It allows you to have 2 batteries installed at once- one in the base and one in the laptop. Yes you can get external drives, but they are easier to lose and take up the port. If i had the money, I'd buy the bay (but i know dell charges $$$$).
Can I stick the Extended battery on the Laptop itself? or Do I have to have the Media Base? Is there anything else the Media Base is useful for? I think its easier to just put the external CD Drive in my Laptop Case, instead of sticking a big media base.
No- in fact the extended battery doesn't fit in the base, and it sticks out of the back of the laptop.
2) Does anyone know the battery life for either the Standard or Extended Battery?
Try cnet.com and it's review of the laptop.
3) How do you think playing Unreal Tournament would be on the Laptop? My i8000 with 32 MB Video Card did 17 FPS, and it was livable and It was fine, would the new laptop do better or worse?
Doesn't the 300m have an integrated video chip and not a video card? If it has the intel graphics, it will fare pretty badly. I wouldn't get the 300m for gaming.
4) How long does it take to charge the Battery?
Beats me, try cnet.com again
5) As you can see in My Signature, I have a i8000, I leave it plugged it 24/7 except for sometimes when I take it to work, but after 2 years, my battery inside the laptop has decreased its performance big time, the question I have is, Why would it decrease? I never use the laptop off the battery, its always plugged in, so why is the battery life horrible? How can I prevent this in the future for the 300M? Should I remove the battery from the laptop whenever I recharge? Wouldn't that leave a big hole in the back of the laptop? Also if I should leave the battery out, should I have it charged or dead?
Batteries die on their own, regardless. Dell only offers a 1 year warrenty on them, period. I'd take the battery out if you aren't going to use it for a long time, but it shouldn't harm it to leave it in (the charging circuit prevent it from charging back to full constantly)
6) Also I am thinking of buying a sealed Brand New Package of the 300M off eBay, One of my friends bought his dell laptop from eBay and got a really good deal, and got a 1 year factory warranty, My question is, How much would it cost to upgrade the warranty?
I got 2 more years on my 8200 for $179 after 11 months from purchase.
Thanks RYRI, I was wondering why gaming would be bad? I know its a shared Video Card, but its double the ram (64mB) than what I have currently in my i8000 and my i8000 does fine on Unreal Tournament. So dont you think the 300M will do equal or better performance?
Anyone have any more answers or help on my subject ;)
300m is considered an "ultraportable", and therefore had to sacrifice some features on the notebook itself. (i.e. the ports) so it can fit everying snuggly. and that's why it has a docking station/media base to fill in the gaps. Many "ultrapotables" (like old sony R505. dell X200(?) have most the ports and drives in docking station too.)
As for games, I don't know how it would compare to M4, but it would fare pretty badly comparing to the other cards (Ati9000, Nvidia 5650 etc.)
I have a 600m with ATI 9000, my friend has a 500m with intel. And I must say the performancec lags noticably.
And oh, batteries are consumables, unfortunately after 2 years they likely will degrade. Just the way things are, I guess. (take them out if you don't use them, I guess)
Truth be told, if you expect to use your new laptop the way you did the old (i.e. plugged in) I don't think 300m is the best choice, you'd be happier going with a 8600 or 600m.
3Dot14, I know what you mean about I wont like it if I plug it in, but its so freakin light, I wont travel with it as much, but I am not worried about doing anything else, I dont need the Ports in the back.. And it should be just fine for Unreal Tournament, Anyways I still will have the i8000, Its just after I bought the i8000, it felt like I bought a Smaller Computer instead of a Laptop.. It was so big, whats the purpose of it, if its so big, so This time I wanna buy a nice small Laptop, not even 600m, I want 300M ;)
The issue is the integrated graphics not RAM, "integrated graphics" usually means "poor 3D performance".
I read that storing the battery in a cool place at 40% charged helps prolong the life of lithium batteries most. You need to remember that *heat* is not good for them.
As much as I hate to say it, I would recommend the 600m or something equivalent to it. It is still quite small and light, not big like the 8500.
