Need a notebook for multimedia creation....help plz! - Page 2

Dawn,

I took delivery on my 9300 yesterday and so far, it looks like a winner for video work. I worked with it in the field all day today running a program called DV-RACK that functions as a field monitor, waveform monitor, vectorscope, audio analyzer and hardisk recorder and everything went well. It is a must have for EFP.

My system has less processor power than yours, too. I have a 1.6, 512meg ram, 60gig hd, go6800 card, wxga, 9cell + 6cell battery, 2 powersupplies.

I captured video to a dinky 2.5inch external usb2 drive that was powered from the usb port and it captured/played back flawlessly, which was my biggest concern. I can then just take the dinky drive to an editing suite and have the files ready to edit! I haven't had time to install an editor yet, but I'm sure Sony Vegas will work without a hitch. I've used it on a PIII in a pinch! And Anandtech puts the M1.6 roughly equal to a P4 2.4.

I'll upgrade the processor and ram as the prices fall, they should drop significantly in July.

You'll love your system. The screen is big, bright, easy to read, nonreflective and no flex! In fact, I was suprised by the general high quality of the build.

I've built many systems over the years and while I haven't seen the m socket, I'm sure it isn't soldered (even if it was, I've undone/done many). Even if I couldn't swap out the processor, I'm happy with the performance. I need it to do specific tasks and the 1.6 is more than up to the job. I'm not a gamer.

Also, with any piece of electronics if it works for the first 20 days, it will probably work forever... in computer terms a lifetime is about three year, no?

The fans in mine are always on, but it is not an issue for me, they are barely audible when working the keyboard.. I mean just barely audible and I'm kind of an audiophile... My home theater system (audio only) cost $6500 at extream discount. The speakers in the 9300 are pretty good (for a laptop). The first thing I did with it was put on disk 3 of the Beatle anthology because I haven't seen the damm thing... it looked goood sounded gooood, too. I'm happy, especially for the price. My system came in at only $1310 and it does everything I need and can be easily upgraded to keep it running for another 2-3 years, although be aware big changes are coming with multi processor cores.

Best,

John Hartney
werks.tv
Elgin, Illinois - Chicago area
847.608.1357

9300 vs XPS

I have been reading a lot of these posts, and learned a lot... I'm a graphic artists and work a lot with multiple applications (photoshop, premiere, after effects, cinema 4D) all of them are heavy on processor and RAM....i currently own an Alienware Area-51-m and i hate this thing ...i always used dell and for some odd reason i decided to throw $3K out the window on this stupid machine.... anyhow, i wanted another laptop to replace this one. I wanted a laptop with a P4 thinking that they would be faster than P-M ...seems for what that i gathered here the power-performance is about the same... now the questions is... what system would you recommend... dell 9300 or the XPS Gen2? i occasionally play video games... so since it's only once in a while i want to make sure it's the best experience.

thanks
-G
(o3b.com)

They're both good deals... an M1.6 is performs like a P4 2.4-2.6 the M2.0 is up there with a P4 3.06, so this is the way to go for a laptop. They run cool and are designed to run well with the Intel Sonoma chipset. I'm very impressed with the quality of the 9300 for the price. If you go in through the home/small office port at Dell, they're running a special with an $800 off coupon. Also, a free upgrade to 512 sodimm ram, take it, sell it on Ebay for $100 and get two gigs of high quality Mushkin ram for $452 after 10% discount (ends soon though)

http://www.mushkin.com/epages/mushkin.storefront

go to the sodimm ad at the bottom of the page.

Also, there are a few design advantages to the xps2, but for the work you're doing I don't think you'll see much of an advantage, plus it is designed as a game machine which may raise an eyebrow in a corporate suite

The setup Dawn got is very good, I'd just get the two gigs of ram from mushkin, that will bring the general price of hers down in the $1500 range from Dell and add $350 for two gigs of ram from mushkin (subtrackting $100 for the sale of the 12 sodimms from Dell.

thanks!

thanks man, very helpful..... im about to turn this alienware into a wafer maker.... since it's heavy as a brick and it gets REALLY hot.... anyhow... one of the features that i like about P4 HT is the fact that works as a dual processor specially for programs like Cinema4d... for 3D modeling... any major issues with a P M that might be a major difference in rendering times?

A P4 is going to outperform the M processors in content creation. That's the only function. I do rendering on workstations, not laptops. The differance won't be great, but noticable. P4s run hot and eat power, everything is a tradeoff in the laptop world. Be sure to get the 9call battery if you go with a 9300, in fact, it pays to keep the six cell and get a second 9cell when you order, it will only be $29 over the price of just a 9cell upgrade. So, for the extra $29 you get to keep the six cell and get a 9cell, too. They will keep you going for 4-5 hours under the heaviest applications. I've been using both batteries everyday.

www.anandtech.com is a gamers board that also does good benchmark work. 'They have articles comparing performance of M and P4.

Next year at this time, there will probably be multicore M processors, but can you wait?

thanks man!!... i got a really good deal at dell... under $2k the XPS gen 2 is a little over $3K .... the difference is 0.13 ghz and a fancy cover

thanks for the help

I'm sure you got the go6800... for 3d work it is a must... If you didn't.. cancel and get it. Better to have a slower processor and faster video card when doing graphic work.. But if you're main machine is your laptop, you can fill the boat with the best and still come out with an amazingly low price. Like I said earlier, I'm amazed at the high build quality, light weight (for the size screen), and sturdy frame. You're going to love it. I'm not a Dell fan, but they have a winner with this design at this pricing. No comment on Alienware