T7700 and 160gb 7200rpm OR T7500 and 200gb 7200rpm

Hi guys. Which one of these two configurations would be best? I have an external hard drive. I'm concerned with performance now and in 3 years. What are the bottlenecks?

T7700 and 160gb 7200rpm

OR

T7500 and 200gb 7200rpm

I watch movies a lot, run a lot of programs at the same time, might start playing games again.

I have a LaCie 300GB d2 External Hard Drive.

Link to Lacie HDD

I'm buying the dell M1530 with:

2.4 or 2.2 ghz c2d
3GB Ram ddr2 667mhz
1680x1050 resolution 15.4" screen
express card sound blaster x-fi extreme audio
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M G
160G or 200Gb 7200RPM SATA

Thanks in Advance!

Feel free to ask questions.

 

I do not really think that you would notice the difference in the extra 200 MHz that the T7700 offers over T7500. I would recommend the T7500 with the 200GB HDD.

Either way, both configurations are more than enough to last you three years on down the road (just look at how many computers are employed each day that use older CPUs and slower hard drives). Maybe not so much as in the case of the graphics card, but everything else should be fine.

 

Hm.. that was my instinct, but the sales rep talked me into upping the ghz instead.

Anyone else have thoughts?

Also, is $1700 a good price including tax and shipping 4 year warranty?

 

i think you should go with the faster processor. the HD is easier to upgrade ltr on

 

With respect to the previous posts, you shouldn't bother to get the CPU upgrade since it's not going to be the bottleneck (though it may be worth it if you do Photoshop and the like). I also agree you should buy and install a hard drive yourself from somewhere else as it will be cheaper.

 

I second this...unless you are constantly running cpu intensive programs, you wont notice the difference between the processors.

Also are you buying 3GB from Dell?

BTW, I edit the OP post to make the link work(and not to take up the whole screen).

 

No, the 3gb is included in dell's current special, I suppose I could downgrade, and then upgrade myself, but I don't want to void their warranty.

 

yes i actaully disagree with myself a little now. i thot the 7700 was 2.2 and the 7500 was the 2.0. then i went and double checked. if you game, and want something as futureproof as it can be, then yes i will still back my first post. but if you think you'll not do to much gaming, the the 7500 should work nice.

i dont own a dell so idk for sure, but i dont think a ram upgrade will do anything to the warrenty.

 

or what about 250gb 5400 vs. 160gb 7200. I've been reading forums and it seems like the only difference is access time? I'm not quite sure what that translates to?

 

"In a computer, it is the time interval between the instant at which an instruction control unit initiates a call for data or a request to store data, and the instant at which delivery of the data is completed or the storage is started" (Wikipedia).

Link

 

Get the T7700, Hard drives are easy to replace, and with the HD up to 500gb now prices will drop even more on the lower cap drives, besides you have the external drive for storage.

 

T7700 because you can easily upgrade to a higher capacity drive later on which is greater than 200GB. You can't upgrade the processor that easily without bearing a greater risk of bricking your laptop.

 

Hm.. Or should I just get the T7500 and the 160gb 7200rpm and forget about the upgrades on either?

Thanks to those who have posted. All very good comments and things to consider.

 

There you go! Just quit one of your bad habits (Smoking,Beer,Strip Clubs,etc.) for a couple of weeks and it will easily pay for the upgrade

 

Ram and Hdd upgrades do not void the warranty on the laptop. Just if you damage something while upgrading(very small possibility) ,it wont be covered by dells standard warranty.

You can find some great deals for ram in the hot ram deals thread(look at the first and last couple of pages.


Also fill out the FAQ so that we can help you better.

 

Well that's good to know. Oh well. I didn't exactly build the best valued system this time around, but it's a learning experience right? And anyway I just want the thing to come already!