Trying to decide on a new laptop

M

mkillio

Regular
I'm trying to decide between the Dell XPS M1330 and the Studio XPS 13.

I have the 1330 configured with the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB/6MB cache) and that's pretty much it for options, it comes to $1,024.

I have the XPS 13 configured with the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P9600 (6MB cache/2.66GHz/1066Mhz FSB), the LED screen, and the NVIDIA® GeForce® 9500M - 256MB. This one is $1,519.

Do you think the XPS 13 is worth the extra $500? Also the XPS 13 offers the Geforce 9500M and 9400M G, the difference is $110. The site doesn't say if the 9400 has 256MB or 128B, is it worth the extra $110?
 
9500M G or 9500 GS? Big difference between the two. Also, the 9500M G seems to be somewhat faster than the 9400M G, but not by too much. Just a clockspeed difference.

The 9400M G and 9500M G both have 16 SPs. The 9500 GS has 32 SPs, and clockspeeds in between the 9400 and 9500M G. here are more detailed specs for all three: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9500M-GS.8167.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9500M-G.9451.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9400M-G.11949.0.html

Sorry I wound up making it a bit more confusing... >.<
 
Also, I chose those particular processors because they have 6mb of cache as opposed to 3mb. I plan o multitasking and playing some video games, is that extra cache going to make a noticeable difference?
 
I would say to hit up the sny website and look at their 16.4 inch laptops. My sister bought a laptop with a 2.4 ghz c2d, 16.4 inch screen, 320 gb hdd 7200 rpm of course, 4 gb ddr2 and I think the new nvidia vid card wiht a 3 year warranty for less than a thousand dollars.
 
Vaio SR has a HD4570 as an option, Asus N81Vp a HD4650, N80VN a 9650M GT and MSI GX400 a 9600M GT ... plenty of options with good 3D chips at less than that 1500$ for the XPS (only the Vaio is 13.3", the rest 14").
 
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I definitely want/need a 13.3" for travel. I don't like the idea of not having dedicated pg up and down keys but I suppose I will hook it up to a regular mouse and keyboard.

I ended up pricing the Sony to $1499 with the T9600 processor and it would cost $1499, do you think it is worth the extra $300 for the extra 3mb's of cache and .8Ghz of speed? How does this and the Dell compare?
 
Personally I'd settle for the P8700.

The SR is significantly lighter. The SR has a 16:10 screen (also LED lit) instead of 16:9 (whether that is an advantage or disadvantage is up to you). The SR has the better video chip (slightly faster, but more importantly twice the dedicated memory). The SR has an acceleration sensor to shutdown the HD. Other than that there isn't much feature wise between them ... I don't see any reviews of the most recent SRs but here is an older one :

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/sony-vaio-sr-series.aspx?page=3

(Of course the conclusions about speed are pretty much entirely irrelevant.)
 
Priced with the T8700 the Vaio is over $100 less, not bad. Does the wattage difference between the processors affect heat and battery life? I may spend the extra $50 and get the T8800 which is still 25 watts but 133Mhz faster.

Do you think, on a day to day basis I would notice not having the extra 3mb of cache? I use ACT!, Outlook, Word, Excel, and Chrome at the same time while working.
 
I.S.T. said:
9500M G or 9500 GS? Big difference between the two. Also, the 9500M G seems to be somewhat faster than the 9400M G, but not by too much. Just a clockspeed difference.

The 9400M G and 9500M G both have 16 SPs. The 9500 GS has 32 SPs, and clockspeeds in between the 9400 and 9500M G. here are more detailed specs for all three: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9500M-GS.8167.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9500M-G.9451.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9400M-G.11949.0.html

Sorry I wound up making it a bit more confusing... >.<
Click to expand...
I have a Studio XPS 1340 with the 9500G. It's not a single card - it's a hybrid-SLI solution.

I have no idea why Nvidia called this a "9500G". It comes with a 9400M IGP, and a discrete 256MB 9200GS. When running in power saving mode, Hybrid-SLI is turned off and it runs on the IGP (which is still pretty decent by itself). When in performance mode, the discrete 9200GS turns on and works in SLI with the IGP.

As far as performance goes, Hybrid-SLI can increase performance significantly, but is subject to all the usual problems with SLI (scalability, driver support, micro-stuttering if that really exists). Here are some benchmarks I compiled.

But even then, the 9500M Hybrid-SLI solution can't touch a more modern discrete graphics solution. I'd estimate that the AMD Mobility Radeon 4670 (which is available in the SXPS 16) is about twice as fast as the 9500M.
 
No.....
the cpu is about 2.5% faster clock speed wise, lets be generous and say the extra cache doubles performance
overclock your current pc by 5% you wont even notice a difference then ask yourself if its worth $300


ps:
what are you going to be running on it
 
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