Video cards.

Ok so im in the market for a new notebook, house just go broken into this past week and they stole everthing.. pain in the ***.. smash and grab probs just a bunch of punks. Anyways im still new to the laptop thing and the Hp i had last time was great andit was my first notebook. at the time of purchase i wanted one with a videocard ofcourse thinking i would play alot of games but 10 months have passed, i didnt install one game and now the notebook has gone missing. LOL My question is besides games what else is the videocard used for?? for example if i download a movie and when it has to be converted does having a videocerd keep my system memory more free for me to do other things? does it help free up memory when im watching a movie or video with media player, or divx, or quicktime?? does it improve picture quailty or screen resolution??? kinda like smoother edges on screen?? do you guys kinda understand what im asking.. i guess at this point i dont really see myself using my laptop for gaming. but money is not the issue.. is it just better to have one for all around system performance, if i wasnt using it for gaming??? thanks guys any claification would be helpful.. ive searched but having really come up with any answer ive been happy with.

thanks again

 

Try formatting your post a bit; wall of text = no help from users.
That being said, the benefits of a dedicated card are seen in decoding High-Def videos, so you may want to go for one - even if it's not top of the range.
Also, word to the wise, the NVIDIA 8*** cards are defective (kinda like the Xbox360 RROD), so I'd be hunting down an ATI card myself.
You could try the Dell Studio 15 - it has a mid end ATI card, so while it wont run Crysis at max (what does ), it'll do everything you currently do, while holding its own somewhat in games you do try.

 

Check out Dustin's great article.