New Laptop, Got A Few Questions

[Amaru]

Last week I bought a new laptop. I didn't really want to spend the money, but I was getting irritated with my oversized 2-year-old notebook, and decided to take the plunge.

I'm a fairly demanding laptop user, and I do a lot of multi-tasking and graphic design. I don't do much gaming at all, but I like to have a computer capable of running any game at a decent resolution for the rare times when I do buy a game.

Anyway, after a fair bit of online comparison shopping, I ended up ordering a 16" Dell Studio XPS. It was more expensive than the other ones I was looking at (Sony, Toshiba, Mac)... but I really value the ability to customize every little detail of a computer.

So, the specs of my new baby:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-720QM Quad Core Processor @ 1.6GHz (6MB Cache)
• RAM: 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
• Video: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 (1GB)
• HDD: 500GB 7200 RPM SATA
• Audio: Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def
• Display: 16" 1080p Full HD WLED
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

I ordered white... it's aluminum and comes with "leather accents"





I have a couple of questions for any tech geeks out there...

1) Did I make a mistake opting against ordering a 250Gb Solid State hard drive? It cost $500 extra, but I was very seriously considering it. I tend to think that HDD speed is very underrated in terms of everyday usability. If it was a 500Gb solid state for $500 extra, I probably would have done it, but I need that HD space to store my porn collection.

2) Anyone know anything about this video card? I have seen the benchmark tests and it looks OK, but I'm wondering where it fits into the overall spectrum of video cards (low end? mid-range?)...

3) Will heat be a serious issue with the i7 processor? The Studio XPS line is obviously performance-oriented and thus has decent cooling, but I'm worried about heat since I often use the computer in bed and on the couch. Don't want to set my blanket and/or my penis on fire or something.

4) I opted for this computer over the Macbook Pro because I know the Macbook would be far more expensive. Anyone know what a comparable Macbook Pro would cost? I don't know ANYTHING about Macs beyond the advice that my friends gave me...

Thanks!

[striderblade]

I wouldn't get that SSD if i were you. Since is a laptop, it lack the expansion to add addition hard drive. 250GB is not a lot. And most people who had gotten a SSD mainly use to store their OS partition in there. Very rarely you see people uses SSD for file storage.

The video card is alright. I would say pretty much is a mid end card. It'll run most game, but it wouldn't be running it on max setting. As for graphic work. You'll be fine with that card.

Dell xps is knowing for their heating issue. I have a xps 1330 and that little guy run pretty damn hot. I had to go out and get my self a laptop cooler just so it wouldn't burn my lap. And after taking that thing a part i realize dell had been using a very very cheap thermal compound on the GPU and CPU. So i'm not too sure how your XPS 16' will be like.

Mac pro is expensive for the parts you will be getting. You can get a spec equal or even better than a mac pro but pay less. For mac you pay more on the build quality rather then the spec itself.

Hope you enjoy your new toy. I was planning to get this laptop too and give my xps 13 to my GF. But she said no and wanted me to save up.

Oh btw looking at the spec i'm guessing you kinda pay 1600ish for it? If you did you should have gotten this. A 1920X1080 display is nice on a laptop =) http://ncix.com/products/?sku=50903&...nufacture=ASUS

[mrks]

Looks like a nice setup, but it's hard to compare to a Mac if you don't have a price for your notebook.


A. SSD, I have a tiny one in my MacBook Pro and it made a HUGE difference in speed. Things that took 1-2 seconds to load are instantaneous now.
Since it is a laptop you do have to give up some storage space, but I can live with an external drive as storage for pictures and movies.
Since my trade doesn't require me to work with large files, I can get away with a small SSD for my main drive.

Another thing I've seen some people do is get rid of the optical drive and put a HD in that slot. It's called an optibay adaptor. This way you can have an SSD and HDD in the laptop, but you give up the DVD drive.

http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/index.html

There are cheaper versions on eBay.


B. The Apple comparison, yes it will always be more expense or not as fast.
Then there are the typical OS X and software comments.
Yet there are a few small things why I stick to Apple:

1. Warranty from Apple is awesome, from what I hear so is Dell.
2. The physical interaction of the laptop. I really like the Apple LCD, keyboard and multi-touch trackpad, they just work and feel nicer than most PC ones.

[ddr]

u get a compatible replacement bay for your optical drive that has a slot for a 2.5" drive like a SSD
the ones for the macbooks are called MCE optibay

in terms of responsiveness, you'll find that a SSD in ur two year old laptop will be better than your new one. won't help you with number crunching stuff tho.

