what specs should i get with I9300?

heya!
Im about to get the I9300 and i just have a few questions about what kind of specs i should get.. i thought i knew what i wanted but now im not too sure and i thought that you guys could have some answers for me and some great advice!

firstly i just wanna say this forum rocks and thanx to all the wise and knowledgable people that post within it! reading this forum help me decide that i want the I9300!

and now for the questions! firstly i want this laptop because i like to play games and want to be able to play newer and upcoming games very well. Plus i'll be using it for school, msn, and web browsing..

so for the proccessor what would u guys reccomend? is the 1.73ghz good enuff or should i get the 2ghz? and is there a noticeable difference?

and for the screen i know its a personal preference.. and i do like glossy screens but im not near any of the dell direct stores so i cant go and check one out... so im not sure if its worth upgrading from xga to uxga or from non-truelife to truelife for $200?... im really stuck on this one.. i've read many posts too and im kind of in the middle with this one.. not really sure what to do..

and the last question is about complete care.. should i pay more so that i have that option or is it not worth it? i'd really just like everyones opinion on this one... thanks a lot!!

thanks to everyone who took the time to read this thread and to anyone that has any input on the subject

 

The 1.73Ghz is plenty, the upgrade too 2GHz is just to much money and its not worth it. Also, try to get less ram and buy it and install it yourself. Its a lot cheaper, and the more memory, the more speed. HD's are alright from dell, which one did you have in mind?

The screen is up to you, i would just get XGA, but again, if you want that crisp picture and small font, it would be a good choice.

The 2 year warranty is probaly the best. It depends on if this computer will be in that envirement and can be easily damaged. Its up to you, if anything happens to the computer, you will be most likely protected.

 

the hd im getting is the 100gb one, its there free promo upgrade
and so theres not really a noticeable difference in the 1.73ghz and 2ghz proccesors? just curious..

thanx for the info nick!

 

For the money its not worth it, your better getting a bigger HD and more ram. Is that the 100GB 4200RPM HD? If it is, its not going to be as gast has a 80GB 7200RPM HD. But if your playing games, more memory would be better. The RPM in the HP really speeds things up, the GB is where all the files go so keep that in mine.

No problem

Nick

 

k cool thanx again
and i thought dell stopped shiping notebooks with HDs of 4200rpm? i hope its a 5400rpm HD thats what it says when i click "help me choose"

so i guess i just have to decide on which screen to choose... hmmm...

 

if ur going to buy it cbr do it this weekend. you'll get the best bang for your buck. I've been tracking the 9300 prices for the last 3 months and this weekend is the cheapest i've seen so far. with ur 250 off coupon you should get it for 1300ish canadian. but see as to how ur a gamer you'll prolly end up getting the nvidia 6800 go card. you'll also get a 100gb hd, a/b/g wireless and 9 cell battery.

 

Currently, they are offering 60/80/100 gb 7200. The also have the same amount of space as 5400. Personally i would go with the 7200. If you can buy this now, I would because they seem to not offer some of the 7200 rpm drives very much with the exception to the 60gb. I've seen the 60gb 7200rpm for the past several months, but the 80/100 come and go.

My general rule of thumb is to upgrade the processor when ordering your notebook, then you can upgrade ram and hdd later. With that said, unless you have a ton of money to burn, i would go with the 1.73 processor. 2.0 is just to expensive right now.

For the screen, I would suggest to go to your local computer retail store and compare screens there. If you like the glossy screens on other notebooks, chances are you'll like the glossy screen on dell.

SG

 

awsome thanx a lot guys!
n ya im gonna try n get the I9300 tonite, hopefully..

n thats what i was thinking too SouthernGirl, because i can't upgrade the processor but i can always up the ram n get a better HD... soo many decisions..

what to do..

 

and thanx for the tip jhwyung!

 

by the way, i was checking out prices earlier for ram...

Newegg, has 1gb Transcend stick (1 stick) for 85 dollars. Alot of us have bought this ram, and so far i haven't heard any complaints. I'm actually about to buy another one. If you can, you might want to get the lowest amount of ram, then just order from newegg. Its very easy to install yourself and does not void your warranty

SG

 

ya i can't change the ram, but i think im gonna wait for the next promo anyways... and not get this weekends deal.

thanx for the tip SouthernGirl I'll definately try n do that with my configs and look into newegg.

thanx to everyone! for all the info and help!
you gave me a lot of great answers and food for thought

hopefully there will be some good deals on laptops on boxing day.. some people told me that since i've waited this long i might aswell see what there is to offer after x-mas..
heres hopin!

 

About processor speed cbr, it would be better to know what apps you plan to run. Most of the time you won't notice any difference in performance between processors. But if you use programs that peg CPU load to the max a lot then you might want to consider the CPU upgrade. Apps along this line would be any type of encoding app, rendering, compiling, etc.

 

ahhh gotcha, then i guess i wont be needing the 2ghz processor cuz im not gonna be using any encoding app, rendering or compiling prog's...
thanx!

 

The 1.7GHz will give you greater battery life (albiet quite marginal) compared to the 2.0GHz. Can be an advantage for most, not sure how much you will be using the machine on it's battery power alone though.