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Split Decision: Help me decide TONIGHT please <3

post #1 of 4
7/17/10 at 11:08pm
Thread Starter 
The members of this board were friendly enough to educate me (a laptop layman) on notebooks, and helped me make a decision. I have to buy a laptop this week before I move away to my university.

If you havent read my other thread, entitled "Notebook Gurus, you are my LAST hope", you should know before you help me decide that my computer must do 2 things:
1) Play Starcraft 2 smoothly at Medium or High settings.
2) Play DVD's and allow me to do my schoolwork (no photo editing)

I have gotten it down to two possible choices. I request your input, please. Someone told me to avoid HP's...are they really that bad? It seems to me this first pick is the better buy, but what the hell do I know.

HP
$899
17.3" display
core i5-450m processor
6GB ram
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 Graphics
500G hard drive 7200 RPM
windows 7
office starter

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...S&Sp=C&topnav=


OR


Dell Inspiron 501R
$799
15.6" display
Phenom II quad core processor
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 graphics with 1024MB memory
4GB ram
500GB hd 5400 RPM
No office
Windows 7

http://www.frys.com/product/6272980?...age%20Pod:Pod2

thanks so much to everyone here who has put up with me this week.
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post #2 of 4
7/18/10 at 2:19am
Hmmm...

Either one will do the job just fine. The processors are pretty comparable. Tom's Hardware did an article saying there's no noticable difference between 4gb and anything higher, so I wouldn't care at all about the extra RAM. The main differences are the screen, graphics card, and hdd speed.

A 7200 RPM HDD is definitely faster than a 5400, and it will make a bit of a noticeable difference. Of course it will probably drain more battery, and could cause more heat.

The nicer graphics card shouldn't make much of a difference for SC2, but down the road the nicer card will come in handy (likely for Diablo III).

The bigger screen would be the most decisive factor for me. I carry around my laptop alot and hence I like 12-14" screens. 17.3" is massive. If you are gonna keep the thing mostly docked at your desk, then I would go for the HP. It's just a much nicer package and is only an extra hundred bucks. On the other hand, if you're gonna take the laptop around with you alot, I would go for the more compact package. It will be lighter, will likely get better battery life, will be cheaper, and will be perfectly adequate for your application.

Ultimately you have to make the final decision but hopefully now it will be a bit easier.
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post #3 of 4
7/18/10 at 3:13am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by epb613 View Post
Hmmm...

Either one will do the job just fine. The processors are pretty comparable. Tom's Hardware did an article saying there's no noticable difference between 4gb and anything higher, so I wouldn't care at all about the extra RAM. The main differences are the screen, graphics card, and hdd speed.

A 7200 RPM HDD is definitely faster than a 5400, and it will make a bit of a noticeable difference. Of course it will probably drain more battery, and could cause more heat.

The nicer graphics card shouldn't make much of a difference for SC2, but down the road the nicer card will come in handy (likely for Diablo III).

The bigger screen would be the most decisive factor for me. I carry around my laptop alot and hence I like 12-14" screens. 17.3" is massive. If you are gonna keep the thing mostly docked at your desk, then I would go for the HP. It's just a much nicer package and is only an extra hundred bucks. On the other hand, if you're gonna take the laptop around with you alot, I would go for the more compact package. It will be lighter, will likely get better battery life, will be cheaper, and will be perfectly adequate for your application.

Ultimately you have to make the final decision but hopefully now it will be a bit easier.

thanks very much for the advice. you brought up things i hadnt yet considered. since i've never had a laptop before, i cant say exactly what i'll do with it, but i suspect it will be in my dorm mostly since I live on campus. I also suspect I will take notes by hand in class because I'd rather not stare at a computer screen 8 hours a day + in my leisure time.
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post #4 of 4
7/18/10 at 4:13am
I see more HP's in for repairs than any DELL's, however if a DELL charger goes, you need another DELL charger, HP you can get by with generic or multi chargers... But if it is sat on desk, no need to worry about that... Both would suit your needs, but you get a whole lot more for an extra hundred bucks with the HP than the DELL... From experience though, expensive laptops and university here in the UK is not a good idea as burglars tend to target student accommodation for these items, so get it locked down with a password on the BIOS and on the OS, get a disk or pendrive and back your stuff up to that ( you should do that anyway) and when it is not in use, lock it away - out of sight , out of mind....
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