Dell D630 - Good for photo editing?

My dad's company is ordering a lot of D630s so he's getting them at great prices (I computed it at Dell's site and it's more than half the price) and he asked if I wanted to get one along with their order. This means I can't customize or have other options.

A little background on me, I'm a photographer for a year now and I use a 3-4 year old Asus S5N laptop. I like it and it's serving me well (less than 3lbs!). It was my college laptop however it's not very fast when I use Adobe Lightroom with a ton of photos especially in rendering them an 100%. Not that it has a hard time but there's some delay, which I am patient enough to wait for. Everything else is fine. It's "loaded" at its max of 768MB RAM and 80GB HDD and has a 1.5GHz Centrino CPU with integrated graphics.

However, this chance may be a great time for me to upgrade! Thinking of much faster editing really sounds good. Do you think the D630 would serve me well? My other option is to save up for a loaded iMac instead, but it'd be great if I had a portable.

Here are the specs of what my dad's company is order:

Dell Latitude D630 (XP)
-Intel Core Duo 2 T7250 (2.0GHz)
-2GB (2x1GB) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
-iNTEL GMA X3100
-Intel 965GM
-14.1" Wide Aspect XGA Display
-3 years service and parts warranty
-360 Bluetooth Module
-Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 (802.11 a/g) MiniPCI Card
-Dell Palmrest with Fingerprint Reader
-Windows XP PRO SP2
-Windows XP PRO SP2 CD Media
-8X DVD-ROM + 24X CD-RW Combo Drive
-6-Cell battery
-Large Nylon Case
-Targus Defcon Combination Lock
-Other usual stuff like the CDs and software and charger


Do you think I would be okay with this for photo editing? I know it doesn't have the dedicated graphics card but that's the only option for me. I love the idea of having 2GB of RAM and I can imagine how much faster the integrated graphics is compared to my "ancient" laptop. Everything else about the laptop sounds great from what I've read and researched. I like the option to use the modular bay for extra battery power, which is great if I edit on the road!

I wish it had a DVD-burner though. Since I can't customize it on the order, can I easily change the optical drive to a DVD burner?

Your comments, thought and all would be appreciated


Diego

 

That should work much better than your old laptop. If dedicated gfx is not an option, than this is probably the way to go.

 

Well, let's put it this way: while it ain't specifically targeted at designers and such like those Mac things there's no reason it shouldn't be good for photo editing and associated processes.

I use my D830 for art on a pretty normal basis and I can say it's a big improvement over my 500m, specially for processor intensive functions. The lack of a dedicated GPU shouldn't be much of a problem if you aren't doing any gaming or 3D work.

As for the optical drive, it is very easy to replace. In fact, not only is it easy to replace, it's backwards compatible with a few older Dell optical drives (I know for a fact it works with the one on my 500m), so not only will you be able to buy and install a burner, you can probably get one real cheap on Ebay.

 

Thanks pixelot. Do you have an idea of how much faster it'd run compared to my old lappy? Wow if it were twice as fast I'd be very happy

 

Thanks Commander Wolf! So let me get this straight, I can get a new DVD burners for laptops (without any casing or anything) and swap it easily? Sorry just making sure Dang that sounds awesome woohoo, I've never had my own DVD burner, I use my sister's PC to burn DVDs for my archiving photos

 

The T7300 in my D830 is more than four times as fast as the Pentium M 1.3 in my 500m.

The optical drive is a module that fits in the media bay. So basically you have to go and buy a media bay module that houses a DVD burner. I know that media bay burners from the D6x0, D8x0, 500m and 600m will work for sure. And I'm sure there are others that will work as well.

 

WOW that's quite a difference!

I see, I can probably find that media bay module on ebay or something. However, can I use the one that comes with the D630? Since it's an optical drive in a module, can I remove that drive from the module and replace it with a DVD burner?

 

You probably could, but it would definitely be more of a hassle and I don't know if anyone will sell the innards of the module individually. If you ask me, you're better off buying the module as a whole.

 

Thanks! I'll do a search on ebay

 

Seems like the cheapest these things run is about $40 USD:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-DVD-RW-DVD...ryZ64474QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Inspiron-8...ryZ64474QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Latitude-D...ryZ64474QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Wow thanks Commander Wolf! You know, I was just thinking maybe I can use a slot-loading DVD burner! That'd be so awesome. You think it's possible?

 

Probably not. Maybe if we were real good modders we could do it, but I'm dubious. I actually don't like slot-loaders as it's a pain to get anything out if it jams. I like having the emergency release mechanism. Helps to get stuff out when the laptop is turned off, too.

 

Makes sense. I think I'll be happy with that whole module, sounds like a hassle to do the slot-load drive.

Before I get one, is there anything I should know in choosing one? I haven't done my research on DVD burners, and I think there are differences with some being dual layered (that's a plus i assume), some having + or - symbols and such.

 

Basically just choose something with an assurance that it will work whether that be a DOA guarantee or a warranty or whatever. All of these combo drives are DVD+/-RW. They will burn almost all CD, CDRW, DVD and DVDRW.

I'm not totally sure what the +/- mean, but I think it's less important these days than it was in the past. I don't believe any of these drives have dual-layer capabilities, but I've never used a dual-layered DVD so I can't say for sure.

 

awesome. thanks a lot!

 

Actually most of those drives are dual layer burners. Most if not all drives sold these days are. As for the +/- thing...it IS important, though most burners do both. DVD+R and DVD-R are both sold in stores. If you chose the wrong media blank disks you could technically not burn on it.

 

Hi again guys. Did a little more reading and from i've gathered, photo editing doesn't really use the graphics card but more of the CPU, HDD and RAM. So with that, does it mean I won't get much performance difference in using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom using the D630 against a Macbook Pro?

I may have the option to get the MBP if I borrow some money. It really appeals to me because I haven't done PC gaming for a few years now since I moved to laptops and I miss it terribly. But I'd be spending a lot more money, so if there won't be much difference in performance in photo work I might just stick to getting a D630.

 

Oh just to recap, here's the D630 specs i can get:

-Intel Core Duo 2 T7250 (2.0GHz)
-2GB (2x1GB) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
-iNTEL GMA X3100
-Intel 965GM

And here's the MBP I'm thinking of getting will have

2.4Ghz core 2 duo
2GB RAM
5400RPM HDD
256MB GPU Nvidia 8600M GT

 

I'm guessing it's a T7700 in the MBP? With the extra 400MHz and L2 cache you'd probably feel a difference in processor intensive jobs, but it won't be anything amazing. But yeah, if you do anything 3D the 8600M GT is gonna kill the X3100.

 

Hmm so if I just stick to work stuff, full of photo editing no 3D stuff, there won't be much of a difference huh? Hmm maybe I'll just stick to the D630, I'd hate to have to borrow money.. And I can be a bit more "productive" than playing games haha! But I do miss playing PC games terribly, I haven't even played Half Life 2

So not much difference in using Photoshop and Lightroom?

 

Probably not. Especially since I think newer versions of PS are good at using multiple cores.

 

Thanks! I'll have to think about this

Pluses for the MBP:
-GAMING!
-quite a bit faster
-get both leopard and xp! (I absolutely love os x)
-very handsome and cool
-"better" warranty

Minuses for the MBP:
-cost
-have to spend more for 3 year warranty (apple protection plan)

Pluses for the D630:
-cheaper!
-better battery life
-get to be more productive instead of staying in my room and playing games haha
-more value
-3 years warranty

Minuses for the D630:
-no recent games will be playable (I'd love to play FEAR, bioshock and half life 2)
-inferior screen to MBP


Anything else?