Dedicated or Integrated graphics?

bluewater

I'm looking to buy a 17" laptop and have narrowed it down to either the Dell Inspiron 1720 or the Dell Studio 17. Both are the same price (£399) and have the same spec with 2Gb memory and 120 gig disk and same processor, but the Inspiron has a dedicated graphics card whereas the Studio doesn't. I'm told that the Studio would therefore be better on battery consumption but the dedicated card would be better for games (which I'm not interested in). Apart from internet and a bit of Office I want to play divx movies. The Studio is nicer aesthetically so I'm inclined to go for it.

Any thoughts?

OohSoHolly

Sounds like you've made your mind up
If your not interested in games then an Intergrated graphics card would be suitable for your needs (office applications and movies).
I have a Dell inspiron laptop with an Intergrated graphics card and im able to watch movies no problem.

savemoney

Integrated graphics tend to use the onboard ram on the laptop so if you have 2gb of am for example some of that will be used for the graphics. I agree if gaming is important that go for dedicated but then of I wanted to play games I wouldn't be investing in a laptop as a decent laptop for gaming would be ideally more than what you are paying

nihcaj

If you are planning it as a desktop replacement (not much else use for a heavy 17" laptop, you want something smaller for lugging around!) think twice, I didn't and regretted it badly.

Spent a lot, and 18 months later ended up having to dump it as worn out!
Screens are not as good as mainstream LCD monitors, and hard disks are slow. Don't think they can take the wear and tear of everyday all day use like a desktop either. Noise was one of main reasons for me doing this too, yet my current desktop is now QUIETER than the laptop was especially as it runs so much cooler.