BF2S Forums New dell laptop. Are the specs good?

You sure you want a widescreen laptop? It will just make it bigger and heavier. If you want to save money get the standard size and put it towards a better gfx card.



edit: that screenshot has compatibility issues anyway. Resolve those and you could end up with a different setup that what is posted.

Last edited by TheAussieReaper (2008-02-05 20:22:26)

TheAussieReaper wrote:

You sure you want a widescreen laptop? It will just make it bigger and heavier. If you want to save money get the standard size and put it towards a better gfx card.

no standard rez.
no upgrade in graphics.

:\

thanks for your comment anyway.

Morpheus1229 wrote:

well, it seems like a good laptop. But then again, that really depends on what you are going to do with it.

Take it to japan.

It's nice!

Although getting a 7200RPM drive might be better. Along with opting for no anti-virus (Norton always seems to be the first piece of bloatware most people remove from their notebooks anyway). Also, have you considered raising your screen resolution?

If possible, I'd also lose the RAM upgrade since most companies overcharge. Just buy your own sticks off of Newegg and save some money.

It's a Dell, but I've heard very good reviews about it. I think it's proof that Dell is doing something alright. Plus, almost every notebook is now Widescreen.

Snowmanimal wrote:

Smithereener wrote:

It's nice!

Although getting a 7200RPM drive might be better. Along with opting for no anti-virus (Norton always seems to be the first piece of bloatware most people remove from their notebooks anyway). Also, have you considered raising your screen resolution?

If possible, I'd also lose the RAM upgrade since most companies overcharge. Just buy your own sticks off of Newegg and save some money.

It's a Dell, but I've heard very good reviews about it. I think it's proof that Dell is doing something alright. Plus, almost every notebook is now Widescreen.

7200 yes
Don't get AV software= yes ; avast!, avgfree etc
Lose the RAM and buy it newegg (if you have time-it won't ship for about a week so thats plenty)
Non-gaming all work PC so its good. Still, its a dell.  Good thing you have a warranty...

It seems like you have a thing against Dell laptops...

Anyway, yea, this does seem like a good deal, providing you do some of these upgrades.
I've been using my dell laptop for over a year, without any major problem, and it's got worse specs than this.

lavadisk wrote:

Thanks smith.

-I'm probably not going to be able to take it apart to put in ram because its covered by a bunch of different warranties and I don't want to bother with possibly voiding them.
-I actually don't mind norton and their newer version is presumably going to be better than my current version.
-The speed processor is ok from what I understand... this is the largest and is the default one and the memory should help with the speed issues the hard drive might give.

edit: or are there large gaping flaws in my logic? Please tell me them if there are any.

Usually, the memory is only under a small cover that can be easily upgraded, although, I'm not sure what dell says about the warrenty, so yea, unless you know what it says, then that's probably a good idea.

As far as gaping flaws....
A 5400 RPM drive can only go as fast as 5400 Revolutions per minute, no matter how much RAM or CPU power you have. It's like driving on a spare- sure, you may have 300 horses, but the tire can only go 45 mph.

lavadisk wrote:

Thanks smith.

-I'm probably not going to be able to take it apart to put in ram because its covered by a bunch of different warranties and I don't want to bother with possibly voiding them.
-I actually don't mind norton and their newer version is presumably going to be better than my current version.
-The speed processor is ok from what I understand... this is the largest and is the default one and the memory should help with the speed issues the hard drive might give.

- I'm relatively sure that changing RAM in notebooks never voids warranties, but I suppose if you want to be really sure, you don't need to. I believe that some companies do void warranties for changing hard drives. But the advice I hear quite a few times is to keep your original to swap back in when sending it for repair. But again, as for RAM, I'm fairly certain this shouldn't be a problem.
- The processor speed is alright, unless you do ALOT of processor heavy work, you won't notice too much difference.
- I've seen a lot of posts on notebookreview.com saying that if it's a high capacity 5400RPM drive, it'll still be almost as fast as 7200's due to the density of platters, but I was just suggesting a 7200 drive since they are still fairly faster than any 5400 drive.
- And as for Norton (I've never actually used it so this might be all completely false), but most people take it off because it hogs a lot of resources while having substandard performance.

Smithereener wrote:

lavadisk wrote:

Thanks smith.

-I'm probably not going to be able to take it apart to put in ram because its covered by a bunch of different warranties and I don't want to bother with possibly voiding them.
-I actually don't mind norton and their newer version is presumably going to be better than my current version.
-The speed processor is ok from what I understand... this is the largest and is the default one and the memory should help with the speed issues the hard drive might give.

- I'm relatively sure that changing RAM in notebooks never voids warranties, but I suppose if you want to be really sure, you don't need to. I believe that some companies do void warranties for changing hard drives. But the advice I hear quite a few times is to keep your original to swap back in when sending it for repair. But again, as for RAM, I'm fairly certain this shouldn't be a problem.
- The processor speed is alright, unless you do ALOT of processor heavy work, you won't notice too much difference.
- I've seen a lot of posts on notebookreview.com saying that if it's a high capacity 5400RPM drive, it'll still be almost as fast as 7200's due to the density of platters, but I was just suggesting a 7200 drive since they are still fairly faster than any 5400 drive.
- And as for Norton (I've never actually used it so this might be all completely false), but most people take it off because it hogs a lot of resources while having substandard performance.

Alright. Thats the answer i needed. thank you.

lavadisk wrote:

edit: or are there large gaping flaws in my logic? Please tell me them if there are any.

You're almost finished. But we've discovered some compatibility issues that must be resolved.


^^ first line of your screenshot.

Looks alright, but dont get norton. Its a resource hog, and it doesnt work for shit. Just download Avast! instead (free)

lavadisk wrote:

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u140 … /build.jpg

any feedback would be appreciated.

-Get a 9-cell primary battery.  The 6-cell is practically useless, especially if are buying a second one.
-The screen actually is glossy.  You will see your reflection in the screen when there is a black background.  I found that really annoying at first.
-Get complete care for the same length of time as your hardware warranty -- if you can afford it.  Especially if you plan on keeping this thing for the whole 3 year warranty term.

As an overall note, I found that buying from their Small Business end is actually pretty good.  The laptops have less shit on them and I found it to be relatively inexpensive.  And, keep an eye on TechBargains.com for Dell coupon codes, like these:

Dell Home has a new coupon code for Dell Inspiron Laptop PCs. No tax in LA.

$250 off Inspiron Notebooks $999+ Coupon Code: H1P013$LSMV24M (Exp 2/7 6:55am CT or 10k uses)
$350 off Inspiron Notebooks $1299+ Coupon Code: 3?1718J7DPPC19 (Exp 2/7 6:55am CT or 10k uses)

Dell laptops, unlike their desktops, are good.

Im considering a M1530 as well. Id up the HDD to 7200 and the processor, and lower the RAM to 2GB to cover it.