Final decisions on M4400

I'm about to pull the trigger on an M4400 on the outlet. My must-haves for the laptop are WXGA+ LED screen, backlit keyboard, at least 120GB hard drive, at least 2GB RAM. The rest is negotiable.

There are two units I'm mulling over. The choices are:

1) Dell 1510 wireless card vs. Intel 5100 (this is important, I rely on wireless, but I've got an Intel 3950 now so either have got to be better?)
2) Dell bluetooth vs. no bluetooth (not a big deal to me but maybe I should care?)
3) T9400 vs P8400 (I kinda want to go w/ the 25W P8400 to keep it cooler but maybe the T9400 is not so hot?)
4) XP Pro vs. Vista biz (thinking XP is better, I want to game, mostly the RPG types like Oblivion, Witcher, Everquests but maybe it doesn't matter so much?)

 

1) People have been saying that the Intel cards are better. My Intel card has great range and very few dropouts, but that doesn't mean the Dell (actually Broadcom) card sucks.
2) I think you can buy it separately and add it yourself very easily.
3) In my opinion this is the most important point since changing CPUs is not easy. I would go for the P8400 processor.
4) In most modern systems Vista is more stable than XP because it has better support for modern hardware.

 

1) Intel cards are better. Going from a Broadcom card to an Intel card in my old Inspiron made all the difference in the world (as in I could actually use my wireless connection on the far side of the house). I've got a Broadcom card in my E6400, but I've been looking for a cheap Intel card on the side.

2) If you don't use it, don't get it. Like HerrKaput said, you can easily upgrade it.

3) I think it's really easy to upgrade this one on the M4400 too... that being said, unless you're always running at full load, the overall heat output of the T9400 isn't that much higher than the P8400. I'd still get the P8400, though.

4) Your choice really. I'm an XP fanboy, but Vista is fairly well supported and stable these days.

 

1) Dell 1510 or Intel 5300. no way for the intel 5100 in my point of view.

2) all said.

3) CPU should be P series in any way.

4) I use XP on my M4400 and Vista on my Thinkpad. both are okay.

 

1) I have the Dell 1510 on my e6400 and seems to get great wireless reception. But, I don't really have a way to compare to the intel 5100.

4) My outlet e6400 came with XP Pro installed, and a full Vista Biz uprade CD included. Are you sure the M4400 isn't coming the same way?

 

Well, just went with the P8400 model. Here are the specs. With Complete Care upgrade, shipped to my door was $1345:

Genuine Windows Vista Business
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
160 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200RPM)
512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M
Internal 56K Modem
Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini CardSoftware Upgrade
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
9 Cell Primary Battery
Back-lit Keyboard
FIPS Compliant Fingerprint ReaderCertified Refurbished
15.4 inch WXGA+ LED Laptop ScreenMedia Bay
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability

 

i'd pick
1) dell 1510(5100 drops more often , speed is slower)
3) t9400 much faster with 6 mb cache, gpu is the only component can cause overheat problems. t series is only 35w.
4) vista is a must have if you want aero interface for better graphics.

 

FX770m is only 35W tdp, too.
FX1700m is 50W tdp

 

3. What are you using the laptop for? The difference in speed and power consumption is minimal (cache size doesn't make much difference either), but if you do graphics rendering or mathematical calculations, might as well get the faster of the two. Unless there is a big cost difference in CPUs?

4. +1 for Vista