[450]

I bought a Dell Vostro 1500 when it was on sale, $600 + $40 tax. I'm intending to use it for hs/college; homework, no music (gets streamed to my P3 server with E-MU 0404), maybe playing Halo 1 PC, and watching 720p - 1080p clips. I intend to keep this thing about 2 years then upgrade to a Mac.

Specs...
1.46 GHz Core 2 Duo 2MB cache
1GB Ram (I was planning on getting 4GB, should I? I'm using 1.7GB now...)
15.4" WXGA Truelife (getting a 24" soon)
128mb 8400gs
160gb 5.4k
DVDRW
Wireless G (getting N later only if needed)
XP Home ordered with it but I'm keeping it for backup as a I have a copy of Vista Business 32 and dual boot with Ubuntu64.

So am I alright? Should I opt for the 4GB for $150?

 

[PerformanceFirst]

The 32 bit operating systems will not even see the full 4 gigs. If you really only want to keep it 2 years, I wouldn't bother. I hear Vista runs best on 2 gigs (I have 2) but I don't know if you could get by with 1 with a clean install.

 

[450]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PerformanceFirst /img/forum/go_quote.gif The 32 bit operating systems will not even see the full 4 gigs. If you really only want to keep it 2 years, I wouldn't bother. I hear Vista runs best on 2 gigs (I have 2) but I don't know if you could get by with 1 with a clean install.

That's why I was going to use Ubuntu as well. I might just get 2GB of ram, it's only $50. I got 1GB because it was $150 to get 2GB.

See my plan was this...
Ubuntu as main OS, and have vmware run windows vista. Since its 2 core I thought it would be fine, and have 2gb allocated for each os.

I'd also have a separate boot for my vista install for my games.

Now that I think about it though, 2GB maybe alright. It is only 2 years after all.

 

[krmathis]

Yes, you should have gone straight to the MacBook now (instead of 2 years down the road).

 

[450]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, you should have gone straight to the MacBook now (instead of 2 years down the road).

When I ordered the Macbook only had GMA950! I'm soooooooo considering a return and living with the x3100.

 

[Al Paccioli]

If you're happy with an integrated card I think a small IBM would've been better.

 

[AlanY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 450 /img/forum/go_quote.gif When I ordered the Macbook only had GMA950! I'm soooooooo considering a return and living with the x3100.

Can you return the Vostro? If you can, personally I would consider it for a bunch of reasons, but don't beat yourself up over it if you can't. Computers are more expensive to swap than headphones

 

[wnewport]

I've spent a lot of time with the MacBooks and was completely underwhelmed by them.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnewport /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've spent a lot of time with the MacBooks and was completely underwhelmed by them.

can you be more specific?

 

[Aevum]

please ignore the apple fanboys, you have a fine laptop, you dont do gaming, XP and other 32 bit os´s see 3.5gb of memory so if you want to put in vista 64bit or EMT64 Linux later on, the extra 512mb will show up, you should really buy what fits you best, theres some window managers in linux like beryl which would make apple users piss themselfs and aqua look like used toilet paper, its all about what you like,

so, if for now, XP is your thing, and you want to add a bit more ram, roll with it, and later on, if you want to go to mac or linux, well, depends on what you like and need, you allready spend the money, no need to beat yourself over it, and its a good laptop for 640 bucks, your money was not wasted,

 

[Basil101]

If you did put the 4GB of memory in the 32 bits OS's would recognise all but 128MB of it (the amount of dedicated vRAM). Personally I think that you could use a little more CPU power rather than more RAM, if you can return/upgrade it buy 2GB of RAM and spend the rest on a better CPU (T7100/T7300).

 

[AlanY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Basil101 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Personally I think that you could use a little more CPU power rather than more RAM, if you can return/upgrade it buy 2GB of RAM and spend the rest on a better CPU (T7100/T7300).

This is probably true. I didn't even realize Intel still made 1.46 GHz processors.

 

[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Basil101 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you did put the 4GB of memory in the 32 bits OS's would recognise all but 128MB of it (the amount of dedicated vRAM). Personally I think that you could use a little more CPU power rather than more RAM, if you can return/upgrade it buy 2GB of RAM and spend the rest on a better CPU (T7100/T7300).

Not anymore. Both Vista and XP SP2 will only see a maximum of 3.21 GB.

 

[devin_mm]

Personally I think you made a good choice if I were to buy another notebook I would buy a Dell or another Apple. The Vostros are nice looking in my opinion without looking cheap like the inspirons and Dell is a good company to deal with (this coming from a former employee). I prefer Apple since I love the aluminum design of the Pro's and I love OS X, if you aren't happy with Windows on your Dell that's what some form of Linux is for.

 

[Basil101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not anymore. Both Vista and XP SP2 will only see a maximum of 3.21 GB.

I don't mean to be rude but why 3.21?

I assumed that this limit was due to the 32 bit OS running out of address space after the video card(s) and BIOS ROM had been taken care of. You also said "not anymore", why? Did windows 32bit ever address more than this? Help!