Laptop Choice Help

[BrettCB]

Recently purchased an HP DV8000T with the following specs:

Intel Centrino Core Duo (1.6Ghz)
17" WXGA Brightview High Def LCD
1GB DDR2 RAM
160GB (80GB x2) SATA HD
GeForce 7600 GO
8x Dual Layer DVD Burner w/ Lightscribe
8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
MS Windows XP MCE 2005

Total: $1,200

I saw that the new Core 2 Duo processors were availble and I was looking at this Dell:

Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo (2.0GHZ)
17" Ultrasharp LCD UXGA w/ Truelife
1GB DDR RAM
80GB SATA HD
GeForce 7900 GO
8x Dual Layer DVD Burner
6 Cell Lithium Ion battery
MS Windows XP MCE 2005 w/ ReInstallation CD

Total: $1,380
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Basically I am a moderate gamer, like to be able to play newer games on solid settings. Mostly play WOW as is. I'd like to be able to handle Windows VISTA nicely and I like the idea of having a 64 Bit system. Question is, for the price difference is the Dell worth the upgrade? Should I be looking at something else besides the Dell? I only have a few days left to return my current HP laptop so i need to make this decision soon. I'm leaning heavily towards the Dell E1705.

Let me know what you think.

 

[fbrdphreak]

As much as I like HP over Dell, that is a killer config. Do it.

 

[cheesehead]

The Dell will totally pwn the HP. A 7900 vs. a 7600? No contest.

 

[AmigaMan]

make sure you get the extended warranty from dell (or any other maker for that matter). Is the Dell's LCD resolution going to be too much for you? Also, are you sure it's UXGA and not WUXGA (1900x1280)? You might also want to upgrade the HD since you're losing half your space from the HP.

 

[BrettCB]

Resolution should be fine. I'm a 21 year old college student with solid vision. I plan on getting the warranty so that'll bump the price up a bit but I would be paying the same difference because I plan on adding the warranty on the HP also. As for the HD space I plan on using a USB/Firewire enclosure so that i can use my 250GB HD for my primary data storage. I can always upgrade later also.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

That's a sweet deal. Are you going to be traveling with this alot? I'd suggest upgrading to the 9-cell battery since you have alot of power hungry components.

 

[Rob9874]

I just bought the same E1705 you configured. Can't wait for it to arrive!

 

[BrettCB]

Finally pulled the trigger... Had trouble parting with the HP laptop as it was a nice rig, but you can't turn down the GeForce 7900 GO/Core 2 Duo for around $180 more, I'd be nuts.