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Not a Dell fan...so convince me (M90, 17" in general)

post #1 of 13
7/6/06 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
The tower in my sig is too large for college...so I'm looking at selling it off and getting a laptop.

My T43 will take care of the schoolwork, email, browsing, and general non-multimedia stuff.

I've not been all that impressed by Dells in the past, and feel that IBM puts out a superior mobile system. However...while the most important needs are taken care of by my T43...IBM has shit for multimedia. I want to balance off the rest, and the simple truth of the matter is that there really isn't much out there better than Dell's offerings for multimedia systems. Sure, I could get an SLI with an underporforming Turion...but...oh well.

So, I'm looking at an XPS, or M90. The E1705/9400 would be workable...but I hate the white trim of my brother's 700m...so I highly doubt I'd like it in a 17" format.

I'm not all that impressed by the lights and general flashiness of the XPS. Hell, I think the flat black of the T43 is about as sexy as laptops get. I prefer the M90's more understated looks. Prices are, more or less, the same if I get them from Tech in the FS/FT.

But, there are a few questions I have.
1. Where do you get mobility drivers for nVidia products? I've been ATI only in notebooks ever since my Toshiba Satellite 3000-S353 with a lowly GF2 Go died.

2. Are there any issues with Quadro in games like there were with FireGL? I couldn't play OpenGL based games with my FireGL T2...it simply would error out when opening them.

3. Speakers on the M90. I read that they're as good as the 1710...but I don't know anyone that has had one. Since this will be a multimedia system...they have to be good.

4. Is there a modular bay available for the 17" laptops? I never use my DVDRW in my T43, and have a 2nd 80gb 7200rpm drive in its place.

5. Are the hinges stiff, or are they still as shitty as what is on the 600m and 5100 that my Dad has?

6. How hot do they normally get? (i.e. am I going to need a cooling pad? I'd prefer a docking station so I can plug in my Logitech G15 and G5, as well as external hdds) While I run my T43 at its slowest speed for best battery life (and just because I don't need more than 800mhz for what I do with this system), This laptop will likely be running on high rather often.

7. A two parter. a, I'm likely to wait until Merom comes out, if I can, so I have some time to find something better. b. Bias aside, if you were to buy something other than the Dell 17" laptops...FOR MULTIMEDIA PURPOSES...what would you get?
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post #2 of 13
7/6/06 at 11:19am
1) tweaksrus, and laptop to video. or u can use the stock dell ones with coolbits.
2) u softmod the quadro to the geforce go 7900gtx using nibitor because they are the same card just a different bios.
3) they are the same speakers
4) no modular bay but some people have found some wacky thing that is a hd caddy that can fit in the optical space. so u can get raid.
5) stiff
6) umm these bad boys have 6 usb ports so docking station would just be a huge waste of money. u are never going to need to worry about feeling your cpu. the gpu can get a little toasty but dells have a pretty darn good cooling system set up so i wouldn't worry about heat. don't even bother with a cooling pad just get i9kfangui to control your fans so u can max them out when u play.
7) a) you can wait till merom comes out but it is just a drop in so i anticipate dell is gonna make u pay far out the ass to upgrade to merom so i say buy yonah right now. sell it off to some looser a couple days before merom comes out while u can still get good money for it. then buy a merom cpu from newegg for cheap. u won't have a laptop for a week but u will have it 2 months earlier
7) b) sager. i just configured a system identical to a M1710 and it was 300 bucks cheaper. granted dell warrenties pwn everything and once u grab a dell coupon dell instantly becomes much cheaper. just get a dell.
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post #3 of 13
7/6/06 at 12:08pm
1. Laptopvideo2go.com (I think that's what silicon??? meant)

2. People run Quadro as-is without issues. No need to softmod. Actually, I'm *not* sure the difference is only in the BIOS. But in any case, the cards are very similar, and the quadro gets about the same scores as the Go7900GTX.

3. Don't know about the M90 speakers.

4. No modular bay, and I for one would not want to make my own... You can plug in an external one, of course.

5. Much better hinges than my old Inspiron 8200, in any case.

6. I've had *no* issue with heat, and I don't use a cooler. The CPU and GPU are on opposite sides with separare fans. Note that this laptop is compatible with Dells D-series docking solutions, including the one where you can plug in a half-length PCI card, etc. So you have a lot of options.

