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New Computer, what to get?

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scott91575;1611740; said:
While Macs are really nice (and expensive), the 9600M GT is not the best GPU available in a laptop. It's maybe middle of the pack, and essentially replaced by the 130m GT. The ATI HD4670 offered on Dells (since that is what he is looking at) is better, along with the NVidia 130m GT, 230M GT, and 240M GT offered on other laptops.
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Be careful. I did a fair amount of research on graphics cards available on laptops, and for business use (as opposed to gaming, which I don't do) the 9600M GT is about as good as it gets in a good-battery-life, lightweight laptop, especially since it works with the second graphics processor (a 9400) as a co-processor. Reviews I read ranked the 9600M well above the ATI HD4670. Though, to be honest, the ATI card would probably work for me just fine.
 
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MaxBuck;1612032; said:
Be careful. I did a fair amount of research on graphics cards available on laptops, and for business use (as opposed to gaming, which I don't do) the 9600M GT is about as good as it gets in a good-battery-life, lightweight laptop, especially since it works with the second graphics processor (a 9400) as a co-processor. Reviews I read ranked the 9600M well above the ATI HD4670. Though, to be honest, the ATI card would probably work for me just fine.
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The GTX 130m is the 9600m gt but 55nm instead of 65nm fabrication process. Uses the same amount of power, but they run it at faster clock. It's pretty much an overclocked 9600m gt using the same amount of power.

Many of the others in the GTX m series use even lower fabrication processes. The GTX 240m is 40nm, and rated power is 23W which is the same as the 9600m gt. It is much better than the 9600m gt and uses the same amount of power. I left out the real power hogs (the GTX280m, GTX 260m, etc).

The 9400 you are talking about is pretty much on board graphics and will be used for simple desktop applications. It's doesn't add any processing power. It allows for a choice of which one to use depending on what is needed, and allows for some power savings. You can essentially do the same thing under power options if battery life is a huge issue (you can turn off GPU usage while under battery). SLI is the only way to combine GPU computing power, and that can only be done with the same GPU's. Even then it's not double the computing power, more like 1.5 times.

At the time the 9600m GT came out it was a good mid range GPU that was a good mix of processing power and power usage. I have the 8600m GT, which the 9600m GT is essentially a 8600m GT with a smaller fab process, so I am well aware of it (80nm vs. 65nm). Yet there are better ones out there now, including ones that use the same amount of power.
 
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BuckeyeNation27;1611407; said:
I haven't been in the laptop market for a looooooong time. What should I be looking for in regards to RAM and processor speeds? Recommendations on which laptop and which brand are appreciated, but right now I'm focused more on the specs.
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Do you have a price range? Sort of tough without that. You can get by with a core 2 duo and 4Gb of RAM. Yet there are things you can get that cost more that help with battery life (like LED backlighting). You can probably get away without a GPU, but having one is nice especially once plugged in (as I mentioned you can essentially turn off your GPU when using battery if you want to so it's not really a negative to have one).

The next generation chips for Intel are out there now, and they are much faster (not sure if Dell is offering them yet). If you have a ballpark figure I could probably throw together a high, mid, and low options through their website. It will more than likely be between the Studio XPS, Studio, and Inspiron. There are the Vostros, but they are essentially the same underpinnings. A little more boring, and offer business type solutions standard (yet those same solutions are available on the Studios and Inspirons).

edit: Almost forgot, size is probably another thing you should pick out. I prefer the ones in the 15-16" range (actual size varies on aspect ratio). It's a good combination of portability and power. Some prefer a larger screen (17"), while others prefer smaller screens for better portability. Up to you.
 
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scott91575 said:
Do you have a price range? Sort of tough without that. You can get by with a core 2 duo and 4Gb of RAM. Yet there are things you can get that cost more that help with battery life (like LED backlighting). You can probably get away without a GPU, but having one is nice especially once plugged in (as I mentioned you can essentially turn off your GPU when using battery if you want to so it's not really a negative to have one).

The next generation chips for Intel are out there now, and they are much faster (not sure if Dell is offering them yet). If you have a ballpark figure I could probably throw together a high, mid, and low options through their website. It will more than likely be between the Studio XPS, Studio, and Inspiron. There are the Vostros, but they are essentially the same underpinnings. A little more boring, and offer business type solutions standard (yet those same solutions are available on the Studios and Inspirons).

edit: Almost forgot, size is probably another thing you should pick out. I prefer the ones in the 15-16" range (actual size varies on aspect ratio). It's a good combination of portability and power. Some prefer a larger screen (17"), while others prefer smaller screens for better portability. Up to you.
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I don't have a hard set price range. I'd like to stay as much under $1,000 as possible, but I don't know what that will get me so I could change that depending on what you (and others) suggest. I don't really want anything towards the lower end of the spectrum, but I shouldn't be spending a ton. My parents each got the cheapest version of Dell at the time and it ran smooth for all of about 3 months before they were basically pieces of crap......and they only use it for email and games.

