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XPS vs 8790... it begins - Page 3

post #41 of 57
2/14/04 at 9:54pm
I totally agree with you Tombo, the desktop chip in a laptop was/is a stopgap until they come up with a mobile chip that can match the desktop's performance (Could be the Dothan). A year or two and I think the gap will be very close IMHO.

Still some people will want the fastest regardless of battery life and right now that is the P4/Athlon.
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post #42 of 57
2/14/04 at 11:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DELL-Machina
I think the Sager 8790 AND the XPS are hideous monsters. Regarding upgrades for gamers the single most important option is the videocard its how my Inspiron 8100 last so long jumping from geforce2 32mb to geforce4 440 to radeon 9000 to quadro 700 it was fun tormenting my friend who bought a new laptop every 6-7 months. The M12 at most will cost 300 dollars at MOST could be 250 or 230 who knows but unless 700 isnt worth it for a new motherboard. What i do like is the cpu and ram trade in with the motherboard it makes sager unique if you already own a sager you cant argue the deal they offer but if your looking for something to chew on get the XPS despite its hideous new look.
Say, D-M...do you think there's a decent chance that we can self-upgrade our 8600 to the M12?
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post #43 of 57
2/15/04 at 1:34am
Thread Starter 
Since the XPS is a new form factor (and one it will share with the 9XXX line), it's a good bet that we'll see a couple video card generations that will fit.

Am I sure? Of course not.

Based on past experience, I'd expect one more generation (M12), and a couple sub-gens with differing memory options (128, 256, 512, 1024???).

JS,

If they ever offer the M12 for the I8600, you'll be able to install it, as long as you're not all thumbs. As to whether they ever will... let's first see if they offer it with the M11.

For my I8200, they came thisclose to releasing an ATI 9600 for it (after the 8200 line was discontinued). I actually SAW one, but it never made it to market.

Imagine going from a P4 1.6GHZ, 128MB RAM, ATI 7500 32MB, to a P4 2.6GHz, 2GB RAM, ATI9600 128MB, in the same notebook.
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post #44 of 57
2/15/04 at 1:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by IntgrSpin
JS,

If they ever offer the M12 for the I8600, you'll be able to install it, as long as you're not all thumbs. As to whether they ever will... let's first see if they offer it with the M11.

For my I8200, they came thisclose to releasing an ATI 9600 for it (after the 8200 line was discontinued). I actually SAW one, but it never made it to market.

Imagine going from a P4 1.6GHZ, 128MB RAM, ATI 7500 32MB, to a P4 2.6GHz, 2GB RAM, ATI9600 128MB, in the same notebook.
Now, THAT would've been one bad-mamma-jammin' 8200!! Thanks for the insight on a possible M12 for the 8600!
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post #45 of 57
2/15/04 at 2:10am
looks unlikely for us 8600 owners our next chance is the 9100 which hopefully uses the 8500's formfactor otherwise the last chance is a refresh on the D800 and the refresh card for the M60
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post #46 of 57
2/15/04 at 2:27am
Thread Starter 
9100 uses the 8500's form factor? I thought it was going to be the 'budget' version of the XPS???
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post #47 of 57
2/15/04 at 2:52am
According to some reliable sources at the Dell forums it will have the same form as the XPS ..

Also I have the XPS on order. Some of the parts on the order form actually say "for Inspiron 9100" at the end so that leads me to believe parts are interchangable so it must be the same form factor.


But only time will tell.
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post #48 of 57
2/15/04 at 3:13am
well so much for that hope the 9100 sounds more like our kind of rawdeal I guess the D800 Redux or the M60 replacement parts will be th e8600's last lines
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post #49 of 57
2/15/04 at 3:20am
I agree but for some reason I won't be holding my breath .. The M60 and D800 are more business machines so I can't see them pushing the next generation video card as most businesses wouldn't care to spend the extra money for it.
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post #50 of 57
2/15/04 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
I can't see them dropping the I8600 line. It's too popular. Not everyone wants the XPS behemoth.

IMO, the 8600 fills an important niche (between the 600m and the XPS/9100) . I think it's the 5XXX that will go.
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post #51 of 57
2/21/04 at 1:40am
I've been reading these threads with a great deal of interest. My new Sager 5680 arrived yesterday and will probably be returned. I cannot live with the ridiculously narrow viewing angle on the 1400x1050 screen - it makes the computer unusable.

