Worth Upgrading my Laptop?

mongoose088 · 2009-06-07 00:12:15

Hi all, I'm currently using a HP Pavilion DV1000 Notebook that I bought about 4 years ago. Here are the specs on it:

Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz)
1 GB DDR SDRAM
100 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
8x DVD+/-RW&CD-RW Combo
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900 - Pentium
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG
Some kind of integrated sound

I plan to buy a slightly modified Dell Inspiron 1420 (cost ~$800 USD):

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/3MB cache)
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
Speed: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) Free Fall Sensor
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS
CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card
High Definition Audio 2.0

Bluetooth support, as well.
------------------------------

My questions are:
1.) How much of an increase in performance can I reasonably expect? Arch is a blazingly fast system in its own right, and I can go from a cold boot to login screen in about 30 seconds. My applications open quickly and run well, with the exception of firefox (a resource hog) that sometimes locks up unexpectedly.

2.) If I use standard arch, can I support more than 2GB of ram? If I cannot, is it worth getting more RAM and using arch64? (Also, is Arch64 a stable and well supported build? I don't know anything about it) I don't do much intensive work, other than surfing, chatting, movies (sometimes hd movies) and the like. Will 2 GB suffice?

3.) How's the price of this overall? And are the overall benefits going to be really worth the cost?

4.) Is Dell ripping me off, or did I find a reasonable price?

Thank you all for reading, I look forward to your replies!

EDIT: Also, those of you that have Inspiron 1420s, tell me your experiences with them. Are they quiet and portable enough for you?

Last edited by mongoose088 (2009-06-07 00:14:51)

.:B:. · 2009-06-07 02:02:23

1) HD should be faster, so that should have an impact - but that's not up to me to tell how much (for all you know you had a very good 5400 RPM HD in your old laptop and a crappy 7200 RPM HD in your new one - shit happens). The whole 'inner belly' of your system should be faster - faster buses, faster CPU, ... so overall you will probably feel an increase in performance.
2) If none of your activities warrant more than 2 GB of RAM, stick with it. 32 bit Arch can handle over 4 GB, but you need to recompile the kernel, and it is said to have a performance penalty. On the other hand, 64 bit Arch will consume more RAM for the same stuff (I have witnessed that myself using a 64 bit and a 32 bit Arch VPS) so you'll have less headroom there. Personally, if you don't need 64 bit software, don't go that way.
3) Isn't that really your call to make? You could as well keep your old laptop, drop in a bigger HD (up to 500 GB now, although I don't know if 2,5" HDs go that big in P-ATA), and double the RAM. Also - your new system will probably have some rebranded Broadcom crap for wireless... Not something I'd be looking forward to .
4) Why don't you compare other offers if you really think you're being ripped off?

Arch Linux

#1 2009-06-07 00:12:15

Worth Upgrading my Laptop?

#2 2009-06-07 02:02:23

Re: Worth Upgrading my Laptop?

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