I'm more willing to go higher because the laptop I have now worked great for me for years. It was one of the slickdeals I think JWins found......spend $1,500 and get $750 off. I was loading that thing up with shit I didn't even want to get it up over $1,500.
 
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BuckeyeNation27;1612446; said:
I don't have a hard set price range. I'd like to stay as much under $1,000 as possible, but I don't know what that will get me so I could change that depending on what you (and others) suggest. I don't really want anything towards the lower end of the spectrum, but I shouldn't be spending a ton. My parents each got the cheapest version of Dell at the time and it ran smooth for all of about 3 months before they were basically pieces of crap......and they only use it for email and games.

I'm more willing to go higher because the laptop I have now worked great for me for years. It was one of the slickdeals I think JWins found......spend $1,500 and get $750 off. I was loading that thing up with shit I didn't even want to get it up over $1,500.
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For a quick recommendation, I would go Studio XPS 16. Upgrade to the 9 cell battery, and that should be the only upgrade you would need. With your discount it should end up just under $1000.

Other upgrades worth looking at....

Upgrade to the 1920x1080 resolution ($75)
Upgrade to 4670 graphics card ($100) - comes with the 3670 which is competent, but the 4670 is a fair amount more powerful
Upgrade processor to the P8700 ($125)

So anywhere from just under $1000 to $1300 or so (with your discount). Less than that and you are looking at the Studio 15. It pretty much eliminates the GPU, less of a warranty (which I think also means overseas support), and no upgrade options. It will run about $700.

There are of course other options depending on screen size you want. Like I mentioned I prefer ones in the 15-16 inch range.
 
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I called Dell and they told me any company discount would probably be less than what I'm actually getting on their webpage...so I'm not tied to them anymore. Here's what I think I'm going to get...I'm just waiting a few days so it's not delivered to my apartment while I'm home for Christmas.

Sony Vaio FW590
Processor - Intel? Core™ 2 Duo Processor T6600 (2.20GHz)
OS - Genuine Microsoft? Windows? 7 Home Premium
HD - 250GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
Memory - 4GB (2GBx2) DDR2-SDRAM-800
Display - 16.4" VAIO extra-wide HD display (1920x1080)
Graphics - ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 graphics with 1GB dedicated video RAM

Any glaring issues there? Like...the ATI Mobility Radeon 4650 is known to randomly explode and burn my house down?

Still deciding between the standard battery and the extended life battery. Some sites say the extended battery doesn't add much and is bulky, some sites say get it if you can. It's an extra $100.
 
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BuckeyeNation27;1620933; said:
I called Dell and they told me any company discount would probably be less than what I'm actually getting on their webpage...so I'm not tied to them anymore. Here's what I think I'm going to get...I'm just waiting a few days so it's not delivered to my apartment while I'm home for Christmas.

Sony Vaio FW590
Processor - Intel? Core? 2 Duo Processor T6600 (2.20GHz)
OS - Genuine Microsoft? Windows? 7 Home Premium
HD - 250GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
Memory - 4GB (2GBx2) DDR2-SDRAM-800
Display - 16.4" VAIO extra-wide HD display (1920x1080)
Graphics - ATI Mobility Radeon? HD 4650 graphics with 1GB dedicated video RAM

Any glaring issues there? Like...the ATI Mobility Radeon 4650 is known to randomly explode and burn my house down?
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I've heard the T6600 processor has been linked to impotency. But other than that, assuming you don't want kids, you should be good to go.
 
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For those interested in buying a Mac and using it for both OSX and Windows, I can say that the new Parallels Desktop v 5 is a terrific improvement over v 4 to run Windows in a virtual machine on the Mac. Not sure I'll ever use BootCamp again. Can cut and paste between OSX and Windows applications seamlessly, and the problem I had with v 4 relative to mouse lag is now gone.
 
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Any updates?

Now that I've started a new position, I am looking to upgrade from my 3 yr old Compaq Presario laptop. While it has served me well, the extended warranty I bought from Staples was well-used by the time it expired last spring, and so I want to get ahead of the game since I'm expecting the worse to come soon.

It will be used for both work and play, but will function as my primary computer during business hours. I use Office VERY heavily, Adobe products regularly, and also do some light photo-editing and graphics work in CorelDraw. I have always used PC, but am not patently against making the switch to MAC...

Any suggestions or new deals?
 
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I've always had the best luck with HP laptops. They make some pretty high performance laptops as well, which of course are all customizable and you can add/upgrade what you want in them.

If you are going to be doing a lot of photo editing and graphics work, you might want to make the switch the Mac. I'm not a Mac person at all, but i will agree that they are very good for photo and graphic work.
 
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