Advice on a "sidegrade" of sorts?

[BKR2879]

New member here, so bear with me a little on this first post.

I almost posted this in the "What laptop should I buy?" thread, but this situation is a little different.

Due to vision problems, I've found my trusty old M1330 screen to be a tad small for my needs, and it has been handed off to my wife as she spends hours online looking for work.

That M1330 was perfect as far as power and performance for what I need (It ran Windows 7 flawlessly), so mostly I need a sort of sidegrade in hardware with just a larger screen, with maybe one other consideration......

With my eye problems, I noticed when looking at laptops at the local BestBuy that all the ones that were solid black were much easier for me to look at and focus on the screen, whereas all the silver and light gray models I had more trouble. It was night and day compared to looking at the M1330 and some of those black models on display in the store. I never would have thought this would happen, but repeated tests confirmed it over a 2 hour shopping trip.

Now, the Vapor Black edition of the Studio 15 would cover that nicely, however I'm concerned if it would perform the same powerwise, (and run Windows 7 as smoothly) as the old M1330 that I loved. I've gotten used to having an NVidia graphics chip and saw in a post here that the 8400M GS in the M1330 was ranked in the same class as the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 in the Studio 15. I know however thank real world performance could possibly put one well over the other within that class.

Maybe there is also some better option I'm missing here??

So very sorry for being so long winded. I've been shopping around locally and online for a week now and I'm getting very frustrated. I'm gladly take any advice/criticism anyone cares to toss out, as I know for a fact a lot of yoi know far more than I do.

Many thanks in advance for any/all help, my eyes thank you too!

[namaiki]

What's your budget?

Also, I think this would have been very good as a "What laptop should I buy?" thread, unless you're mostly looking at purchasing a Dell notebook.

Also what do you need the dedicated graphics card for (ie what programs)?

[BKR2879]

I'm looking to spend around $1200 or so.

The dedicated video would be for older games, nothing like modern FPS games. The M1330 was about perfect in power.

If the mods wish to move this that's fine, though I had planned to stay with a DELL due to great service from them in the past.

I had looked online at some ASUS models but service after the sale matters to me and I only know that DELL has performed superbly in that area mwhen I needed help before.

[Mastershroom]

The Studio 15 would be a great choice for you. It's just as powerful (slightly more so now) as the M1330. And the graphics card has been updated from the ATi 3450 to the 4570. I'm running Windows 7 as we speak on my slightly older Studio 1535 with the older 3450 graphics, and it's running perfectly. The new Studio 15 (1555) will be even better.

[BKR2879]

The Studio 15 would be a great choice for you. It's just as powerful (slightly more so now) as the M1330. And the graphics card has been updated from the ATi 3450 to the 4570. I'm running Windows 7 as we speak on my slightly older Studio 1535 with the older 3450 graphics, and it's running perfectly. The new Studio 15 (1555) will be even better.

Thanks so much for the reply!

I noticed the "Black Vapor" version has the older GPU and only one screen resolution option. I assume it's based on the older model of the Studio 15? If so would it still be a good sidegrade? The newer ones look nice (though I've read about all sorts of issues people are having), and I was debating about trying to avoid the silver/gray cases.

Just don't want to screw myself over in one way while trying to help myself in another.

Thanks again for the input!

[Xiphias]

Thanks so much for the reply!

I noticed the "Black Vapor" version has the older GPU and only one screen resolution option. I assume it's based on the older model of the Studio 15? If so would it still be a good sidegrade? The newer ones look nice (though I've read about all sorts of issues people are having), and I was debating about trying to avoid the silver/gray cases.

Just don't want to screw myself over in one way while trying to help myself in another.

Thanks again for the input!

The old ones (1535/37) also have "issues," mostly with PMS'ing media direct panels. I recommend the 1555 - it's more future proof, and the HD 4570 is far superior to the 3450 without being significantly more expensive.

I think it's also almost a full pound lighter.

[Commander Wolf]

Get a Latitude E6500

It's completely black and matte black while we're at it. The NVS 160M should be more powerful than the 8400M GS, though I don't think it can match the 4570. Three-year standard warranty if you ever encounter any problems, and they're starting at like half of that $1200 if you buy from the Outlet.

[BKR2879]

The Lattitude looks like a very nice machine, it gives me something else to consider, so thank you very much for bringing it up!

I was chatting on IM over my lunch break with a friend from CA who pointed me at RJ Tech.com and their "whitebook" notebooks.

He had me price out a JHL90 with some nice spec's and the price seems like a bargain for what I'd get.

I'm going to try and look over some posts in the Sager forum to see if maybe that might be a better route to go. RJ Tech has an excellent rating on Reseller Ratings from the looks of it.

I'm still pretty attached to DELL though, just from great past experience.