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Dell XPS 1530 vs Dell XPS 1330 vs Dell Studio 15 -best performance price ratio?

This is one of my favorite topics, computer hardware. Many of my friends bought one of these laptops recently. Lets have a look at each of them, though Dell Studio’s basic models are pretty basic, lets bring Dell Studio’s advanced lapops to compete against the XPS models.

 

But first the looks factor

Dell XPS 1330

13.3 inch display, sleek and sexy. This simply wins most by its small footprint and looks.Comes in 5 colors Tuxedo black,Alpine white,Blue,Ping and Red(product red)

Dell XPS 1530
15.4 and though this model is supposed to be 15 inch version of the XPS 1330 looks arent really that great and has the boxy looks of old Dells. Comes in 4 colors Tuxedo black,Blue,Ping and Red(product red)

Dell Studio 15
This is a balancing act between the XPS and inspiron of Dell. It somehow reminds of How typical HP is built. Though not built for style, the Studio 15 closely follows or for some better than XPS 1530 in looks. It has more colour options and designer imprints on the cover.

 

 

 

Performance vs price :

 

Personally I prefer a powerful performer more than looks. In this categoy you might be surprised to see how much difference the looks and build affects cost.

lets take we are going to spend 1000$ and see what we will get for the price

 

Dell XPS 1330

 

For $999 we get

Processor – Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
RAM – 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
HDD – 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Graphics – Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (Inbuilt,poor performance)
Wifi – 802.11 b/g
Battery – 37Whr Lithium Ion Battery
Sound – High Definition Audio 2.0
Fingerprint – Biometric Fingerprint Reader

To match below XPS 1530 performance XPS 1330 would cost : $ 1129
To match below Studio 15 performance XPS 1330 would cost : $ 1529 + (Actually XPS 1330 cant match Dell Studio 15, as most of the Dell Studios featurs are advanced and not available in XPS 1330)

 

For $ 999 with Dell XPS 1530

Processor – Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
RAM – 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
HDD – 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Graphics – 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS
Wifi – 802.11 b/g
Battery – 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Sound – High Definition Audio 2.0
Fingerprint – XPS 1530 Fingerprint Reader

To match below Studio 15 performance XPS 1530 would cost : $ 1359 + (Actually XPS 1530 cant match Dell Studio 15, as most of the Dell Studios featurs are advanced and not available in XPS 1530)

 

Dell Studio 15 (with new Centrino 2) for 999$ you get

Processor – Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8400 (2.20GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB cache) (centrino 2 fastest and battery saving)
RAM – 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz (Look at the 800MHZ tranfer rate)
HDD – 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Graphics – 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 (256 MB and powerful)
Wifi – Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11agn Half Mini-Card (Intel not cheap Dell card)
Battery – 56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
Sound – Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ Advanced HD Software Edition
Fingerprint – Fingerprint Reader

Penny to Penny or even if you choose the maximum options available in XPS and Dell Studio models, surprisingly Dell Studio lands a knockout punch to both the XPS models.

So if you are someone looking for some real work go grab a latest Dell Studio or else if you consider style over performance pick a XPS 1330 , but I strongly believe during Christmas season a new XPS will be available with better processor and Memory.

But now Dell Studio 15 is the winner by a quite a margin in this battle.

See my next article for the exciting comparison between Centrino and Centrino 2 Processors. Also comparison between Dell,HP and Lenovo top performers.

 

 

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World Bank intranet hacked several times.. Satyam Computers under fire

World Bank’s several servers were intruded several times over the last one year period. The originating ip addresses were traced back to China. But the blame for the keylogger(A spyware which sends all typed key strokes to the hacker) itself was on India’s Satyam computers.

An independant security firm which conducted investigation submitted its report to World Bank and has indicted one of the contractors of Satyam responsible for the spyware. Though the spyware itself was installed as a result of carelessness of the contractor, it is hard to believe whether World Bank will award any future projects to Satyam.

World Bank has already signed deals with two other Indian IT majors to take over from Satyam.The likely companies are TCS,Infosys or Wipro.

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Java JSP coding standards, checklist and best practices

The following can be mentioned as some of the best practices to follow in a Java based project.
Most of these items , I have personally encountered in my previous projects and some I learned it the hard way.I will explain individually on importance of each one of these in future posts.

  • Provide meaningful descriptions for every class and method.
  • Import Statement should be as minimal and as narrow as possible.
  • All class variables and method variables should be initialized with base values.
  • For any operation on String, Null Check should be mandatory to avoid Null Pointer Exception.
  • Any connection obtained should cleared and closed.
  • Always close streams.
  • Stored Procedures always preferrable compared to SQL queries from Java.
  • In case of more than 3-4 ‘if’ conditions a case statement will be better choice.
  • Don’t initialize String values with “null”.
  • After catching exceptions don’t consume it, throw the exceptions to base class/ handle it.
  • Use the framework used in the application. MVC is generally followed in most applications and validate this with existing code.
  • All user inputs should be validated using Javascript.
  • Do not use any class which is copyrighted and we don’t have access/permission/ability to change the source code.
  • While using String operations StringBuffer is always preferred over a String “+” operation.
  • No hard coding for userIds or security Strings. Use property files.
  • Code should not have any System.out.println statements, this will affect performance in server. User logger instead.
  • Commented code and unused code should be removed and cleared.
  • While using RAD/Ecipe/WSAD use formatter tool to format your code. Set the parameters for line maximum length and this will give a readable code.
  • In JSPs use style classes effectively this will save time when changing the look and feel.Do not enter values in tag elements, which can be declared in a style class.
  • Use existing code/functions for achieving most operations, this will save time and create a standard way of coding.
  • Do not use drprecated classes/methods. These functions will stop working in future Java revisions.
  • Write reusable classes, which can be used in multiple screens/functions.
  • Define a valid failure case in struts config.
  • Passing arguments by reference will save memory and improve performance if there are multiple calls for the same method.