[manu08]

The thing is, getting a 14.1" screen is the main concern of the new laptop. I love that size, it makes the laptop just a perfect size for portability.
Tell me this, what are the chances of the NVIDIA GeForce 8400m series graphics card to come out on a 14.1" notebook, probably would be with the latest Santa Rosa chipset I guess? Do you think they might have the 8400m series graphics card on thin-light notebooks by the end of August the latest, also what do you reckon the average price of such laptops would be?
One more thing, is there a 15.4" notebook available which is less then 1.5" thick & has a dedicated video memory graphics card in it as well?

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I can only guess, till we see such products no one will know. ATI's mobility graphics should be just as good, it'll come to our laptops at some point but when.....Who knows. Starting price will be $2300 if I remember correctly.
James

[james_8970]

I can only guess, till we see such products no one will know. ATI's mobility graphics should be just as good, it'll come to our laptops at some point but when.....Who knows. Starting price will be $2300 if I remember correctly.
James

[manu08]

Are there any laptops that have a 15.4" screen with a dedicated video memory graphics card - which is designed for gaming (i.e. not Quadro or any of that sort) and is less than 1.5" in thickness.

Edited by manu08, 17 May 2007 - 10:20 AM.

[james_8970]

Larger screens and better graphics cards in laptops come hand in hand.
The reason for this is because most people that want a portable laptop are conserned about battery lifetime meaning the lower end the graphics card the better since it'll draw less power. There are some exceptions like get 12cell lithim batteries that are expensive.
I'll take a look around, there should be some for 15.4" monitors but there won't be any for 14.1" ones.
James

[james_8970]

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834220123
I'm not going to lie, I'm not a fan of Asus, but this is the only thing that I can find that'll meat you requirements, I want to tell you though, your probably going to want to upgrade the memory to 2GB.
Here is a open box version
Then you'll have a bit more money to spend on memory.

And here is a laptop with DX10 graphics that I though we wouldn't see for a while....
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834220163

I highly recommend that you upgrade to 2GB if you buy any of these for the smoothest experience.
James

Edited by james_8970, 17 May 2007 - 05:57 PM.

[manu08]

Well, since I'll only be purchasing the laptop in August, by then, maybe a better laptop might be released. Tell me this though, I've seen these two laptops but am a little confused.
One has a NVidia GeForce 8400M G built-in 128MB VRAM TurboCache up to 384MB w/ 1GB RAM and 896MB w/ 2GB RAM. . . . .
and the other has. . . . .
NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series 256MB PCI-Express Video. . . .
That's the complete description I have till now, judging by what it says, which will give me better performance in the latest games? Both are DX10 cards & the laptops will have the *exact same* configuration, but the difference in the graphics cards has got me confused. The laptop will have 2GB RAM btw.

[james_8970]

8 series is really vague, since that included a very wide variety of cards. Your best bet would be to give me links to what your seeing. Keep a close eye for shared memory, because this means you video card uses your systems memory.
For example if you graphics card has 256MB of shard RAM and you system has 512MB of RAM then in reality it'll only have 256MB for ressources because you graphics card will be using the other 256MB of the 512MB.
512-256=256 in this case.

According to Nvidia turbo cache is faster and requires less power, I have yet to look at benchmarks to see if this is really the case or not.

James

Edited by james_8970, 24 May 2007 - 10:18 AM.

[manu08]

So, which do you reckon is better, cause if I have the option of hypermemory/turbocache on the video card I guess system memory would decrease while playing games but if the graphics memory increases to about 512MB then wouldn't the game perform rather well, or better compared to a graphics card which has 256MB only?
I didn't get this info from a website, I contacted the sales team of an online store - xoticpc.com & asked them what are the new 14.1" laptops coming to their store & to give me the specifications of the new laptops. Here's what they sent me,

ASUS:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Processors T7100 1.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
LCD Size & Resolution: 14" WXGA(1280x800) LCD Glossy
MB Chipset: Intel PM965 Series chipset (Crestline) 800MHz FSB + ICH8M
Optical Drive: 8x Super-Multi DVDRW Dual layer
Memory: 1024MB DDR2 667MHz (1Gx1) Two sockets for expansion up to 4GB
VGA Card: nVidia GeForce 8400M G built-in 128MB VRAM TurboCache up to 384MB w/ 1GB RAM and 896MB w/ 2GB RAM (DX10 Support)
Hard Drive: 160GB 5400RPM
WLAN: 802.11 a/g/n
LAN/Fax Modem: 10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN, FAX modem
Battery/Run Time: Li-Ion 6 Cell
USB/1394/IrDA/S-Video/DVI: 5/1/1/1/1
Bluetooth: Yes
Card Reader/PCMCIA: 8-in-1 Card Reader / Express Card
Color/Weight/Height/Dimension (W*D*H): 5.25 lbs / 13"*9.6"*1.4"-1.5"
Warranty: 2 Yr Global with 30days ZBD 2-way overnight Free shipping for warranty service, Technical Support: 24/7 (except holidays) Hotline: +1-888-678-3688 http://vip.asus.com/...e/techserv.aspx
Carry bag/mouse: yes
Operating System: Windows Vista Business
Vista hardware specification:
Camera: 0.3M
Special Features: Power 4 Gear+, Instant Fun PLUS, 802.11n, DX10 Support

