IntelÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâî CoreÃÆââââ¬Ã¾Ãââ 2 Duo T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)

 

 

 

FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows VistaÃÆââââ¬Ã¾Ãââ Home Premium with 1GB of memory

 

 

 

17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ TFT Display with TrueLifeÃÆââââ¬Ã¾Ãââ(glossy)

 

 

 

2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz

 

 

 

Size: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)

 

 

 

24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive

 

 

 

256MB NVIDIAÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâî GeForceÃÆââââ¬Ã¾Ãââ Go 7900 GS

 

 

 

Integrated Sound BlasterÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâî AudigyÃÆââââ¬Ã¾ÃââHD Software Edition

 

 

 

 

 

Do you guys think this is enough to last someone for at least 3 years? I'm going to college soon and probably am going to get a laptop purely for ease of mobility. Plus with the way my parents are they'd rather me get a laptop.

 

 

 

 

 

Its the Dell Inspiron 1705. Reason I'm going for it is there's someone who works for the office I work at that can get me it at a very good discount (his company buys dell PC's from their small business section and resells them) so he thinks he can get this for under a thousand (like 700-900).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know it isn't direct X10 proof so to say but I don't really see DX10 becoming a must have for a while still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also this is probably the best I'm going to be able to get. My current PC specs are fairly lackluster (AMD 64, Nvidia 6600GT, 1GB ram).

well it depends on what you want to do. For regular collage related work, that will be fine however for games I would wait a few months until the 8 series laptop cards come out on dells. as far as portability, A 17 inch screen is not ideal, but thats all personal preference.

That should last well past 3 years when it comes to just doing school work if you take good care of it. Even if it can't run future games a couple years from now, you'll still be able to play current gen stuff and have more than enough horsepower to do whatever school throws at you.

The big thing really is to be able to game decently on it. I'm not looking to be able to future proof and play games with all high 3 years from now but I want to probably be able to run whats going to be thrown at me a few years from now.

 

 

 

 

 

As far as mobility the biggest thing is just so that when I come home for Christmas I don't have to lug a huge tower with me.

 

 

 

 

 

Also the 8 series? Are these going to be laptops running with the 8600, ect. Nvidia cards or is there some kind of specs you can post? I'm not sure I have a few months, really i'm leaving near the middle of august so I need it before then. (and probably earlier so I can get a good discount from my work).

 

 

 

edit: I'm reading up on them right now. Wish I knew a general idea on how much it'd cost for one when they're out.

UPDATE:

 

 

 

Now I'm not sure how this is going to fly with my dad but the basic idea is I'm going to build the best I can get for maybe like $650-700. I'm opting for a normal desktop but with one of the smaller modifyed cases.

 

 

 

 

 

The must haves on the list are a Direct X10 capable card and an Intel Duo 2 core processor. Aside from that I would love 2gb of ram.

 

 

 

 

 

Now the obvious kicker is I can use some pieces of my PC. I'll need a new motherboard/processor/video card and depending on the case a power supply (how are 8600GTs on power?). I have a gig of ram already so I can buy another gig of compatable ram to compliment it up to 2gb.

 

 

 

 

 

The sound card I can bring over from my PC, I can bring over my accesories and my monitor. I want to get a new hard drive (nothing special, like 200gb 7200 is fine) and obviously I'll need a nice small case that will be easy enough to travel with. (really just once a year or so around christmas and stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bigest thing Is i'm working on making it so I can live with it for at least a couple of years before an upgrade. I was able to build a very viable machine for around $840 with about 10 mins of looking at newegg and I can easily chop off 100-150 of that price probably.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I'm looking for some tips. Obviously I want to build my own PC.

so you want a small form factor case, a c2d processor, and another gig of ram? will you be using your old monitor or getting a new one? and is the memory ddr2 on your computer and what speed is it? finally will you be willing to overclock the processor? if you do that you can generally lop of $80 off the price of the processor and clocking it up, as a low and high clocked c2d the only difference is a software setting, the chips themselves are physically the same.