Getting My M4400 tomorrow, I need a tash of Help

So I got a few question right now, And theres a good chance I'll get more tomorrow or later on tonight...

1. I plain to install Xp 64bit on this Lappy JUST for gaming... Can someone please tell me what all drivers I'll need? And give me a link on how to install Laptop2go drivers and a suggestion to what the best driver would be? I don't want to over clock, atleast not yet...

2. Is there anything I should do to take good care of my battery? It's a 9 cell, Like do I need to let the Lappy fully charge before use? Or anything?

Thats all I got for now, Thanks in addvance for any help, If anyone wants I could right a lil review and post some pics in a week or so? Since theres still a small amount of reviews for this notebook

 

What card are you getting? The FX770M or the FX1700M?

1. I don't see how XP64 will help you at all beside the extra 0.5GB RAM, which won't help make your game play any more enjoyable if you've already got greater than or equal to 4GB. Even though Dell have drivers for 64-bit XP (less drivers than 32-bit however), you won't see a significant performance increase from Vista 64-bit or even XP 32-bit. You can try installing laptopvideo2go's drivers, but their drivers on the FX770M dropped performance in 3DMark06 for me. The GPU itself is not made "JUST for gaming" and therefore you should not base your operating system on it. It's good for light-mid gaming as it is but dont expect wonders with XP64. I'd expect more problems with software incompatibility, actually. I mostly see Vista 64 but rarely do I see software released for XP64; software as in professional applications. This is not the system to get if you are a just a gamer, which you make yourself come off as.

Specific application drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/page/partner_certified_drivers.html

 

From what I've read XP 64bit should give me at least some what of a increase... and I have 4gb's of ram and the FX770M
And no I'm not just a gamer, But I'm also going to have Ubuntu on the Lappy for pretty much Everything else... I'm more of a Linux geek then anything... and Vista for non-game windows software that I need... (I don't think there is any so I guess I'm just keeping vista for the heck of it... )
And thats intresting I guess I'll start of with Dells drivers, If I'm unhappy with them I'll try laptop2go
And I think I have all the drivers I need... I'll post it if I have driver problem tomorrow...

 

You should try windows server 2008. All the Vista64 drivers should work. People who say its no good seem to not have tried it. Works great for me and is a lot cleaner than Vista. Only problem is the cost, but you can try it free for 240 days.

My second reccomendation is vmware to run a linux image and not have to dual-boot. Here you will see very real benefits to running in 64-bit. This is now part of my default intall for all my computers. Ubuntu runs great as a vmware image.

If you havn't tried 2k8, please don't comment on its weaknesses, or say "its stupid to use a sever OS on something thats not a server". It works and works fast / stable, period.

My only caveat is I havn't tried it on a Dell laptop, so if you do please let us know how it goes.

 

Linux in vmware isn't what I want, I want my full Linux... I don't see any point in running Linux in a vm... Daul-booting is easy why wouldn't I just do that? And for windows server 08 I don't use windows very much at all.... It's not my main os I'm keeping it in case I need it, So I have no interest in going through all that work to download and burn and install a windows os I won't even use... But thanks for the suggestion and sorry I just shot them down... There just not for me

 

Several benefits to vm:
1. No need to reboot ever. No waiting for startup or shutdown. Just close the lid to sleep / hybernate, open the lid to wakeup.
2. Run your linux stuff and your windows at the same time. Waiting for a compile in linux to finish? Play cod4 in vista at the same time. Basically its like having 2 computers at the same time. Keep a download runinng in linux while you watch blu-ray in windows. There are many scenarios like this you wouldn't think of till you have "the best of both worlds".
3. Share files between the two OSes easily (yes, you can setup ntfs in linux and you can use that but I've never had great success)
4. Use your full disk. Both OS can live basiacally on the same partition (vm will shrink and grow)
5. Several things just run better in windows and several things run better in linux. The most notable for me is core codecs for windows.
6. Windows with a vm linux runs better than linux with a vm windows.
7. WINE is a major pain, this eliminates the need for any emulation.

Not arguing, just thought I would give you some thoughts. I was sceptical at first too and tried many dual-boot type setups. Now I can't imagine not using vm. You should give a vm linux session a shot. You can get a free ubuntu imgage and player from the vmware site. If its not for you didn't cost you anything.

If you aren't interested in a lot of tweaking and problems then don't go with XP64. Go with regular old XP 32.