I need a new laptop. But what do I need? [Archive]

Tenbatsuzen

02-01-2007, 10:14 AM

(breaking off from Reeshy's Vista thread)The scoop:I will use this computer primarily to write, do some low-level adobe photoshop, watch DVDs and surf the net.  Primarily what I do now on my current desktop, which is about 3 years old at this point.I want to get a Dell, and I'd like to keep the budget around 800 bucks.I know the Inspirons for business and home use are essentially the same.  So what exactly do I need chip-wise?  I have no idea about the difference between Intel and AMD.  I figure that an 80 gig HD will be fine, as I can off-load stuff as needed.  So what should I get?

cupcakelove

02-01-2007, 10:16 AM

With AMD you get more for less.

feralBoy

02-01-2007, 10:28 AM

Here are some dell deals:<a href="http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/80577" target="_blank">http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/80577</a>If you can spring for it, a 7200rpm hard drive, speeds up a laptop immensely, compared to a 5400 drive.  You can always buy one at another time though.  1GB of ram is standard, 2gb is better.  Don't buy ram from dell, because they way over charge.  But keep in mind, the laptops only have two dimms.  So, alot of times, dell will put 1GB on 2 dimms, so if you add 1GB of ram, you will have to get rid of 512mb, leaving you with 1.5 gbs.Unless you are doing crazy graphics, you don't need a graphics card.  The built in ones work fine.  For what you are planning on doing, pretty much any chip will do.  Any core duo is going to be fast.  Even the 1.6.  I don't know much about AMD.  

This message was edited by feralBoy on 2-1-07 @ 2:32 PM

HBox

02-01-2007, 10:39 AM

cupcakelove wrote: With AMD you get more for less.That used to be the case. Now you get slightly less for less. Aso for what you need for what you will use it for, the bare minimum is pretty much all you need. All I'd recommend is at least a gig of RAM. Other than that just look for the best deal you can get. The Intel Core Duo is the best thing on the market right now, the Athlon is its AMD competition. Intel Celeron and AMD Sempron are the "bargain" line processors. The difference between Intel and AMD is negligable, especially for what you are using it for. 

This message was edited by HBox on 2-1-07 @ 2:46 PM

ShelleBink

02-02-2007, 07:38 AM

Tenbatsuzen wrote: (breaking off from Reeshy's Vista thread)The scoop:I will use this computer primarily to write, do some low-level adobe photoshop, watch DVDs and surf the net. Primarily what I do now on my current desktop, which is about 3 years old at this point.I want to get a Dell, and I'd like to keep the budget around 800 bucks.I know the Inspirons for business and home use are essentially the same. So what exactly do I need chip-wise? I have no idea about the difference between Intel and AMD. I figure that an 80 gig HD will be fine, as I can off-load stuff as needed. So what should I get? <img src="http://www.kinoweb.de/film97/LostWorld/pix/goldblum.jpg" border="0" width="194" height="292" />He'd probably suggest a Mac

Tenbatsuzen

02-02-2007, 07:43 AM

ShelleBink wrote: Tenbatsuzen wrote: (breaking off from Reeshy's Vista thread)The scoop:I will use this computer primarily to write, do some low-level adobe photoshop, watch DVDs and surf the net. Primarily what I do now on my current desktop, which is about 3 years old at this point.I want to get a Dell, and I'd like to keep the budget around 800 bucks.I know the Inspirons for business and home use are essentially the same. So what exactly do I need chip-wise? I have no idea about the difference between Intel and AMD. I figure that an 80 gig HD will be fine, as I can off-load stuff as needed. So what should I get? <img src="http://www.kinoweb.de/film97/LostWorld/pix/goldblum.jpg" border="0" width="194" height="292" />He'd probably suggest a Mac Nice call back.  golfclap to you, miss.

Tenbatsuzen

02-02-2007, 07:51 AM

As an update, it looks like I can get the 1505 from dell in the price range I was looking for.  So I thank feralboy for his link, which helped out greatly... I'll let you know how it goes.

