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Thread: Help with buying a laptop

  1. #1
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    Help with buying a laptop

    I am looking at getting a laptop, I am considering Gateway, Hp/Compaq, and Dell.

    For the Dell I am caught between a few things.

    The inspiron 1405
    which is a 14.1 inch screen, and is supposed to have a battery life between 6 -8 hours on the 9-cell lithiom ion battery.

    The Inspiron 1505
    which is a 15.1 inche screen and much of the same things. Though it does have a 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7300 TurboCache video card which looks to be really cool. Though in this area I don't know what the difference is.



    The processors have me REALLY confused.
    Here are dell's offerings
    Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5500 (1.66GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB) [add $125 or $4/month1]
    Intel® Core™ DUO T2350 (1.86GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB) [add $40 or $2/month1]
    Intel® Pentium® dual-core T2080(1MB Cache/1.73GHz/533MHz FSB [Included in Price]

    What is the deference between the one on the bottom and the Core Duo and the Core 2 Duo? Is it really worth it???

    Also, should is the difference between the intels and the AMD's in terms of battery life and performance great or not. (Not which one is your favourite, which one performs better in those to areas).


    I am mainly looking at dell but I am keeping an eye on some similar Compaq/Gateway deals. Which company do you think is better. I was told that Dell had a lot of proprietary parts (but I don't know if the Best Buy dude was the best person to ask since it's his job not to sell dells. Though he did insult some of the computers they had as well.)

    FINALLY! Is there a difference in battery life between when you have a nvidia card or an intel card or is it the same. Also, how about linux usage (for the same question).

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    Quote Originally Posted by ihavenoname View Post
    I am looking at getting a laptop, I am considering Gateway, Hp/Compaq, and Dell.

    For the Dell I am caught between a few things.

    The inspiron 1405
    which is a 14.1 inch screen, and is supposed to have a battery life between 6 -8 hours on the 9-cell lithiom ion battery.

    The Inspiron 1505
    which is a 15.1 inche screen and much of the same things. Though it does have a 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7300 TurboCache video card which looks to be really cool. Though in this area I don't know what the difference is.



    The processors have me REALLY confused.
    Here are dell's offerings
    Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5500 (1.66GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB) [add $125 or $4/month1]
    Intel® Core™ DUO T2350 (1.86GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB) [add $40 or $2/month1]
    Intel® Pentium® dual-core T2080(1MB Cache/1.73GHz/533MHz FSB [Included in Price]

    What is the deference between the one on the bottom and the Core Duo and the Core 2 Duo? Is it really worth it???

    Also, should is the difference between the intels and the AMD's in terms of battery life and performance great or not. (Not which one is your favourite, which one performs better in those to areas).


    I am mainly looking at dell but I am keeping an eye on some similar Compaq/Gateway deals. Which company do you think is better. I was told that Dell had a lot of proprietary parts (but I don't know if the Best Buy dude was the best person to ask since it's his job not to sell dells. Though he did insult some of the computers they had as well.)

    FINALLY! Is there a difference in battery life between when you have a nvidia card or an intel card or is it the same. Also, how about linux usage (for the same question).
    c2d is better than the pentium, it runs cooler uses less power. thats about all I can give for advice in this area.

  3. #3
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    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    Quote Originally Posted by jeffc313 View Post
    c2d is better than the pentium, it runs cooler uses less power. thats about all I can give for advice in this area.
    Is the Core 2 duo much better than the Core Duo?

  4. #4
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    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    Quote Originally Posted by ihavenoname View Post
    Is the Core 2 duo much better than the Core Duo?
    Yes. Yes. Yes. FSM Yes. C2D are amazing. They are more then much better.

  5. #5
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    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    Quote Originally Posted by tehkain View Post
    Yes. Yes. Yes. FSM Yes. C2D are amazing. They are more then much better.
    Ok, what about my other two questions.

    Nvidia or Intel video card

    Dell, Hp, gateway, other?

  6. #6
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    Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    Go with the NVidia so you can have 3D Accel and pretty dekstops
    I have a Dell laptop as does my uncle and we both run Ubuntu on it with little/no problems. Though my next laptop will most likely be a System76...
    Registered Linux User #411322 - Get Counted!

  7. #7
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    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    System76

    Um depends on what you want to do. They are far apart in power and need. The nvidia card will need a closed driver to work with the the 3d stuff, while the intel has a good 3d open driver. So if your gaming the nvidia will be on top(a low top tho since its a low end chip). So what do you plan on doing?

  8. #8
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    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    Quote Originally Posted by tehkain View Post
    System76

    Um depends on what you want to do. They are far apart in power and need. The nvidia card will need a closed driver to work with the the 3d stuff, while the intel has a good 3d open driver. So if your gaming the nvidia will be on top(a low top tho since its a low end chip). So what do you plan on doing?

    I will be running beryl etc. Plus some games. I have no problems dealing with the closed driver, though I prefer the open ones. My main issue is that I heard that if you have linux and a video card with an open driver battery life has a tendency to increase when using linux. But if you have a video card with a closed driver battery life will decrease on linux compared to windows. Anyone know? also how much will did it decrease by for you?

  9. #9
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    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    In terms of battery life, those of you with dell inspirons how long does the battery last (with and without beryl if you can).

  10. #10
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    Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

    Re: Help with buying a laptop

    My Suggestion:

    Don't buy a laptop. I've never been a fan...

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