Yes another "What should I get thread"...


Recommended Posts

Okay getting a new laptop soon and I posted on msghelp but it's slow compared to here - and it's good to have lots of opinions.

First of all:

Intel? Core? 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)

OR

Intel? Core? 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB) (this one is ?67 more!)

And the GPU:

512MB NVidia? GeForce? Go 8800M GTX [+?330]

512MB NVIDIA? Quadro? FX 3600M [+?396]

- the benchmarks for the 8800 are better, but why is the quadro is more, and what else beats the 8800?

And

Intel Turbo Cache Memory 1GB ? Accelerate Data Transfer Speed [+?33]

_ IS this worth it, will it make it alot faster (I will have 2GB of ram)

And the HDD:

Single Drive Configuration - 320GB 7200 RPM SATA with Free Fall Protection

Single Drive Configuration - 400GB 5400 RPM SATA [-?25]

- I am assuming the 320 is better overall.

Thanks :)

Incase your wondering its alienware - don't tell me to go for another make. Alienware is what Im going for, I'm not changing my mind.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/665322-yes-another-what-should-i-get-thread/
Share on other sites

Before you read my post please note IM NOT AN EXPERT!!! :p These are my opinions and I may be very very wrong!

The difference between the processors isn't that great at first sight, I'd say go for the 2.4GHz as you won't really notice 0.1GHz difference, but the 6MB Cache vs the 3MB Cache will speed things up (I think) so I'd go for the 2.5GHz.

GeForce series is for gaming, Quadro is for design applications like 3D etc. so I'd stick with the GeForce Go 8800M GTX. Unless you'll be doing a lot of CAD then go for the Quadro.

The turbocache things I've never understood, but I see them as more of a gimmick than anything useful.

I'd go for 7200RPM you will notice quite a difference between that and a 5400RPM harddrive, but NB it will suck up more of your battery life!

[Also I know you said not to say go for another make, but Dell own Alienware and I'd say their XPS brand is on par with alienware just you're not paying for the badge - but there I said it, take that with a pinch of salt ;P]

I would personally go for the T9300 due to the extra cache and the slight speed increase, though performance wise i wouldnt say there's too much difference between the two

defo go for the 8800, quadro is only really for cad

Not entirely sure wot the turbocache is for, i think it might be for vista to store its Readyboost data, but i could be wrong

And defo go for the 320 hdd, the speed of it is defo worth it over the extra capacity

I'm sorry but getting an Alienware is probably one of the worst decisions. Just avoid it, seriously. Having an Alien face on your laptop lid does not make you cool.

Probably taping that $1000 in $100 bills that you pay extra for that laptop makes it more unique.

I'm sorry but getting an Alienware is probably one of the worst decisions. Just avoid it, seriously. Having an Alien face on your laptop lid does not make you cool.

Probably taping that $1000 in $100 bills that you pay extra for that laptop makes it more unique.

I'd listen to chconline, he knows what he's talking about - as can be seen from his posts around neowin.

I'm sorry but getting an Alienware is probably one of the worst decisions. Just avoid it, seriously. Having an Alien face on your laptop lid does not make you cool.

Probably taping that $1000 in $100 bills that you pay extra for that laptop makes it more unique.

Like I said, I don't want this to turn into an alienware debate. It's not a bad decision, I would like one and that is what I'm getting. Sorry to be rude, but it's something that cheeses me off.

I'd listen to chconline, he knows what he's talking about - as can be seen from his posts around neowin.

True, but like I said.. read above.

Alienware is for the stupidly rich and stupid.

Not really, they're well specced out, even if you do pay a little extra for the lights (which I love :p)

If you're after the LEDs, tons of laptops has them. Dell XPS gaming laptops, Asus G-series, etc. Waste of battery life tho IMO.

Just remember the purpose of buying a laptop. Computers are less about brands than cars are. There's absolutely no point of that. Even at that, get an Apple laptop, those are the ones who's leading modern industrial design, not Alienware.

It's your money, you have the right to do whatever you want with it, but we're recommending on behalf of your best interest. Other than that, there's nowhere we can start.

I'd listen to chconline, he knows what he's talking about - as can be seen from his posts around neowin.

Aww thanks, I feel so honored :blush:

Go for the Intel Core 2 Duo T8300. The extra ?67 isn't worth the performance increase. Also, go for the GeForce 8800M GTX. The Quadro FX 3600M is a workstation graphics solution for CAD, DCC and visualization applications. Most consumers won't need any of its features. Don't go for the Intel Turbo Memory. I've read many forums where people had decreased performance with it. Your RAM will be sufficient enough for gaming so don't worry. And finally, go for the faster 320GB HDD.

We're moving away from the original subject of the thread. BTW just for your interest, Dell owns alienware... Says it all really.

ANYWAY... Which ones should I go for?

It says what really? That you can buy a XPS with the same specs for less than an Alienware? What does Dell owning Alienware have to do with anything? It tells me that the same parts available to Alienware are available on a Dell, that you can buy cheaper....

Back on topic, buy the most flashy expensive overpriced parts available, that way they match the laptop.