It has the performance that you need and as you say that you won't be travelling with it, the size shouldn't be a huge concern. I would guess that playing Unreal on the 300m wouldn't be that great. With shared video memory, anything intensive is horrible.
So, the integrated graphics suffers in two areas, one it shares memory bandwidth with the main system. This means that the memory is overtaxed and the GPU waits for the memory to do system stuff and video stuff. 3dmark 2001 scores are in the 900-1800 range for integrated graphics compared to 7000-8000 for a Radeon 9000 and 10000-11000 for a Radeon 9600. If it Dx9 stuff, it's a nonstarter. I agree with the 600M if your goal is today's games and the I8600 for tomorrow's. Their weights are 5 and 7lbs. If you want less, you can either take out the CD drive (like the 300M) or buy a non-Dell. Samsung UK makes incredible light notebooks.
OK OK, You convinced me, but One Thing I hate is that none of Dell's Laptops currently come with a Trackpoint..
I can use the Trackpoint SOOOO MUCH Faster than the Touchpad.. My Current i8000 has both a Trackpoint and a Touchpad, so I am fine, but what do I do? Do I learn how to use a Touchpad? Is it fast enough..?
I also have another question, What is Better Centrino or P4?
Some people say Centrino is newer and faster technology for Laptops and others say P4 has more Raw Power, but on the i8xxx series they have P4, so I assume a P4 is faster..
Also if I get a 1.4 GHz Centrino what is that equal to in P4 Terms?
Also What is Pentium M?
And is it alright if I upgrade the Intel WiFi chip to Truemobile a/b/g chip?
What type of battery life does the 600M have? and how long will it take to charge up? Do they have a option for a extended battery, and can you put 2 batteries in the laptop at once? Will the 64 MB Radeon Chip do a lot better in UT than my current i8000(Specs Below).. What are your guys thoughts about eBay?
I get 4.5 hours on the regular battery on the most conservative settings. In normal usage for me (high brightness, low speed, wireless on) I get 2:45-3:15
For future technology, I would go for the Centrino. It runs cooler and has more advanced power saving features. Overall, usage will be increased compared to the P4.
To find out the Centrino speed compared to the P4, multiple the number by 1.6. It's not the exact answer, but it gives you a ballpark number.
As for the Truemobile chip that supports a/b/g, Unless you use A, I would suggest that you get the Truemobile 1300 which supports b/g instead. "A" is going to be obsolete in the future and there isn't much use to it except for transferring large files within your network.
As rp3w600m mentioned, the Latitude line has both pointing devices. Other than that, for the current generation, I only recall IBM's T40/T41.
Samsung does have a slim but quite powerful unit in NX10, but it doesn't have trackpoint.
It's hard to compare P-M and P-4, but a 1.6 multiplier is about right to me, the multiplier should be between 1.4-1.6 depends on the app you test/run.
(Note that a notebook cannot be branded "Centrino" unless it uses all three Intel components - Pentium-M, chipset and Wi-Fi solution. If you use TM1300, your notebook is, technically, not a Centrino notebook... )
ryri
2 Intern
•
360 Posts
0
December 9th, 2003 04:00
xraheelx
20 Posts
0
December 9th, 2003 05:00
xraheelx
20 Posts
0
December 9th, 2003 05:00
Anyone have any more answers or help on my subject ;)
3dot14
13 Posts
0
December 9th, 2003 06:00
300m is considered an "ultraportable", and therefore had to sacrifice some features on the notebook itself. (i.e. the ports) so it can fit everying snuggly. and that's why it has a docking station/media base to fill in the gaps. Many "ultrapotables" (like old sony R505. dell X200(?) have most the ports and drives in docking station too.)
As for games, I don't know how it would compare to M4, but it would fare pretty badly comparing to the other cards (Ati9000, Nvidia 5650 etc.)
I have a 600m with ATI 9000, my friend has a 500m with intel. And I must say the performancec lags noticably.
