I9200 is not a gaming machine. You might be able to play the last games now, but who knows for how long. Don't take the GHz number on the Pentium M as it is, because it's a completely different architecture, and the number itself doesn't express the true power of the processor. Plus it has a 2MB L2 cache. On the other hand, the XPS is a laptop which is making the same noise as a desktop (i think it has 3 fans) and the battery is there just to be present but it's a machine created for games. You have to set your priorities. Both systems are desktop replacement so don't take neighter one if you are planning to carry it with you on a regular basis.
There is a pre-sale board in the customer care board, and the moderators are answering pretty fast.
Generally, you can multiply the clock of the Pentium M by 1.5 (or 1.6) to get the equivalent clock on a Pentium 4, e.g. a Pentium M 1.7Ghz will perform in most cases like a Pentium 4 2.5-2.6Ghz.
Now for battery life, the 9200 comes with a 53Wh battery, an 80 Wh battery is available optionally. My i8600 has a 72Wh battery, and it runs 3 to 4 hours on a battery (nearly 5 hours on extreme power saving), and well over 2 hours at full load (gaming). As the 9200 has nearly the same specs, but a larger display, I'd say the running times are about the same when using the 80Wh battery as on my i8600.
If you want to buy the ultimate gaming laptop, buy the Inspiron XPS. It is one of the notebooks that comes the closest possible to desktop gaming performance. TZhe main difference concerning gaming performence between the XPS and the 9200 is the GPU, the 9200 comes with a R9700 whereas the XPS comes with a R9800 which seems to blow away the R9700. In addition to this, it is very likely that Dell will release other user upgradeable graphics cards for the XPS, but not for the 9200.
Now, if you want to have a more portable laptop with lower gaming performance (but sufficient for all games on the market), get the 9200. Me too, I also play games on my i8600 which has lower specs than any i9200.
The XPS is certainly a gaming machine, but isn't particularly portable. Weight and poor battery life is the price one pays for a fast gaming machine.
The I9200 on the other hand isn't designed as a high-power gaming machine. It's more of a large screen replacement / upgrade from the (still available) I8600.
to see a comparison between Pentium M and Pentium 4 M (XPS is using a desktop Pentium 4 not an M). On intel site you can see all about the new processors: benchmarks, performance, etc)
XPS is more of a desktop replacement of a laptop, NOT one for the mobile moving, as the battery life isnt that great and its rather rotund for a mobile machine. The 600m is probably the best for battery life and portability, and you can always get the 96 Watt battery to provide longer battery life.
Personally, I own the 1150 and Im in love with it :P
Apart from the battery life which seems to be ok, exactly how portable is the i9200? A weight of ~6lbs sounds acceptable to me, but having no previous notebook experience I can't really tell for sure. Also, the size is another issue, can a 17" notebook easily fit into a random medium sized bag along with a number of books etc? Is this something you could think of carrying along with you to school a few times a week or would it be too much of a hassle? I know this is largely down to personal preference, but I'd like to hear some opinions based on experience rather than on sheer data sheet numbers. In my case I'd carry it with me to school maybe 2-3 times a week...
I personally believe that the XPS is the overall better of the two, even though it suffers in weight and battery life. Everything else on it simply blows all the other Dell laptops away, and most of the desktops too :smileyvery-happy:. I can tell you that heat is not an issue with this laptop, unlike a certain 600m I know of. (ok, this is off-topic, but I got 1st degree burns on my legs when I had it and a fever of 103).
I can also tell you that the P4, especially the EE P4, will blow away any M processor any day. If you are going to run games like Doom 3, or Half-life2, the 9200 is not the computer for you. Get an XPS, and get a 12v adapter for your car that is at least 200watts.
The GPU is the secondary strong point of the XPS, with its blazing clock speeds and high RAM storage. I have the older R9700, but I can push the CORE processor past 450MHz, and the RAM past 315MHz. With speeds that fast, I will be able to surf the tide of gaming for a while. And if you get an XPS with the R9800, you will be ahead of the crowd.
The only GPU I think can contest the R9800 and trounce it is the Radeon x800. I have a Dimension XPS Gen 3, and the GPU it that machine smokes ever other card ever made.
Have fun with whatever computer you get, and don't worry about anyone feeling down because you picked other than what they suggested.
The difference in performance of the 2.1 GHz Pentium M vs the 3.4 GHz P4 is trivial. If two systems were configured similarly (memory, HD, GPU) with the only difference being these two CPU’s I suspect no one would be able to notice a difference when gaming. Having a different GPU in this case becomes the true differentiator.
If you had the choice between the XPS configured with a 3.4 GHz P4 and ATI 9700 and an I9200 configured with a 2.1 GHz Pentium M and ATI 9700 – then I would certainly choose the I9200 – similar performance but much better battery life, bigger screen, quieter, lighter, etc..
However if you are considering an XPS with ATI 9800 – then the choice become a little harder. If your main purpose is for gaming then the XPS with ATI 9800 is your best bet. However if you want a more balance laptop I would say the I9200 would be worth considering.
Ok...thank you everyone for your information it's just excellent.
I've decided to go with the 9200 for several reasons.
I will be traveling a lot in the next year or so, so battery life is important (I also purchased a spare battery as well) and while I'm a pretty avid gamer I don't think I'll have to play the Half Life 2's and the Doom 3's everywhere I go (I can save those for my desktop). I just beefed up the 9200 a bit with 1 gig of ram and installed the M 755 chip which apparently is equivalent to the pentium 4 - 3 ghz processor.
