Dell XPS 15 Questions vs a HP laptop

Hi I'm thinking about buying this laptop. I have an old xps m1500 I bought about 3 or 4 years ago i forget. Anyway I thought I should upgrade because I mostly play games on this laptop (starcraft 2, Dead Rising 2, thinking about buying the total war games like shogun, napoleon)

So this brings me to my question. The XPS 15 says it comes with a geforce 525m video card. Will this be good enough to run say like dead rising 2. In the specs it says to have a card that is NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or better, ATI Radeon™ HD 3850 or better. Is this 525m the same or better?

Also for Shogun Total War it recommends AMD Radeon HD 5000 and 6000 series. Is this also comparable?

The reason why I am asking is because I was looking at a Hp Dv6t with these specs for 883.03

while the xps 15 would run me 984.89 with these specs

 

The 525M is better than the 6490M that's for sure.

But if you upgrade to the 1GB 6770M in the HP (stay away from the 2GB, it's a waste and makes no difference, unless it's the only option like I think I saw on one model) you'll have a GPU that's 30% better than the upgraded 540M in the XPS 15 (which is 12% better than the 525M).

The 6770M upgrade is only $25 more and I wouldn't suggest buying the laptop without that if you're going to play games on it. By the way, the Quad Edition can be had with the 2630QM (base quad) + 6770M 1GB + 1920x1080 for a little under $900.

Link to config with the 6770M and the 1920x1080 upgrades added (don't change either of those, but you can upgrade other components if you need to)
http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=525...-i-buy/584535-sony-vaio-f1390x-about-buy.html

Use the coupon code NBQL6835 on it, to make it $887.


Go for the XPS if you want a better quality display with more vibrant colors, and mainly get the HP (the config I posted, not the one you posted) if you value gaming power and/or want a matte screen.

Also, coupon code for the XPS: 932N$0ZCCHWZB9 ($100 off)
The base config + the 1920x1080 B+RGLED display upgrade (make sure you stick with this, the stock 1366x768 display is junk) will be $849 with the coupon code.

 

cool thanks for checking that out for me! I went to the link and that worked! Also I had been using a discount through my work so originally the discount didnt work for me but now it does.

 

EPP discounts, student discounts, military discounts, etc. are almost always a ripoff when it comes to laptops such the HP DV6t that regularly have $200-off coupons and 30%-off coupons, because the discounts aren't stackable with the other discounts.

 

ya i was wondering why the coupons i found didnt work before haha. I actually found a coupon that made the xps 15 $904 and when i changed some minor things on the dvtquad its $909. so the dell is actually less but the processor and the video card on the HP are way better!

Edit: oh oops i didnt see you had the coupon for the dell in your previous post.

Also is the i7 on the HP the 2nd gen sandybridge?

Edit 2: nevermind it is 2nd gen

Also I was looking at reviews on youtube of the dv6t. I'm not so sure I like the keyboard and the screen on it. But the processor and the graphics card might make up for that for the same price.

While the XPS 15 has a nice keyboard plus backlight and really nice screen while ok graphics card and less memory and less hard drive space for 4 dollars cheaper. Although I could upgrade to the quad core i7-2630QM and the price would go up to 1079.99 with the discount. So I'm kinda torn here.

 

Would you consider a last generation ASUS G series laptop? Both of those GPU's aren't exactly the highest end for gaming. And most games need more GPU power, so you could always upgrade the processor for later.

 

If you're getting quad on the XPS 15, base off of the $1099 model. You get 1080p + quad-core + more upgrades for cheaper than adding the upgrade to the $799 model.

 

wow thanks again! You actually saved me about 20 bucks! plus 6gb ram and 750gb HDD. Plus 2 year in home warranty!

Do you think the quad core is worth it compared to the dual processor? I know not a lot of games or programs even use quad yet.

Actually with that deal i saved $560 total! Sweet!

 

bumping:Is it worth it to get the i7 quad core or stick with the i5? I plan on gaming but i know a lot of games and software dont even take advantage of quad core.

