I'm in the market for a powerful-yet-reasonable-costing laptop, and Dell's XPS M1530 caught my eye. It's currently discounted $600 off the sticker price, but only until the 31st, when I assume the line will be discontinued.
So I was just about to pull the trigger and order the 1530, but I decided to do a check at competitor's offerings. Now I'm stuck; I found a Sony (the VGN-FZ4000) which is pretty much comparably equipped and priced, yet features the newer Penryn chips. I realize the reason the XPS is so deeply discounted is to sell off the old Merom processors, but the price point made the XPS much more acceptable.
The XPS:
The Sony:
I'll be using this mostly for audio and video editing, and as a notebook for school. I'm not a huge gamer, but I'd like to be able to play Half-Life 2 et al, and perhaps a few of the upcoming games. Do I go with the better graphics card or the better processor?
TIA
So I was just about to pull the trigger and order the 1530, but I decided to do a check at competitor's offerings. Now I'm stuck; I found a Sony (the VGN-FZ4000) which is pretty much comparably equipped and priced, yet features the newer Penryn chips. I realize the reason the XPS is so deeply discounted is to sell off the old Merom processors, but the price point made the XPS much more acceptable.
The XPS:
- 14.1 x 10.3 x 1.2 inches, 5.9 lbs (w/ 6-cell battery) - 6.29 lbs (w/ 9-cell)
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache) [65nm Merom]
- Glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LCD (1440x900)
- 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
- ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi® Xtreme Audio Sound Card
- 3-Year Warranty, lots of software included, but most I already have, don't need, or can get elsewhere
The Sony:
- 14 x 10.02 x 0.98-1.4 inches (6 cell/9 cell)
- 6 Cell: 1.5 - 4.5 hours; 6.1 lbs
- 9 Cell: 2.0 - 7.0 hours; 6.6 lbs
- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz/800 Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache) [45nm Penryn]
- Non-glossy 15.4" WXGA LCD (XBRITE-ECO™) (1280x800)
- 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
- Integrated sound
- No included warranty (but I can get one for cheap from Squaretrade, e.g.)
- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
- 3 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR-667, 2GBx1 + 1GBx1)
- 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Bluetooth
- DVD±R/RW (The Sony can read DVD-RAM and write Dual-Layer to DVD±R, but this isn't really important)
- 200 GB, 7200 RPM SATA HDD (wow, a lot of acronyms...)
- Integrated camera (2MP on the XPS, 1.3 on the Vaio)
I'll be using this mostly for audio and video editing, and as a notebook for school. I'm not a huge gamer, but I'd like to be able to play Half-Life 2 et al, and perhaps a few of the upcoming games. Do I go with the better graphics card or the better processor?
TIA
