1521 & 1721 That Bad?

I've been lurking here for awhile & I know nothing........ I repeat...... absolutely nothing about laptops.

I've noticed that the mass majority here have opted for the 1520/1720 as opposed to the 1521/1721's. I bit the bullet & ordered a 1721 today (specs below) & hope it will suffice for web surfing, dvd's, email & some light photo whatnots....no gaming. It's not due to ship until 09/21, so please feel free to share your reasons if you think a 1720 would work better for me......

Thanks!

Inspiron 1721, AMD Turion 64 x 2 TL-60 (2.0GHz/1MB)
1 313-5505 Flamingo Pink Color with Microsatin Finish
1 466-8375 2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
1 320-5375 Anti-glare, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900)
1 320-5374 ATI RADEON Xpress1270 256MB HyperMemory for Inspiron 1721 (Integrated)
1 466-8380 160G 5400RPM SATA hard drive
1 420-6556 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English
1 313-5186 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP,INSP1721
1 420-5769 Internet Search and Portal
1 420-5924 Icon Consolidation Application
1 420-6436 Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 420-6995 DELL SUPPORT 3.4,DIM/INSP
1 463-2282 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access
1 420-7025 Media Direct 3.3
1 420-7244 Dell Support Center 1.0
1 430-0493 Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem, for Inspiron
1 412-0917 Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0, for Inspiron
1 313-5153 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
1 420-6464 Roxio Creator Basic
1 313-5014 Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy
1 430-2311 Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini Card
1 320-5731 Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
1 412-0968 Creative Earbud EP630
1 462-3905 I chose the promotional security package with service
1 312-0497 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for Inspiron 1721
1 412-0933 AOL for Broadband
1 412-0934 Earthlink
1 412-0915 MS WORKS 8.5
1 412-0358 Soft Contracts - Consumer Complete Care
1 412-0359 Soft Contracts - Qualxserve
1 420-6592 Network Associates McAfee 8.0 English, 3-Year Subscription
1 420-7091 DataSafe Online Dim/Ins/XPS
1 420-7094 DataSafe Online 10GB for Dim/Ins/XPS
1 420-7273 Dell Support and PC Tune-up 1YR
1 950-3339 3 Year Limited Warranty
1 950-5442 Warranty Support,2 Year Extended
1 960-2780 Warranty Support,Initial Year
1 960-4667 CompleteCare Accidental DamageProtection, Inspiron, 3 Year
1 960-7391 1 yr Automated PC Tune Up
1 986-4349 Bundle LoJack Theft Recovery Service - 3 Year
1 986-5849 Thank you for choosing a Limited Warranty and Service Contract
1 987-4827 Insp Datasafe 10GB,1YR,DHS
1 982-8412 Type 15- Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Week ends, 24x7 Technical Support, 2 Year Extended
1 987-5388 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year
1 983-3140 Type 15- Third Party At HomeService with Nights and Weekends, 24x7 Technical Support,Initial Year
1 987-5467 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year
1 430-2348 Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Mod
1 320-5838 Premium Deep Metallic Pink w/ Soft Touch LCD back color w/ 2M pixel Camera Insp 1720
1 310-8628 You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
1 988-0089 DataSafe included with DellCare Service bundle

 

That setup should work just fine for non-gaming use.

There's nothing bad about the 1521 and 1721, they're just the lower end models.

 

If you saved a significant amount of money opting for the 21s, then it's probably a good deal for what your going to be using it for.

 

I don't think there is anything "wrong" with those models. It's more a case of people preferring the excellent Intel Core2Duo chips and the new SantaRosa mobile chipset that is optimised for them. Finally high performance in notebook computers for a reasonable price, for those that need it (esp gaming)

But that doesn't make the AMD ones any better or worse. They just are. And at the end of the day, if it's cheaper and does the things you want, and more importantly, You are happy with it, then that's really all that matters. And your specs look like it will be a sweet laptop all-round

 

i ordered the 1521. i know somebody who has amd for a desktop and the thing runs just fine. i'm not a big gamer so spending the extra money isn't something i need to do. its basically only for college..

 

The 1521 and 1721 don't have the video card options that the 1520 and 1720 do. If you get a 1521 or 1721, it will come with an ATI RADEON Xpress1270 with "HyperMemory" (which is part shared memory). For basic applications like email and the other ones you've mentioned, it should be fine.

 

Don't worry about your 1721. Don't forget; a lot more people are buying the 1520/1720 because it's brand-new technology. That's what the big hype is all about it. Is it worth getting right now? For your needs, I say not.

 

Thank you all so much....

Excuse my noobness, but my biggest concern was that I'd have issues with DVD's. Hell, it was hard enough figuring out the Dell pricing thing.... I'm sure I over paid, but I was just sitting there watching the prices go up while I was waiting for a better deal.

My estimated shipping date is 09/21, so, if I can find a better price before then, I can always cancel the original.....

Thanks Again!

 

I did some basic CPU benchmarks on the Intel vs. AMD. My laptop 2Ghz Intel core2duo was 30% faster than the 2.3Ghz AMD X2 on the desktop. This was a fair comparison because it was purely CPU bound test and no other hardware interfered with it.

Yeah, overall Intel core2duo architecture did beat out AMD's dual core eventually, and by a large margin. Just like when AMD's dual core beat out Intel's netburst two years ago.

You will notice the difference only in hardcore CPU bound jobs like encoding, photoshop or video editing etc. For daily use, you won't notice a thing. Both chips are fast enough.

PS: The benchmark was done on 1420 which I returned.

 

Actually, take a look a the huge benchmark thread going on (the bye bye to super-pi) and you'll see that the Turion cpus are pretty much neck and neck with the core 2 duos. The 2.0GHz TX2 are on par with t7200s pretty much. And that is a purely cpu benchmark, don't really know what devsk used.

 

Can you provide a link please?

I used mencoder and python tests under linux. It is possible that the AMD dual core CPU (3800 X2 overclocked to 2.3Ghz from 2.0Ghz) that I used is older and slower than 2Ghz Turion but its highly unlikely because I don't think AMD architecture has changed. If anything, mobile CPU of same freq and architecture should be slower than the desktop CPU. Moreover, its running at 2.3Ghz.

BTW, I have always been an AMD fanboy...

 

It'll be fine for these uses.

17" laptops are pretty big and heavy though, so I hope you don't plan on carrying it around with you a lot.

Also, I hope you used the Dell coupons. If not, call up and ask for the discount.

 

Here's the Bye-Bye Super Pi: wPrime thread.

As can be seen, the AMD CPU's are neck-and-neck with the Intel ones.

Graphics cards and Intel's marketing are the two major reasons the 1520/1720 are so popular. But for non-gaming use, the 1521/1721 will be fine.

I'd even slightly prefer AMD chips with equal performance. The Intel ones make a fairly quiet but annoying whine when entering the C3 sleep stage (a low-power mode). AMDs don't have this - a good point for them.

 

Thanks so much Swarmer....

I won't be carrying it around much, so the size & weight aren't an issue. I'm ok with the price that I paid, not thrilled, but I can live with it....I've had a hard time finding out what others have paid for a similar system, so I really didn't have much to compare it to.

I found an E-Value code that still allowed for the free 160 g HD & the free memory upgrade, I had the $325 off coupon, the 3% off with DPA, the 7% off with the Dellcare Plus, 3% back with FW, so the total was $1260.

Thanks Again!

 

about the coupons.. when i ordered mine in july i didn't use any. i thought that when applied the automatic deal from dell was taken off. so i wouldn't be able to do anything about that now right?