[!MiKrofT]

Yeah I wouldn't have opted for the 250GB SSD since they're insanely expensive for what you get. You would have been better off with keeping the stock drive and upgrading to a Seagate Hybrid drive for much cheaper. Also note that any upgrade from customizing is not worth it from Dell as they charge quite a lot more than buying it and doing it yourself.

[TOPEC]

Originally Posted by striderblade

I wouldn't get that SSD if i were you. Since is a laptop, it lack the expansion to add addition hard drive. 250GB is not a lot. And most people who had gotten a SSD mainly use to store their OS partition in there. Very rarely you see people uses SSD for file storage.

he should've gotten the SSD and opted for an external harddrive (its for his porn collection) for his file storage needs

SSD to run the OS AND all the programs, get either a small external portable hdd for file storage or a big 1TB external for his porn collection.

[mrks]

Originally Posted by dragonone

in terms of responsiveness, you'll find that a SSD in ur two year old laptop will be better than your new one.

Not true, the performance gain on both systems should be the same. If anything the newer laptop should be faster because of Sata 2 and AHCI.

[taylor192]

I got the Dell Studio, not the Dell Studio XPS so YMMV.

I've had mine a few months ago and absolutely love it.

I read about some flaws with Dell and the i7 so I ordered the i5 instead. There have been complaints of overheating, yet a firmware fix is available. I got the 15.6" 1080p screen and it is fantastic! Good choice!

A comparable macbook is $2300.

[ddr]

Originally Posted by Markus

Not true, the performance gain on both systems should be the same. If anything the newer laptop should be faster because of Sata 2 and AHCI.

let me rephrase
SSD+old laptop > 2.5" 7200/5400rpm hd + new laptop; in terms of responsiveness

[FerrariEnzo]

if you need this laptop for graphic or app intensive then going with the SSD drive would be better along with an external HDD for storage, otherwise have the quad core and 8gb of ram is more then enough for most of todays daily use

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by striderblade

The video card is alright. I would say pretty much is a mid end card. It'll run most game, but it wouldn't be running it on max setting. As for graphic work. You'll be fine with that card.

Pretty much what I figured. Thanks. I basically just wanted something that would be capable of running any game at a playable resolution. Sounds like this card should do the trick even if it's not too fancy.

Originally Posted by striderblade

Dell xps is knowing for their heating issue. I have a xps 1330 and that little guy run pretty damn hot. I had to go out and get my self a laptop cooler just so it wouldn't burn my lap. And after taking that thing a part i realize dell had been using a very very cheap thermal compound on the GPU and CPU. So i'm not too sure how your XPS 16' will be like.

Originally Posted by striderblade

Oh btw looking at the spec i'm guessing you kinda pay 1600ish for it? If you did you should have gotten this. A 1920X1080 display is nice on a laptop =) http://ncix.com/products/?sku=50903&...nufacture=ASUS

Nice specs on that baby, and I've heard Asus makes very nice laptops. I'm not a big fan of the design/look of the computer, and 17.3" might be a bit too big for me. I do use it around the house quite a lot, so 16" is a bit more portable.

I paid about $1,694 before tax... so that would work out to be about the same price (~$1900 after tax). I could have saved about $200 by ordering the Sony, but I didn't like the look or the keyboard layout nearly as much.

Originally Posted by Markus

A. SSD, I have a tiny one in my MacBook Pro and it made a HUGE difference in speed. Things that took 1-2 seconds to load are instantaneous now.
Since it is a laptop you do have to give up some storage space, but I can live with an external drive as storage for pictures and movies.
Since my trade doesn't require me to work with large files, I can get away with a small SSD for my main drive.

Another thing I've seen some people do is get rid of the optical drive and put a HD in that slot. It's called an optibay adaptor. This way you can have an SSD and HDD in the laptop, but you give up the DVD drive.

http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/index.html

There are cheaper versions on eBay.

I'll look into this. I could replace the Blu-Ray/DVD player with an SSD and use that as my OS/programs HDD, yes? Then I'd have the main 500Gb SATA drive for file storage?

Originally Posted by Markus

1. Warranty from Apple is awesome, from what I hear so is Dell.
2. The physical interaction of the laptop. I really like the Apple LCD, keyboard and multi-touch trackpad, they just work and feel nicer than most PC ones.

