Harddrive or Screen Resolution upgrade? Or wireless card upgrade?

Hey guys, I have decided to buy an Alienware m5500 and have the following question:

The specs are as follows:
- 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
- 2GB Ram
- 256MB Video Card
- Microsoft Windows Vista
- AND THE BIG QUESTION IS to either kick up the screen resolution to a 1920 x 1200 from 1280 x 800 for $100 since i'll be doing lots of graphics work and gaming, OR kick the harddrive up to a 7,200 RPM 100GB from a 5,400 RPM 80GB for $160, thinking that my harddrive will be able to transfer data much faster than the 5,400 RPM, and if I stick with the 80GB and upgrade the screen resolution, either way I can buy a faster external harddrive to run an operating system, store all of my millions of songs, movies, graphics files, and anything else I need it to, right??

 

I would go with the screen upgrade. You can always upgrade your notebooks harddrive without too much hassle. This is not as true for your notebooks screen. Yes, you could get an external drive aswell, but I wouldn't recommend running an OS from the external drive, as the USB2 or even Firewire connection will give you a serious bottleneck in regards to performance.

 

Second the screen upgrade. I would check out the resolution before buying it though to see if you eyes can handle it.

 

I have been told that the video card in that computer (256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7600) is too weak to handle the highter resolution smoothly. any comment??

 

The laptop is an Alienware m5500 and I can upgrade from a Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card to a Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card for $59 dollars, and my question is.... would it be worth it?? I would most of the time be 3 stories away from the modem, but never more than that, and more info on the cards can be found HERE

 

I dont think it is worth it for $59. Also A Go 7600 will struggle when gaming however for 2d it is plenty. For gaming just turn down the resolution.

 

Are you going to use the Wireless-N or not ?
As this technology is being adopted very quickly (because of the increased speed), I think it's a good idea to do the upgrade.

 

k sounds good.

would the CD ROM/DVD ROM drive upgrade be worth it?

 

Ok, here is the lowdown.

The screen upgrade takes priority over the hdd, as mentioned you can do that yourself pretty easy and cheaper to boot.

But the screen update is a double edged sword, screen resution is the number one thing to take into mind for performance when gaming. A higher resolution is expodentially harder for a gpu. 1920x1200 is 8800GTS + material for newer games on high settings. There is no laptop card out yet that will do high at full res smoothly for newer games.

The remedy is just to play the game at a lower resolution and let it strech to fit the screen, you wont see the diffrence, but the performance will improve significantly.

the 7600 is pretty old, and I wouldnt take it seriously as a card to put in a new gaming laptop. Id look for a high end 7900 card, or the newer 8600gt (even better yet wait for the 8800m cards)

If you opt for the wirless card with draft n support, you also will have to upgrade your wirless equipment in your house to work on that signal, most wirless n routers are expensive or not performing so well. Its still in draft stages and people are having issues with it.

Just how much are you looking at for a total right now? Your tossing out some big numbers for rather small upgrades. Its well known systems like alienware come at a big premium cost just because your paying for the name.

Edit: I clicked your link and just started adding in some of the components your getting. The total is dangerously close to 2000$ USD. Im not going to say dont get this machine because by all means its your money.

However I will make a recomendation that can get you what I belive a better machine for the same price:

Look into the Asus G1S-A1

same size, better specs, better price, and still has that "gamer" feel to it like the alienware. Also comes with a nice mouse and bag.

You can see some pics and read the specs here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834220182&ATT=34-220-182&CMP=OTC-Froogle

If you decide to change your mind PM me and I can find you the best price.

 

Ouch ... We're yesterday's news Jim! rotfl

 

Heh, I dont like to come off harsh you never know how people take advice.

He could be thrilled that I saved him money and found him a better computer, or he may be insulted that I tried to mention anything other than what he had in mind.

Then again everybody should have tough skin to post in a public forum in the first place.

Take note the G2S-A1 may be somthing you like even better, it will have the 1920x1200 resolution and even more lights on it ;P (reminds me of an alienware type machine more) Only trade off take it as good or bad is that its a 17" model and 100$ more on average than the G1S.

 

I wouldn't expect the 7600 to perform very well at such high resolutions on recent high power games. Is there nothign in between 1280*800 and 1920*1200?

 

Yes there is, plus you can always set a custom res and just let it scale up.

 

As per request here is a good place to order from that will allow you to put in a 7200rpm HDD.

http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=G1S-A1&Store_Code=GPS