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My new Dell build, need some opinions please. Thank you
Hello,
Thanks for checking out my thread and hopefully letting me know what you think of my system. I here that Dell can give you a nice system for not much money. I have also heard that when dealing with Dell it is wise to purchase a multi year warranty because they melt components to the motherboard? Is this true/bad?. Anyway, I think I have found the best possible system for my $1,500 and I am here to hopefully find out if I am making a good selection. But first let me say....
1.If you are paid or employed by Dell or any of the companies that you are recommending products for, please make this public knowledge on my thread. This will not negatively effect my view of your comments at all. I ask that you do this for the sake of transparency. Thank you for your respect.
2.I am looking for non-newbie posts, so if you really only know a little, please don't clutter up the thread. Thanks.
**************Below I will list my Dell build...
Studio 1537, Intel Core 2 Duo T9400, 2.53GHz, 1066Mhz, 6M L2Cache
4GB, DDR2, 800MHz 2 Dimm (does it matter that my RAM is 800MHz and not 1066 like my FSB)
Hi Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1920x1200)
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 (upper middle class card?)
250G 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive Free Fall Sensor
Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 Home Premium Edition, English (:confused:32bit, I think)
8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy Advanced HD Software Edition
Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11AGNHalf Mini Card
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal (2.0+Enhanced Data Rate)
Integrated Finger Print Reader
V220 Jet Black Cordless Optical USB Mouse
******Please take the comments below into consideration when posting your thoughts. :)
1.)I am not a gamer. The only game I would play on this notebook would be Return To Castle Wolfenstein and that game is a decade old, or will be soon.
2.)I plan to watch a lot of online content on this notebook including DVD movies from time to time and I would frequently have many web pages open at the same time.
3.) Do I want to go for the 64bit Vista if I really only plan to keep my notebook with 4Gigs and do the above stuff?
4.) I was told that its nice to have 1066Mhz over 800MHz, something about the "pipes" being twice as large. Is this, coupled with the 2.5Ghz processor, a pretty good bang for the buck?
Thank you for taking the time to read through all the stuff I wrote. To steal a line from my favorite film, The Shawshank Redemption "if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a bit further". I do hope you take the time to tell me what you think of this build for $1,500. Thank you for your time. Thank you.
ejn63
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October 22nd, 2008 09:00
1. The system should be fine for that.
2. Again, the system is perfectly capable of that.
3. 32-bit is fine. If you DO go with 64-bit Vista, be absolutely sure your hardware and software has drivers/versions for it. If not, you could be in for an expensive round of upgrading.
4. 1066 is better, but if you want that, the Latitude E-series is your only option from Dell. The 1066 MHz bus CPUs haven't made their way into consumer-level Studio/XPS/Inspiron systems yet.
mrdave45
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October 26th, 2008 21:00
mrdave45
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October 26th, 2008 21:00
Hello,
I too am considering a very similar system. However Im finding it hard to find out exactly is what inside one of these boxes. I intend to use the laptop for mobile audio production. Therefore the firewire chip set is important.
so
(a) what is the firewire chip set?
(b) what is the chipset for the processors. My hunch is the PM45 montevina
Also, have been looking at the latitude and precision laptops. For a similarly specced machine using a p8400 processor, 4gb 800mhz 240gb 5400 and 1920x1200 etc, its over £1300 opposed to about £800. It has a better graphics card but that cant account for £500 where does the extra money go? Is the studio 1537 likely to fall apart on me?
Also, are things like processors soldered on to the mainboard or is it socketed so later on I can inject a new lease of life later on when the current quad core processors become affordable. (assuming i can source a mobile processor)
Thanks
Dave