help needed configuring E1505

Hi all
I am planning on buying a E1505 laptop. I need some help in deciding on the configuration that would suit me. My budget is less than $1000 or less and my applications would be browsing/email, word processing and MS Office, watching movies and music, not much of processor intensive activities and no gaming.

I am confused as to whether go in for the CoreDuo T2250 or Core2Duo T5500. There is a $100 difference between the two and all the reviews i have read so far say that there is not more than 5-10% performance increase in core2duo compared to core duo. IS it worth to spend the extra $100 for the core 2 duo??I am not going to do much of processor intensive programs...

I am looking for a laptop that is Vista capable and am not sure if X1300 ATI card is enuf to support the Aero interface in Vista? please suggest if X1300 or X1400 is better for Aero??

I prefer the E1405 also becos it is compact and portable but it doesn't have a discrete video card like ATI and is the Intel Graphics media accelerator enough to support Vista??

I also would like to have the best configuration so that I needn't upgrade for atleast 2 years.

I have configured the foll.

Intel Core 2 Duo T5500
Win XP MCE
15.4" WXGA + Truelife
1GB shared Dual channel RAM
X1300 ATI Mobility
80 GB HDD
Intel PRO wireless
9 cell battery
8X CD/DVD Burner
1 yr Limited warranty

The price comes to $1050 after $200 coupon and before tax. is this a good deal or should I wait until thanksgiving?? I also heard that Microsoft is planning to give free vista upgrade coupons from october. Is it going to be offered now??

Please give ur suggestions

Thanks
Singu

 

I'll answer your questions but first look at there HP notebooks because are better as quality and design.

dv6000t - 15.4"
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...toreName=computer_store&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

dv2000t -14.1"
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...toreName=computer_store&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

then we'll talk about Dell

 

General rule of thumb is buy as much of computer as you can afford now, rather then upgrade later. It's typically cheaper to just upgrade rather then buying a replacement processor later. It's possible to upgrade later, but it's not a trivial task and there is also the warrenty issue.

Again, buy as much as you can. I beleive the X1300 would be the minimum that is supported but performance would be better then the X1400. I can't say one way or another though how it performs until I get mine with the X1300 later this week.

Integrated video won't be enough to support Vista.

The configuration you selected is decent and likely to last you a while. Depending on how you want to use it, dropping down to a 6-cell battery would allow you to get the better video card. Or since you aren't planning on using it for real intensive things, dropping down to the 60GB instead of 80GB HD could also lessen the bite of the video card upgrade.

If you don't need a laptop now, then wait. The price will go down over time (at least for the same configuration). There probably will be better deals later this year.

 

Dell's deals are usually far better, due in no small part to the coupons they routinely put out. I will agree with you that HP tends to be better in terms of quality.

 

If you're not in a hurry, then you might want to wait for one of those insane $750 dollars off coupons from Dell that they give out once every couple of months. These deals are never advertized though so not many people know about them.

 

Guys, Vista Aero is just fancy skin so

Ati Mobility X1300 is more then enough for that
of course X1400 is so much faster (2x) but if you want to play games otherwise you won't see any difference

as for Gma 950 yes it can run aero too but it's bare minimum

That's way I sugessted HP dv2000t -14.1" which has better quality and design and dedicated GPU - Go 7200

 

Go with the E1405, its going to be cheaper because of the screen update, and who cares it doesnt have an Ati or an Nvidia. The intel 950 has 9C so it should run aero and since you dont game you will be just fine. Not to mention its a lot smaller!

Get a Core Duo 2 just becouse its battary life is a lot better! My friend gets 8 hours on max brightness with a 9 cell. Not bad right?

What i would do in your case, hit the outlet, see if you can get a good deal for like 600 bucks and then get 3 year warrenty with accedental Protection and thats your 1K

 

Apparently the 950 can support Aero, but it requires some tweaking of drivers that could end up breaking other things. Maybe things have changed in 3 months since the article was written though.

I've never been a fan of integrated graphics. They are usually inferior designs that are at the very bottom of what the current "standards" should be, often with some signifiant features that may be missing or not fully supporting something. I also don't like the fact that they eat away at system memory instead of having dedicated memory.

My e1505 with the X1300 should be arriving in the next couple of days so I might install a copy of Vista just to see how well it does (or doesn't) run.

 

cdru I'm wondering why you responded for the second time when you don't have any experience with those cards and Vista in contradiction with what I said.

and

Why are you giving misleading information? Do you find it useful?

So I repeat because I know because I tried Vista with those cards

- Ati Mobility X1300 is more then enough for Vista Aero
- Ati Mobility X1400 is so much faster (2x) but if you want to play games otherwise you won't see any difference
- Intel Graphics media accelerator 950 is the bare minimum for Vista Aero but can run Aero without any driver problems (of couse there are isolated cases with problems)

As for the integrated graphics. Yes I'm not their fan too but they have their place on the market and they are very useful in some cases.

In this case I just recommended better notebook with dedicated GPU.

I hope that everything is clear now

 

Hi guys

thanks for the replies. I appreciate it. Now i am somewhat clear about getting a laptop with a dedicated GPU so that i am safe for the future and can run vista comfortably.

Does anyone have idea abt the vista upgrade coupons Microsoft is planning to give away strating in october? Is it going to be a free upgrade or a 50% discount or something like that?

Thanks

 

Dell doesn't offer those any more and likely won't ever in the future. Dell changed their marketing strategy and lowered the base price of the notebooks and now the only thing you're going to find is smaller 20% and $200 off type coupons. Usually the best deals are through Dell EPP. I got a fully loaded E1505 with T7200, 160GB 5400rpm SATA, X1400, WSXGA+, 9 cell for around $1,000.

 

Hi burninggrave,

Can you send me any Coupons for Dell EPP. I couldn't find any in ebay.
What coupon did u use for ur purchase? pls PM me th coupon if possible.

Thanks
Singu

 

Nothing I said in my second reply contradicted what you said. I agreed with you that the 950 could support Vista. My original post I was incorrect. Sorry. I'll try not to ever say anything again that might possibly be incorrect. I was mearly stating something I read elsewhere (which apparently turned out to be incorrect). I did state however in both posts that I did not have first hand knowledge on the subject.

I made a mistake. Thanks for correcting me. You don't have to jump all over me about it.

 

OK no problem!
I said that because I thought that I made the thinks clear and then you said

that annoyed a bit because x1300 as I said is more then powerful to run just a new skin and I just reacted impulsively.... sorry

but it's stupid to talk about that, let's forget that

 

I saw a couple of months ago a 30% off coupon. I need a new laptop for the next semester, so I am not in a hurry to buy one. Do you think they will have better deals around black friday? I was hoping they would have another 30% off coupon instead of the 20% off coupon they have right now.

About the config. you bought, was it $1000 after tax? How did you get that price? What is Dell EPP? Thanks.