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| javeryh:
This will be my primary computer (I don't have a desktop). I am getting this thing for free since my wife's work is paying for it so I put together some specs over at Dell. They are offering $150 off the base price for the Inspirons today. I am going to pull the trigger today but I want to make sure I'm not leaving anything out since this is kind of spur of the moment (our laptop completely died the other night and we can't be without a computer in the house for long). It will not be for gaming. What do you think? SYSTEM COLOR Jet Black PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB cache) OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1 32 Bit OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works WARRANTY AND SERVICE 4Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis HD DISPLAY Bright, glossy widescreen 15.6 WLED display (1366x768) MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz HARD DRIVE 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) VIDEO CARD Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE8X CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) WIRELESS CARDS Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11 Wireless-N Mini Card BLUETOOTH Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Internal (2.1) BATTERY OPTIONS 9-cell battery SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0 SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 36-months ENTERTAINMENT AND EDITING SOFTWARE WildTangent Games REMOTE ACCESS Dell Remote Access, free basic service DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0 Network Integrated 10/100 Network Card PROCESSOR LABELS Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor OS LABELS Windows Vista™ Premium |
| Sir Headless VII:
Two things. I would go for 64 bit vista, especially since you are going to have 4 gb of ram (the 32 bit OS will only recognize just under 4 gb). Most peoples gripes when it come to 64 bit operating systems are incompatibility of hardware and software. You shouldn't have any hardware issues with a pre-built system and most software should be supported by now (that said I don't have a 64 bit OS). Secondly that system doesn't have a video card, what you have listed is just part of the CPU. I have never used Intel Graphics Media Accelerator but I haven't heard great things about playing games on laptops without dedicated video cards. On the other hand since you have a 32 bit OS and 4 gb of ram anyways I'm not sure what the extra video memory would get you (what I'm saying is I'm not sure how a computer handles having a 32 bit OS with 4 gb system memory and some other video memory, since the 32 bit OS has a 4 gb upper limit). |
| MrMojoZ:
Yes for 4 gigs you want a 64bit OS but Integrated Video is not part of the CPU, it is part of the motherboards chipset. 32bit OSes ignore pretty much anything beyond the first 3gigs. |
| javeryh:
So if you were buying this computer would you switch to a 64 bit OS (Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Service Pack 1 64 Bit) for no extra cost or drop the processor down to Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (2.40GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB cache) for $50 less? Thanks for the help!! |
| massive88:
Switch OS, dont switch the processor. |
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