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5150 vs 8600

post #1 of 33
5/4/04 at 3:56am
Thread Starter 
I have a few questions...

I know the + and - of each system what I want to know is which one would you recomend for gaming and mutlimedia functions?

I know the 8600 has a 128 meg video card but the 5150 has the raw power of a P4. I dont know much about the Pentuim M chip but from what i heard its designed for people who need the battery life. I plan on having my laptop plugged into the wall most of the time so that wont be a problem... but i also want to be able to take my pc where ever I go (class, work). and I feel the 9100 is too bulky and big so Im leaning more towards the 5150 but im willing to hear what you guys think.

also do you guys really think that having a hd that is 5400 rpms vs 4200 is really worth the major price increase?

another thing, which system do you think is better the i5150 or the hp 5000z? they are both the same price and have around the same specs...

do you guys also think that those cooling trays are nessary? cause im going to use this laptop as a desktop replacement so its going to be on for a while. I dont know much about cooling trays so I figure I would ask.

Thanks for your help.
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post #2 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:02am
The i8600 is the way to go. It will kick the booty of the i5150 as far as gaming and multimedia, and the P-M has a lot more power than you think, trust me.
The HD speed is very important, and well worth the cash. I know because I went from a 4200rpm to 7200rpm and everything is so much quicker and more responsive. Choose the 60GB 7200rpm in the i8600 (Hitachi 7k60 for reference).
The cooling tray is a great accessory to have, but is not essential on the i8600 because it does not have an overheating problem (unless you overclock the graphics card or something.
stu
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post #3 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:05am
if your gonna have the 5150 i suggest you get a cooling solution because its really gonna get hot in there after several months

i have an i5100 and like its the same as a 5150 except the 5150 has a little advanced features, but ill take the 8600 over it anyday man, trust me.
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post #4 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:14am
Thread Starter 
ok... hmmmz
if i were to buy a 8600 i would have the following specs,

p-m 1.6 ghz, 512 ram, 128 meg vid card, 40 gig hd.... haha thats all i can afford.

vs

5150 with 3.06 phz p4-m, 64 meg vid, 512 ram, 60 gig hd.

which system is honestly better for games like sim city or warcraft 3... and daily internet usage like music, downloads, multitasking
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post #5 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:17am
well i mean to be honest both are good systems for music and internet and games, i mean i pump up partys with my i5100 when hooking it up to a surround sound system but the 51xx design is very cheesy and overheats because they didnt do an "airflow" design heh

yes you can get a 60gb with a 5150 and a 40gb with 8600, but i dont think youll use more than 40 (i never did even though im a power user) but i dont know about u.
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post #6 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:20am
Thread Starter 
yeah i always burn my files onto cds so i rarely go under 20 gigs.... plus I have a 60 gig hd that im going to put in a firewire box and run as a 2nd hd when i get the chance.
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post #7 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:27am
see you got the solution
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post #8 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:56am
if it will sit at your desk most of the time.. 8600 hands down. Get a dothan processor when they come out, and you'll be set. If you're going to upgrade the hdd, go all out and get a 7200. You wont regret it. the difference between a 7200 and a 4200 is like night and day. The difference between a 5400 and a 4200 isn't as large, but slightly noticeable.
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post #9 of 33
5/4/04 at 5:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DELL-Spiike
if it will sit at your desk most of the time.. 8600 hands down. Get a dothan processor when they come out, and you'll be set.
i hear you, but i thought the pentium m's strong point was the battery life and mobility... how can it preform better then a 3 ghz p4? I thought pulged into a wall the p4 will burn a p-m?..

Ill get the faster hd... i just have to wait till dell runs another sale.
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post #10 of 33
5/4/04 at 5:10am
computers are so complicated they give me a headache
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post #11 of 33
5/4/04 at 9:20am
oh my, its been a while and this is still in the air?

i got a 5150 - i love it. it boots in less than 15 seconds.

specs - 1 gig ddr333 - p4m-3.06ghz - 24xcdrw/10xdvd - 60gb 7200 rpm - 15in sxga - 64mb fx 5200 - a quick system, but some games kicks its ass.

