What to Sacrifice in my PowerPro J 10:15 Configuration?

I am thinking about getting the abovementioned PC from PowerNotebooks.com.

But after my configs I think it is about 100 too high up my budget for a study/gaming laptop.

This is a laptop that I plan to keep around for 4 years and still want to play some games in those years time with at least decent fps albeit at lower-med settings. (I don't do much photoshop nor video editing)

So should I get

1.
Intel® Core™2 Duo T7100 1.80GHz Processor w/2MB L2 On-die cache - 800MHz FSB & 15.4" WXGA+ (1440 x 900) with 512MB Dedicated 8600M GT

OR

2.
Intel® Core™2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz Processor w/4MB L2 On-die cache - 800MHz FSB & 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) with 256MB Dedicated 8600M GT (Supposedly this 256 MB goes up to 1 GB with TurboCache, am i right?)

Thanks and can you please tell me which option you would choose and why.


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Edit:I copied it from my post below just for convenience - maybe you guys can help me find something else to sacrifice instead of the 2 options I gave you above...=]
Here are the rest of the specs that go along

Standard: 1 GB 677 Memory
Other Viable Option:
2 GB (1 SODIMMS) 677 Memory +$95
My Option: 2 GB (2 SODIMMS) 667 Memory +$55
(I know I can get a $39.99 1 GB [G.Skill] from Newegg.com but when u add in tax and shipping it comes out to $48.28) So I lose about six bucks but I am willing give up just so I can have my comp shipping in one pieces and dont have to worry about 2 seperate packages coming in. I have two 1 GBs right now and in 2 years time i prob take one out and add in a 2 GB stick to keep up with the system demand.


Standard: 80 GB 5400 RPM HD
Other Viable Option:
160 GB 5400 RPM SATA HD +$60
100 GB 7200 RPM SATA 1.5 Gb/s Seagate HD +$55
My Option: 120 GB 7200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s Seagate HD +$70
(I decided to sacrifice the 40 gigs for an upgrade to 7200RPM as I have a 7200 RPM HD for my desktop right now and i dunt want to be downgrading especially since i like the loading times i have right now. 120 is the bare minimum i want since i like to store a lot of data such as movie files and such. and this came out to be the most convenient option money and performance wise.)

Standard: No O/S Preinstalled
Other Viable Option:
XP Home +$93
Vista Home Premium 64 Bit +$120
My Option: Vista Home Premium 32 Bit +$120
(My university's IT starts supporting the Vista OS officially in April of next year but they will help those who already have Vistas. I know there are compatibility issues and such but it seems as if the majority are due to immature drivers and why would I want to get XP for $93 and then have to go out and get a Vista for at least $100 dollars a year later ?
$120 sounds better than $293(100 + 93). And in regards to the 64 Bit, that would be pushing the limits of how much i can handle incompatible programs. I checked Newegg.com for the Vista OS but they seem to be in the same price range as PowerNotebooks' $120.)

Standard: No Wireless
My Option: Wireless Intel Pro/802.11 a/g/n +$40
(Umm, I guess there is no other choice but to shell the 40? and I am not sure if I can install that card into the IFL90 easily)

 

I believe the first choice would be best. Even though the processor is @ 1.80GHz the advantage will go unnoticed under most circumstances. The bottle neck on most gaming rigs would be the GPU. The first one has a higher MB card which will make a difference and has a higher screen resolution which won't matter in actual performance, but something I look for in a notebook.

 

If you would rather have the WXGA+ resolution then I agree the first is probably best.

You have choices to make in:

Processor
Resolution
Possibly GPU (might very well be a 512mb in the WXGA)

Of those 3, the most noticeable by far will be the resolution, so I would make the call based on that, if you are in favor of WXGA+ over WXGA, drop the processor.

 

As the two previous posters said: go for the first option. The T7100 processor is good, in the majority of the time you spend on your laptop you won't be able to notice a difference between the T7300 and the T7100.

The WXGA+ screen, however, will be very noticeable. I think it's very handy to have a (relatively) high resolution screen. The screen will show more Internet, more Word, larger pictures etcetera. So I would recommend the first option.

 

first option

 

It's wierd.... All of those who replied have said the first option but 8 have voted for the second compared to 7 who did the first...

 

Silent majority, people willing to vote in a poll but not make a post.

 

First option. I would not notice the impact of a T7300. And a higher resolution is always great.

 

2nd option because of the 4mb l2 cache. also you may think about dropping RAM, as it is very cheap nowadays.

 

3rd option: scrounge up an extra hundred bucks!

 

Does your configuration include 2GB of RAM? If so, drop the RAM to 1GB, or drastically, 512 MB to upgrade later through Newegg, since RAM on a Compal is easy to upgrade.

 

I'd say first option, but why don't you post complete specs - maybe we can find a way to save you the $100 another way?

 

Here are the rest of the specs that go along

Standard: 1 GB 677 Memory
Other Viable Option:
2 GB (1 SODIMMS) 677 Memory +$95
My Option: 2 GB (2 SODIMMS) 667 Memory +$55
(I know I can get a $39.99 1 GB [G.Skill] from Newegg.com but when u add in tax and shipping it comes out to $48.28) So I lose about six bucks but I am willing give up just so I can have my comp shipping in one pieces and dont have to worry about 2 seperate packages coming in. I have two 1 GBs right now and in 2 years time i prob take one out and add in a 2 GB stick to keep up with the system demand.


Standard: 80 GB 5400 RPM HD
Other Viable Option:
160 GB 5400 RPM SATA HD +$60
100 GB 7200 RPM SATA 1.5 Gb/s Seagate HD +$55
My Option: 120 GB 7200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s Seagate HD +$70
(I decided to sacrifice the 40 gigs for an upgrade to 7200RPM as I have a 7200 RPM HD for my desktop right now and i dunt want to be downgrading especially since i like the loading times i have right now. 120 is the bare minimum i want since i like to store a lot of data such as movie files and such. and this came out to be the most convenient option money and performance wise.)

Standard: No O/S Preinstalled
Other Viable Option:
XP Home +$93
Vista Home Premium 64 Bit +$120
My Option: Vista Home Premium 32 Bit +$120
(My university's IT starts supporting the Vista OS officially in April of next year but they will help those who already have Vistas. I know there are compatibility issues and such but it seems as if the majority are due to immature drivers and why would I want to get XP for $93 and then have to go out and get a Vista for at least $100 dollars a year later ?
$120 sounds better than $293(100 + 93). And in regards to the 64 Bit, that would be pushing the limits of how much i can handle incompatible programs. I checked Newegg.com for the Vista OS but they seem to be in the same price range as PowerNotebooks' $120.)

Standard: No Wireless
My Option: Wireless Intel Pro/802.11 a/g/n +$40
(Umm, I guess there is no other choice but to shell the 40? and I am not sure if I can install that card into the IFL90 easily)

 

wow the votes are quite close

 

I say definately get the first. You won't notice the weaker processor nearly as much as you'll notice the reduced resolution. A computer's interfacey bits are its most important parts, and 800 pixels just isn't tall enough.

 

yeah and the 512 mb seems to sound more convincing the more i look at it and considering how much some of the recommended specs are for current games such as bioshock which was announced.