Help with Upgrade Options on Dell 9400 Laptop

[spinbot]

I am looking at getting the Inspiron 9400 Laptop, however in traditional Dell fashion, you have all kinds of upgrade options. I know that on Desktops you take them AFTER you get the machine, however with a laptop, that is not really an option.

My questions are:

17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ [Included in Price]
OR
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ [add $200]

256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory
OR
256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 7800 [add $200]

I have decided the battery upgrade is worth it, however the above 2 upgrades are fairly pricing and I am not sure either are worth the money.

Anyone have this Dell that can comment?

[Silver Bullet]

First, it really depends what you're going to be using the laptop for .. if it's gaming then the 9400 isn't the best ... but anyway ...

I would for sure go for the best screen, and for the best performance (for office, PS & Games), I would go with a 7200RPM HD (60GB or more is fine), 1GB of ram or more. Then graphics card after that, it is really personal preference (and use) that should determine that.

I would also check out the Latitude D820/620, good system for the money also.

[john widow]

Yes, the best screen is not something you can really upgrade after you buy. The screen is what you look at, and you should spend the extra for the nicest one. You should not get this laptop if you are serious about gaming, theres going to be dx 10 cards out so this technology will be old. I would suggest sticking with a 1400 even though it's worse. You will probrably play some games on your notebook but the damanding ones should be on a home desktop.

[spinbot]

The only upgrade option for a harddrive is:
100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive [add $470]

I can safely say that is not an upgrade option I would take.

I would like to be able to play some First Person Shooter games as my desktop is only a Celeron 2.4Ghz machine with no upgrade options for video.

I'm sure the screen looks better, but is it really that much better to justify the $200 extra?

I will look at those that you suggested.

I have about $2000 to spend. Just not sure what to get. Thought Dell's were a good start as my other Dell hardware has been good to me.

[spinbot]

You should not get this laptop if you are serious about gaming, theres going to be dx 10 cards out so this technology will be old. I would suggest sticking with a 1400 even though it's worse. You will probrably play some games on your notebook but the damanding ones should be on a home desktop.

Never heard of "dx 10" cards?

I have a copy of Doom 3 that I have never played ( as my desktop can't handle it ). I would like to be able to play that game as well as other similar First Person Shooters.

I'm not loyal to Dell. I would actually prefer something by Toshiba or IBM as my employer's sister company sells those lines.

[Silver Bullet]

Hey,

Dell is really the only people i found that makes a good mid-speed gaming laptop... Dell also has complete care .. ie if you spill something on the laptop Dell still covers it... other brands don't. (just a thought)

- You can always getting a larger/faster HD down the road for the laptop.

- For the screen, i would say if your going to be using the laptop alot then go for the better screen (you thank yourself later), but if your just using it a bit then maybe not worth it.

- Make sure you have at least 1GB of ram (perferable 1DIMM, not 2)

- DX10 cards are for Vista and new (next-gen) games, and while your new labby should have no problem with Vista, i doubt it be running any new DX10 games anyway.

[spinbot]

Feedback is appreciated.

I did look at the "Complete Care" warranty with Dell, however for 3 years I believe it was about 20% of the value of the laptop ($399). You think they would be suspicious if the laptop fell off the roof of my car and got run over 2 years, 11 months after I purchased it?

The only time I ever bought a warranty was on my RPTV ( as I figured if I had one problem, it would cost more than the warranty ). Do people think its worth taking the "complete care" warranty? I don't have any kids in my home that would destroy it. I have a cat, however he's still working on a typewriter until his keyboarding skills improve

[Silver Bullet]

You can do 1 year of CC and then get it extended later on .. also if you phone and talk to a rep .. you might be able to get 1 year CC thrown it ... my friend phoned about getting a Latitude D820, they offered 20% and a free laptop bag ... never hurts to ask

[Quan]

Feedback is appreciated.

I did look at the "Complete Care" warranty with Dell, however for 3 years I believe it was about 20% of the value of the laptop ($399). You think they would be suspicious if the laptop fell off the roof of my car and got run over 2 years, 11 months after I purchased it?

The only time I ever bought a warranty was on my RPTV ( as I figured if I had one problem, it would cost more than the warranty ). Do people think its worth taking the "complete care" warranty? I don't have any kids in my home that would destroy it. I have a cat, however he's still working on a typewriter until his keyboarding skills improve

Thats the beauty of complete care. I'm pretty sure Micheal Dell is fully aware of this.

Or if you want, you can look at getting some used Laptops in the B&S. I've seen a couple of XPS for 1700 or so, i have a M60 with warranty till December if your itnerested.

[hardcoredummy]

Yes, the best screen is not something you can really upgrade after you buy. The screen is what you look at, and you should spend the extra for the nicest one. You should not get this laptop if you are serious about gaming, theres going to be dx 10 cards out so this technology will be old.

That's BS. Vista will be the OS that comes with DX10, and that's being delayed another 3-4 months... so it looks like it'll be out in May of 2007 (assuming no more delays). Add to that the fact that games won't be coming out for DX10 for quite awhile, and there's absolutely no reason at all to wait that long for just DX10.

[Aero]

My opinion on the WUXGA screen, ITS GORGEOUS, ITS BEAUTIFUL but its hard to read because of the small font size, you can increase the size but the icons at the taskbar will be jagged. The WUXGA screen on my i9300 is glossy, its a pain if you're using it outside because of the reflection. But I must say the screen looks like water, its much clearer than the matte finish. It really looks gorgeous.

Adv.
Beautiful Screen
Nice colors
Did I say its Gorgeous lol

Disadv.
* Hard to see during the day (with the reflection and all of that)
* Hard to read the fonts unless you increase the size make the icons and sometimes the taskbar jagged and VS is also F*** up, specially if its user made.
* The pictures will be small as well, its different looking a 600*400 picture in a 1024*768 screen than a 1920*1200.

[hardcoredummy]

I use 1920x1200 on my 17", and i love it. It's true, XP doesn't scale DPI well. You'll need to wait for Vista for that, but i think the font size is perfect (and i have bad vision... i hate wearing glasses).