My New Dell Vostro 1500 Playing A Few Games-PART 1

[shellcool0wns]

lol i lag like hell on bioshock on my 1525 =/

[feveredsmile]

does anyone know how to find out if a graphics card is compatible with your desktop... please reply..

[freshazimiz0323]

Very nice man!.

i own a Dell Vostro 220s Slim Tower with Dual Core at 2.60GHz, 4GB RAM and a 1TB HDD with Vista Premium. Using integrated Video though. I play the Sims 3 lol. But looking to play UR Tourney, love that game. nice PC too!. Keep up the videos.

[catnip20]

You have a pcie expansion on it? Graphics cards are pretty cheap @ newegg if your looking to upgrade to play UT3. Thanks for the comment :)

-Bryan

[innocentxcraver]

hey mr. =P

I have vostro 1510, how do i turn on the bluetooth? i been looking for EVER !! x.x

[movania89]

how will u switch on ur bluetooth ?

plz reply i have 1310 but not able to turn on it .. thnk u

[catnip20]

I didn't get bluetooth on mine as it was something I really didn't need, So I can't say for sure, I've read it should be a Fn Key combo. You can also look in your control panel or device manager & see if you can enable it from there.

-Bryan

[moorerock]

Im pretty sure I have bought the same laptop but no way can it run any games, is their something wrong with it? have 2 gigs ram, Intel core duo CPU T5270 @1.40GHZ and an Intel (R) gma Driver. What has yours got thats different. mines a 1500 Vostro? thanks.

[catnip20]

Your problem is that you have on board graphics & not a dedicated GPU. The intel gma "Graphics Media Accelerator" Is for light graphics usage & not for games. At the time of purchase the Nvidia 8600m GT 256mb graphics card in mine was a $150 add on option. When looking for a laptop for games be sure it has "Dedicated Graphics" Nvidia or ATI, Though I & many other gamers prefer Nvidia. Be sure it has at least 256mb dedicated graphics memory & higher is always better. Hope that helps.

-Bryan

[1RandomViewer]

"Seagate 160GB 5400 RPM SATA, Can Support 2 Drive Raid"

What?! I'm pretty sure Vostro 1500 only has 1 Hard drive.

[catnip20]

It does but you have to remove the Dvd drive & use an adapter.

[firestormcomputers]

Too bad my Dell Vostro now is giving me all kinds of problems, will swap for something better. Like a Vostro 1510 or somethng else, I dunno.

[catnip20]

I still have DPC problems that cause sound skipping when playing music & sometimes BSOD's DPC spikes affect all Dell 15xx models. I'm thinking of getting an HP 16" Gaming laptop or Zeptop, Zepto's are really nice. You can find the zepto USA site with google if u wanna take a look. Highly recommend looking at HP's new gaming laptop's they have really stepped up in the last few years! Not sure which I'm going for still looking, Leaning toward HP.

[firestormcomputers]

I am hopefully either getting my money back or brand new Dell without the Nvidia problems. If a send this in, I need a whole refund or I can't get a decent computer. I have a Vostro 1400 with multiple problems.

[lookman373]

sam here i got a compaq

[catnip20]

HP, MSI & Toshiba are the way to go, Check out the MSI for $1299 on newegg, That things awesome! Hope for it to be my next, The reviews are great on it & it even has blu-ray.

[TheLostTruckDriver]

Lots of great links and info, and demonstration with a vidcam showing unquestionable performance. Thanks, I am sold.

[wiisaace]

they don't offer the 8600mGT in the 1510 because they are trying to make it thinner than the 1500. Instead they have the 8400mGS which is still pretty descent.

[kdjislife]

I just got a dell vostro 1510, will it run everything you can run?

[catnip20]

Depends, What specs? Graphics, Processor ram etc. What OS ? on these lower end cards even though they have Dx10 it's not really worth using it.

[kami645464]

Is a great laptop I want that as well.

[djgrumpy619]

i got a vostro 1500 you know how to turn on the bluetooth i dont know if you knew that let me know make a video of it can you please?

[catnip20]

I ordered mine without bluetooth so I'm not sure. I just googled it & apparently you push the fn key on the keyboard & the key with the bluetooth icon. Hope that helps! I figured if I needed blue tooth I can always add it on later it's only about $20 & the module goes under the cover above they keyboard.

[jayr545]

holy crap that looks as good as it does on my 360!!

