help please

sohappy

need some help,
which of these two systems is better value and why?



INSPIRON 1300 629EURO.......

Components
Intel® Celeron® M Processor 380 (1.60 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 400 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2 (Does not include Operating System Re-Installation CD)
Collect & Return, 90 Day Service only
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display
1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x512)
60GB (5,400rpm) Hard Drive
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
4 Cell, 29Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Accessories
For Celeron® M Processors - Dell™ Wireless 1370 802.11b/g Mini PCI Card

..............................................................................
INSPIRON 1501 579EURO

Components
Mobile AMD Sempron technology 3500+
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2 (Does not include Operating System Re-Installation CD)
Collect & Return, 90 Day Service only
15.4" Wide Screen XGA TFT Display: 1280x800
256MB 533MHz Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x256)
ATI Radeon® Xpress 1150 256MB HyperMemory™
60GB (5,400rpm) Hard Drive
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
6 Cell, 56Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Accessories
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless Mini Card18

Ruu_Old

Well the first one listed has more RAM. 256MB is very little in todays standards (which the second one had listed), what do you plan on using it for? You could get the bare minimum of RAM from Dell and pick it up much cheaper elsewhere.

subway

that bottom one only has 256mb ram.
bump it up to 1024mb and then the machines are virtually identical
compare the prices then, but with only 256 ram i wouldnt touch number 2

sohappy

223euro extra to bump up the ram,, i only use the laptop for surfin and email and photos, the 1501 has a 3 in 1 card reader which would be handy, i could always buy ram at a later stage, i think it will take up to 2gig of ram, are the processors similar in power,,

subway

similar in that theyre both low power,
they will be fine for browsing/email/photos
crap for games and a bit slow if your encoding audio/video

the ram is the only thing that sets them apart for me.

Akrasia

you probably won't be able to take it up to 2ghz, the motherboard will only support a certain amount, most likely 1024mb

With regards to the processors, the amd runs at 1.8ghz compared with 1.6 for the Intel celeron. Sempron also have a better reputation than Celeron for performance and reliability.

in reality, the difference is not noticable for day to day applications, and at your budget, games are out of the question (unless you're a fan of the original sim city)

sohappy

thanks lads..

sohappy

would i be better waiting a few weeks? does dell bring out new deals for the christmas market? looking at the US site dell seem to have discontinued the 1300 model the 1501 is their entry level machine,

Capt'n Midnight

just wondering out loud

The 1300 does NOT take pcmcia / pc cards.

Is the same true for the 1501 ?

How does 1.6GHz compare to 3500+ ?
does either shine in a particular role or power usage ?

does the 1501 have a better video card / is the chip set better.

subway

i think dells all take express cards these days.