7. Do wait for merom. I'm going to upgrade anyway... As for other laptops, I've looked at the Toshiba Qosmio series (the new HDDVD w/ Dolby Digital Live attracts me) and the very nice Sony Vaio laptops (which have very nice screens). Those are still not too heavy - I don't want a > 5 kg (10 pound) laptop.
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post #4 of 13
7/6/06 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 
While 6 USB ports is nice...it's much nicer to plug/unplug 1 thing in than 5 seperate things in every time I take my notebook somewhere.

Anyone know if there's a D-dock that has a PCI slot available? I know IBM has one, but I already have a docking station for it...
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post #5 of 13
7/6/06 at 12:42pm
I did answer that question, but see this one:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=310-8112

(Edit: wrong part)
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post #6 of 13
7/6/06 at 12:57pm
Read my review on my website, I really hope you buy an E1705, great stuff... I'd get the E1705 over the XPS stuff, save a whole LOT of cash and get very close performance. I've got the 7900 GS hack guide and files all on there too so you can see. NOTE: the 3DMark I got, without aggressive overclocking was 8100'ish, so... pretty awesome!
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post #7 of 13
7/6/06 at 10:37pm
Thread Starter 
Hmmm....the one I looked at didn't have a PCI slot.

Anyway...I'm looking at an E1705 for cheap...and keeping the tower and T43.
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post #8 of 13
7/7/06 at 1:13am
For docking stations there's the DPort and DDock. The DDock has a PCI expansion slot in it (I'm sitting right in front of it as I type this) I like it and it works great....HOWEVER I'd advise against paying Dell's price for one. You can find plenty of DDock's on eBay that have probably never been used for a pittance compared to what Dell wants (I paid $75 shipped for mine, was new in box too). Only reason you see so many cheapies on eBay is because corporate buyers pay for them, their users don't use them, and they're tired of taking up storage space.
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post #9 of 13
7/7/06 at 6:00am
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post #10 of 13
7/7/06 at 3:57pm
evil, I would wait just a bit if you can. Conroe DTR's will be out very soon. Much better chip than Core Duo. But if you have to buy right now, the M90 is a great machine. I like it as it has the old XPS 2 style without the lights, Dual Core power and can take memron chips, 7900GTX Core, decent battery life, nice screens, and fairly cheap. My advice if you can wait, if not M90 is a beast of a machine.
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post #11 of 13
7/7/06 at 4:16pm
By the way, one major difference between the E1705 and the M90/M1710 is that the E1705 lacks a docking port on the bottom. For most people this isn't a problem, but since you are obviously interested in actually using a docking station, it is something you should consider. To address some of your questions:

3) The speakers on the M1710 (and I assume the M90 as well if they're the same) are very good for a notebook; however, the bar is set pretty low for notebook speakers in the first place. They're definitely passable for multimedia use; however, if you're serious about your gaming (and movies, etc.) I would recommend investing in some external spealers for when you have it docked.

4) An second hard drive can be rigged in to the in to the optical drive slot; however, it is not designed for that. By the way, the D/Dock has a modular bay that can be utilized as well (though, if you're going to be docked, you might as well use a USB drive).

5) The hinges on mine are very well-built ... overall, I'm pretty impressed with the build quality of the system.

6) You'll have no problems using the system docked. The cooling system performs extremely well (which has led to many successful overclocks). I wouldn't want to use the system in my lap, but that's pretty standard on the larger, high-performance notebooks anyway.

7) Unless Dell comes out with another spectacular deal before Merom is released (like the 30% EPP deal that just ended), I would definitely wait for Merom. Personally, if I had to choose a different system, it would probably be a Alienware m9700. That said, I've been unimpressed with what I've been reading about Alienware tech support, as well as some of the build quality issues with the Clevo notebooks.
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post #12 of 13
7/7/06 at 5:44pm
what Sykes just said...
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post #13 of 13
7/7/06 at 7:10pm
Thread Starter 
Looks like I might be going for a cheaper e1705 or 9300 instead...if this were to be my primary system, I'd keep looking into the Merom and high end stuff....but now it looks like I might be holding onto the tower a bit longer....in which case, a $1000-$1100-ish light gamer would be nice.
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