New Gateway or Outlet Dell?

[Hadoken]

I'm looking for a general use laptop in the $600-800 price range.

I've sorta narrowed it down to two options either a new Gateway from Best Buy for $700 or a refurbished / scratch & dent Dell for about $750.

They are nearly identical, but the differences are:

Dell has a 5400 RPM SATA, Gateway is a 4200 RPM PATA.

Dell has 533 MHz memory, Gatewayhas 667 MHz memory.

The main difference is the Dell has a ATi X1400, the Gateway has onboard ATi 1150 graphics.

Which would you pick up, or is there a different option that is better?

I would love to be able to play my current games on the laptop, but I'm not buying this as a gaming laptop. The video card in my desktop is a Radeon 9500 Pro (don't laugh please..) so if the X1400 or 1150 could play what it can then that would be fine.
How does the x1400 compare to the 9500 Pro, I hope its slightly better...

Thanks in advance.

 

[pxc]

I'd take the Dell. In dual channel mode 533MHz DDR2 is all that's needed anyways. The x1400 has its own local video memory. The x1400 kills the 1150 (integrated video, about 1/2-3/4 the speed of a 9600np) and the 5400RPM drive would be faster too.

 

[Hadoken]

So the X1400 would be an improvement over a 9500 Pro?

I play mainly Halo, BF2, and Guildwars and all of these run acceptably on my 9500 Pro, any problems running them on the X1400 Dell with feasible settings?

 

[Dangman]

Yes it is an improvement over the 9500Pro. The Dell should be able to BF2 relatively fine.

 

[who am I - I ask]

dell

 

[gigasmack]

For sure the Dell. As for gaming, the x1400 in my wifes e1505 plays WoW at native resolution. My M1210 plays BF2 like a champ, so I think you will be in good shape.