[PoPwar1993]

ya pc gaming always does if not better if you have a good computer

[frankthegt]

when i play counter strike source i almost lagg out oof the game what can be the problem

[catnip20]

I haven't tried cs yet, But from everything I've read it should run it fine. Do you have the 8600mGT card, Make sure you disable everything like AA & other things that will slow your frame rates. If you lower everything & still get lag, You may have to lower the resolution a little bit. Also if you haven't already get some good drivers from laptopvideo2go Dells drivers are almost a year old, BTW I did however have Dells drivers running in this video, I have since upgraded to 177.xx

[catnip20]

One last little thing, Make sure there's nothing running in the background, Sometimes Dell's come with excessive software, So clean it up & remove what you don't need to help slim down the system

[brucedburns]

Have you have any problems with the 8600m overheating? I want a Dell laptop that can play Bioshock well and not cost a fortune, but the recent talk about these cards burning out has me concerned about buying one.

[catnip20]

Never had any problems at all, As long as the laptop is ventilated well, ie you don't have it sitting on a couch or something that blocks airflow. The bottom of the laptop gets to about 105F during heavy gaming. The GPU runs about 45C you can overclock the card to 555 mem & 655 core & even then it only runs at 59C. I have read lots of places that Vostros do not have an overheating problem & from my experience that proves true. The metal case helps conduct heat & squirl cage fan moves lots of air

[brucedburns]

Thanks! I still haven't decided if I'll get this or an XPS but the more I hear about people's good experiences with these cards the better I feel. Cheers!

[murdasquads]

ok thanks man

[murdasquads]

nice laptop bro, u think the vostro 1400 will be able to run counter strike source? and guild wars? n possibly crisis?

[catnip20]

Yes, If you look on youtube you can find some videos, Crysis may have to run with settings on medium @ 1024x768 or so. I even seen crysis & counter strike running on an asus eee though with all settings on low

[evilguy0]

I don't know whether to get a Vostro 1500 or a Dell XPS 1530...I've heard the Vostro isn't very reliable.

[catnip20]

Mine has been the best laptop I've ever owned, Solid build & no problems at all. It was way better than what I expected when I purchased it, Ask around youtube & see what other owners think.

[evilguy0]

I've had a look on the Dell website and the Vostro 1500 isn't there. Been replaced by the Vostro 1510 which doesn't have a nearly as good graphics card :(

[catnip20]

Wow your right not even in the small business section. I got mine on eBay new with 1 year support from Dell through an authorized reseller, I'm sure there are some still on eBay. I got mine from donald_san you might wanna check his stuff, I had no problems at all buying from him.

[catnip20]

You could try to ask Dell If they will let you upgrade to an 8600m GT & A better screen, Sometimes they don't have some graphics cards listed because of limited supply, But If you talk with them they usually will work with you.

[nirvana922]

lol i have a vostro same specs as yours the only difference is the hard dirve, 120 for me. Vostro 1500 is a great computer! i love it.

[BOOMpinay]

Omg Nvidea 8600m V. Card Rapes. GG!

[Tony11244]

mine cost me the same, I have the 2.0ghz processor tho.. great computer

[YAGUTAN]

WHAT THE!? This runs Bioshock on HIGH!?

I ordered a 1710 Vostro 17 inch with a 2.4Ghz Dual Core and 3GB DDR2 SDRAM. Same videocard, 320GB hdd. So I can do the same O.O AMAZING!

[CrazyXDanX]

Would a Dell vostro 1510 run the games pretty smooth?

[xXDynamitemonkeyXx]

Hi. I'm planning to get Vostro 1510. Heres the important specs:

1.8GHz core 2duo 2MB L2 cache 800MHz

3GB ddr2 ram

160GB HD

256 Mb Geforce 8400M GS

It comes with vista but prob install xp. Do you reckon bioshock, gears of war and the likes would run well on this?

[catnip20]

Yes, They should run pretty good you could run them at a little lower resolution or detail settings to compensate for the slightly slower GPU. Search youtube for 8400m & you can see that card runs games pretty well.

[randomusername7694]

what version of vostro would u suggest for gaming

[catnip20]

The Vostro 1500 I think Is probbly the best, You get a nice size screen & It offers the top gfx card of the Vostro line. The Vostro 1700 offers the same gfx but the screen is a little big for the gfx card to handle. So the 1500 has a nice match of screen size & gfx card. If a 15" notebook is too big you could always go with the 1400 but at a slight performance loss on the gfx. In short the specs I have are the best you can get for gaming, Could go with slower processor & run games just as good.