FezPaul

02-02-2007, 08:05 AM

This message was edited by FezPaul on 2-2-07 @ 12:05 PM

Snacks

02-02-2007, 10:53 AM

<a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ref=39&loc=01&CategoryID=cat06006&id=p cmprd66600050008&skuId=999966600050008&type=produc t">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ref=39&loc=01&CategoryID=cat06006&id=p cmprd66600050008&skuId=999966600050008&type=produc t</a> <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ref=39&loc=01&CategoryID=cat06006&id=p cmprd66600050009&skuId=999966600050009&type=produc t">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ref=39&loc=01&CategoryID=cat06006&id=p cmprd66600050009&skuId=999966600050009&type=produc t</a> <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8216423&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat103700050043&id=1166236071888">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8216423&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat103700050043&id=1166236071888</a> <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8224762&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat103700050043&id=1166840116855">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8224762&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat103700050043&id=1166840116855</a> Hope that helps you. I like the last one best. 17inch laptop with dvd burner and 1gb ram vista premium and more, if you were to order the gateway at office depot you would also get a $150 mail in rebate but I think that deal is gone. I love gateways.

Tenbatsuzen

02-03-2007, 05:35 AM

Snacks wrote: <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ref=39&loc=01&CategoryID=cat06006&id=p cmprd66600050008&skuId=999966600050008&type=produc t">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ref=39&loc=01&CategoryID=cat06006&id=p cmprd66600050008&skuId=999966600050008&type=produc t</a> <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ref=39&loc=01&CategoryID=cat06006&id=p cmprd66600050009&skuId=999966600050009&type=produc t">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ref=39&loc=01&CategoryID=cat06006&id=p cmprd66600050009&skuId=999966600050009&type=produc t</a> <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8216423&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat103700050043&id=1166236071888">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8216423&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat103700050043&id=1166236071888</a> <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8224762&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat103700050043&id=1166840116855">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8224762&type=product&productCate goryId=pcmcat103700050043&id=1166840116855</a> Hope that helps you. I like the last one best. 17inch laptop with dvd burner and 1gb ram vista premium and more, if you were to order the gateway at office depot you would also get a $150 mail in rebate but I think that deal is gone. I love gateways. Thanks for the links, but I see that you had problems with these in the Vista thread, and also, I can't use the Dell XP CD I have in a Gateway machine...  Also... <a href="http://www.ronfez.net/messageboard/viewmessages.cfm/Forum/52/Topic/51019/page/Another_reason_why_Best_Buy_sucks_.htm">It's never a good idea to reccomend Best Buy to me.</a>

Tenbatsuzen

03-20-2007, 06:36 AM

Thanks to Mikeyboy, Jon, and Hbox, I made my selection, I'm getting a Dell Inspiron 6400 with Core Duo processors.  With the airplane power adapter and tax, came in right around 850.  Not too shabby.

ralphbxny

03-20-2007, 08:40 AM

Tenbatsuzen wrote: Thanks to Mikeyboy, Jon, and Hbox, I made my selection, I'm getting a Dell Inspiron 6400 with Core Duo processors.  With the airplane power adapter and tax, came in right around 850.  Not too shabby.  nice pick up!!

Tenbatsuzen

03-20-2007, 08:44 AM

Never mind.  Dell cancelled my order apparently because I'm not a small business.

Tenbatsuzen

03-20-2007, 08:45 AM

Ron Bennington Inc.

Tenbatsuzen

03-20-2007, 03:18 PM

Dell tells me that I'm not getting the original computer I ordered, yet my card has two authorizations from it.  I may go crazy in about 10 seconds.

Doctor Z

03-20-2007, 03:20 PM

If you wanna do the things you listed, just get yourself a MacBook.  I promise you'll be happy.

ralphbxny

03-20-2007, 03:23 PM

Tenbatsuzen wrote: Dell tells me that I'm not getting the original computer I ordered, yet my card has two authorizations from it.  I may go crazy in about 10 seconds.  id fuckin burn that place down!!

