FZ190 vs. New Inspiron 1520

Hi guys,

I'm in the market for a new 15" laptop with a decent graphics card. How do you guys think the Sony FZ190 compares to the new Inspiron 1520??

Will the FZ190's 8400m GT card last me 3 years in gaming?

 

Given the trend of video cards, probably not. ~3 years ago the top dog was the mobility Radeon 9800. It'll last you two for sure and will still let you play old games in 3. =)

 

Do you think Sony will come out with a 15" notebook with the 8600m GT or better anytime soon?

 

sony is base more to thin and light notebooks they offer a bit less power but more mobility and battery durability, an 8600GT use more energy and gives off more heat than a 8400GT thats why they probably use this model and they stick with the 8400GT

 

3dmarks06 socres

8400m G = 1217 points
8400m GS = 1645 points
8400m GT = 2575 points
8600m GS = 2743 points
8600m GT = 4294 points
8700m GT = 5200 points

 

I have never seen such high scores at default resolutions and clocks.
e.g. a 8600M GT average about 3200, not 4294 points.

What resolutions and systems are these scores based??

 

1280x800

the 8400GT its my own score (vaio FZ190) and the 8600GT its a friend score (dell inspiron 1520)

 

remember your score depends on your hardware configuration too

 

256MB 8400GT in my FZ scores around 2600 in 3Dmark2006. DDR2 8600GT in 1520 I returned scored around 3100 in 3Dmark2006, probably 100 more or so with the driver I used in FZ. They both have 2.0GHz C2D and running 3Dmark at 1280x800. For DDR2 8600GT to score 4000+, it has to be running in 1024x768 and/or being OCed.

Technically, 8600GT have much more filtrate, while 8400GT has more bandwidth. I didn't find the real-world difference between two to be large, but I didn't keep 1520 for a long. Neither card is going to play games well 3 years later - you will need 8800/X2900 (on desktop) for that.

1520 is cheaper, has more configuration options, and has better GPU.

FZ has much better screen, better overall quality (no wobbling battery, no noise on headphone jack, and I can actually use portable phone near FZ - on 1520, I had to keep it away from 1520, magnetic shielding of 1520 is non-existent - which probably is the reason why there's so much noises on headphone jack), and considerably smaller/lighter for a laptop with same screen size.

Also, I believe Sony is bringing FZ is 8600GS - if 8600GS in FZ uses DDR3 like their 8400GT, I expect it to perform almost on par with 1520.

I hope this helps.

 

I think FZ's better than Dell (is thin, light, very nice looking and far better build quality altough Inspiron's not bad neither).

But if you want to game.. 8400GS will "play" actual games but not at high. 8600GT will do (although only 1 or 2 notebooks come with 8600GT DDR3, most come with DDR2 "only") finely now.

If you want to play games that will come out in 3 years, not even the 8600GT will do, or at least not "the way it's meant to be played". Maybe in low res it will last 3 years.. but no more. Forget about 8400 because it can't even play all today's game on native resolution. Also keep in mind DirectX 10.1 has already been released and 8600GT suports 10.0 only. And there are differences and no there isn't hardware support to 10.1; so.. 3 years from now?? nope, not even 8600GT.

But it will surely keep playing games from 2008 flawlessly and maybe some 2009 games =D

P.S: FZ is much nicer =P

 

In the UK the some of the new FZ's will be fitted with an 8600GS. I assume that this option will also be available to US residents.
If you can get your hands on an FZ with an 8600GS, then definetly get that over the 1520.

 

FZ has DDR3 8400GT, which is much more powerful card than 8400GS. Although I do agree with your overall conclusion - we laptop users just need to learn how to tinker with setting to strike nice balance of performance and IQ.