please help me choose the right m1210 configs.

# Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 (1.83GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)
# Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
# Integrated 1.3MP Webcam and Mobile Broadband Antenna
# Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Internal Wireless
# 2GB Dual Shared Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
# 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
# 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
# 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 TurboCache
# 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Does this system sound alright for someone who will be using it for office work (microsoft apps, accounting apps), some very light gaming, some video editing (from a minidv camcorder), and finally misc travel stuff (watching movies on the plane, gps system).

Thanks for your replies.

 

well for your needs its more than adequate from the specs but if you do alot of travelling try to get a spare battery or a battery with more capacity as it will be more helpful if your just a light traveler this system sounds just perfect but if you got cash to spare i would suggest getting a T7200 though is not essential the 4mb L2 cache will be beneficial while encoding ,decoding and editin video files

 

The config looks good.. apart from a little less disk space. Video editing/games take up lots of storage, so I suggest either a 120/160 GB HD, pr some external storage if you prefer it that way. Apart from that the config's good enough to serve you for quite some time.

 

have you ever considered buying memory after market?

 

thanks all for the input.

yes i did, but since I live in Canada the ram prices that I have access to are quite a bit more expensive than what dell is offering. The system i've configured will cost me $1590 (after my employee discount).

 

That doesn't seem like a great price toppy. I know it varies a lot depending on the offers, but I got a similar spec (though admittedly with a 6400 not a 1210) - my only differences were 533MHz RAM, a 160GB 5400RPM HD and the X1400 video card - no camera. I paid $1,629 Canadian BUT that included Office Small Business which is a $330 upgrade so system was only $1,299 and I don't get an employee discount

 

sorry i forgot to mention that this includes 3 years complete care warranty.

 

That makes more sense

 

I have a choice between a SATA 120gb 5400rpm hd, and a SATA 80gb 7200rpm hd.

Does the faster 7200rpm make that much of a difference?

 

It translates into faster load times, but I have never found that it is that noticeable a difference - personally I would rather have the extra capacity - especially given the amount of disk space that apps demand these days. Not sure on the price comparisons of those two drives but I also find that there is a heavy price premium for that extra speed.

I guess theoretically a 7200 drive should be 1/3 faster than a 5400 drive, but I haven't found that big a difference, and even if it were - we are talking about a couple of seconds or less in most cases.

 

ok thanks for the reply again. I guess I will go with the larger hard drive space since I will get more benefit from that, rather than a speed increase of a couple seconds.

 

One other thing - is the 667MHz memory standard on that or are you paying extra to upgrade from 533MHz memory? If you are paying to upgrade, I wouldn't (especially with Dell memory pricing). I'm no expert, but I believe that the faster memory gives you minimla if any performance improvement over the 533 due to a higher latency.

 

The 667mhz is standard on this system. I would not pay extra for it because of what you said (lol no i idea what it means), but also it's been a free upgrade for a while now.

Edit: o nevermind I understand what you mean.

 

is that 1590 USD or CAD?

thanks

 

Its Canadian.

 

that's not a bad deal at all. I don't know what the other guys are thinking.

 

Sirius - Now I understand that he has the 3 yr warranty I agree that it's a good deal, wasn't aware of that originally and in comparison with my system (6400 with T5600, 2GB 533MHz, 160GB 5400RPM, X1400, 9 cell battery) at $1,299 Canadian before software costs it didn't seem so hot.

Canadian prices are actually pretty good now!