In any case...I'm sure I will love this laptop as it will more than suffice for everything I
need it to do and it will be powerful enough to do most of what I
want it to do.
Agian...thank you all for your input I appreciate the help in making my decision. :smileyvery-happy:
Nirolf
106 Posts
0
November 24th, 2004 00:00
I9200 is not a gaming machine. You might be able to play the last games now, but who knows for how long. Don't take the GHz number on the Pentium M as it is, because it's a completely different architecture, and the number itself doesn't express the true power of the processor. Plus it has a 2MB L2 cache. On the other hand, the XPS is a laptop which is making the same noise as a desktop (i think it has 3 fans) and the battery is there just to be present but it's a machine created for games. You have to set your priorities. Both systems are desktop replacement so don't take neighter one if you are planning to carry it with you on a regular basis.
Gizzmo0411
23 Posts
0
November 24th, 2004 01:00
HMKrieps
713 Posts
0
November 24th, 2004 10:00
Now for battery life, the 9200 comes with a 53Wh battery, an 80 Wh battery is available optionally. My i8600 has a 72Wh battery, and it runs 3 to 4 hours on a battery (nearly 5 hours on extreme power saving), and well over 2 hours at full load (gaming). As the 9200 has nearly the same specs, but a larger display, I'd say the running times are about the same when using the 80Wh battery as on my i8600.
If you want to buy the ultimate gaming laptop, buy the Inspiron XPS. It is one of the notebooks that comes the closest possible to desktop gaming performance. TZhe main difference concerning gaming performence between the XPS and the 9200 is the GPU, the 9200 comes with a R9700 whereas the XPS comes with a R9800 which seems to blow away the R9700. In addition to this, it is very likely that Dell will release other user upgradeable graphics cards for the XPS, but not for the 9200.
Now, if you want to have a more portable laptop with lower gaming performance (but sufficient for all games on the market), get the 9200. Me too, I also play games on my i8600 which has lower specs than any i9200.
modular
89 Posts
0
November 24th, 2004 11:00
The XPS is certainly a gaming machine, but isn't particularly portable. Weight and poor battery life is the price one pays for a fast gaming machine.
The I9200 on the other hand isn't designed as a high-power gaming machine. It's more of a large screen replacement / upgrade from the (still available) I8600.
Nirolf
106 Posts
0
November 24th, 2004 12:00
MattFrancis
248 Posts
0
November 24th, 2004 15:00
rade
2 Posts
0
November 24th, 2004 19:00
Apart from the battery life which seems to be ok, exactly how portable is the i9200? A weight of ~6lbs sounds acceptable to me, but having no previous notebook experience I can't really tell for sure. Also, the size is another issue, can a 17" notebook easily fit into a random medium sized bag along with a number of books etc? Is this something you could think of carrying along with you to school a few times a week or would it be too much of a hassle? I know this is largely down to personal preference, but I'd like to hear some opinions based on experience rather than on sheer data sheet numbers. In my case I'd carry it with me to school maybe 2-3 times a week...
TheComputerDude_7aedf4
116 Posts
0
November 25th, 2004 06:00
I personally believe that the XPS is the overall better of the two, even though it suffers in weight and battery life. Everything else on it simply blows all the other Dell laptops away, and most of the desktops too :smileyvery-happy:. I can tell you that heat is not an issue with this laptop, unlike a certain 600m I know of. (ok, this is off-topic, but I got 1st degree burns on my legs when I had it and a fever of 103).
I can also tell you that the P4, especially the EE P4, will blow away any M processor any day. If you are going to run games like Doom 3, or Half-life2, the 9200 is not the computer for you. Get an XPS, and get a 12v adapter for your car that is at least 200watts.
The GPU is the secondary strong point of the XPS, with its blazing clock speeds and high RAM storage. I have the older R9700, but I can push the CORE processor past 450MHz, and the RAM past 315MHz. With speeds that fast, I will be able to surf the tide of gaming for a while. And if you get an XPS with the R9800, you will be ahead of the crowd.
The only GPU I think can contest the R9800 and trounce it is the Radeon x800. I have a Dimension XPS Gen 3, and the GPU it that machine smokes ever other card ever made.
Have fun with whatever computer you get, and don't worry about anyone feeling down because you picked other than what they suggested.
The ComputerDude.
anettis
366 Posts
0
November 27th, 2004 13:00
The difference in performance of the 2.1 GHz Pentium M vs the 3.4 GHz P4 is trivial. If two systems were configured similarly (memory, HD, GPU) with the only difference being these two CPU’s I suspect no one would be able to notice a difference when gaming. Having a different GPU in this case becomes the true differentiator.
If you had the choice between the XPS configured with a 3.4 GHz P4 and ATI 9700 and an I9200 configured with a 2.1 GHz Pentium M and ATI 9700 – then I would certainly choose the I9200 – similar performance but much better battery life, bigger screen, quieter, lighter, etc..
However if you are considering an XPS with ATI 9800 – then the choice become a little harder. If your main purpose is for gaming then the XPS with ATI 9800 is your best bet. However if you want a more balance laptop I would say the I9200 would be worth considering.
Message Edited by anettis on 11-27-2004 10:10 AM
Gizzmo0411
23 Posts
0
November 29th, 2004 10:00