8600M GT from Dell?

I was going to originally just try and get the HDX16t from HP in the future, but I figure I can get a much lighter, thinner notebook if I settle for a Dell M1530.

However, the HDX16t has a 9600m GT and the Dell M1530 only has a 8600m GT. I'm going to be using the laptop to play lots of online poker, doing spreadsheets, standard definition video editing and I want to be able to do all of that connected to a 26" monitor, too.

Will the 8600m GT be able to handle all extra 1920 x 1200 from a 26" monitor while I perform all of the aforementioned tasks with no lagging whatsoever?

Also, what other notebooks are coming out in the future equipped with a 9600m GT?

 

Yes even an entry level dedicated GPU will be more than enough.

 

Yes, for sure it will...

 

I can't definitively answer your question of whether the 8600M GT can handle the external monitor @ high resolution. But I would say to be wary of the 8600M GT because it is one of the models failiing prematurely- and keeping nVIDIA in the headlines every other day.

Performance-wise, the 8600M GT and the 9600M GS have very similar scores in most benchmark tests. The 9600M GT scores 30-35% higher on the same benchmarks.

HP offers the 9600M GT is the dv5t and dv7t models in addition to the brand-new HDX models.

I'm not aware of any other notebooks that use the 9600M GT at the moment, but I'm sure Dell will use it in some XPS models...that is, when they FINALLY get around to updating them to the new Centrino2/Montevina platform!

ASUS uses the 9600M GS in most/all of their M50-models. They also use the 9700M GT in their G50-models.

Here's a link to the ASUS models available at Newegg- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=32&Description=&Type=&N=2030260032&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&PropertyCodeValue=402%3A39859&PropertyCodeValue=402%3A40028&PropertyCodeValue=402%3A43281

 

I don't know about that, but my Dell Studio with the Ati Radeon HD option can transfer a vga signal to my 47 inch LG HDTV with no problems, flickering, or stuttering at all. It's perfect.

 

I agree, hence I advice you to stay away from the 8600M series.

 

The Dv5T 9600m GT performs similarly to the Dell 8600m GT because of the DDR3.

 

yeah. no problems. nothing that you said is very gpu intensive at all, and the 8600m gt is a decent performer in even heavier situations.

 

So are the 8600m GT's that Dell uses in the M1530:

1.) GDDR2 or GDDR3?
2.) Affected by the problems or not?

 

1) GDDR3
2) If you bought it recently it won't be affected by the production fault. However if you're about to buy there's little point in buying a GPU that's already one generation old.

 

DELL has been behind the curve for the last few Intel updates (Penryn, for instance). Acer, ASUS, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, and Toshiba already have multiple products based on the Montevina/Centrino2-platform.

In effect, all three consumer product lines (Inspiron, Studio and XPS) are outdated. Potential XPS buyers are logically the ones most sensitive to the lack of the newest processors, graphics and wireless hardware. I'd be working round-the-clock to make it happen. I'd also want to start offering the nVIDIA 9000-series graphics ASAP rather than trying to get people to buy the 8600M GT at the center of the current failure controversy!

The Studio also desperately needs the new Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics to replace the mediocre GMA X3100 it currrently uses!

It just seems that they're losing customers each day that they keep peddling yesterday's hardware....