Dell have agreed to replace a faulty laptop (1st reported on 27 oct 2009) which I use to run Revit 2009 and also to a lesser extent AutoCad and ACA and in leisure time play games dvds etc. They replaced various parts eg motherboard, ac adapter, optical drive and I can now use the computer, but media direct does not work and every time they try to repair on site they have to format the hard disk(s) and also reload vista, this procedure is time consumming and very disruptive. After 4 seperate 1/2 day site visits and 6 or 7 formats of the hard disks and re-instals of vista and media direct, they offered to replace the machine. Details of the existing and proposed replacement laptop are as follows: faulty existing laptop spec: Inspiron 1720: Op System: 32bit vista home premium, CPU: Intel core 2 duo T8300 2.4GHz, memory: 4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048] Graphics Card: NVidia GeForce 250mb 8600M GT, Hard Dsk: 2no 250GB 5200rpm SATA drives, Monitor: 17inch 1440x900 resolution matt screen, Optical device: DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) Camera: 1.3 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera Wireless: yes, Media Direct: yes Ports & Connections etc: 5no USB, network connector, video connector, IEEE 1394 connector, 8 in 1 media card reader, 2 audi connectors, 7 media ctrl buttons, remote control for media etc, express card slot, S-video TV-out connector, Battery: Primary 9-cell 85 WHr Lithium Ion battery. Warranty: approx 2 years of onsite next business day warranty remaing, no accidental damage cover from dell. replacement laptop being offered: Inspiron 1750: Op System: 64bit vista home premium, CPU: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 3 MB L2 cache), memory: 4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048] Graphics Card: 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 Hard Dsk: 500GB (5400RPM) Serial ATA Hard Drive (probably split into 2 dsks) , Monitor: 17.3" WLED High Definition + (1600 x 900) TFT Display with TrueLife, Optical device: DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) Camera: 1.3 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera Wireless: Intel WiFi Link 5100 (802.11 a/b/g/n 1X2) 1/2 MiniCard, Ports and Connectors: 3No USB ports, Battery: Primary 9-cell 85 WHr Lithium Ion battery Warranty: 2 years of onsite next business day warranty with accidental damage cover from dell. In addition to the 1750 spec above dell are offering one of the following upgrades which I must choose from: CPU: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 6 MB) or Memory: 6144MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x4096] [1x2048] The replacement machine has a better cpu, monitor and wireless connection and they have offered to either upgrade the cpu further or increase the RAM, on the down side the spec for the ports and various connectors is reduced and there is no media direct or remote or media ctrl buttons and there is a change in graphics card from 250mb NVidia 8600M GT to ATI Radeon HD 4330, which is the only card they say they can supply with the inspiron 1750.  ie classs 2 to class 3 graphics card.) I have refused to accept their offer to date mainly because of the change in graphics card. I have asked for a dell studio 1745 as its ports and connectors are similiar to the original computer and as standard it comes with a 1GB ATI HD Radeon 4650 which is closer in spec to the NVidia card, but they refuse to do this, insisting I must accept the inspiron 1750. Currently an empass has been reached with me threatening legal action. Can anyone tell me if the 512mb ATI HD Radeon 4330 will match the performance of the 256mb NVidia Geforce 8600 m GT card and will the radeon card be compatible with revit? Dell imply that the extra memory of the ATI card will compensate for the lower spec of the card, but I am not convinced. Regarding their offer to either upgrade the cpu further or increase the ram - which should I go for? I checked out the various cards mentioned here on notebookcheck http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-ofgraphics-cards.130.0 http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Bencmark-List.844.0html this is a useful site, and it shows that the 4330 is definitely an inferior card. I have also read Wes Macaulay's articles - "lap top recommendations for revit" and "video cards and revit" and desktop recomendations for revit" all can be accessed via AUGI. I would welcome any comments or thoughts on my current predicament as i do not have the technical knowledge or skills to make a proper informed decision, especially as revit seems to kick on the head the usual hardware maxims associated with other 3d and games software. Regards Bob
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