Help me build a laptop

[Spike]

Alright, I think I may be forced into buying a laptop for my current course of study (graphic design). Anyone have any tips as to where I should go with my purchase? I have been messing around on Dell's website for the last few hours building misc. laptops seeing if I can come up with something reasonable.

Basically I probably need 1GB of RAM at least, 80GB of storage (tho I suppose I can get an external later if need be), a 17" screen, and I think that's about it... Also I'm going to use this to replace my desktop so I would probably like to get a docking station.

What seems to be the best priced is the Inspiron 9300's basic model with upgraded RAM. Do you think I should spring for the 2GB (it's like 280 bucks more) or will I be fine with 1GB? I have 512 in my desktop and I already know I need more, but the processor speed in my desktop (2.2ghz) is higher than the Inspiron (1.86ghz). Can you add RAM later or is that not possible in a laptop?

Thanks for any help!!

[harleyxlc]

I think you will be fine with 1 gb of RAM. Normally you have two slots in a laptop. Base configs generally would have 2 x 512, so upgrading would mean getting rid of one. If you think you will upgrade, then pay a bit more and get it with one 1gb chip.

I think what you will find missing on a laptop is the video. Spend the extra for a decent video chipset (not shared).

[bush]

Spike, research Sager laptops. I bought mine a year ago from www.portablez.com and I have had zero problems with it. Excellent customer service as well.

[Spike]

Sagar doesn't have the features that I want at a reasonable price. This is what I ended up buliding and am pretty sure I'm going to get, just have to make sure I'll be able to use it for school.

Inspiron 9300 *****Intel® Pentium® M Processor 750 (1.86 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) *****Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Display *****17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory *****1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
Video Card *****ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X300 64MB HyperMemory™
Hard Drive *****80GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
Network Card *****Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software *****Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD/DVD Drives *****24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Wireless Networking Card *****Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) *****No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) *****No Security Subscription
Primary Battery *****9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr)
Carrying Cases *****Large Backpack Carrying Case (so I can take it on the bike up to school)
Hardware Warranty *****1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access *****6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous *****Award Winning Service & Support
Financial Software *****No QuickBooks package selected - includes limited use trial
Operating System Backup & Recovery ***** PC Restore recovery system by Symantec
Dell Digital Entertainment *****Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience

TOTAL:$1,291.00 shipped.

I've got all the software and most everything that I need, except for a docking station, a wireless optical mouse for on the go, and uhhh I think that's it.

[kevinwilly]

You already have it, but MAKE SURE you get UXGA resolution.

This is the SINGLE most important thing for a laptop. There's nothing worse than having a sweet laptop with only 1024x768 resolution and not being able to fit anything on the screen...

And +1 for the 1 chip 1gig or ram thing. Aftermarket ram is cheaper than getting it from Dell, though it's not as bad as it used to be.

I personlly hate the 17" laptops... they're nice, but gigantic. My bro's friend just brought one home over break, and it's a monster. I have a 15" Compaq (dont buy one, i had to for my school... it's a hunk of crusty shit) and it's a little big. If you've got a desktop, i think the slim laptops are the way to go.

Dell is the only major company that makes laptops worth buying. Gateway's screens suck, and HP/Compaq uses SLOW motherboards. Some other, smaller companies make nice ones, though. Try alienware, they make laptops, i think.

Remember- UXGA resolution!!! (i have SXGA, and it's good too... 1400 as opposed to 1600 pixels. still WAAAAYYYY better than 1024....)

EDIT: for 1200 bucks, i dont think you'll find a better deal, though. I'm surprised it was that cheap... i looked at one, and it was like 1900....

[mikem317]

Get a faster hard disk. I would go with the 60GB disk if it was a 7200RPM disk. Much better than a 80GB 5400RPM disk. You can always go external if you run out of space. Get an external monitor. You can work much more efficiently.

If you're using it for graphic design, focus on memory, processor and anything video related. IMO, get 2048MB of system memory (DDR2?), an Intel Pentium M processor and at least 64MB graphics card. I'm impartial to ATI or Nvidia, although I've had more issues with Nvidia chipsets than ATI.

[harleyxlc]

+1 on the hard drive speed
+1 on the screen size, too. I had a 17" hp and it was great to work with, especially if yu are going to be doing graphics. but it weighed 10 lbs and was a bear. Battery lasted one hour.

I now use a 12" tablet which I wouldn't recommend for graphics But a 15" would give you the other benefits of a laptop like battery life and portability.

[liquid486]

Originally Posted by Spike

I have 512 in my desktop and I already know I need more, but the processor speed in my desktop (2.2ghz) is higher than the Inspiron (1.86ghz).

