No more gaming or constant upgrading!

[rox1co]

well i've made a decision to abandon gaming and the constant need to be up to date with the latest technology till i finish college and get a job

b4 i go into my questions, please no recommendations on a laptop - i already know what i want (Dell E1405 or something similar, gaming and a monster laptop is a no no🙂)

i just have a few questions

1) i love music, so would the Audigy ZS be just as good as it's PC counterpart Audigy2 ZS?
2) i have a 19" LCD, will it be possible to view what i would be seeing on my laptop on my 19" LCD? if so, how?
3) how long should i keep a laptop? how much shorter/longer does it retain value compared to PCs?
4) any of you have a TV tuner with your laptop? how's the quality wise? etc.
5) what's the power consumption comparison b/w a 550W PSU to a Laptop in general (say a Dell E1405)?

also, i will be selling 2 WD2500KS 250gb SATA2 HD, X-Fi XtremeMusic, 3 ND3550A DL+RW DVD Burners (hit me up with your offers thru PM only please, leave this thread for my general questions)

 

[slugg]

1) No. The "audigy" offered by dell is actually just a piece of software. For a real audigy in a laptop, buy the audigy PCMCIA card 🙂

2) Yes. That's what I'm doing right now with my dell e1705 and my dell 20 inch widescreen monitor.

3) Keep it for as long as you need it. If you're worried about it retaining value, get an Apple macbook/pro or an IBM thinkpad. Also, extended warranties (like dell's complete care or apple's applecare) help retain value when you go to sell it assuming it's still under warranty. The best resale values come from apple though - nomatter what really.

4) Personally I don't have a TV tuner in my laptop... HOWEVER, we have some HP laptops at our store (compUSA) with a tv tuner express card and its surprisingly good. Your milage may vary however 😛

Two things you did not mention were portability and battery life. Are these two factors important to you? How important are they?

 

[rox1co]

1) No. The "audigy" offered by dell is actually just a piece of software. For a real audigy in a laptop, buy the audigy PCMCIA card 🙂

ah, i forgot to mention i will be buying that PCMCIA card 🙂

2) Yes. That's what I'm doing right now with my dell e1705 and my dell 20 inch widescreen monitor.

does the mobile gpu have a dvi/vga port?

3) Keep it for as long as you need it. If you're worried about it retaining value, get an Apple macbook/pro or an IBM thinkpad. Also, extended warranties (like dell's complete care or apple's applecare) help retain value when you go to sell it assuming it's still under warranty. The best resale values come from apple though - nomatter what really.

i'll think about that

4) Personally I don't have a TV tuner in my laptop... HOWEVER, we have some HP laptops at our store (compUSA) with a tv tuner express card and its surprisingly good. Your milage may vary however 😛

ooo! time to go to compUSA to check that out

Two things you did not mention were portability and battery life. Are these two factors important to you? How important are they?

i do want it to be portable, i'll be getting the Dell E1405, i would prefer 15" or smaller, i was thinking of the E1505 but i would most likely pair it with a mobile gpu that can handle gaming a lil better than onboard so i really wanna keep away. battery life, um i'll be keeping it at home most of the time and i'll only be going to school twice a week this Fall semester so probably not. i do want a Dual Core laptop tho.

added question: 5) what's the power consumption comparison b/w a 550W PSU to a Laptop in general (say a Dell E1405)?

 

[slugg]

well just read on dell's website on the model you're interested in about the dvi and vga ports. Mine, the e1705 with a 7900GS, has both DVI and VGA.

 

[rox1co]

Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core? Duo processor T2050 (2MB Cache/1.60GHz/533MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 15.4 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife?
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 128MB ATI MOBILITY? RADEON® X1300 HyperMemory?
Hard Drive 60GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 2Yr Ltd Warranty, 2Yr At-Home Service, and 2Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service, Support
Future Operating Systems Windows Vista? Capable
Operating System Re-Installation CD Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition re-installation CD
Media Center Enhancements TV Tuner w/ Remote Control
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience

TOTAL:$1,218.70

 

[Brainonska511]

Just a side note, since the E1405 only has an expresscard slot, you cannot use a PCMCIA Audigy card. You can try the USB versions or wait till Creative releases one for the expresscard slot.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: rox1co
1) i love music, so would the Audigy ZS be just as good as it's PC counterpart Audigy2 ZS? Yes, but you cannot use it in an ExpressCard-based notebook. Wait for the ExpressCard version or get USB.
2) i have a 19" LCD, will it be possible to view what i would be seeing on my laptop on my 19" LCD? if so, how? Yes. Connect it to your DVI or VGA output, go into your Video Card properties through Display Properties, and somewhere in there you will see the multiple monitor options.
3) how long should i keep a laptop? how much shorter/longer does it retain value compared to PCs? Depends how much you want to spend vs how long you want to keep it. Current technologies are advanced enough to the point where you can purchase a laptop today and expect it to be useable for the next 3-4 years most likely. Windows Vista introduces more stringent graphics requirements, so it would probably be worthwhile to invest in a mid-range GPU like the ATI MR X1300/X1400 or the NVIDIA Go 7300/7400.
4) any of you have a TV tuner with your laptop? how's the quality wise? etc. I played with one in an Asus notebook and surprisingly, it was quite clear. My gf has one on her desktop and it is also very nice to have. HP offers fully loaded notebooks that use an ExpressCard TV tuner for reasonable prices. Check out the dv5000 series
5) what's the power consumption comparison b/w a 550W PSU to a Laptop in general (say a Dell E1405)? An E1405 will probably never draw more than 65W, IF that. The average Core Duo notebook with an integrated GPU draws less than 10W during average usage. On AC power with everything maxed and decent discrete GPU, you probably won't see much over 60W. With a higher end GPU (say MR X1600 or Go7600 and higher), you might get into the 90W range. MAYBE.

 

[rox1co]

i made my purchase today thru Dell's 10 Days of Deals!!! Thanks for all your help 🙂

Inspiron E1405 Intel® Core? processor DUO T2050 (2MB Cache/1.60GHz/533MHz FSB)

Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Home

LCD Panel 14.1 inch WXGA+ UltraSharp TFT Display with TrueLife

Memory 1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm

Video Card Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Hard Drive 100GB Sata Hard Drive

Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability

Sound Options Integrated Audio

Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support

TOTAL: $798.88 shipped with tax