Help Alex buy a laptop part 2. Processor differences? T2250, T5200 and T5500?

[LeperousDust]

Ooooh, next question so much choice with these ebay auctions! I can get 2gb or 2ghz, surely slacking on ram i can upgrade easy in the future makes sense for a faster porcessor yeah?

[Stan_Lite]

Personally, I'd stick with the extra RAM. That processor is faster than mine and I've yet to do anything with it that taxes it- but if you think you'd benefit from a faster processor, go for it

Also, the reason he can sell them cheaper is that they're returns or cancelled orders - tested by Dell according to the little box below the "product highlights" section.

I priced the system on the Dell website (better processor, the other one must be out of date already) and it comes to £1,128.12 new, so it being a return and an older CPU, it's probably priced about right.

Stan

Edit: The Geforce Go 7400 is an upgrade option. It comes with onboard graphics as standard which will use up to 256Mb of your system RAM.

[LeperousDust]

Thanks stan, i just noticed that myself. Right so i think i'm set still on the one i linked earlier. Only thing holding me back now (even though the sammy has the same processor) i'm not sure if I should jump up to the 1.8/2.0+ghz C2D with 4mb (!!!) of cache, trying to find some reviews and real world opinions about it now. My theory is, if the ram is short i can add some (right?) if the processor is short its a bum to change?

I'm not bothered about the go7400, as long as i have the s-video port which is looks like i do

I'm overwheled with specs atm i KNOW im getting this laptop just not sure about the exact from yet. You guys have been very helpful though thanks again!

[Stan_Lite]

You're right in saying that it's much easier to upgrade memory than CPU. On the M1710 it's simply a case of undoing 2 screws on the underneath and removing the cover - which is fairly standard on most laptops I've seen.
If you go for the 1Gb option initially, it'll be 2x512Mb sticks so you'll need a pair of 1Gb sticks to upgrade. I would think you wouldn't have too much trouble selling on the old ones.

Stan

[LeperousDust]

Stan your a star! Next thing (yeah im thinking will this end too ) i've found the dell outlet again totally forgot about it, i've never bought a dell let alone from the outlet? Is it a good idea? And whats the turnover like? Am i likely to see the laptop i want appear on there?

[Stan_Lite]

No problem mate, I'm doing bugger all else anyway.

I've never used the Dell outlet before and only glanced at it occasionally so I'm not sure what sort of turnover there is. I would think that, even if your laptop did turn up on there, it would be unlikely to be any cheaper than the eBay one - but other people may know better than me.

Stan

[Daz]

The smaller laptops are a bit more of a niche and I've only ever seen one or two. Certainly possible, but not particularly common at the moment as, with the cost of laptops quite low at the moment, Joe consumer is buying them as desktop replacements. And they want the screen real estate.

I'd suggest giving Euro PC a call. They dont put all their stock on the website, and when I called they had the exact spec I wanted (right down to memory speed), and you can buy interest free. Similar prices to the Outlet as well.

[Mark]

Yeah, Euro PC is the one reason I didn't 'buy it now'.

Work are being anal about hardware these days unfortunately, so it looks like to get the hardware I want, I'll have to buy it myself (same as I did last time). :/

[LeperousDust]

Ahhhh, euroPC didn't seem to have much on offer, i'll give them a ring now, funny though because i don't quite know what i want! Should be a laugh over the phone

Wish me luck everyone, i plan to buy today! That ebay auction being my fallback

[LeperousDust]

Right, i know everyone is probably sick and tired of me harping on about this now, but i just need to make sure i've got things right. Unfortunately the best EuroPC could do was the D420, which is good but lacking a DVD drive amongst other things, which would annoy me somewhat.

I've whittled it down to (all these have an extra £25 p&p unless i drive to sheffield, which im thinking of doing):

For £680
XPS M1210 LAPTOP CORE 2 DUO INTEL 1.66 T5500 12.1" TFT
2 GIG 160GB DVD±RW TRUELIFE WIFI BLUETOOTH CAMERA

Thats got the lesser processor and integrated graphics, but more ram, and is the cheapest. With this for an extra £10 i can get the 9cell battery too (is that worth it?)

for £720
Dell XPS M1210 ,2.00GHZ T7200, 1GB DDR, 120HD, VISTA, CAMERA
Dell 1 YR Warranty, Truelife, WIFI, 12.1, Ultra Small

So this has got half the amount of RAM but surely 1gig is acceptable (thats what i was looking at originally) a slightly smaller HD, but i've got an external for my big collection of parp. Most of all its got the 4mb cache processor i want, as opposed to the 2mb T5500. Again with integrated graphics, and only available in 6 cell. So for £40+ io halve my RAM, lose a bit of HD space, but get a juicy processor, does that sound good?

£800 Cherry on top
Dell XPS M1210 ,2.00GHZ T7200, 256mb Geforce Go 7400, 1GB DDR, 160HD, VISTA, CAMERA
Dell 1 YR Warranty, Truelife, WIFI, 12.1, Ultra Small

So, for the extra £120, i get discrete graphics, a 9cell battery, half the amount of ram, but a bigger hard drive and the processor i want. All for my original price of £800 (what i was going to pay for that clapped out VIAO !!)

Reckon this is worth it? I'm trying to justify why i should really spend the extra £120 even though i know i was going to in the first place, when for £120 less ive got a fairly decent laptop (understatement!). But im liking the idea of the 7400, yes its not great but it'll play silly old games that can keep me happy i suppose... Any idea if it would be possible to retrofit a 7400 to the other models? I know i'd be able to do it (if possible), took my friends laptop all apart for a wash after he fed it vodka lemo, wasn't as hard as i thought.

So, its nearing the end of the day and i still haven't bought anything, i'm terrible at this! Somebody tell me what to do

Actually i may post this on the other place see if i can get any reviews of the actual laptop too

//Edit: Right gotta go out, hopefully someobody puts their foot down and tells me what to do by the time i get back