Question Trifecta: 5400rpm vs. 7200rpm; Dell vs. self-installed RAM; Home Premium vs. Vista

As regards a Dell XPS M1330 and its corresponding 25% off $1449 coupon which expires this evening, I've got three oft-asked questions for some last-minute opinions.

I would like for this notebook to be capable of some degree of gaming (to whatever extent the 8400GS GPU can provide, of course), and I otherwise like to have some solid performance. I will be going with a T8300 - 2.4 GHz, 3MB cache.

1. Is the performance seen in a 7200rpm notebook drive worth sacrificing storage space AND paying a premium for the rotational velocity? How much of a performance gap is there between 5400rpm and 7200rpm? Answers seem to go both ways on this.

2. There is no reason why I can't just order up some Kingston 200-pin DDR2-633 2x2GB, install it myself, and save $25 off the cost of Dell's price for 4GB, correct?

3. Are there any existing "issues" regarding the use of BitLocker on M1330s? I would like to have RDC capabilities on this notebook, and if Business and Ultimate are my choices, it'd seem that the $20 gap isn't much to just get Ultimate.

Thanks.

 

1. Pick which ever HDD you like 7200 or 320GB 5400. HDD has little effect on gaming.
2. Correct.
3. I don't know?

 

1. I'd go for a 320GB 5400.
2. Correct.
3. BitLocker on M1330? Never heard of any issues, and I don't see the connection between BitLocker and your laptop model . By the way correct me if I'm wrong, but I think BitLocker is NOT INCLUDED in Vista Business.

 

I just upgrade my hard drive from 120GB 5400rpm toshiba to 200GB Seagate 7200rpm

$119
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/SEAGA.../ST9200420ASG/

Reviews from newegg (note: newegg model doesn't have G-shock protection)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148307

I clone the drive from the old to the new. (note: cloning a dual boot w/ vista is tricky, I had to change the drive letters between C and D.. for more info http://www.multibooters.co.uk/cloning.html#letters )

I had a dual boot (timed from after bios screen to login screen):

Old Vista boot time = 65 secs
New Vista boot time = 47 secs

38% increase

Old XP boot time = 31 secs
New XP boot time = 25 secs

24% increase

 

I've seen a handful of "wtf, over?" posts about TPM issues on some notebook or another. Just thought I'd ask to see. And no sir, it is not included in Business; one more reason to do Ultie.

Interesting... I've got twin 320GB drives in my desktop right now, and I'm only using 112GB or so on one. (The other is a backup which receives routine disk images.) Any significant performance impact in everyday stuff on your laptop?

 

The 320gb 5400rpm drive has similar benchmarks to the 200gb 7200rpm drive. Actually there speed is identical. Both are able to maintain an average speed of 53mb/sec. The 7200rpm drive will have faster access times, but thats its only advantage. If 3 millaseconds response is worth the loss of 120gb of space than that is up to you.

Make sure that you get pc5300 ddr2 sodimm memory for your laptop. And yes, the swap is easy, and will save you $25.

K-TRON