COMPAL:
Display
14" Glare Type WXGA (1280x800) Widescreen LCD
Processor & Chipset
Intel® Centrino® Pro w/ Santa Rosa Chipset
Chipset
Intel PM965 Crestline and ICH8-M 800 MHz System Front Side Bus Speed
Disk Drives
Detachable 2.5" 9.5mm SATA150 Hard Disk Drive
12.7mm; Interchangeable with High Definition HD DVD/CD-RW Combo drive or High Definition HD DVD±R/RW Combo drive w/Software (TBD LATER)
Built-in 4-in-1 memory card reader (MS/MSPRO/SD/MMC)
Memory
512MB DDRII 667MHz Dual Channel Memory (expandable to 4096MB)
Two SO-DIMM sockets
Video Controller
nVIDIA GeForce 8 Series 256MB PCI-Express Video
Supports two DIFFERENT applications open at one time; one on the External Monitor, and one on the Laptop Screen. Multi-tasking has never been more convenient.
Audio & Multimedia Features
3D Surround sound Full Duplex
Built-in 7.1+2 HD Audio Codec - Realtek ALC268
2 built-in speakers
Built-in Microphone
Sound Blaster compatible
Headphone output / Microphone input
Network
Built in Ethernet 10/100/1000BaseT Network
Built-in mini-PCI Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965 BGN 802.11B/G/N Wireless LAN (optional)
Built-in Bluetooth (optional)
Built in MDC 56k V.90/V.92 MDC Fax/Modem
I/O Interfaces
4 USB 2.0 ports
VGA External Monitor Output
IEEE-1394 Firewire Port (4-pin)
Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Camera
S-Video TV output
RF-in Connector
Kensington lock support
Input Device
Keyboard with 85/86 Full Size Keys
MS Windows Function Keys
Control button for short-Cut key functions: 1 WWW (Explorer) key, 1 E-mail (Outlook) key ---- Control buttons for Smart Charging: Smart Charging --- Control buttons for Power USB
Programmable TouchPad
2-way scroll (up, down) verticle or programmable horizontal scroll
Express Card Slot
Supports Express Card 34/54 Devices
Battery
9-Cell Smart Lithium-Ion Primary Battery (6 cell spare optional)
Primary Battery Life is (TBD LATER)
Electrical / Power
Full Range 110-220V A/C, 50-60 Hz Auto-Sensing, Auto-Switching Universal AC Adapter
Cooling
Artic Silver 5 thermal compound (optional)
Copper CPU Heatsink
Size and Weight
337mm(W) x 245mm(D)x 34.2mm(H) on front side, 36.9mm on rear side
2.5 kg. including 6 Cell battery
Warranty
3 Year Complete Care Warranty with 3 Year Full Parts/Labor Warranty, 24/7 Toll Free Domestic Technical Support & Next Business Day Shipping both ways
One, Two & Three Year (ADP) Accidental Damage Protection Full Coverage Plans along with Onsite service (Optional)
Additional Features
Integrated Digital 2.0Megapixel Video Camera
Built in Biometric Fingerprint Reader.
Standard Carrying Case
XP Home / XP Pro / Vista Home Premium / Vista Business / Vista Ultimate (Optional)
Drivers and Utility CD
User's Manual
12v Auto Adapter (Optional)

Those are the specifications of the two laptops which will be available soon for purchase. Since they both are customizable, my basic specifications regardless of which laptop I get will be:

Intel Core 2 Duo (T7300) 2.00GHz
2048MB RAM
80GB 7200RPM HDD
Windows Vista Home Premium (will this be sufficient for university usage? Like for XP you have to get XP Pro so, is Vista Home Premium ok?)
WLAN 802.11b/g/n
Built-in webcam
DX10 capable graphics card

Edited by manu08, 25 May 2007 - 10:36 AM.