Laptop options opinions needed

[Buz2b]

Looking at various deals for lappys and came to a question I wasn't sure how to approach. If you were ordering a new laptop and had the choice between upgrading the RAM from 384 MB to 500 MB OR upgrading the video card from 16 MB to 32 MB (it's only a Radeon 7500 I believe, so not exactly top notch I realize), which would make more sense to do. Please, no replies like "go for an XYZ better video card", etc; these are the only choices at the time. Keep in mind that this is a person not heavy into gaming but does do quite a bit of digital photography.

 

[rocadelpunk]

i would say videocard, simply b/c it's going to be one of the factors holding you back if you game at all.

i don't have actual benchmarks, but the bandwidth you'd probably gain with video memory would be better than an extra 128 megs of ram.


of course it is sorta dependent on what you're using the laptop for, if you don't play games at all, by all means go for the ram.

 

[Buz2b]

Thanks rocadelpunk for the reply. It's not that I don't do ANY gaming; I have a few older ones that I run from time to time but not often and certainly not "high end" games. Just stuff like Motocross Madness or Tiger Woods Golf, etc. Most of my time is spent either online or with digital photography using Photoshop Elements 2 or Paint shop Pro 7. I should also add that I will be using the system to play DVD movies (via a DVD/CDRW combo drive), if that helps or figures into the equation.

 

[Yozza]

Hi Bill!

Your best compromise would depend mostly on your priorities. 16MB of memory on the graphics card would be sufficient for 2D work, especially if the laptop's screen resolution is XGA (1024*768); but if you venture into any kind of 3D application/game at all, 16MB will be a significant limitation. Digital image editing is done in 2D, so the 16MB memory should support a 1024*768 screen happily with 32bbp.

However, another consideration is that system RAM is typically quite easily upgradable, whereas you're stuck with the graphics adapter for the life of the laptop. 384MB RAM should be sufficient for most images, unless they are very large, in which case 512MB may help somewhat in preventing excessive paging to disk.

Personally, I would go with 32MB of graphics memory. That would offer better future upgradability, as you've covered the component that most likely cannot be upgraded by the user. RAM can be added in future if it's necessary, and it's relatively inexpensive from Crucial.com too. 384MB is already a reasonable amount, and if you're into any kind of serious image editing, 512MB wouldn't be entirely sufficient either - Photoshop can easily run up a 1GB scratch file usage after a heavy editing session.

If this RAM upgrade is direct from the vendor/manufacturer, you could consider going to Crucial to buy it instead - it'll most likely turn out much cheaper that way. I've just ordered a Dell D600, and instead of going with a RAM upgrade through them, I decided to buy RAM from Crucial, and stick to the cheapest and lowest amount of RAM Dell will supply the machine with - that saved me a considerably, as instead of upgrading from 256MB to 512MB for £150, I simply bought an additional 512MB SODIMM module for £90 from Crucial to compliment the existing 256MB stick.

Anyway, just a few things to think about Either way, I feel that the system will be sufficient - both options would not affect the overall experience greatly, as the gains in certain applications due to the upgrade would be cancelled out by potential gains in other applications if you opted for the other upgrade, if you see what I mean.

Yoz

 

[Buz2b]

Greetings Yoz! Thanks for the opinions and assist!
Update!! I'm going for it all it seems (and a bit more). I found a 10% coupon on systems of $1200 or more and ended up with (hopefully) an upgraded HDD (30-40 GB), RAM (384-512MB), Video Card (16-32 MB) and adding a USB floppy drive and 16MB USB Key. After the 10% coupon and the "FatCash" rebate (3%), it all comes to just $27 more than adding just the video card upgrade. All is dependant upon the coupon. It is "stackable" to their online offers but you never know what surprises can happen. I realize that the USB key and USB floppy drive are a bit redundant but it was a combo offer that brought the cost barely over the $1200 requirement. Going through their list of other "options", it was the only other useful item(s) I could add.
Now, so far with the system as listed in my shopping cart, the coupon was recognized and the amount deducted for the final total. So far, so good. Wish me luck.
Total Hardware Specs:
2.4 GHz P4 w/14.1 XGA screen
512 MB DDR, 2x256 Dimms
40 GB Ultra ATA HDD
32 MB ATI "Mobility" Radeon 7500
USB Floppy Drive
XP Home
Integrated Network Card
Internal 56k Modem
24X CDRW/8XDVD combo drive

I am going to take one more look at the cost of having the RAM changed to 1 512 MB dimm instead of two; leaving a cleaner upgrade path for later (since there are only 2 dimm slots, both accessible).

 

[Yozza]

That looks like quite a powerful system, at a very good price too! Is that a 64MB Mobility Radeon 7500 on the spec list? Can't be a bad thing I guess

Best of luck with your purchase!

 

[Buz2b]

Major "oops!" I have edited the previous post to reflect a couple of errors. I confused a couple of things, to say the least. It is indeed a 32 MB video card and the HDD is upgraded from 30 to 40 GB. Also the USB key is 16 MB, not 64 MB. Seems like I was stuck in the "64" mode.

 

[Buz2b]

In the final configuration I did away with the small USB key and kept the floppy drive. I'll get a better USB key at a better price later on. Other than that, all else is the same. Final price is $1131.00 (including the 3% fatcash back/rebate). The 512 MB RAM on one stick was just too much to make sense right now so I kept it as 2 X 256 dimms. I might be sorry later but I use 512 MB on my home system with few problems and a slower processor. So the same on the lappy with a 2.4 GHz cpu should be fine for my needs. My camera uses floppies so keeping the USB floppy drive makes sense for now. Still, not too bad a system for the price. If only it wasn't a Dell, dude..................................!

 

[Yozza]

Hey dude, you're getting a Dell!

Still, it's hard to find something that beats them in price/performance, and you certainly got a good deal there.

Hope it all goes well for ya!