What I'm looking at...

[Spikes]

Hey guys...I'm looking at buying 2 laptops, a regular Studio 17 for my work, and an Open Box MSI Wind 10".

Now...for the Studio 17, I plan on getting these upgrades:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6400 (2.00GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache) upgrade from a Intel® Pentium® Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) upgrade from a 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Back-lit keyboard and Fingerprint reader (each $25)
Total...$774

Here's my question...there's an upgrade to a 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 GFX card from the standard Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD for $100. I'm going to be using mainly: Photoshop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Firefox, Filezilla, iTunes. Is the $100 dollars worth it for the better graphics card? I'm kind of tight on money as it is so I'd rather NOT get it but if it's going to make my computer insanely better I'll try and get it...


The Netbook:
Open Box MSI Wind U100-420US Black Intel Atom N270(1.60GHz) 10.0" WSVGA 1GB Memory 120GB HDD
I'm going to be using this for checking email, surfing, etc...not having to lug the bigger laptop around when doing so. This comes to $279 from newegg, an amazing deal I'd say.



So, in total, $1,053 for both laptops without the Studio 17's GFX card upgrade...and #1,053 with it.
Is the graphics card upgrade worth the $100 for what I'll be doing on it?

[Fulmar]

What version of Photoshop are you running?  CS4 uses your video card to do some 3D effects faster and also it will help with really large images (500mb+).  You may see in a boost in performance there with the ATI card.  But anything older than CS3, that Intel IGP will work just fine.

[Spikes]

Probably would install CS4 since it's the newest but I also have CS2 if I have to. 500mb image? Dang...I've never edited anything that big. If I install CS3 then I won't need the better GFX card?

[Fulmar]

I haven't used any of the 3D or major image interpolation using CS4 on a machine that had more than onboard video.  So I can't speak from personal experience.

[Spikes]

Ah, well if my laptop with a Radeon X300 can run PS...I assume that would be able to.
Other than that, does my selection look good?

[Estes]

fingerprint readers are trash, waste of money. They don't work half the time and are just a pain in the bellybutton in general. I think the onboard graphics will be fine unless you decide to do gaming on it.

[Spikes]

My friend has the fingerprint reader on his laptop (Same one) and he says it works great. He uses it to login to websites and such along with the computer itself.

[Estes]

im just speaking from personal experience, every biometric i've dealt with wasn't worth beans.

[Spikes]

Well, it's $25...if it doesn't work good oh well...at least I can give it a shot...biometrics have come a long way.
I don't need to do any gaming on it, but like Fulmar said...if I run CS4 it would be better to have a standalone GFX card...but it shouldn't be a big deal...anything a step up from this POS!

[Tigger29]

At our repair shops here in st louis, mo we do vehicle safety and emissions inspections.

The inspection 'machine'... basically a PC in a steel cabinet... has a cheap microsoft fingerprint reader that we have to use when we do an inspection.

I have to say, that little sucker works pretty well.  Imagine our fingers... dirty most of the time with dirt, oil and grime... and even though we usually have to wash them first, the fingerprint reader usually properly picks up our prints first time!  (sometimes it takes two or three tries though).

And these are about two years old.. I would imagine they might even be a bit better now...

[Chalenge]

I imagine a keyboard/fingerprint reader combo would be cheap anyway. I have biometric gun safes and they have a good record or performance up to this point.

[BaldEagl]

Even though it may not make a huge difference in what you're currently planning on doing with the laptop I'd personally get the upgraded video card rather than kick myself sometime in the future when my needs have changed.

[Spikes]

I like BaldEagl's idea, and I think I'll just put an extra 100 bucks in so if my uses ever change I'll be set.

[Fulmar]

Even though it may not make a huge difference in what you're currently planning on doing with the laptop I'd personally get the upgraded video card rather than kick myself sometime in the future when my needs have changed.

This is very true.  Exactly why I can never use a laptop as my main PC.