I am going to purchase a new laptop, and I am debating between two different dell notebooks, the Inspiron 1721 and the XPS M1330. Each has very distinct and unique hardware capabilities, and I really am having a hard time deciding on which one i should get,so I would appreciate it if you guys could give me some feedback on which one you think is better and why. Below are some specs for both computers (The specs outlined are what I would purchase each laptop with, and I wouldn't really consider adding or removing anything unless i really need to. just ignore the edit link to the right of the component, i copied this from dell's website). It might also help to note that I would be using the laptop for all the normal uses, such as email, school, web-surfing, etc. I would do some gaming on it, but nothing too extreme (for instance, im not going to go out and buy Crysis or anything that demands too much hardware.). I usually just like to game casually on the PC, I let the my XBOX do most of the work in that area. So yeah here are the specs:

DELL INSPIRON 1721.....$1,024.00

SYSTEM COLOR: Jet Black, PROCESSOR: AMD TurionTM 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-58 (1.9GHz/1MB)editOPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium EditioneditDISPLAY: Glossy, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900)editVIDEO CARD: ATI RADEON® Xpress1270 HyperMemoryTMeditHARD DRIVE: Size: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)editMEMORY: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHzeditINTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE: CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)editWIRELESS NETWORK CARDS: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-CardeditINTEGRATED WEBCAM: No Webcam OptioneditBATTERY OPTIONS: 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)editSOUND OPTIONS: High Definition Audio 2.0

DELL XPS M1330.....$1,384.00

SYSTEM COLOR: Tuxedo BlackeditPROCESSOR: Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo T5250 (2MB cache/1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB)editOPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows VistaTM Home Premium EditioneditLCD AND CAMERA: Standard Display with 2.0 Megapixel WebcameditMEMORY: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHzeditHARD DRIVE: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)editINTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE: CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)editVIDEO CARD: 128MB NVIDIA® GeForceTM 8400M GSeditWIRELESS CARDS: Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini-CardeditBATTERY OPTIONS: 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)editSOUND OPTIONS: High Definition Audio 2.0editFINGERPRINT SCANNER: No Fingerprint Readeredit

PROS AND CONS

INSPIRON 1721:

PROS

-Larger screen than the XPS (17"), glossy screen

-Better Processor

-Full-sized keyboard

-Cheaper than XPS (saves me $360.00)

-More USB slots than XPS

CONS:

-Shorter battery life than XPS.

-Big and bulky

-runs on 59 Htz, so some games may not run (such as battlefield 2)

-Not as good of a video card as XPS.

XPS M1330

PROS:

-Longer battery life than Inspiron (Can watch two full-length DVDs on one charge)

-Better video card than Inspiron

-Smaller, more compatible size

-Built-In Webcam

CONS:

-More Expensive than Inspiron, many components are the same as Inspiron but cost more (such as hard drive, processor, cd/dvd burner, memory).

-Lack of USB slots

-Non-full-sized keyboard

NOTE: THE HARD DRIVE, SOUND, MEMORY, WIRELESS CARDS AND PROCESSORS (I THINK) ARE THE SAME FOR BOTH LAPTOPS.

SO thats the basic summary of the two computers. To me, it seems like you get more bang for your buck with the Inspiron, and that you are simply paying more money with the M1330 just so you get the XPS label on it. Although I want it to be cost-efficient, I still want it to run awesome and smoothly, and with the XPS I would achieve this.

So, any comments would be greatly appreciated, I just need to decide soon on what I want and if you guys know a lot about laptops, you should tell me what you think

Thanks!

alright.....so whats all the complaining for? even if microsoft could charge u $0 a month for live, its so worth paying for anyways. 50 per year is a little more than 4 per month. that is nothing. unless none of you have a job or don't get allowance if your a kid or can't even find four dollars on the STREET, then there is no use in complaining. Xbox live is the #1 online gaming service in the world, and when you find one thats better for cheaper or none at all, let me know and then you can talk. Honestly, i think we're getting a bargain by paying 4 dollars a month to play as much as you want, when you want, with who you want where you want. end of story.

overrated: halo 3, gow

uderrated: nfs:c, lost planet