Which of these would you get?

[axemanxt40]

Hey guys I would just like some other people's opinions on which one of these they would get. As I said in my other post I don't need the machine until August...but sometimes Dell just throws out these crazy deals on their machines and then they are gone for a long time. So I am simply asking incase I bump into one of those crazy Dell deals, the Hypersonic PC I will just waiting until the summer as they never throw any promotions.

Note this machine would be used for serious gaming (I plan on being able to run DX 9 games off this machine), and college related work including programming, lectures (hence battery life is important).


Dell Inspiron 9100:

P4 2.8, 1024 RAM, Radeon 9700 128 MB, 60 GB 5400RPM HDD
Weighs 9 pounds, and has the worst battery life of the bunch.


$1837

Dell Inspiron 8600:

Pentium M 1.6, 1024 RAM, Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo, 60 GB 5400RPM HDD
Weighs 7 pounds, good battery life.

$1867

Hypersonic Aviator AX6:

AMD 64 3200+, 1024 RAM, Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo, 60 GB 7200RPM HDD
Weighs 8 pounds, good battery life.

$2367

Out of these which would meet my needs well for the least amount of money? My personal guess was the Inspiron 8600...but I haven't seen any benchmarks comparing the performance of Pentium Ms to Pentium 4s. Therefore I really don't know if the 8600 will be able to handle the gaming I would like to do. The only thing I am sure will handle everything well is the Hypersonic, but its significantly more expensive than the other two!

Thanks!

 

[Frightcrawler]

I would go for the hypersonic because since its a pro turbo graphics card, you arent that far behind the 9100. Plus you get better battery life, a lighter machine, and future compatability for 64 bit apps.

 

[Abos]

The 8600... just seems like the best compromise between price and performance.

I don't think the 9100 is really meant to be hauled around much.

 

[ShellGuy]

Well everybody knows when i speek what it will be about for the most part. So I won't disapoint. I would wager a guess that if you had to have one of those 3 then I would go for *ell 9100. But since you arn't buying right now Wait till Emachine comes out with there new product line then make your decesion. Because for what you are spending you can get the best current one and add ur ram and a new Hdd. Also don't try and compare the M to the P4. They are two diff classes of processors, one is made to save battery and the other will just drain one. Read around and c what you find.

 

[axemanxt40]

Does emachines new product plan on implementing a 128MB Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo or better? Because I was very intrigued by the current AMD64 laptop they have out...but no 128MB video ram...just doesn't do it for me.

 

[Corporate Thug]

if you are buying now, i would get the 9100. DONT upgrade the ram thru dell, they charge you an arm and a leg. stick with 256 mb and add another 512 purchased somewhere else (crucial?). also, the upgrade from a 2.8 to a 3.2 isnt a bad idea either on the 9100

 

[Whitecloak]

9100

 

[aakerman]

Batterylife =! Dell 9100

 

[axemanxt40]

Originally posted by: shady06
if you are buying now, i would get the 9100. DONT upgrade the ram thru dell, they charge you an arm and a leg. stick with 256 mb and add another 512 purchased somewhere else (crucial?). also, the upgrade from a 2.8 to a 3.2 isnt a bad idea either on the 9100

Yeh I was planning on doing that for any laptop computer I buy, saves 300 bucks!

 

[Abhi]

7200RPM HDD a good upgrade for both dells...

I am using the 8500, and its pretty decent (ti4200 ) and if battery life is a concern, i would go for the 8600.

What games do you play?

If u dont mind some heavy weight lifting... you can get the 9100 with two batteries (shud be an option)....

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: ShellGuy
Well everybody knows when i speek what it will be about for the most part. So I won't disapoint. I would wager a guess that if you had to have one of those 3 then I would go for *ell 9100. But since you arn't buying right now Wait till Emachine comes out with there new product line then make your decesion. Because for what you are spending you can get the best current one and add ur ram and a new Hdd. Also don't try and compare the M to the P4. They are two diff classes of processors, one is made to save battery and the other will just drain one. Read around and c what you find.

Using a Pentium 4 M ... 2.4, with a 15.4 inch wsvga screen

Battery lasts me little over 3 hrs.... at full brightness. Machine is 6 months old....