 

i 7 quad core is future proof. now few games support quad core but in future more and more games will take advantage of more cpu cores.

 

thats true in the future im sure a lot of games will use quad core. But then theres a problem of the 525m nvidia graphics card that will be considered obsolete in a few years.

 

I will never buy another HP laptop. Ever

 

Now im even considering buying the 15z because of the "bulkiness" issue with the xps 15

 

I would avoid HP if you care at all about design. XPS is technically a "premium" line, and because of that, you're paying a premium for it, however small. However, XPS is known for huge deals. I bought my M1530 back in 2008, "top-of-the-line" C2D 2.5 GHz, 320 HDD, 4 GB, 8600M GT GDDR3, 1680 x 1050 screen, which "retailed" for about 1800-1900, but which stacking 25% coupons that dell throws at you, plus a couple other things, I was able to get it for about ~$1100 shipped. Of course, this was STILL a premium if I was going spec for spec. One thing to keep in mind about Dell: they're laptops aren't of the best quality off the lines, but their customer service is A+.

Anyway, moving on, how important IS gaming to you? Do keep in mind, it's quite difficult to get performance/cost + style/portability in the same sentence. It's simply impossible.

Dell XPS's look a lot better than HP's dv line, which is simpy a step lower. Comparing them spec for spec isn't reasonable. Envy line is probaby the XPS equivalent, but they haven't updated to the SBs yet.

If you're patient, and you're haggling over the phone, there's NO REASON why you can't get the base 2.0 quad core (maybe even the 2.2) and 540m GT for about $1000.

Other options: if you're STRICTLY into gaming and that's your number one priority, definitely take a look at the Asus G53 series. 460m GTX is a upper class card, and Asus G-series have best in class cooling. On the other hand, it's an in-mobile 9 lb brick.

A little less, there's the Asus N53 series. There's a 540m GT in this one, similar to the XPS. Actually, all specs are similar to the XPS. There's a 2.0 quad + 540m GT in this one, so if you're impatient with waiting for an XPS deal, Amazon sell its for $890 no tax no shipping: Amazon.com: ASUS N53SV-XE1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Silver Aluminum): Electronics

Keep in mind that like HP, you're not really having to pay a premium for their "premium" line, as with the XPS. Plus, the XPS has the best speakers in the business for what it's worth.

The new Lenovo Y570 is also a pretty good option. Build quality is definitely above average for a consumer notebook, and it comes with a 555m GT GDDR5 card, which should prove quite a bit faster than the 540m GT GDDR3s. Much faster memory probably results in 25% gains real world FPS imo. Speakers are also pretty good, the quad is clocked at 2.0. They also come default with 8 GB RAM, saving you $60 for the upgrade. Furthermore, there's a "rapid drive" option, which is in essence a hybrid harddrive with the SSD used as boot partition. Oh and blu-ray too. Like the XPS, there's deals a plenty for this one. While these deals JUST expired, they're worth taking a look at to get a good idea of what you're paying: Get $334 off Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 Laptop, Coupon Code, Best Deal, & Cheapest Price

Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 086228U Core i7-2630QM, GeForce GT 555M, 750GB HDD + 64GB Rapid Drive, Blu-Ray, 8GB RAM

List: $1,599.00
Sale: $1,249.00
$999.20 w/ Coupon

Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 086226U Core i7-2630QM, GeForce GT 555M, 8GB RAM

List: $1,449.00
Sale: $1,099.00
$879.20 w/ Coupon

Then there's the Acer 5750g. Similar specs/price etc, but I've never been a fan of Acer. Shoddy build quality and CS, compared to the superior Taiwan counterpart Asus.

I'm not a huge fan of the 15z. If you're gonna buy a 15 inch, the least you could do is go quad, ESPECIALLY if you're paying over a grand. Plus, the styling reminds me of the old 2007 MBPs.

 

These Y570 deals look great. It's too bad they don't offer an upgrade to a better display from the standard 1366x768. At least I don't see any other option at the Lenovo site.

 

Using XPS 15z and the 525 is more than enough to play any console ports and it can handle Starcraft II just fine on medium settings running in 1080p.