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laptop decsion need help !!!

post #1 of 6
12/18/04 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 
Hi All,
After months and months of research (6 months to be exact)

So here it goes:

I need some in choosing a Laptop for my Digital Photography business,And I was wondering if you could please help me ????
I basically have my choices down to (2) machines and here they are with their configurations:

HP ZD8000:

Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional

Intel(R) Pentium(R)4 processor 540 w/HT Technology (3.2 GHZ)

17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Wide Viewing (1680x1050)

1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM, 400MHz (2x512MB)

60 GB 72000 RPM Hard Drive


8X DVD +/- RW/R & CD-RW Combo Drive

256MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) X600 (PCI EXPRESS)

54g(TM) Integ. Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth

DELL INSPIRON 9200:

Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional

Intel® Pentium® M 755 Processor (2GHz/400MHz FSB)

17" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen XGA+ Display

128MB ATI's™ Mobility Radeon™ 9700

1GB DDR SDRAM at 333MHz 2 Dimm

8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability

80GB Hard Drive

Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g,

Dell™ TrueMobile™ 300 Bluetooth Internal Card

Which machine is going to gives me better performance when working in Photoshop converting my RAW files to TIFFS & JPEGS and then doing image correction and manipulation ???

I do not play games at all

Both machines cost within $200 of one another

The machine is generally never unplugged from the A/C

MAIN USE: Alot of digital photography,basic office apps,burning CD's/DVD's and the web

Performance is the most important factor That's what I am looking for because I am upgrading from another laptop

It is a Dell Inspiron 8200
P4-M 1.8 with 768 megs of ram PC2100
64 meg ATI Raedon 9000
60 gig 7200 Hitachi drive (main drive-O/S)
60 gig 5400 rpm ibm (modular bay-DATA STORAGE)
orinoco gold b/g client card
15" uxga screen (1600x1200 resolution)
24x CDRW/DVD combo drive
on board Firewire
PCMCIA USB 2.0 card
I just have to be sure it will be a noticeable difference ????

Any Suggestions would be greatly appreciated..........Thanks in advance.........Shkj
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post #2 of 6
12/18/04 at 6:53pm
I think you would be happy with either one, but I would get the 7200 rpm drive on the Dell if you get it for that work. I am thinking the P4 is the better photoshop cpu, but that's not an app I use much so I could be mixing things up.
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post #3 of 6
12/18/04 at 7:00pm
if i were you, after waiting so long anyway i would just wait another month becuase on jan. 17 many many new laptops are supposed to debut with the new intel centrino tech. i personally think these will be a big (~15%) performance increase over the current generation and shouldn't cost too much more either.
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post #4 of 6
12/19/04 at 7:57am
I don't think you'll notice much of an improvement over your current computer if you upgrade and always leave it plugged in.

The centrino will offer better performance on the go. HP has better build and service. Dell probably has better value if you look for deals. Personally, if the price and specs are that close (Barring you don't care at all about performance away from a plug or the extra weight of the HP), go with the HP. Its a better brand.
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post #5 of 6
12/19/04 at 2:33pm
I would think the HP would offer slightly better performance but at the heat and weight cost. But a big difference? Hardly. And if you're doing Photoshop work, no gaming, there's no reason you need an X600 in that notebook...
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post #6 of 6
12/19/04 at 10:21pm
I don't believe the 9200 build quality is below HP's, it's a definate step up from the typcial Inspiron in that respect.
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