1525 as a developers tool?

I'm still searching (researching) for a laptop to do some lightweight development work on. Mostly visual studio and sql server. No huge datasets, probably just enough to do training and maybe some small apps and databases. I'm mostly sold on the vostro 1400, 2ghz with 128 meg video and windows xp (maybe dual booting Ubuntu).

I'm on a budget so I figure I should at least consider the refreshed inspiron 1525 (with 2ghz, 2 gig ram) I don't know that I really need the dedicated graphics card. I'm not a gamer. I just want it in case I decide to move to Vista at some point.

Any opinions on if a 1525 would be 'good enough' to do light development on would be greatly appreciated.

 

From the review on the X3100 on this site, the X3100 performs better on XP then vista.. Which is ironic being most systems that have the X3100 also have Vista. If you are doing allot of 3D work then go with the 8400m. The X3100 does fine on 2D stuff. Also, its rumored that the 1525 will have a Blu ray option later in the month. If so, I think they will have to offer a 8400m on the 1525. Since the 1420 has the 8400m the inspiron line is out of whack. I expect a dedicated GPU will come soon for the 1525. You might want to wait a few more weeks if the 1525 is something you want with a dedicated GPU.

 

Hi DesertNM: Thanks ... I didn't realize there was a review for the x3100. Somehow I totally missed that. I'll check it out.

I think I can wait a couple weeks to see if an 8400m shows up on the options page. I wasn't set to buy today anyway, I just want to be ready so when I get the money put aside I can pull the trigger with confidence.