[Krud14]

Ok. One more thing. People has been saying that this laptop is very bulky and heavy. Should I let this stop me from buying this laptop? By the way, it's for college and gaming. And is the vostro 1510 better than this?

[catnip20]

It's all in what you want remember the smaller you go the more performance you lose "True to all laptops especially if your talking gaming", It weighs about 8 1/2 Lbs. It's size & weight is the same as all 15" notebooks so you may want to look at one in a store to see if It's too big for your needs, You could always consider the Vostro 1400 or 1300. Performance wise especially with games the Vostro 1500 is the better choice over the 1510. Vostro has metal chasis durable & help conduct heat beter

[Krud14]

Ok. (catnip20): I'm planning to buy a dell vostro, but my parents wouldn't let me. They don't really trust the whole shipping part, and are afraid that I might not get the exact stuff I want. How did the shipping and handling turned out for you? any problems? And how much did you pay for dell to ship it? Thanks.

[catnip20]

I'd like to help, But I purchased this through ebay It was new & sealed the guy is an authorized reseller, It comes with dell 1 year warranty from Date of Purchase. dell has several bar code sticker seals you have to break on the box to get to the laptop so it had never been opened. I actually found a better processor than what dell currently offered & for a cheaper price. If you look through the comments you can find the guys ebay name,had lots of vostro 1500's at the time I purchased this one.

[BRUTESH0T]

GeForce 8600M GT ddr2 or ddr3?

[catnip20]

It's the ddr2 version, Though it can be overclocked to the stock speed of the ddr3 card. From what I've read the difference is less than 5fps between the two cards.

[mxky]

Hi! I just got my vostro 1500, and I would like to know what drivers version are you using with your 8600M GT 256 mo? For info, I got the 156.69 version pre-installed. Thanks :)

[catnip20]

I have 156.83 which is the newest they have for download on the dell website, Looks like they gave you a newer version pre-installed. They may have updated your bios to the newest version too, I had to update mine when I got it, You can check support "dot" dell "dot" com

If you need to update anything. I'm running XP so if you have vista that may also be why you have those drivers.

[Dnab55]

Looks like it runs good on a few games

[firestormcomputers]

really good man i have a gaming desktop and planning to buy a dell d400 for school/WoW and my friend is getting a vostro

[firestormcomputers]

Strike that . . . I am going for a vostro 1500 with an 8400m GS 256mb or a Vostro 1400 with a 8400m GS 128 mb

i am fiery jealous of this laptop, but i might be able to afford it cuz i am buying a vostro thru a dell employee

[CarlonClay]

I love Vostro! How much was it?

[catnip20]

Click "More info" It tells you everything. $978.00 inc. Shipping, Got it new & sealed on eBay from donald_san. With 1 year Dell warranty from date of purchase.

[cmonutube]

did you buy this with standard specs? also where did you purchase it from? Would you recommend this laptop for school?

[catnip20]

Everything is standard specs except I purchased it with 1GB of ram & ordered a 2GB pair from crucial for for about $50 I purchased this on eBay from an authorized reseller check eBay for items from donald_san It was brand new & sealed in box. I think it's a great laptop for school if you need all of the power it has to offer & don't mind an 8 1/2 lb notebook, You may want to get the 9-cell extended battery or be sure to sit near an outlet.

[cmonutube]

alright, thanks for the input. :)

[shinigami676]

nice video about your vostro, i want to get one also. big reason is to do my work at school, and second is play games.before,I had a change to use Dell Lattitude for about 6 month,and i installed battlefield 1942,anthena sword,call of duty1,The sim2,sim4000,dungeon seige2..uh cannot installed Neverwinternight..mayb caused by the integrate GPU

[nayil100]

hey man....I just got mine

But, when I check my video adapter memory, it shows 512MB instead of 256MB.

Can you please verify your adapter memory ?

[catnip20]

It uses 256MB of your system ram as cache for the video card I think they call it "fast cache" It just helps out the video card & doesn't usually get used. So when they say "256MB dedicated" Thats true, But it shows up as 512MB because of the shared memory, There is a way to disable the cache though I don't know why anyone would want to.

