Which or what Graphics card

[tobeloy]

I am about to buy my first notebook, I have been recommended a Dell Inspiron 9400 as i was told parts are always cheap and available.

I know the notebook will handle all the day to day stuff like email and surfing that i do now on my desktop but I also want to be able to use it for some game playing and require it to play some of the latest games out today.

The model I am looking at has 2 models of graphics card to choose from and I would like to know which is the better of the 2 so your help is appreciated, the cards I can choose from are the:

256Mb ATI Radeon X1400 Pci Express x 16
or
256Mb Nvidia GeForce 7900GS PCI Express x 16

are either of these cards any good and also will I be able to upgrade the card in the future as I dont have lots of cash to spend on a new notebook every year, if you are interested in the system i wish to buy it is on this link:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Inspiron-9400-2GIG- DDR-160HD-LAPTOP-7900-GS-PRO_W0QQitemZ11008732 2872QQihZ001QQcategoryZ177QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Your advice is really appreciated =-)

[vehelpfulguy]

Upgrading a notebook is not easy.

Unlike a normal PC, which uses standard components, laptops use special smaller components and they are not easy to buy or to replace in your laptop.

I think you should assume that whatever laptop and graphics card you buy you are stuck with it.

About the only things easy to upgrade on a laptop are the memory and the hard disk.

[vehelpfulguy]

If you are looking to play the latest games I would NOT buy a PC with Windows XP on it.

Microsoft now have Vista out and they have added new technology to make games run better.

Some future PC games may well pre-req Vista.

And I do not think it would be easy to upgrade the laptop you are looking at on e-bay to Vista.

[vehelpfulguy]

Looks like you are prepared to spend �1000 on a laptop to do normal stuff AND play games.

Generally, laptops are not really set up to play games.

If you really want to play the latest games I would sugest buying a more basic laptop for about �400 (which would be fine for e-mail, internet etc)

Then buy a PC for �600 that was set up to play games. For �600 you could get a pretty fair games PC, and it would be easier to upgrade in the future.

DONT buy a PC from Dell to play games as their PCs are NOT easy to upgrade (they use special components built just for them and are difficult to upgrade).

Go to a PC builder who will build a PC out of standard PC parts.

This can either be a small company near you, or a company like Novatech.

[vehelpfulguy]

One final thing.

The only people who sell Dell PCs and laptops are Dell, via their web site here:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx ?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

I looked on their site and found the Dell Inspiron 9400 with the same spec for LESS than that guy is selling it for on e-bay.

And the one on the Dell site has Windows Vista on it.

I am not sure how or why this guy is selling it, maybe he buys them in bulk off Dell and sells them individually.

Anyway, IF you decide to go ahead and buy this laptop (which as I said, I do not recommend) then buy it direct from Dell as you have more come back if anything goes wrong.

[tobeloy]

Thanks for the advice, you are truly a vehelpfulguy =-)

I think I may reconsider