And oh, batteries are consumables, unfortunately after 2 years they likely will degrade. Just the way things are, I guess. (take them out if you don't use them, I guess)
Truth be told, if you expect to use your new laptop the way you did the old (i.e. plugged in) I don't think 300m is the best choice, you'd be happier going with a 8600 or 600m.
xraheelx
20 Posts
0
December 9th, 2003 12:00
3Dot14, I know what you mean about I wont like it if I plug it in, but its so freakin light, I wont travel with it as much, but I am not worried about doing anything else, I dont need the Ports in the back.. And it should be just fine for Unreal Tournament, Anyways I still will have the i8000, Its just after I bought the i8000, it felt like I bought a Smaller Computer instead of a Laptop.. It was so big, whats the purpose of it, if its so big, so This time I wanna buy a nice small Laptop, not even 600m, I want 300M ;)
loyukfai-new
114 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 16:00
The issue is the integrated graphics not RAM, "integrated graphics" usually means "poor 3D performance".
I read that storing the battery in a cool place at 40% charged helps prolong the life of lithium batteries most. You need to remember that *heat* is not good for them.
viper11885
791 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 17:00
It has the performance that you need and as you say that you won't be travelling with it, the size shouldn't be a huge concern. I would guess that playing Unreal on the 300m wouldn't be that great. With shared video memory, anything intensive is horrible.
Just my thoughts.
rp3w600m
102 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 18:00
So, the integrated graphics suffers in two areas, one it shares memory bandwidth with the main system. This means that the memory is overtaxed and the GPU waits for the memory to do system stuff and video stuff. 3dmark 2001 scores are in the 900-1800 range for integrated graphics compared to 7000-8000 for a Radeon 9000 and 10000-11000 for a Radeon 9600. If it Dx9 stuff, it's a nonstarter. I agree with the 600M if your goal is today's games and the I8600 for tomorrow's. Their weights are 5 and 7lbs. If you want less, you can either take out the CD drive (like the 300M) or buy a non-Dell. Samsung UK makes incredible light notebooks.
rp3w600m
102 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 19:00
xraheelx
20 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 19:00
OK OK, You convinced me, but One Thing I hate is that none of Dell's Laptops currently come with a Trackpoint..
I can use the Trackpoint SOOOO MUCH Faster than the Touchpad.. My Current i8000 has both a Trackpoint and a Touchpad, so I am fine, but what do I do? Do I learn how to use a Touchpad? Is it fast enough..?
xraheelx
20 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 19:00
I also have another question, What is Better Centrino or P4?
Some people say Centrino is newer and faster technology for Laptops and others say P4 has more Raw Power, but on the i8xxx series they have P4, so I assume a P4 is faster..
Also if I get a 1.4 GHz Centrino what is that equal to in P4 Terms?
Also What is Pentium M?
And is it alright if I upgrade the Intel WiFi chip to Truemobile a/b/g chip?
xraheelx
20 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 19:00
rp3w600m
102 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 22:00
viper11885
791 Posts
0
December 10th, 2003 23:00
To find out the Centrino speed compared to the P4, multiple the number by 1.6. It's not the exact answer, but it gives you a ballpark number.
As for the Truemobile chip that supports a/b/g, Unless you use A, I would suggest that you get the Truemobile 1300 which supports b/g instead. "A" is going to be obsolete in the future and there isn't much use to it except for transferring large files within your network.
loyukfai-new
114 Posts
0
December 11th, 2003 04:00
As far as I can recognise, the 300M is an OEM product by Samsung.
As rp3w600m mentioned, the Latitude line has both pointing devices. Other than that, for the current generation, I only recall IBM's T40/T41.
Samsung does have a slim but quite powerful unit in NX10, but it doesn't have trackpoint.
It's hard to compare P-M and P-4, but a 1.6 multiplier is about right to me, the multiplier should be between 1.4-1.6 depends on the app you test/run.
(Note that a notebook cannot be branded "Centrino" unless it uses all three Intel components - Pentium-M, chipset and Wi-Fi solution. If you use TM1300, your notebook is, technically, not a Centrino notebook...
)