx, flashy lights, and better tech support. The 7800go and 6800ultra are supposed to run about the same. I don't understand why the 6800ultra is still being offered in the m170 because the card is from the XPS gen 2/i9300 era. If you are not getting the 7800gtx in the m170, I say go for the e1705 because of the core duo. You will also save a thousand dollars too.

 

for your applications the Core Duo will help a lot

 

I'm with the other guys, go with the E1705/9400.

All notebooks are going to be phase out to Dual core, so if you want to stay with the technological changes, you might as well get it. The dual core isn't just for gamers -- like Andrew said, it will be very beneficial for you to have the extra resources.

One tip: get the lowest amount of Ram possible. It is cheaper to upgrade it from newegg.com or somewhere else online.

 

I concur with the others. I'm holding out for a dual core XPS