Congrats on getting it !

[nayil100]

yea...i just did sum research

seems like guys with 2 gig ram gets 512

and guys with 4 gig ram gets 1 gig vid ram

what the hell is going on ?

btw....if it does share system memory....why does the system memory say 2 gig instead of 1.74 ? 

and ur right...its called turbo/fast cache...

[catnip20]

I assume that it automatically allocates more memory to the turbo cahce when you have more memory for it to use, Because there are no settings in bios to adjust the cache size. But from what I've read online the shared cache only makes a slight difference up to a point, But really what matters most is the dedicated ram for the GPU.

[CarlonClay]

Man, I love Dell Vostro's design, looks so solid and unique, whish my parents bought one of these instead of a crappy acer.

[blank900]

Are you using Windows Vista or XP?

[catnip20]

XP, I figure I can always upgrade to Vista later & take advantage of DX10.I was a little worried about Vista's compatibility with some slightly older games.

[blank900]

Yeah that's what I'm worried about! Do you find the weight being much of an issue?

Thanks for posting your video btw, it was really helpful - I myself am hoping to get a vostro to play games on so it was very helpful. Have you encountered any problems with the vostro when playing games?

[catnip20]

I don't mind the weight too much, At least It's solid & the entire chassis is heavy duty metal instead of plastic. As far as games go It seems to play everything great. I was really surprised that I could turn up everything on UT3 & it played it smoothly, I believe it's because that game is optimized better for core2duo & NVIDIA.

[blank900]

Yeah thats what I'm worried about! Have you found the weight of the vostro to be much of an issue?

I'm hoping to get a vostro to game on too - would you say it handles games well? And do you know how long you could expect a vostro to last if games were played on it quite regularly.

[catnip20]

I think it would last a very long time, It's very solidly built, They use a nice big fan so it doesn't have to run extremely fast, So the fan should last just fine & the bottom of the unit when gaming is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit so the internals don't get extremely hot. Another nice thing to note is that Vostro parts are cheap! Say your keyboard went bad they are about $12.00 on eBay for a new one & the 9-cell battery is about $89.00

[catnip20]

Also, Since the case is metal you want have any trouble with it warping from the heat like some noetbooks, I believe you could run it hard for years & not have any trouble with it.

[blank900]

Thanks for all your information, it was really helpful. Sorry for posting twice! I wasn't sure if my message got posted.

Am I correct in assuming the vostro can be fitted with a 9-cell battery? and if so would you happen to know why Dell isn't (currently) offering them?

[nayil100]

I ordered the same thing....but with 2.0 GHz...will that be a prob ??? since it has 1 mb less cache ?

[catnip20]

If your going to be playing games with it you won't notice any difference, You would really only notice a difference if your doing a lot of multitasking or compiling code. Stuff that takes advantage of the cpu cache. I have never seen a game stating how much cpu cache it needs to run, They tend to make sure they are compatible with a broad range of cpu's. When it comes to games as long as the cpu is decent then it's the Graphics card that counts.

[nayil100]

thanks for the reply mate !

[member353]

Cool

A buddy of mine has one and I might buy one also.

He uses 169.04 drivers on his, you have to modify the "inf" though. He said it really increases his performance.

[member353]

Thanks for the reply.

Do you have the 8600mgt OC'ed.

Did you get that 1249- 500 deal about a month ago.

[catnip20]

It's not overclocked, I am using the latest dell drivers which are from December, I have thought about upgrading the drivers but haven't yet. I got it on eBay of all places, I was a little skeptical but it was brand new sealed with all tamper resistant stickers in place. It was $949 & $29.00 to ship & came with dell 1 year warranty from the date of purchase. I missed that deal, But the guy selling them on eBay bought up a few during that deal & was reselling them, He is an authorized reseller.

[member353]

do you have that on external speakers?

how are the internal speakers

thanks

[catnip20]

Nope, Thats the internal speakers. They are pretty good for laptop speakers, I've heard much worse. Like you would expect not too much bass but they are nice & clear.

[loregazer]

It looks like the gameplay flowed pretty well-- is that your considered take on the Vostro 1500? I just ordered one and want to play some new games on it, like Age of Conan...

[catnip20]

Every Game Runs Smooth, Youtube conversion may have made it look a bit jerky in some parts. You can tell because my hand freezes too. Click more info for the specs.