Yeaa, I just bought the E1505, Have questions for experts.

Hey all, finally.. my old laptop from germany kinda ****ped out is my guess... I looked at it, everyone else did in the house, and we are good with them. (Boot it up and it could freeze, or moment it went into XP it locks up.. reinstalled RAM, formatted disk etc.. )

Its a Mitac PC.. nothing fancy.. only a ****py S3 gfx card anyways...

Anyways my CURRENT desktop specs are
http://www.darkmystics.com/DxDiag.txt so you can get a idea.

My NEW laptop I ordered is a Dell. Which bought out Alienware as most know. Been happy with Dells and they upgrade easy enough.

The one I customized for the buck was these specs.

Code:

E1505 Dual Core
Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2400 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Professional Qty: 1
Unit Price: $1,816.00 
Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2400 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
 KD18HN
 [222-1327] 
 
LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
 15XGAS
 [320-4651] 
 
Memory FREE 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
 1G2DP
 [465-0929] 
 
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
 256ATI
 [320-4655] 
 
Hard Drive 80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
 80GB
 [341-3108] 
 
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Professional
 WPXP
 [412-0689] 
[412-0706] 
[420-4770] 
[420-4830] 
[420-5460] 
[420-5476] 
[420-5924] 
[463-2282] 
 
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
 INTNIC
 [430-0493] 
 
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
 ADOBER
 [430-1048] 
 
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
 8XDVDRW
 [313-3959] 
[420-5775] 
[420-5901] 
 
Sound Card Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy® ADVANCED HD Audio
 SBAHD
 [313-4218] 
 
Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
 TM1390
 [430-1628] 
 
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
 ICOREL
 [412-0803] 
 
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
 NS
 [412-0850] 
 
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
 6BAT
 [312-0404] 
 
Hardware Warranty 3Yr Ltd Warr,At-Home Service,and HW Warr Support plus Nights and Weekends
 SQ3OS
 [412-0359] 
[950-3339] 
[950-5442] 
[950-9450] 
[960-5952] 
[960-6910] 
[983-7618] 
[983-7619] 
 
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
 AOLDHS
 [412-0687] 
[412-0787] 
[420-3224] 
[420-5256] 
 
Mobile Broadband No Broadband Expresscard technology is available in the market now
 NOBB
 [465-0505] 
 
Operating System Re-Installation CD Genuine Windows® XP Professional re-installation CD
 XPPMED
 [310-6845] 
 
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
 SEP
 [412-0856] 
[412-0865] 
 

Sound nice?

I am not used to the new Intel Duo Processers.. I hear mutlitasking will be a cinch and even if I run a single app, it shouldnt consume 90% of the CPU useage anymore, sounds nice indeed. Too bad it doesnt support 64-bit..

Anyone know if the dell duo can be overclocked? If so how? I didnt want to spend a EXTRA 240$ to just switch it to 2GHZ out of the box. Wasnt sure if it was worth it, since I already changed from the 1.6 to 80$ more for the 1.8 which I felt WOULD be nice.

Also how would you rate that processer? Better then a P4?

Next off.. Overall, who has used the laptop audigy? I heard about it and I use it in my desktop, comments? I am curious laptop wise.. what makes the Audigy card better then the normal cards they can come with? I mean I know about the PCMCIA having digital output, but that isnt the case here.. I mean could I expect better bass? Or what type of quality from the laptop itself could I expect?

X1400 ATI sounds nice.. I know its a lower end gfx card. Least so they say.. Im used to a 9600xt aiw, which works just fine indeed. I am wondering what this would compare to? I was guessing the X1400 would be more like a 9800XT? Fill me in. =) (Also would you rather use omega drivers on this model vs catalyst? If so, what would I gain from them?)

I couldve upgraded to the SXGA+ for 80$ more on a LCD panel.. but not sure if I need it really.. would I really miss the 1600 res? I am used to 14 in, 1024 res without glossy.. now I am getting a 15.4 widescreen XGA with glossy, so I am sure I will see better already, however.. for normal wise and gaming useage.. I dont know if this was a "OMGBBQ! I gotta have this option" type of thing?


Anyways Im happy.. Finally a laptop that is comparable to my desktop. (Normally.. I had a bad habit where if I favored one PC over a laptop or vice versa.. I Had THAT pc run 24/7 and do everything, in this case, sure sual processers is nice.. but not sure by how MUCH nicer it is.. my Desktop is a 2.1 GHZ AMD 3000+ system. Would you say my laptop is really gonna run faster?

Finally.. I noticed that my Desktop has a 7200 RPM HDD, where this laptop has a 5400rpm, will I notice too much of a difference here? I know faster PC + Faster HD is better, but just in general, will I say "Omg.. this is slow" or not really? Even tho after this model gets it spotlight taken away, I am sure they will drop in price.

I also looked at the Intel vs Dell Wifi card.. I went with Dell.. but I might call back in a min to change it to the Intel, after reading on these forums that people say things like Linux run better on Intel chips for wifi. Not sure.. Might try to turn this laptop into my new mobile battle station, where Ill have dual boot, Xandros 3.0 and Windows XP Pro. (Wow.. can actually say I have a legal copy of XP Pro now.. lol... sad.. but then again.. who wanted media center???)

Anyways looking for people to enlighten me, I have been studying the past couple days, I love to learn all I can about tech stuff and understand in full my options and what makes what better and why. =) Hope I found the right forums for that. =)

Also woot, 1st post. ^^

Oh yes.. only paid about 1400$ not 1800$ But I did order the Med Blue Quicksnap cover. Think those things are good?

 

Well to compare the processor to a P4. The multliplier for comparison is 1.85xclockspeed of you processor is what it would take a P4 to do the same work.

So your 1.8Ghz dual-core is equal to about a P4 3.3Ghz CPU. Just to put it into perspective.

 

Ah ok, finally a good answer to that one, was wondering, was guessing it would be like a 3 GHZ. I know if I couldve got the 2 GHZ or 2.1 GHZ it wouldve been nicer, since it could run solo and not have a issue. But thats why I LEAST went 1.8 since I figured.. 1.87 or 2 GHZ wasnt too much of a difference.

But anyone know about the other questions? Trying to learn some more hehe. Meantime reading these forums, lotta info here. =D

 

On the Audigy, it is not hardware, simply a software solution that adds to the onboard sound. I feel it improves the sound, other may disagree. Since you ordered it I'm sure you'll soon find out. See Thread on subject...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=52901

 

Yea I just replied there when I was searching forums..

Doesnt sound good, however doesnt seem like much info is out there regarding the Audigy yet either. Didnt see confirmed word from Creative or so if its just a overlay, nor why dell would not say "Its Software" would make it sound like your screwed if you went Linux OS, or if you reinstalled.. not sure how I feel about that one.

Ill know soon tho.. either way, I am sure its better then on board and I am hoping it helps bass.

I know older days, when FF7 came on PC, there was the Yahmaha midi sound software, which YES, if you had a old soundcard that didnt really have a soundtable, the Yahmaha software went on top of it all and midis DID sound much better from that soundtable installed.

So.. its beliveable.. however.. kinda false advertising when it says "Intergrated" thats why I wanna know more too..

 

I wouldn't recommend overclocking, unless you are adding .4ghz or more, but which in most cases, require liquid cooling. It's not worth pushing your CPU .1,.2, or .3 ghz just to get a little boost in performance.