New Laptop?

[cable guy]

Looking for a Christmas laptop under $1500.00, here are the ones I have been looking at. I prefer a 17" monitor screen, XPS is 15.4".

Dell XPS M1530 $1399.00
SYSTEM COLOR Tuxedo Black
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 3MB Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE Microsoft Works
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
LCD AND CAMERA High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900) & 2.0 M
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
HARD DRIVE Speed: 250GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive Free Fall Sensor
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
WIRELESS CARDS Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
FINGERPRINT SCANNER Finger Print Reader XPS M1530

HP dv7t(Intel) $1348.66
Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4 GHz)
Display 17.0" diagonal WXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Infinity Display (1440 x 900)
Memory 50% OFF 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Graphics card Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Hard drive 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Personalization [For BrightView Infinity Display] Webcam Only
Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard
Networking Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth
Primary DVD/CD drive LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
Primary battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0

HP dv7t(AMD) $1390.66
Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)
Processor AMD Turion(TM) X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor ZM-86 (2.4 GHz)
Display 17.0" diagonal WXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Infinity Display (1440 x 900)
Memory 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Graphics card 512MB ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3450 Graphics
Hard drive 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Personalization [For BrightView Infinity Display] Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard
Networking Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
Modem Port No Modem
Primary DVD/CD drive LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
Primary battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
HP extended service plans 2-year HP Pick Up and Return

[Doom]

What are you going to be using this laptop for? Gaming on the go or basic productivity with some light gaming.

- If gaming... I'd recommend the second HP. Yeah...it's AMD and I'm an Intel fan...but the display is 17" and it's got a decent graphics card.
- If you don't need the best graphics on the block... the first HP (the Intel one) would be my choice. If you can get that one with a comparable nVidia or ATI graphics card...it would really be my first choice.

[cable guy]

Originally Posted by Doom What are you going to be using this laptop for? Gaming on the go or basic productivity with some light gaming. - If gaming... I'd recommend the second HP. Yeah...it's AMD and I'm an Intel fan...but the display is 17" and it's got a decent graphics card. - If you don't need the best graphics on the block... the first HP (the Intel one) would be my choice. If you can get that one with a comparable nVidia or ATI graphics card...it would really be my first choice.

Basic use, I am not a gamer.
Internet
Email
Word,Excel, Power Point

[glc]

All 3 are overkill for basic use. A Dell Studio 17 starts at $749 and a Vostro 1710 starts at $699.