XPS M1330 questions

Hey All,

I'm about to go to college, and would like to buy a laptop that would be suitable to take to class aswell as for gaming. I decided on the XPS M1330. Before I buy, I have a few questions on the viability of the upgrades available. Is there a major difference between a 2.2Ghz and a 2.4Ghz processor? (Upgrading from 2.2 to 2.4 would cost an extra $300). Next on my list is the RAM. For 2 gigs of memory, it costs $150, while upgrading to 4 gigs of memory costs $1000, which seems like a major ripoff to me. Is there a way I could buy memory from a website and install it myself? And by doing so, is there a disadvantage? Another question is about the wireless card. For $25 extra, I could upgrade to the Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card or the Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card. Which one should I pick? Thanks a lot in advance; I know I have a lot of questions.

 

To address the first concern... anything above 2ghz on the Core 2 Duos is pretttyyyy tough to see the difference. Jumping from 2.2 to 2.4 is NOT worth $300.

The reason it costs $1000 for the 4 Gigs is because 2GB RAM sticks cost more money to produce, thats about 25% of the reason. Then other 75% is just that Dell likes to price gauge their RAM. Theres no disadvantage to upgrading your own RAM... as long as you know what you're doing at least.

I don't know much about the wireless cards at all... I wish I could help with that. I'd assume the more expensive one transfers at 108mbps instead of 54? And I know the Intel one comes with Centrino Duo compatibility... but other than that I have no clue. Hope the other info helps! Good luck with your purchase.

--Jonathan

 

You can absolutely install the ram yourself. It is very easy to do. Try Newegg for the ram. They usually have the best prices. And as sprintguy said, Dell is gouging on their price, just like most laptop manufacturers do.

 

Thanks for the responses! They help a lot.

 

I guess you have the 8400M GS already selected, right?

 

Yes, I have the 8400M GS selected. Also, will this card be viable for years to come? I mean, if I'm going to have this nice computer, I don't want to have to trash it in 3 years, ya know?

 

Wow that XPS looks nice. Me, being a cheap bastard. Would get the cheapest config they sell, and upgrade it myself to max the ram out (and possibly the CPU and HDD too) On my lenovo these are relatively easy operations. But then my lenovo is 3lbs heavier and about as comely as a ford taurus.