Pretty much agree with you on both of these, but the Studio XPS is basically the closest PC equivalent from what I can tell. It's supposedly got decent build quality, a backlit keyboard, nice track pad, etc. Obviously it will still be bigger and bulkier though, which is the main drawback IMO.

Originally Posted by taylor192

I got the Dell Studio, not the Dell Studio XPS so YMMV.

I've had mine a few months ago and absolutely love it.

I read about some flaws with Dell and the i7 so I ordered the i5 instead. There have been complaints of overheating, yet a firmware fix is available. I got the 15.6" 1080p screen and it is fantastic! Good choice!

A comparable macbook is $2300.

Really? Comparable MacBook Pro would only be $2300? Maybe I should have considered it... I had been told they'd be more in the $2500-$2800 range, which is a bit steep imo.

As for the heating issue... I read in a few places that Dell had fixed the temperature issues on the i7, so I'm hoping it'll be OK. Maybe they were referring to the firmware fix you mentioned. I'll look into that more when my laptop arrives next week.

I opted for the 720QM model, which is quite a bit less powerful than the 820M I believe... that might mean it also runs cooler. The 720 version that I ordered was $350 cheaper, and I doubt I'd notice much difference. I also considered the i5, but it only saved about $150. Quad core sounds more baller too

IMO, today's processors are so ridiculously fast it seems like it'll be many years before software requirements catch up. Generally I'd rather spend my money on RAM and HDD upgrades than a faster processor, although I'm sure some would disagree.

Originally Posted by FerrariEnzo

if you need this laptop for graphic or app intensive then going with the SSD drive would be better along with an external HDD for storage, otherwise have the quad core and 8gb of ram is more then enough for most of todays daily use

Yeah, I'm kinda regretting not opting for the SSD in reality. My current laptop only has 120Gb HDD, believe it or not (I chose to go with 120Gb 7,200rpm drive over the alternative 250Gb 5,400rpm drive). I store all my movies and some of my files on the external drive. I could have opted for the 258Gb SSD and continued to use my current external drive for storage.

I'm going to look into the SSD Blu-Ray replacement HDD... does anyone know who makes one for PC? The OptiBay one appears to only be for Mac...?

[Amaru]

Sort of answered my own question: there are Samsung (aka Dell OEM) SSD on Ebay for about $400. I wonder if this would fit in the Blu-Ray/DVD slot?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/SAMSUNG-256GB-1-8...ht_6597wt_1137

Alternatively, perhaps I could replace my existing HDD with an SSD and then turn around and sell the 500Gb drive... or use it in place of the DVD drive? Or put it in a case and turn it into an external...?

[ddr]

i dont' think ur missing out. the prices to include SSD's in the initial build is usually $$$.

get an intel x-25

[Amaru]

^^ Like this one? http://cgi.ebay.ca/Intel-X18-M-SATA-...ht_3626wt_1137

[!MiKrofT]

AFAIK you can't swap the optical drive with a hard drive. At least not on your Dell. Best bet is an external USB or Esata housing if has Esata.

[Iceman_2K]

1. Thats a decision only you can really decide. if you didn't get it now, it basically meant that you couldn't afford to get it.
2. Unless this is a desktop replacement that you will be playing intensive games with, its irrelevant.
3. Get a laptop cooler. Doesn't matter what the laptop is, if you're gonna use it on the bed or couch and your'e gonna block the fan vents, get a cooler.
4. You already resigned to the fact that the Mac would be more expensive. Why bother ask; all you're gonna do is incite a fan boy war in your thread. Personally, having had 3 Dells, and a bunch of other laptops, I would never get a Dell laptop ever again. I'm currently using a MacBook Pro 13 inch.

And another point: if you're doing a lot of work with the Adobe series, especially CS5, you should be getting the 64 bit version of the OS, especially if you have 8 gigs of ram. I'm running CS5 at 64bit on my Mac and I would not go back to the 32bit kernel. My apps are loading faster than I've seen them load, and they run much much better.

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by Iceman_2K

1. Thats a decision only you can really decide. if you didn't get it now, it basically meant that you couldn't afford to get it.

I was willing to pay the extra $$, but I didn't want to sacrifice half the disk space AND pay an additional $500 unless it was really going to be worth it.

Originally Posted by Iceman_2K

3. Get a laptop cooler. Doesn't matter what the laptop is, if you're gonna use it on the bed or couch and your'e gonna block the fan vents, get a cooler.

Probably will. Are there ones that can stay "stuck" to the bottom of the laptop so they can be carried around with the laptop?

