Zbrush reqs & battery question

Hello.

I saw a colleague work in a program called Zbrush. Its homepage claims following reqs:
OS: Windows XP/Vista
CPU: Fast P4 or newer (or equivalent such as AMD) with optional multithreading or hyperthreading capabilities
RAM: 1024MB (2048MB for working with multi-million-poly meshes)
Monitor: 1280x1024 monitor resolution or higher (32 bits)

But it doesn't say a word about the GPU. So I wonder if anyone knows about this program, and more specifically, if this program will run smoothly using a Geforce 8400M GS, inside of a Dell M1330?

My other question concerns battery, and battery life. I've never owned a notebook before. But I've owned cellphones. Some people claim it's important to charge the battery to max the first time, and then let it run out. Is this true? Or, a better question: how can I maximize the battery life?

Thanks

 

The Dell M1330 is more than powerful enough to run this software, as long as you dont get the celeron M or pentium dual core in it.
The 8400GS should not have any problem running the software.
The GPU only shows what is on the screen and does not do any of the rendering. The CPU does the rendering.
The M1330 gets pretty decent battery life. I am pretty sure it is in the 3-4hrs range.

There are many theories about charging batteries, but most of the time it is just assumptions and not really true.
Most of the time the battery will last for 3-4 yrs under normal use, and by the time it dies, you can get a replacement battery for very cheap, or upgrade to a better notebook.

You can maximize battery life by looking at the battery guide and the undervolting guide.
Undervolting can get you up to 20 minutes more battery life, since you can adjust the voltages which your system processor uses.
This does not reduce performance in any way.

K-TRON

 

Perfect. Many thanks.