With the options you have provided us I gues you are intrested in the newer more expensive model (mx17x). One thing I will agree is that it looks much better than the ugly 17" XPS (in my opinion). Is true with Alienware you are paying for the form factor but then again people purchaced the macbook air? (before anyone starts I am not anti mac)

[1] Area-51? m15x

Design & Display: Silver Skullcap Design

Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology with Webcam

System Lighting: Alienware? AlienFX? System Lighting - Aqua

Operating System: Genuine Windows? Vista Home Premium - English

Graphics Processor : 512MB NVidia? GeForce? Go 8800M GTX

Processor: Intel? Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)

Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 512MB

Turbo Cache Memory: None

System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 320GB 7200 RPM SATA with Free Fall Protection

CD/DVD/RW: 8x Dual Layer Writer (DVD?RW, CD-RW)

Sound Hardware: Intel? High-Definition Audio (24-bit, 192Khz) with surround sound

Keypad: Alienware? Area-51 m15x AlienFX? Keyboard - English

Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel? Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card

Additional Power: Additional Battery - Alienware? m15x 6-cell SmartBay Additional Battery (Silver)

Warranty: AlienCare 3-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return

AlienContact: Added Bonus with any AlienSupport Selection

AlienContact - Remote Alienware Support

they are the specs of my new beast! im upgrading the ram too 4gb myself

thanks for your help

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • The proportion (or number of iterations) has nothing to with this aspect of Copyright I am describing. In short, it doesn't matter how many times the manager tells you to change something or how. Your work product is always YOURS until and unless you then assign that to the person representing the client/company, usually for financial compensation -- either in salary or as a subcontract work for hire payment. if iterations determined copyright, then businesses would have learned to just keep making changes until they could claim they owned the copyright, without having to compensate the artist for their work. And that would be BAD. The only place where the amount of changes does have a role is in how much does a human modify a previous public domain work (from any source) before it is considered fair use or their own work, etc. For example, if a human makes substantial changes to a public domain (re: AI, by definition) work, then they can then claim that derivative work as their own...but NEVER the original version, of course. That's why anyone can make a movie about Dracula, for example, as long as it is based on the public domain novel, but not if they take new ideas from copyrighted movies made afterwards. As one of the people who personally advised the US Copyright Office on their recent ruling on these very issues, be assured that I specifically used the terminology precisely -- though I made it simple enough for laymen to understand it. If I made this confusing by doing so, I apologize. But, to be clear regarding your assumption that I would agree to your second statement that I quoted above -- the answer is NO. If AI does the work, no matter how much "direction" you give it, it cannot be copyrighted. All AI generated content is in the Public Domain and therefore the copyright cannot be assigned to ANYONE, even you -- until and unless substantial modifications are made to it BY A HUMAN BEING (yourself or a contracted artist/writer/etc.) and then that copyright on the derivative work is legally (in writing) transferred to you. This is a critical distinction. And it is important that people, especially AI sloppers, understand this. For example, YouTube is not paying AI slop generators for the copyright, etc. of their AI slop. What YouTube is doing is sharing AD REVENUE for permission to publish your AI slop. Copyright/ownership/rights never come into it. Importantly, that means that anyone can copy any AI slopware on YouTube, etc. and rehost it anywhere they want, even back on YouTube, and there is nothing legal that YouTube can do about it with regards to copyright protections, ownership, DMCA, etc. Anyone is legally free to use any AI slopware in any way they want. When this ruling was pending, I warned Disney legal of all of this before they did their OpenAI deal -- that it would literally dilute their entire IP portfolio forever. They ignored that warning for the PR and stock bump. But that is why, when the ruling came down last year, Disney quickly extricated themselves from that OpenAI deal, even eating the initial upfront fees -- followed closely by OpenAI ending their entire AI video generating business model. They adjusted their PR release dates to make this less obvious to shareholders, of course. Phew. I hope that this clears up the key distinctions for you and anyone reading. If you have any additional questions or even hypotheticals about AI and Copyright, please feel free to ask.
    • Each of the devices displayed on this page now has a little volume meter next to it to show if there is audio actively playing. About time.
    • Owing to the nature of Windows feature enablement updates, it was distributed over Windows Update services as a complete system upgrade rather than as an ordinary cumulative update
    • Microsoft confirms Windows 11 26H2, urges IT admins to prepare for release by Usama Jawad Windows 11 typically follows an annual update cycle, but Microsoft recently broke that tradition a bit by releasing a "26H1" version in the first half of this year as a "scoped" build for select new silicon PCs only. This version was not available for customers using 24H2 and 25H2 builds, as Microsoft is busy preparing version 26H2 for them, confirmed officially for the first time. In a Windows IT Pro blog, Microsoft has urged IT admins to prepare for the upcoming release of Windows 11 version 26H2. The company has confirmed that this will be a small enablement package (eKB) that will simply light up certain disabled features that are already present in the operating system's code base. This means that the "refined" Windows update and deployment experience will be simpler and quicker, with minimal disruptions, as the feature update will simply toggle a few flags rather than performing a complete replacement. Microsoft has explained that this is all possible because the standard Windows 11 releases share the same servicing branch and hence, the same source code. However, this also means that Windows 11 26H1 users won't be able to upgrade to 26H2 as that is a different branch, but this is something we have known for a while now. Similar to previous annual feature updates, Windows 11 26H2 will offer the following support cycles: 24 months of support for Home, Pro, Pro EDU, and Pro for Workstations editions 36 months of support for Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, and Enterprise Multi-session editions Microsoft has not confirmed a concrete release date for Windows 11 26H2, but noted that it is "coming soon". If we go by the ongoing release cadence, we can expect it to begin rolling out in early October 2026. As such, IT admins have been encouraged to begin validating Windows Insider releases in the Experimental Channel, plan rollout rings, and strategize the utilization of their existing deployment tools.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Collaborator
      ryansurfer98 went up a rank
      Collaborator
    • Week One Done
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      Skeet Campbell earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Sharbel earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      576
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      188
    3. 3
      Michael Scrip
      79
    4. 4
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      77
    5. 5
      neufuse
      72
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!