Vostro 1400 v Vostro 1500

[manzi]

I want to get either the Vostro 1400 (14") or Vostro 1500 (15") for my sister. She wants it to be light, have good battery life, but prefers the silver media buttons infront of the Vostro 1500. Which would be better for my sister's needs?

Also how long will the battery last when the Vostro 1500 has the 8600 GT instaleld with a 9 cell?

Thx for your time.

[nivek]

Light...the Vostro 1400 w/9 cell + adapter probably tops out at 7 lbs, plus the weight of your bag. Add another pound for the 1500.

And good battery life...the Vostros aren't amazing at that either. They're decent. Do you have any hard numbers in mind? Do you need that dedicated graphics card?

[ike2187]

If she wants a light notebook then the 1500 with the 9 cell battery is out of the question. So maybe the 1500 with the 6 cell would be good. It really just comes down to size between the two.

[manzi]

My sister wants atleast 4 hours of battery life and i want the graphics card.

Edit:You say the adpter adds to the weight, isnt the adapter light or is it heavy like the xbox 360 power supply?

[nivek]

What about weight?

Battery and performance are in an inverse relationship...you can never have both. There's always a tradeoff, and 4 hours is possible if you use the Vostro 1400 with the 8400M GS, not sure about the 1500.

EDIT:
It's not xbox360 brick adapter heavy but it's still substantial weight if you're walking around with it in your bag.

[manzi]

Oh ok. Thx for the tip. I have one more question, how long will the Vostro 1500 with the 8600 GT last with a 9 cell?

Also is the Vostro 1400 the same thickness as the Vostro 1500?

[hlcc]

My sister wants atleast 4 hours of battery life and i want the graphics card.

Edit:You say the adpter adds to the weight, isnt the adapter light or is it heavy like the xbox 360 power supply?

you'll get 4 hrs of battery life doing "normal" tasks(surfing the net, word processing, etc).
start gaming, then you'll be looking at 1-2 hours max.

[skyghene]

I'd go for the 1500 since the price is 100$ cheaper than the 1400 (smart value package)

[Zer0N1nja]

I went with the vostro 1400 because

a. I have a high end rig at home with a 8800gts
b. anything over 14 inches is huge to me on laptop screens.
c. its smaller and lighter
d. i like small thing, my g/f is only 5'1 XD

[tehkryptonite]

I was also at this dilemma...it was hard to choose.

Assuming that you went for the smart value package for both the 1400 and 1500, the 1400 would probably be a better choice. The 1400 would have a better battery life, and bigger memory. Also, it would have a 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS. Also, it would be lighter to carry around.

I chose the 1500 since it had a bigger screen, but it also has a smaller memory. (which I probably will upgrade later when I get the laptop). I also got it for aesthetic purposes…I heard that the 1400 doesn’t have a full magnesium alloy casing.