Anyone got any idea how much extra does the 9-cell battery weight? and does it bulge out at the back or downwards? oh and another thing.... how come i've been reading a few other topics regarding the processor and quite a few ppl prefer the Core i5 over the i7? wouldn't it be better in the long run to get a higher grade processor assuming that technology is advancing pretty fast and by the time you know it i5 will be old skool...??wats ur opinion??

This post has been edited by Merovingian2: Nov 4 2010, 12:38 AM

It bulges down, only a little bit. Weight, you can check Dell's website.

Many people want i7 quad because they think its "power" will benefit them. I think the opportunity cost is battery life (if you're mobile often), heat, and power, as well as performance in normal use.

"wouldn't it be better in the long run to get a higher grade processor assuming that technology is advancing pretty fast" yeah that's what I thought but trust me the current Core i7 quads are not that advanced. Sure, they have turbo, but it only turbos to 2.53GHz etc for two or less cores, it can only work the four cores together at the base speed (very low, 1.6GHz or 1.73 GHz for 720/740QM).

Besides, if you think the current Core i7 quads will be able to last long, they actually were sold before these Core i5s. Apart from turbo, i5s are not that much of an improvement over Core 2 Duos with high clock (plus they have greater cache, lower TDP, etc).

If you ask me Intel is not "advancing" very well. Mostly we get i5 or i7 because they are new.

the Core i dual core actually ve less cache compared to Core 2 Duo...

T/P9000 family has 6MB L2 cache, while 600M has 4MB L3 cache...

but, cache is not a big deal for the Core/Nehalem architecture... 3-4MB is the sweet spot...

we get Nehalem becuz that's the only choice that Intel provides... and not many makers are interested with AMD K10...

+1, most of the people think that i7 have many cores which is better, but they are wrong, if really wan go for I7, 620M/640M/820M/840M/920XM/940XM/ is the only choice for mobile Core i7, there 720/740 is away too low clock, in most of the game, Core i5 take advantages, but slowly now many game support multicore rendering for gaming.

On the other hand, Core i7 + Core i5 in gaming experience, u wont feel any advantages since gaming mostly depends on GPU, even games are highly demand for CPU, u also cant see the differences between i5/i7....

So are you sayin that i should chose the i5 over the i7???im really confused now...lolz... never knew it would b this complicated... so if it was you guys u would take the i5 rather then the i7??

i5 is more than enough...

put it this way...

in gaming benchmark, 620M pwns 720QM...

but in programs like Office, AES encryption, etc, it's vice versa..

so decide base on ur main usage...

if i were u, i would go for i7(if the price is good enough), since it wont be too slow compare to other, if it is slow u wont notice that.

In gaming, you won't feel the difference, so you would want to choose it depending on whether you are a CPU-intensive user. If you only do typical things, i5 would save power and be a little faster (most important thing would be the Hard drive and the GPU). Basically a high frequency Core 2 Duo would do the job (but this is as of now very rare).

But, Dell (and Asus) have somehow been offered some sort of deal by Intel, it seems. I think Intel did not learn from their initial sale of the i7-720QM (Sept 2009) and they overproduced i7-740QM or something - so now buying 740QM is relatively cheaper than lower or higher i5s, even though all the i5s should be cheaper (according to Intel).

If you buy Dell you get a better deal overall because i7 comes with better graphics, more RAM, other add-ons. But like I said that deal you showed us is not much of a deal, maybe RM~100 discount, at RM4100+, some say it is reasonable, I say you're being forced to get i7 with the good GPU, unless you do not mind getting i7.

+1, but sometime it is high frequency, but u dont really see the different in real world

But guys on the Dell customization for XPS i5 version, it doesn't alllow to customize the graphics card to the 435m.... it only allows 420m which with my little knowledge is lower in most benchmarking websites compared to the 435m ..... and when i add the same specs as the i7 the things tat i get in the i7 package is more... so my next question would be.... would i be right to say if i get the i7 version atleast i would be sure not to be anywhere less "better" then the i5 versions rite?it can't be worse in anyway if not better except for the heating problem la...rite??

^Yup...

Pretty much. If you desperately need a laptop now, yes, the i7 "package" has more value.

See if you can get a price reduction. Which 3 year warranty are you buying, the RM599 (3yr XPS +1 CC), RM699 (3yr XPS +3 CC), or RM876 (Dell Care Prem)?

The one tat they included in the price is the 699 wan...do any of you know any tricks of gettin these dell guys to give better discounts or better offers...??

Go for i7 dont care about the heat , nowadays no more overheat issue d. Wont burn ur system 1.

i go for i5 one ~ ^^ hopefully it dun hav such prob....

Hei i read a few forums, some of the guys said the OPTIMUS technology only is for the i5 version and is not in the i7 version... is that true?

Yeap, according to astria sifu

Because i7 doesn't have intel GPU onboard

technically, only quad core CPU cannot ve Optimus...

Core i7-600M family can still ve it...

this is one of the reason y i avoid simply calling Intel's CPU by their i-name... there are many dual core i7 around...

This post has been edited by astria: Nov 11 2010, 12:12 AM