D630 question

Hi Guys,

Long time lurker here, finally posting! I have been looking on this site for about a year now looking for a laptop and I have certainly learned a lot from you guys, so thanks for that...

I have a question and need some advice from the masters of laptops! Through my company I could get a great deal on a D630 with a T7100 processor. I had originally wanted the T7300 because of the 2mb cache boost, but the price difference for the upgrade would be $218.00!

Now I am not as technologically inclined as most here, so my question for you guys is it worth it? I would mostly be working on this computer using Office apps, web browsing, and photoshop.

Some may say yes certainly upgrade the processor, but price is a factor here (poor college kid). If I did not get the T7300, I could get completecare for the laptop with the 3 year warranty, but if I get the T7300 I would not be able to afford completecare.

Any advice? Thanks in advance!

 

What exactly you want to do with that laptop ?
Does it come with a dedicated GPU ?

 

If I were you, I would get the T7100 and get completecare. But I am not you, and I do not know how much processing power you need. I can tell you that I am currently using the T5470, and it has been more than fast enough for everything I have used it for thus far.

 

Thanks for the quick responses guys...

Mujtaba, I would get the 128MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M dedicated card.

I would also be using the computer mainly for office apps, web browsing, and some photoshop. Not any game playing, but I do want a dedicated card.

 

I would stick with the 7100, it's more than powerful enough for what you want to do. I think in the long run complete care is more valuable than the 7300 and you can always upgrade later when cpu price goes down.

 

Well i'm not you but I would suggest that you go the T7100 and complete care anyway. What can the T7300 do that T7100 can't do? Complete the Photoshop task 3 seconds faster than the T7100. I bet you won't feel the difference.

What can the complete care do that the warranty can't do? Well it'll let you use you machine next to the beach, pool; it'll let you treat your laptop like your textbooks instead of your contact lenses; it'll let you forget that you left your laptop in your car under the hot blazing sun of 120 degrees Fahrenheit; and on and on and on...

 

Settled, completecare and T7100 it is! Thanks guys!

 

Congratulations. You'll enjoy that 630.

 

Thanks cvx5832, I am looking forward to it!

 

May I ask why? What advantage do you think a dedicated card would give you that would make up for the negative aspects (price, battery life, heat) if you're not gaming?

 

hravn,

Because I am still in school I really do not know what I am going to be doing when I start my profession. I currently work in a business environment and expect to stay in that field (obviously I am a business major), and I am not sure what company I will work for and what they will expect of me. If I have to run programs that require more power than an integrated card can give me, I want to have that extra power that a dedicated card has. I know it is stupid to say "future-proof" when it comes to technology, but I do not want this laptop to be completely outdated in two years by keeping the integrated card.

And it is not like this card is a 7950 GTX or something made for gaming; it is a business laptop's graphics card. Also the option through my EPP to upgrade is only around 30 dollars, so the price aspect is not that big of a deal. Battery life I am not worried about either because this laptop will be mostly plugged in all the time. Do you think that the 135M produces substantially more heat than integrated graphics? If that were true then maybe it would not be worth it, but that is the only downside that I see if that is the case.

 

No, it is one of those that is pretty much negligible. THe battery life difference is too small to worry about.