ATI 9200 32MB vs Intel Integrated Graphics 64MB

I am planning to buy a laptop that is fairly portable, widescreen, enhanced screen (brightview),and long battery life.

I plan to use this mostly for net surfing and accessing office documents. I am currently eyeing the Sony VAIO S-series and the HP Presario DV1000.

On one hand, HP has an integrated shared graphics chip that can go up to 64MB. On the other hand, Sony has an ATI 9200 dedicated chip with 32MB. (I dont know if the ATI 9200 is too outdated.) If I get the HP, I will get 768MB of RAM to compensate for the shared video. If I get the Sony, I will just get 512MB RAM.

What do you guys think I should get? Will the integrated graphics chip of hp affect refresh rate of screen and dvd playback quality? Or should i go for the sony with dedicated graphics chip?

 

Actually, on the Sony, you can get the Radeon 9700 with 64MB dedicated video, if you have the extra money. It looks like 768MB ram is not a configuarble option of the dv1000. You can either get 512 or 1 gig, unless you plan on buying ram after the initial purchase.
I looked at both of those notebooks, and configured them exactly the same, except for the video and ram - I have the Sony with the Radeon 9700-64MB and 512MB ram, and the HP with 1 gig of ram and the integrated video - everything else is virtually the same. The Sony is $1939.99 and the HP is $1449.00 (after the $50 rebate). Remeber that the HP has a 14" widescreen vs. the Sony 13.3" widescreen. If you are not going to be doing any heavy duty gaming or video editing, it seems that the HP is a much better value for the money. But you may have to decide if there are any other mitigating factors that would play an important part in your decision. Hopefully this at least gives you a bit more info to help make a decision.


Cheers,

Stevo

zv5000z: Ath64_3200+ (2.0GHz) - 1GB DDR - 80GB 5400rpm - 64MB GeForce4 440 - 15.0" XGA (1024x768)

 

i would go with the HP if you dont plan on gaming and have the other memory for processes.but if you do light gaming go with the sony.dedicated is better than integrated.Hope i helped a tad. HAve a nice evening.

 

thanks for your replies.

how about video editing? i plan on buying a mini-dv camcorder soon and will be using my laptop to store and edit some of the amatuer videos taken. does the graphics processor play a big role when it comes to video editing? i read somewhere that video editing relies mainly on processor speed and ram.

 

That's true, though I'd still avoid all shared memory GPUs. The HP zv5000z/Compaq R3000z series would be ideal for video editing if you don't mind the weight.