Rate my E1505 build...is there anything I should add or take out?

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Bona Fide

2[H]4U
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Aug 26, 2005
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I was basically going for a 15" laptop with decent graphics, a big hard drive, 1GB RAM, Bluetooth, and good battery life.

Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ Duo Proc T2250 (1.73GHz/533MHz/2 X 1MB L2 Cache)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD
LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
Hard Drive 120GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Combo or DVD+RW Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ HD Software Edition
Wireless Networking Cards Wireless Card Only: Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Warranty and Service 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Internet Access Service 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
QuickSnap Options Carbon Fiber QuickSnap™ Cover
Bluetooth Options Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo
Processor Branding Intel Core Duo Processor
TOTAL:$938.40
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All for under $1000 with free shipping...not bad, right? I'd have preferred an X1600/7600 but I can't find a reputable company that sells that with a 15" laptop.
 
Yeah I also second upgradin to the 1.66Ghz Core 2 Duo, the T5500.
 
The Merom is something like $100 more, and on top of that, it's slower. It has a 667MHz bus against the Yonah's 533MHz, and it also has 64-bit support, so is that worth the cost?
 
Sorry about that.

I didn't realize the t5500 WAS slower in clock speed.

However, it's FAR MORE EFFICENT. FAR MORE. If your not gonna be playing games and multi tasking you'll need a core 2 duo.
 
Newsboys2004 said:
Sorry about that.

I didn't realize the t5500 WAS slower in clock speed.

However, it's FAR MORE EFFICENT. FAR MORE. If your not gonna be playing games and multi tasking you'll need a core 2 duo.
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How so? Does the bus make the difference?
 
Newsboys2004 said:
Sorry about that.

I didn't realize the t5500 WAS slower in clock speed.

However, it's FAR MORE EFFICENT. FAR MORE. If your not gonna be playing games and multi tasking you'll need a core 2 duo.
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You can play games and multi-task just fine with a core duo.
 
Do dells have stunted bios like HP or do you get full featured one you can configure?
 
Newegg's got a 1.66 Core Duo Acer Aspire 5672WMi (or whatever it is) that's a Core Duo, 1Gb ram, X1600 for $1079, last I checked.

that seems to be around your price range :)
 
do spring for the C2D. Slower clockspeed, same overall speed and youd gain some battery life. Plus nobody is gonna want a CD in the future, so better resale value.

How long are you thinking you are gonna keep this? If its gonna be years get the long warrentee. If only a year or something, get the short warrentee.
 
I just bought almost exactly that model, except I went with an X1300 instead of X1400 (it is for bona fide notetaking and work) but I hate GMA. Also, I did NOT spring for C2D, but that is because I am a college student and therefore cheap.
 
GLSauron said:
do spring for the C2D. Slower clockspeed, same overall speed and youd gain some battery life. Plus nobody is gonna want a CD in the future, so better resale value.

How long are you thinking you are gonna keep this? If its gonna be years get the long warrentee. If only a year or something, get the short warrentee.
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The C2D has better battery life? That may be worth looking at (even though I'm opting for the 9-cell which supposedly is good for 6+ hours).

Also, I plan to keep it for at least 2-3 years. It'll probably suck for gaming by early next year, but it'll be good for college and light gaming/movies/music.
 
Doward said:
Newegg's got a 1.66 Core Duo Acer Aspire 5672WMi (or whatever it is) that's a Core Duo, 1Gb ram, X1600 for $1079, last I checked.

that seems to be around your price range :)
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Slower processor, more expensive, but better video card and 2-day shipping to my house. I'm a bit leery of Aspire, seeing as they aren't quite the established company that Dell is. It's worth a look though :)
 
Bona Fide said:
The C2D has better battery life? That may be worth looking at (even though I'm opting for the 9-cell which supposedly is good for 6+ hours).

Also, I plan to keep it for at least 2-3 years. It'll probably suck for gaming by early next year, but it'll be good for college and light gaming/movies/music.
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slower CPU speed will decrease consumption a little. With the C2D being faster clock for clock...
 
Varmint said:
Everyone stop with the disinformation. The Core 2 Duo does not have better battery life, and it is not faster in gaming unless you have a ridiculously fast video card, like a 7900GTX. Even in applications the difference is like 2%. Don't waste your money.
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Very helpful information that I was looking for, thanks.
 
Varmint said:
Everyone stop with the disinformation. The Core 2 Duo does not have better battery life, and it is not faster in gaming unless you have a ridiculously fast video card, like a 7900GTX. Even in applications the difference is like 2%. Don't waste your money.

[IM G]http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/merom_080306120811/12770.png[/IMG]

[IG]http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/merom_080306120811/12762.png[/IMG]
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Thanks, this'll save me about $100 dollars. I am missing out on 64-bit and full Vista compatibility, though. Is that worth it?
 
Bona Fide said:
Thanks, this'll save me about $100 dollars. I am missing out on 64-bit and full Vista compatibility, though. Is that worth it?
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Hard to say, I'm not saying don't buy the Core 2, just realize you're not getting much improvement today. That video card's not DX10 compatible, so either way your laptop won't be fully Vista compatible.
 
Varmint said:
Hard to say, I'm not saying don't buy the Core 2, just realize you're not getting much improvement today. That video card's not DX10 compatible, so either way your laptop won't be fully Vista compatible.
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To get Vista Premium (with the Aero interface) to run you need a 1GHz x86 processor, 1GB RAM, 15GB HDD, and a DX9 card with SM2.0 and 128MB memory. Apparently you don't need 64-bit, though it's compatible with 64-bit and will probably deliver a better end-user experience in some way/shape/form.
 
vista has seperate versions for 32 and 64 bit chips. Dont worry about not being 64 bit-ed
 
Alright, since 64-bit isn't too big of a deal, I think I'll just go for this. Thanks everyone!

Oh, and I'm adding the 3-year warranty for good measure. :)
 
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