M1210 bios lists video as Quardo NVS 120M as 64mb? - Page 5

I went with CNET, because usually they know what they are talking about. But them I read a little bit more when configuring my M1210. I'm not really upset or pissed off. But I can see how it would touch others the wrong way.

I can't believe this thread is still going. It's even more difficult to believe that people are still defending Dell's description of the "256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 with TurboCache" graphics card. As far as I know, the term "TurboCache" is a trademark of Nvidia and isn't a term of art in the industry. It's as descriptive as the trademark "GeForce." A typical buyer should be able to take a product description at face value. When the graphics card is described as 256 MB, IMHO a typical buyer would expect that it's all dedicated memory. As Syn points out, even CNET made that assumption.

For the record, I'm not attributing any particular motives to Dell. I don't believe that Dell is intentionally misrepresenting the specs on this computer. But I can say with certainty that I was confused by the description of the graphics card until I read this thread.

This is bad. I threw Vista on the m1210 and the 64mb is what prevents the 3D desktop. I found out the hard way I guess.

What do you mean it prevents it Zion? I would think the Dedicated 64mb would be better then the intergrated video for Vista. Are you saying you can't run it at all? Maybe its a drivers issue that will be fixed when Vista officially releases + 6 months. (always wait because its always crap in the beginning til they iron out the bugs)

Again, I say punch Turbocache into Google, and if nVidia's official document on the technology isn't the first result, I'll gnaw on my own sweaty socks for an hour. Typing 10 characters into Google isn't that much effort. Also, when you selected the amount of RAM it does say that the RAM is shared. At least it did when I bought my D820 back in April.

You wouldn't buy a house without doing some research. You wouldn't buy a Refridgerator, Television set, or automobile without researching. Why is a computer any different?

I think your missing the point Mr. Evil. One you shouldn't have to google anything. And two..many have no idea TurboCache is a phrase they need to look up. Its like saying toss Geforce into Google to see what it means..

I installed Vista and thought the 64MB video ram was not enough for aero glass. Turned out that I just need to enable aero in the appearance menu.

But it did take some research and trial-error to get the Go 7400 working with Vista. I ended up using a modified 7400 driver made for the Sony SZ, now it correctly reads Geforce G0 7400 instead of Quadro 120M.

There are still many kinks that MicroShaft needs to work out before the relaese of Vista, like the driver issue for the Go 7400. The M1210 will be able to run Vista with all the bells and whistles.

why would you want to run vista beta 2 right now anyway... it supposedly eats up batteries like candy

If you're into computers enough that your going to shell out for an XPS, i'd expect that you're more up to date on the technology. Obviously the problem is some people don't know what TurboCache means. When most dedicated computer users run into a word or phrase or description they dont recognize, they look it up. I dont think its at all unfair for Dell to expect that people who are buying higher end computer know a little more about what there doing.

Apparently not even some Dell employees adhere to your high research standards, Brad. Do you think they should know what the term TurboCache means? I was at a Dell kiosk on Saturday to see the M1210 when I overheard one of the Dell salespeople tell a prospective customer that one of the options was a 256 MB graphics card. There were no footnotes in that conversation and no mention of "TurboCache." I don't think the employee was trying to mislead the customer. I think he just assumed that when a card is described as a 256 MB card, it has 256 MB on the card.

By the way, I'd never been to a Dell kiosk before. If there's one near you, it gives you a chance to play with the M1210 before buying it. I liked it.

^this is still a 256MB card... just cuz it shares RAM doesn't mean it's not using 256MB of memory for graphics. i think people are making a bigger deal out of this than is necessary. 256MB TurboCache is still way better than a plain old 64MB card. the only difference is that you will be losing some system memory... and if you have at least 1GB of ram, then it's not a huge loss.

More like if you have atleast 2 gigs of memory its not a huge loss..still dedicate memory always beats shared memory...But thats not even the issue..for the 12.1 inch form factor..even 64 dedicated is great...no one is saying its not..We were only discussing how its being presented..

So, in your view, a graphics card that has 10 MB on it and shares 240 MB of system memory is the same as a 250 MB graphics card? There's a big difference between 250 MB of dedicated memory on a graphics card and a shared memory architecture in terms of speed.

From Wikipedia:

Integrated Graphics Solutions

Integrated graphics solutions, or shared graphics solutions are graphics processors that utilize a portion of a computer's system RAM rather than dedicated graphics memory. Such solutions are typically far less expensive to implement in comparison to dedicated graphics solutions, but at a trade-off of being far less capable and are generally considered unfit to play modern games.

Also from Wikipedia:

The disadvantage of this design is lower performance because system RAM usually runs slower than dedicated graphics RAM, and there is more contention as the memory bus has to be shared with the rest of the system. It may also cause performance issues with the rest of the system if it is not designed with the fact that some RAM will be 'taken away' by graphics in mind.

I agree with you that the NVIDIA option for the M1210 is better than "a plain old 64 MB card," but it's not the same as a 256 MB graphics card. Dedicated graphics RAM is much faster. The point of this whole thread is that many people rightly assumed they were getting the latter when they weren't.

^i also totally agree with you. note that i never said 256MB TC was the same as 256MB dedicated. but the fact of the matter is that the card is still a 256MB card so i really don't think dell did anything wrong. they rightly listed it as a turbocache card, and i agree with the earlier comments that if you are going to be upset about not getting 256MB all dedicated, then you should have taken the time to do the research.

just my .02

Cool. Thanks for sharing that!
It's great to know that aero-glass will work with m1210's graphics card.

you cannot hide behind other people's projected assumptions. thats a fallacy, so your logic boils down to nothing concrete. you also cant argue with your own opinion so dont even try..

the average consumer is going to see the XPS logo, be totally excited and not think twice. in fact they might see the dell logo and feel safe and secure with their purchase. the fact of the matter is the average consumer is not going to care to do research simply because spending $1000-$2000, although being a hefty ransom of money, is not as critical as as a car or a house.

so when your average consumer sees these options that have been brought to light in this thread they are not going to care when they see a very enticing upgrade option that is ambiguously phrased.

do not forget that this thread is really about false advertising, not what us a consumers should and should not do.

ceelo, again i say that turbocache says NOTHING about what it means. i asked my boss, who is an IT administrator, what he thought of turbocache. he replied saying fast cache memory, and he thought it was a new processor feature.

"core duo" is a LOT more implied than "turbocache" if you ask me...

ill be the first to say that when i first saw "turbocache" i had no idea what it was, and that was after i bought my M1210. im not sad nor do i feel mislead by dell in the matter but it already shows that there are those in great number that do.