Tonight while minding my own business, I noticed that my current laptop was using 3gb of 4gb available... Uh Oh. Must have been all the chromium tabs I had open or closed in cache... didn't notice anything until I checked out of curiosity. Oh, and this was under arch linux and gnome 3.8.
My current laptop is Dell Latitude D630 that aside from the stock CPU (a C2D T7700) and RAM (2x 2GB, run at 667MHz), as been tricked as far as I can push it... two 9 cell batteries, Nvidia Quadro 135NVS (post 2009 chip, no bumpgate) Wireless N (intel 4965), fingerprint reader, 250gb Caviar black (triple booted no less), Sony DVD RW DL, dell truemobile 365 BT 2.1.
There was another thread where I asked this, and the conclusion was to upgrade the slow 160GB 5400RPM Caviar Blue... but due to this memory shortage and the gang rape prices to upgrade to 8GB (Not doing some halfsie 6gb upgrade, I want all my RAM dual channel), I'm wondering if the time to upgrade to something DDR3 is due.
Other than the RAM usage, the laptop is in decent shape. I keep the cooling clean, and despite some abuse, the only persitent issue is the damned hinge screws never stay tight. The lack of an integrated webcam also sucks, as I have to use a clip on cam for video skyping (works, but getting the camera to stay where I want it is a PITA. The base has some missing paint, and the RAM cover is bare (tried to plastidip it, peeled right off like the original paint). The rugged construction has really been nice minus it being kinda heavy (my back hates me for lugging it around).
Long term, my question/discussion is whether I should eventually upgrade the RAM (and perhaps the CPU as well if I'm gonna blow $$$ on it)... or perhaps look into getting something business grade (not consumer or wannabe business i.e. dell vostro), like say a DDR3 Latitude or the like. Maybe consumer if the build quality was on par... but I haven't seen much of that.
I did kinda like an HP DV9 I did a screen job on, but given that despite a metal lid it somehow cracked a screen (owner caried it in a canvas tote bag, probably nailed it on a table corner or the like), the build quality had me less than inpressed (typical quanta horseshit?)
Spec wise, I do like having bluetooth, but I honestly never use it much (multibooting and bluetooth pairing never mix). Wireless N wifi with decent reception and dualband is very much a good thing... I could care less about touchpads and trackpoints, as I always prefer a mouse. Size wise, my 14" screen isn't bad but a bit bigger wouldn't be a bad thing either. I'm flexible there. And I love high res screens... I'm young and nearsighted, so for me they work. Plenty of USB ports is a plus, and a bigger plus is some sort of 1394 (for my DV cam, yes, I use that old of a camcorder).
And FYI- unless the pricing is very good, I'm not so interested in a apple laptop... not 100% opposed but having worked on one, they can be a pain (I guess it's OK if you're used to it). And if I did, I'd have to quad boot it somehow (Mac OS 10.x, XP x32, 7x64, Arch x64).
Not looking to spend the $$$ either way any time in the next few months unless I get a really good steal.
Please try to stick to hardware... Not looking for a browser discussion or OS discussion.
So, thoughts or comments?
My current laptop is Dell Latitude D630 that aside from the stock CPU (a C2D T7700) and RAM (2x 2GB, run at 667MHz), as been tricked as far as I can push it... two 9 cell batteries, Nvidia Quadro 135NVS (post 2009 chip, no bumpgate) Wireless N (intel 4965), fingerprint reader, 250gb Caviar black (triple booted no less), Sony DVD RW DL, dell truemobile 365 BT 2.1.
There was another thread where I asked this, and the conclusion was to upgrade the slow 160GB 5400RPM Caviar Blue... but due to this memory shortage and the gang rape prices to upgrade to 8GB (Not doing some halfsie 6gb upgrade, I want all my RAM dual channel), I'm wondering if the time to upgrade to something DDR3 is due.
Other than the RAM usage, the laptop is in decent shape. I keep the cooling clean, and despite some abuse, the only persitent issue is the damned hinge screws never stay tight. The lack of an integrated webcam also sucks, as I have to use a clip on cam for video skyping (works, but getting the camera to stay where I want it is a PITA. The base has some missing paint, and the RAM cover is bare (tried to plastidip it, peeled right off like the original paint). The rugged construction has really been nice minus it being kinda heavy (my back hates me for lugging it around).
Long term, my question/discussion is whether I should eventually upgrade the RAM (and perhaps the CPU as well if I'm gonna blow $$$ on it)... or perhaps look into getting something business grade (not consumer or wannabe business i.e. dell vostro), like say a DDR3 Latitude or the like. Maybe consumer if the build quality was on par... but I haven't seen much of that.
I did kinda like an HP DV9 I did a screen job on, but given that despite a metal lid it somehow cracked a screen (owner caried it in a canvas tote bag, probably nailed it on a table corner or the like), the build quality had me less than inpressed (typical quanta horseshit?)
Spec wise, I do like having bluetooth, but I honestly never use it much (multibooting and bluetooth pairing never mix). Wireless N wifi with decent reception and dualband is very much a good thing... I could care less about touchpads and trackpoints, as I always prefer a mouse. Size wise, my 14" screen isn't bad but a bit bigger wouldn't be a bad thing either. I'm flexible there. And I love high res screens... I'm young and nearsighted, so for me they work. Plenty of USB ports is a plus, and a bigger plus is some sort of 1394 (for my DV cam, yes, I use that old of a camcorder).
And FYI- unless the pricing is very good, I'm not so interested in a apple laptop... not 100% opposed but having worked on one, they can be a pain (I guess it's OK if you're used to it). And if I did, I'd have to quad boot it somehow (Mac OS 10.x, XP x32, 7x64, Arch x64).
Not looking to spend the $$$ either way any time in the next few months unless I get a really good steal.
Please try to stick to hardware... Not looking for a browser discussion or OS discussion.
So, thoughts or comments?
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