E1505, is upgraded graphics card really needed?

[imported_zippo]

A few weeks ago I was trying to decide which product to purchase, the HP DV5000T or Dell E1505. After reading through this forum and others I settled on the HP DV5000T. I configured it with duo core T2400 1.83ghz, 15.4" WXGA brightview, 128MB nvidia geforce go 7400, 1GB DDR2, 80GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD, 8x DVD+/-R/RW w/double layer support, Intel PRO Wireless 3945ABG, 6 cell. The laptops came in this past week and I must stay I'm a bit disappointed. One of the notebooks had paint flaking off of the speaker cover on the front, the other had fingerprint smudges on the screen. Both notebook batteries are loose, they don't fit snugly in the battery housing. There is an audible clicking noise that can be created when light pressure is applied to the side of the battery that is closest to the side where the ac adapter is. Upon calling hp they assured me there was nothing wrong and it is normal for there to be play in how the battery fits into the bottom of the notebook. I also have a compaq V5000Z and V2000Z and both of those notebooks using hp batteries fit properly and there is no play in them. Also after I removed their bloatware and reinstalled WinXP MCE everything seemed fine at first but then problems started. Simple browser tasks and super light multi-tasking (firefox, windows explorer, outlook express) seems to bog down the system. The system drags along slower than my Intel Pentium M 1.6ghz notebook. Very dissappointed.

Anyhow I'm returning these to HP and I'm going to be trying my hand at the Dell equivalent. They are currently running e1505's very similarly configured for about another $70 or so but they will come with duo 2 cores at 2 ghz and I'll upgrade from 512mb ddr2 to 1.5gb (adding 1gb stick) via newegg.

At any rate my question is about the graphics card. I really won't be doing any gaming on the machines. One is for my wife who doesn't game and I have an xbox360 that is fine for my gaming appetite. I'm not truly fond of the integrated graphics option but I'm curious if I would see any kind of performance boost if I did choose the upgraded graphics card option such as the x1400 over the integrated option. I'm referring to dvd playback, photoshop and digital photo editing. On my machine I'll be running firefox, outlook, itunes, multiple poker clients, database applications, msn messenger and sometimes camtasia. Am I right to say that since these are are 2d applications there won't be any added performance boost over choosing the upgraded option versus the integrated solution?

Lastly I'm looking towards Windows Vista. I don't plan on using it currently as I'm fine with WinXP for the time being. I've read here and there that the integrated 950 will be run windows vista but it is the bottom of the barrell solution capable of running it. Its only another $100 but I'm curious if looking to the future for vista compatability is worth upgrading to the x1400 (assuming that will be windows vista capable)?

Thanks.

 

[Brainonska511]

If you will do NO gaming, get the integrated graphics b/c you'll have longer graphics. Though, the DVD playback can benefit from ATI's hardware acceleration, so for that case, you may just consider the MR X1300 instead of the higher clocked (read: eats more battery power) MR X1400.

Edit: As for running Vista, is it really worth it to consider buying a $150-$300 OS if the one you have is fine (especially with SP3 coming out next year). I really think that worrying about running Vista on the machines you plan on buying is kind of a waste of energy. Worry about Vista when it comes time to buy the next set of machines (since XP is fine now anyway).

 

[imported_zippo]

That was kind of my thoughts. I did try out Call Of Duty 2 Demo on the HP DV5000T with geforce go 7400 just to see where it was at. It was pretty disappointing and would definately NOT be worthwhile to game with. It is my plan to sell the notebook down the road, within 12-24 months, while it still has some value and cover the cost of something newer. In my opinion it would tough to recover much of the cost then versus the integrated gpu option because ultimately the x1400 is a mid to low range card currently and at resale time it would probably be a low end card. Again it won't appeal to even light gamers then so maybe I'll just go with the middle of the road option, the x1300 so that way it will at least appeal to prospective vista users.

Again if going with the upgraded option isn't going to speed up my computer while running firefox, outlook, messenger, itunes, camtasia, database applications, flash applications, voip and poker applications then I can't see going with the mid-range gaming option that I have very little use for. Thanks.

 

[postmortemIA]

It is known that integrated graphics cannot play full-screen DVD on MediaDirect. And do you really want to trisk not being able to pull vista Aero because of integrated graphics? It is frigging less than $50 to get X1300. You don't have to get x1400.

 

[fbrdphreak]

If you want to play COD2 you need a Go 7600 or MR X1600 or better.

 

[imported_zippo]

No I don't want to play COD2 on the notebook. I originally ordered the DV5000T with the geforce go 7400 thinking that going with a graphics card versus the integrated option would reduce the load on the cpu's during normal non-gaming applications. I don't notice any difference in 2d apps on the DV5000T with the geforce go 7400 so I'm thinking since I'm not going to be gaming that it is a waste to go with the x1400.

I ran COD2 on it just to see what it looked like. It was miserable.

 

[fbrdphreak]

No you definitely won't be able to see a difference in normal 2D between integrated & discrete. Video playback isn't even really a problem, although ATI's AVIVO is supposed to offer better playback quality.

 

[Rob9874]

I got the 1400 with the E1505. No gaming, but wanted it for DVD playback and Aero.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Go for the MR x1300 or x1400 pending on your budget (I seriously doubt you will see a battery life difference between the two. Same card, slightly higher clocks).

Even if you do no gaming you will have a standalone graphics card that won't borrow memory from your installed ram. Avivo is deffinatley a nice option to have for dvd playback, which looks great on my e1505 with an x1400. And gaming is not impossible, you just won't have uber frame-rates and eye candy, but still plenty decent for a laptop.

 

[ericboo]

I have not tried a dvd on my E1505 with integrated graphics as of yet, but I am very happy with my laptop. I play no games on it, and probably will play a dvd or two a year if that. I wanted the logest battery life possible for my needs.

I just use my Sony portable dvd player for watching movies. It's 5 1/2 hour battery life is so nice!

 

[postmortemIA]

that is battery life of 85WHr E1505 battery, not to mention better display.