importance of video cards

[etep513]

I know that it's necessary to get a video card that can play videos in hi def. Do any of you guys know if the nvidia 8600m gt is powerful enough to play movies in full hi def (1080p or better). The reason why I ask is that it's the only option (when I was customizing a dell xps m1530). Is it adequate, or is dell trying to rip people off?

[etep513]

The nvidia site basically says that they can play hi def video. It never says if it's full 1080p or something less.

[Cromlech]

Yes, it will play Blu-Rays and such fine.

[arush5268d]

The issue is with HDCP, and kind of display you plan to use for playing movies. That card can do 1920x1080 no problem.

[david2189]

dells a rip off, end of story. build your own get double the quality for half the price

[etep513]

Originally Posted by david2189

dells a rip off, end of story. build your own get double the quality for half the price

I know, but this is for a laptop. You can't build your own laptop. You can only do that with desktops.

[david2189]

look around i find it hard to believe that dell are the only company in america that do laptops

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by etep513

I know that it's necessary to get a video card that can play videos in hi def. Do any of you guys know if the nvidia 8600m gt is powerful enough to play movies in full hi def (1080p or better). The reason why I ask is that it's the only option (when I was customizing a dell xps m1530). Is it adequate, or is dell trying to rip people off?

The 8600m has the second-gen Nvidia PureVideo chip/codec. It's able to accelerate AVC and MPEG-2 decoding from Blu-ray discs. It doesn't do as much for VC-1, but VC-1 isn't nearly as processor intensive as AVC. It will be fine for Blu-ray disc playback at any resolution.

Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with the Dell XPS notebooks. They're fine. I personally prefer HP notebooks, but it doesn't make that big of a difference.

[etep513]

Originally Posted by david2189

look around i find it hard to believe that dell are the only company in america that do laptops

I know that it's not the only company. At the college where I'm going, there are four vendors who participate in a special student discount program (Dell, HP, IBM, and Apple). Apple is out of the question since you have to pay a MAJOR premium in order to get their products. IBM is a bit cheaper than dell, but the hardware is crappier (when you customize it). Dell is the one I'm looking at, even though it's still expensive. I just sent HP an email asking them if its possible to customize laptops through their student discount program (since there wasn't a link on the page).

[maxmcleod]

Originally Posted by etep513

I know that it's not the only company. At the college where I'm going, there are four vendors who participate in a special student discount program (Dell, HP, IBM, and Apple). Apple is out of the question since you have to pay a MAJOR premium in order to get their products. IBM is a bit cheaper than dell, but the hardware is crappier (when you customize it). Dell is the one I'm looking at, even though it's still expensive. I just sent HP an email asking them if its possible to customize laptops through their student discount program (since there wasn't a link on the page).

Go HP then, you get better customer support in my opinion...
screw dell

[etep513]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

Go HP then, you get better customer support in my opinion...
screw dell

Yah, now that I think about it, I probably will. Dell is like the Apple of the windows world.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

Go HP then, you get better customer support in my opinion...
screw dell

Honestly, neither really has outstanding customer support... but I do prefer the OEM parts that HP uses overall over those chosen by Dell. At the end of the day, though, the difference isn't all that great.