I got an 8600 for my buddy with a pm-1700, 512 mb ram, 60 gig hd, dvd writer... it kicks my systems ass pretty much in everything but the startup and processing programs. i like my 5150 for what i bought it for. prices are high right now, but i got my laptop as configured above for 1379, and i got my buddies 8600 as configured above, for under 1600. i wish i would of waited a few more weeks before buying, but i like what i got nevertheless.

8600 hands down over the 5150, but the 9100 is upgradeable last i heard. and then if you have some more money, just get an xps. - - battery time will suffer though! 8600 is still sort of the king of balance for now!

later,

deathinacan
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post #12 of 33
5/4/04 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tyork
i hear you, but i thought the pentium m's strong point was the battery life and mobility... how can it preform better then a 3 ghz p4? I thought pulged into a wall the p4 will burn a p-m?..

Ill get the faster hd... i just have to wait till dell runs another sale.
The strong point is mobility and battery life, my i8600 you see in my sig consistenly gets 4.5 hours battery life, and with simple notes viewing in lectures I have stretched it to an amazing 5.5 hours.

However the P-M's are also more powerful than their clockspeeds suggest, becuase of the shorter pipelines, larger L2 cache, Dedicated Stack Manager, etc. In fact that P-M 1.6GHz that you are thinking of ordering is actually approximately equal to a P4 2.6GHz CPU.... which is plenty of power for the moment. If you upgrade in the future to the 2.0GHz Dothan P-M you will be getting speed that will exceed a P4 3.2GHz!

That i5150 and i8600 you specced out, if compared, will have very similar performance in music/ multimedia (the i8600 widescreen is supurb for DVD's), downloads and multitasking (with the i5150 perhaps pulling a little ahead with multitasking). But as far as games go the i8600 would blow the i5150 to hell and back, without even working up a sweat.

Go the i8600, you will not regret it.

stu
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post #13 of 33
5/4/04 at 9:39am
ditto ditto. i agree 100 percent.
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post #14 of 33
5/4/04 at 10:21am
2 of my friends have 8600's, one with a 128mb 9600 the other with a GF4 Go card, and they both have issues when playing Rainbow 6 3: Raven Shield. The game 'lags' in a way, but the frame rate doesn't get choppy, but all of the animations slow down to about 1/4 speed for afew seconds, then speed up again, over and over and over. It's very odd. I ordered a 9100 to see if its an issue with the Pentium M or not, it should be here anyday.
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post #15 of 33
5/4/04 at 10:30am
Raven Shield has issues period. Its not to do with the P-M.
stu
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post #16 of 33
5/4/04 at 11:03am
I thought so initially too, but it plays fine on our Athlon XP and P4 desktop systems. Possibly just crappy coding (or likely should I say). We'll find out as soon as my 9100 arrives...its been shipped already so it should be any day.
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post #17 of 33
5/4/04 at 2:49pm
Thread Starter 
yeah you guys have convinced me to get a 8600. Did they fix the supposed keyboard problem? I heard that the 8600 has several design flaws and doesnt feel solid.

But I also heard the 5150 runs really hot and since its going to be a desktop replacement its going to be on for a while.
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post #18 of 33
5/4/04 at 4:59pm
Exactly as sakor had said above, the 2.0 dothan will be very comparable/superior to the 3.2 ghz p4 in performance. This is why, everyone is hyped up about the dothan processor, and why the options stack towards the 8600.
8600 will have
1. better battery
2. widescreen (for games and multimedia)
3. less heat
4. greater mobility, btw I carry mine everyday to class and around campus.
5. Equivalent speeds to a 3.2 with less heat than a p-4m can provide with the upcomming processor that you can swap in.
6. You can do my mods

consensus 8600 >> 5150

For those "flaws" read my modding thread which is stickied to the general forum. I have fixed all those flaws to make the 8600 a perfect notebook.
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post #19 of 33
5/4/04 at 5:11pm
What is the cooling tray you are talking about in the second paragraph inspiron 8600
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post #20 of 33
5/4/04 at 10:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chad7699
What is the cooling tray you are talking about in the second paragraph inspiron 8600
He is just meaning a cooling pad/ tray generically I believe, such as this one for example.
stu
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