The processor speeds are not really comparable as they have different architectures. The 1.82 may very well prove to be the faster chip.

Good Luck!

[bush]

Originally Posted by mikem317

Get a faster hard disk. I would go with the 60GB disk if it was a 7200RPM disk. Much better than a 80GB 5400RPM disk.

I wouldn't go 7200 RPMs in a laptop. Too much heat in too small a space, and that kind of performance is pointless anyway. Anything you're going to do on a laptop isn't going to require that kind of seek time.

[kevinwilly]

Originally Posted by bush

I wouldn't go 7200 RPMs in a laptop. Too much heat in too small a space, and that kind of performance is pointless anyway. Anything you're going to do on a laptop isn't going to require that kind of seek time.

i can see your point, but that little bit of extra time makes a HUGE difference when accessing multiple files quickly. if you're saving large files like pictures and graphics, the extra room at the cost of speed would be the better choice, as the write times are nearly identical.

[Spike]

Alrighty guys thanks a lot for the input. The way it breaks down is if I want a faster processor it's 100 dollars extra to go to 2.00ghz and it's an extra 300 to go to 2.16ghz I don't know for sure but I think I'll be fine with the 1.86.

The screen I have on there is the upgraded screen, which I've already been told is THE way to go.

I'm going to use this for school but also it's going to completely replace my desktop. I'm going to get a docking station and have it sit right where my 15" LCD flatscreen is (poor quality screen). So the laptops screen will actually be better than the one I am using now, hence no reason to get an external screen, I don't have THAT much money guys haha.

Battery is the upgraded one, supposed to last 5.5 hours.

The 60GB isn't a 7200, it would cost another hundred bucks to go to a 60GB 7200 from an 80GB 5400.

It has a 64MB ATI card in it.

[bush]

Originally Posted by kevinwilly

i can see your point, but that little bit of extra time makes a HUGE difference when accessing multiple files quickly. if you're saving large files like pictures and graphics, the extra room at the cost of speed would be the better choice, as the write times are nearly identical.

Yeah but in that situation it becomes more of a cost/benefit/drawback thing.

Is the speed neccessary? Is it affordable? Do you want to take the risk of it overheating?

There's a reason you usually don't see 7200 RPM drives in most laptops, it's saved for the higher end machines that people can afford to dump money into.

[Choco]

1GB "dual channel" is actuall 2x512, running in parallel, which is much faster that a single bank of 1GB. A well built lap I must say.

Oh, the faster processor won't be as noticable as a 7200rpm HD, little extra heat but they're designed for it, i.e. no harm no foul.

[G-Daddy]

My experience with Dell, and I have a lot of it - is that they are "proprietary" as hell! If you buy a gig of RAM now on the Inspiron, and want to upgrade later, you'll have to go to Dell (not Fry's or something like that) to buy the RAM - and it's going to cost you.

If you go with Dell, get the most you can out of it now.

For a graphics artist, whic requires a lot of processing speed, coupled with RAM, I would get the fastest processor available and at least 2 GB or RAM. You'll thank me for that later, when you start loading/using graphics software.

An 80 GB hard drive would be good, though - you're probably not going to use more than that - and even the most intense graphics programs require no more than a gig of free hard drive space to function.

If you are considering Dell, that's a good choice - just make your hardware decisions up-front, think about the future, and you won't get caught out in the end.

Something else you may wish to consider, if you're going to pay that much for quality, is Alienware, HP, Sony, and for graphics - Apple is usually a good choice - if you want to go MAC.

Good luck!

[DocB]

Honestly, doing graphic design you are probably going to want an upgraded graphics card. Being a Mechanical Engineer and working with some of the CAD packages I use, I had to think seriously about this stuff too. My laptop ended up costing 1750 including shipping. I run a Pentium M 750, 1 GB dual channel memory, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 15.4" widescreen UXGA, and a 256MB ATI Radeon 9700/9800 chip, can't remember which.

I'm not sure how much is needed for graphic design stuff, but I know for mine this just barely cuts it, specifically the memory...

If this is going to replace your desktop, seriously consider upgrading the graphics card.
Everyone is right on the upgrading the memory too, if you don't think you will need to upgrade in the next 2 years, then just stick with the dual channel 1GB, it's plenty fast.

for $12xx, that's a heck of a system. I think you'll find that the screen is HUGE! for a laptop, and it will be heavy and bulky. Mine at a 15.4" just barely fits into my backpack comfortably.

** as a note: I had mine custom built by a friend so the shipping and parts cost a bit more than it does from dell, but I got to choose exactly the components I wanted **