My dilemna is this - I need massive processing power for the development work that I do. A Pentium-M just won't cut the mustard. I also like lots of vertical real-estate on my screen - WXGA with only 900 pixels is insufficient.

It seems that I have only two options - get the Sager with the 1600x1200 screen or the Dimension XPS. Anyone care to offer an opion or other suggestion?
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post #52 of 57
2/21/04 at 1:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by groston
I've been reading these threads with a great deal of interest. My new Sager 5680 arrived yesterday and will probably be returned. I cannot live with the ridiculously narrow viewing angle on the 1400x1050 screen - it makes the computer unusable.

My dilemna is this - I need massive processing power for the development work that I do. A Pentium-M just won't cut the mustard. I also like lots of vertical real-estate on my screen - WXGA with only 900 pixels is insufficient.

It seems that I have only two options - get the Sager with the 1600x1200 screen or the Dimension XPS. Anyone care to offer an opion or other suggestion?
I assume you meant the Inspiron XPS, The Dimension is the Destop.

Alienware makes a good one as well, you can try alienware notebooks forum or their website to get more information. The links are below. I looked at alienwares and was pretty heartset on them for the last month, but when the Dell came out with the XPS with the ATI 9700 Graphics Card, I decided to order it instead. Good luck, the information the forums here is great. You will probably hear a great deal about the 8600 here, the screen is the same. The graphics cards on the XPS and the Alienware are upgradable, Alienware being modular user upgradable, and the XPS needs to be sent in. But the Dell already has the 9700 where as AW does not.

http://notebookforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=54
http://www.alienware.com/system_pages/area-51m.aspx
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post #53 of 57
2/21/04 at 4:08pm
Thread Starter 
The XPS does not need to be sent in. You can buy the kit from Dell and do it yourself.

It's not as trivial an upgrade as in the AW, but if it's anything like the graphics upgrade in the Insp 8200 (and it looks to be), it's still pretty simple.

Also to note, the Insp 8600 also has an upgradable video card. We just don't know if there will be anything to upgrade it TO. If I had to bet, I'd bet that the 8600 will support the M12.

If screen real-estate is what you are after, you cannot beat either the Sager 4780 or the Sager 8790. I have a 4780, and the 17" screen is BE-utiful, except for playing fps games, where there is *some* ghosting.
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post #54 of 57
2/21/04 at 4:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by IntgrSpin
The XPS does not need to be sent in. You can buy the kit from Dell and do it yourself.

It's not as trivial an upgrade as in the AW, but if it's anything like the graphics upgrade in the Insp 8200 (and it looks to be), it's still pretty simple.

Also to note, the Insp 8600 also has an upgradable video card. We just don't know if there will be anything to upgrade it TO. If I had to bet, I'd bet that the 8600 will support the M12.

If screen real-estate is what you are after, you cannot beat either the Sager 4780 or the Sager 8790. I have a 4780, and the 17" screen is BE-utiful, except for playing fps games, where there is *some* ghosting.
That' great too hear! Do you know if the warranty will stay in tact if you do it yourself?
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post #55 of 57
2/21/04 at 8:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by IntgrSpin
Also to note, the Insp 8600 also has an upgradable video card. We just don't know if there will be anything to upgrade it TO. If I had to bet, I'd bet that the 8600 will support the M12.
I REALLY hope you're right on with this bet!!!
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post #56 of 57
2/21/04 at 9:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
That' great too hear! Do you know if the warranty will stay in tact if you do it yourself?
I really don't know. Self-done video upgrades on the Insp8200 and Insp8600 do void the warranty. If I had to guess, I'd guess that it would. I could certainly be wrong.

Quote:
I REALLY hope you're right on with this bet!!!
Me too. If I knew that the 8600 line would last until the M12's were out, I'd prefer one over the XPS (I have one with the 32MB NVIDIA card).

Dell is kind of unpredictable. I would have also guessed that the M10 would have been available in the 5150. To my knowledge, it never was... and I cannot figure out why.
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post #57 of 57
2/22/04 at 4:00am
Hopefully the upgradable graphics card on the XPS will take away business from Sager, forcing them to adopt an upgradable graphics card solution as well. I woud go with the XPS over the 8790 asuming the price on it isn't too much more, though how much value does a uxga screen add? The upgradable graphics card is extremely important, even if its only a one time upgrade to the next ATI card, though I would guess there will be more. No question Sager is the better company, and PCTORQUE rocks, but Dell may have a winner with this one.
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