Some questions about Dell

This is something strange but I don't see any USB 3.0 on my Dell notebook. It says I have 2 or so but I don't see any that are blue colored. Aren't USB 3.0 have a blue color on the plastic part instead of black? I see I have 4 USB total but none are blue.



Also another thing is that I found out that my notebook can go upto 16GB of ram but should I do that?



The specs for my notebook are on my sig.

 

USB3.0 aren't necessarily blue colored, look a difference in the color of the label above the ports.

 

If I look carefully I see two that say SS USB but what is that?

 

Super speed USB (USB 3.0)

You don't need more than 8GB of RAM (only for the boost in the responsiveness of the system due to dual channel memory) for your needs. If you are willing to dump another $100 on RAM, then why not go for a more expensive laptop which offers you more performance?

 

No need to to go 16gb RAM, you'll never use it. Most people probably not even use 8gb.

 

Well even if I did lets say get a notebook around $350 or $400 I don't know if I really will use 16GB or ram. I wonder even if I need 8GB of ram. I just thought maybe today it's a standard to have like 8GB of ram but maybe still today 4GB is enough. I know I won't be doing any photoshop or video editing and stuff just gaming, browsing, Skype, Yahoo IM, watching downloaded YouTube videos and stuff. I usually play older games since my system won't be able to play the latest ones unless it's really low graphical game.


But I thought it was recommended to have 16GB today but maybe that's in the future.

 

Also I noticed there is no VGA output but does newer notebook don't come with that anymore?

 

If possible, please have a look at this laptop
Lenovo 15.6" Laptop 4GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive G505 - 59373013 - Best Buy
I would like you to try it out if possible. Should offer you slightly better performance for not a whole lot more.

1. With your work load, you should be very happy with 4GB of RAM. You don't need more and this is true for the majority of the populace.
2. A quad core CPU is a bonus and you should see some decent performance especially for this price.
3. AMD integrated GPUs are the stronger ones. They should allow you to play older games at decent settings.
4. This processor only supports single channel memory. Using two SO-DIMMs will not help boost performance. And I don't think you will need it as you will not use up the existing 4GB.
5. The only thing that would really make a significant difference is the addition of an SSD.

As for your Dell:
Some computers omit the VGA to reduce the thickness. In your case, it is most probably to keep costs low. More and more projectors/displays are using the HDMI standard anyway.

My 2 cents

 

That VGA port has been dying off or taken away because they want to make the laptop slimmer and smaller so that was one of the ports to go in such designs, so if you want it back or DVI back you will have to get a larger larger model laptop that still has that port option. So there comes with sacrifices go small you loose valuable ports you might not use now but then find out you later need. Also they decided to remove it because they don't want to support VGA output anymore and are going with HDMI instead but then again VGA still exists so go figure???