Dell Laptop video card

[Crion]

I am probably going to buy a dell Inspiron 8200 notebook, with a 1.8GHz P4M, but can't decide on what video card to get as I know very little about mobile cards.

Options:

32MB DDR 4X AGP NVidia NV17 3D Video (is NV17 Gf4 as well, can't recall)

Or
64MB DDR 4XAGP NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go 3D Video

Or
64MB Mobility Radeon 9000

Now obviously the 64MB cards are superiour to the 32MB one, but I am wondering how the 32MB one would run current games, and if it would be worth it to upgrade to a 64MB card for about $200.00 Cdn if this will be a working/gaming machine.

I was also considering a 5100 which uses a desktop P4 at 2.4GHz, and can have either a 16mb or 32Mb ati mobility radeon 7500. But decided that a mobile processor would be a better bet due to heat/power savings on long trips using the battery etc. Was this a wise decision or should I reconsider the 5100 with the 32MB card? and if so how would this card compare to the ones available in the 8200.

Thanks for any advise you can offer.

[muisejt]

yeah the NV17 is also a GF4 MX

if you want to play newer games get one of the 64MB cards, if you want the faster card than that would be the Radeon 9000.

stick with the 8200 if you really want to game and are going to use battery power a lot

[ChaosX2]

I personally would go with the 64MB Radeon 9000. However if battery life is important go with one of the pentium M models like the 600m. The 1.3 Pentium M is equal in performace to a P4 1.8.

[Sh0w]

don't get a dell lappy.... I promise you'll regret it...

[Smacz]

any particular reason why?

[TheSpegmaster]

Originally posted by Sh0w
don't get a dell lappy.... I promise you'll regret it...

This statement is probably based on one bad experience. I have had my dell laptop for over a year now and have always had great support from Dell. The company I work for has been purchasing from dell for years now and I have had nothing but good experiences with the company. I have dealt with the support from hp, compaq, toshiba, sony, sager, and acer. None of these companies have been as cooperative or responsive as dell. Buy a dell laptop they are great laptops and will serve you well for years to come.

As far as video cards go, I would go with the Radeon 9000 if you want it for a gaming laptop. You will most likely not want to spend the money to upgrade after you have purchased the laptop, so just buy the best you can in the graphics department.

[gadgets64]

Is it possible to upgrade the video module on the Dell laptops ? I plan to purchase the D800 but was hoping that it would have been spec'ed with the next generation mobile video module (i.e. Radeon Mobility 9600 or GeForce Go 5200/5600).

If yes, where can one buy these video module from once it's released ?

thnx