Originally Posted by Iceman_2K

4. You already resigned to the fact that the Mac would be more expensive. Why bother ask; all you're gonna do is incite a fan boy war in your thread. Personally, having had 3 Dells, and a bunch of other laptops, I would never get a Dell laptop ever again.

I know some people have had problems before, but I've owned 2 Dell computers and loved them both, which is why I ordered another one.

No need to be hostile though, I'm not trying to start a debate... just wanted to know how much more it would have cost to get a MacBook Pro instead. I knew it would be more expensive, but didn't know whether it would be $400 more or $1000 more.

Originally Posted by Iceman_2K

And another point: if you're doing a lot of work with the Adobe series, especially CS5, you should be getting the 64 bit version of the OS, especially if you have 8 gigs of ram. I'm running CS5 at 64bit on my Mac and I would not go back to the 32bit kernel. My apps are loading faster than I've seen them load, and they run much much better.

Interesting.. I definitely work almost exclusively with CS3 at the moment, gonna upgrade to CS5 on the new computer. However, I'm pretty sure Windows 7 Home Premium is 64 bit by default....?

[Zyzz]

i dont know what these guys do with their computers but your computer is a beast

my computer is only 3.06 ghz core2, 4gb ram, and ati HD4670 256mb and windows 7 64-bit. Photoshop cs5 takes less than 10 secs to load. Gaming wise it can run crysis at max settings, MW2 at max settings, each at the imac's 21.5 native resolution.

Windows 7 home has 32-bit version. Just get the 64.

[ddr]

am i missing something here? how come you keep selecting 1.8" drives?

[Iceman_2K]

Windows 7 Home is 32 by default unless you specify for Dell to install the 64 bit version from Factory. Cs5 is written to make use of the 64 bit enviroment and the memory access you get from running 64 bit is definately worth going to.
Not trying to sound hostile, however, when the terms pc, mac, and comparison appear in one sentence, the discussion usually goes down the drain. It's a given - especially around here.

Originally Posted by Amaru

I was willing to pay the extra $$, but I didn't want to sacrifice half the disk space AND pay an additional $500 unless it was really going to be worth it.



Probably will. Are there ones that can stay "stuck" to the bottom of the laptop so they can be carried around with the laptop?



I know some people have had problems before, but I've owned 2 Dell computers and loved them both, which is why I ordered another one.

No need to be hostile though, I'm not trying to start a debate... just wanted to know how much more it would have cost to get a MacBook Pro instead. I knew it would be more expensive, but didn't know whether it would be $400 more or $1000 more.



Interesting.. I definitely work almost exclusively with CS3 at the moment, gonna upgrade to CS5 on the new computer. However, I'm pretty sure Windows 7 Home Premium is 64 bit by default....?

Posted via RS Mobile

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by dragonone

am i missing something here? how come you keep selecting 1.8" drives?

Maybe I'm just a retard... lol.

I figured that if I were replacing the Blu-Ray drive with an SSD disk, it would need to be as small as possible.

However, I have since ruled out that option, I think, as the Blu-Ray drive on this computer is slot-load and I'll probably use it fairly often.

If anything, I'd probably replace my existing HDD with an aftermarket SSD and sell the original. (I already have an external, so I wouldn't need the 500Gb Dell drive that's included with this comp for anything if I replaced it.)

Originally Posted by Iceman_2K

Windows 7 Home is 32 by default unless you specify for Dell to install the 64 bit version from Factory. Cs5 is written to make use of the 64 bit enviroment and the memory access you get from running 64 bit is definately worth going to.

Didn't know that. If the version of Windows that Dell sends me is 32-bit (which would be very annoying), I'll ask them to mail me a re-installation DVD of the 64-bit Windows 7. Failing that, I'll just "acquire" a 64-bit copy via other means. Either way, I was planning on reformatting the computer as soon as it arrives, as I am not a fan of bloatware.

Originally Posted by Iceman_2K

Not trying to sound hostile, however, when the terms pc, mac, and comparison appear in one sentence, the discussion usually goes down the drain. It's a given - especially around here.

Fair enough. No need for any debate in this thread though, as my comp is already ordered. And thanks to a few replies here I have a pretty good idea of how much the comparable MBP would cost anyway, so that question is over and done with.

Now, if only Purolator would hurry up...

[Iceman_2K]

I'm pretty sure it will be 32bit unless the shipping quote says 64 bit on it. Just make sure you have the necessary drivers when you do the reinstall to 64 bit.