Tenbatsuzen

03-20-2007, 03:31 PM

Doctor Z wrote: If you wanna do the things you listed, just get yourself a MacBook. I promise you'll be happy. Funny, you sound like somebody I know. I gave her a ring instead.

aceofspades7

03-21-2007, 07:07 AM

i've been buying dells for the past 10 years and never had a problem until the last laptop i bought as a gift for someone.  i got the low end mail in support and it was a f'ing nightmare.  that laptop would only boot up after pushing the on button 10 or so times.  after seding the laptop back to Tenn for service 3 times i wanted to kill somebody.  they finally replaced the motherboard, video card, and hard drive and it was fixed but man it was the most frustrating thing i may have ever dealt with.  the whole process took 2 months to get a working laptop that was a christmas gift...  from the indian phone support where they keep saying 'no worries sir', to the hold messages dell has that keep telling you to hang up and reboot and that will fix your problem, to the incompetance at the service center in Tenn, i don't think i'd ever buy a dell again.  if i did, i would be sure to get the better support plan.  but honestly i think i'd get a mac...

MadMatt

03-21-2007, 07:10 AM

Doctor Z wrote: If you wanna do the things you listed, just get yourself a MacBook.  I promise you'll be happy. For around $800 bucks?  Yeah, right.You can't get anywhere near a respectable MacBook for less than a healthy human kidney.

MadMatt

03-21-2007, 07:14 AM

Tenbatsuzen wrote: Never mind.  Dell cancelled my order apparently because I'm not a small business.What info did you give them and how did they know you aren't a small business?  I am a "consultant" and order from the small busines section all the time.  It may help that I used Dell financing though.  I guess if you let them rape you with %24 interest they aren't as picky.

Tenbatsuzen

03-21-2007, 02:44 PM

Apparently, the original computer I ordered is now in production.  So it looks like I'm getting it.

Dudeman

09-15-2007, 09:14 PM

I need to get a basic PC laptop, so I am looking for some help here. I have to get a PC to run some basic programs for work. I have another computer (Mac), so all I really need for this computer is internet and Word, but I do want to make sure it runs fast. Any suggestions on what to get, and what to put into it?

I was looking at the Inspiron 1501. Anyone have suggestions on processors, memory, etc.?

Thanks

Dudeman

09-17-2007, 05:24 PM

any help?

Tenbatsuzen

09-17-2007, 05:32 PM

I need to get a basic PC laptop, so I am looking for some help here. I have to get a PC to run some basic programs for work. I have another computer (Mac), so all I really need for this computer is internet and Word, but I do want to make sure it runs fast. Any suggestions on what to get, and what to put into it?

I was looking at the Inspiron 1501. Anyone have suggestions on processors, memory, etc.?

Thanks

I have the 1505 and I love it.

You might want to look into Dell's Vostro line. No pre-loaded software.

Skellington

09-18-2007, 04:41 AM

Funny, you sound like somebody I know. I gave her a ring instead.   

If you wanna do the things you listed, just get yourself a MacBook.  I promise you'll be happy.

Agreed. I get a company discount at Apple, thusly my birthday present to myself will be a macbook pro. It isn't $800, but it's worth the money....because windows can suck it.

JPMNICK

09-18-2007, 05:58 AM

Agreed. I get a company discount at Apple, thusly my birthday present to myself will be a macbook pro. It isn't $800, but it's worth the money....because windows can suck it.

and even if you love windows, you can run it on the new Mac's

thelyonhart

09-18-2007, 06:11 AM

and even if you love windows, you can run it on the new Mac's

man mac... you really sold out... running windows and shit? you've changed homie... damn...

scottinnj

09-18-2007, 06:31 PM

I have an Inspiron 600m and it is perfect. I do exactly what you do, but I am not sure how the Vista OS is as I have XP.
I'm a MCP and really hate Vista, and my next laptop is going to be a Macbook. They are now running Intel chips so the cost has gone down but the power and energy is still better then the Windows laptops.

If you want to keep Windows, nothing beats the Inspiron 600 family.

JPMNICK

09-18-2007, 06:34 PM

I have an Inspiron 600m and it is perfect. I do exactly what you do, but I am not sure how the Vista OS is as I have XP.
I'm a MCP and really hate Vista, and my next laptop is going to be a Macbook. They are now running Intel chips so the cost has gone down but the power and energy is still better then the Windows laptops.

If you want to keep Windows, nothing beats the Inspiron 600 family.

i agree. i have used the 600m's at work and really liked them

thelyonhart

09-18-2007, 06:53 PM

i agree. i have used the 600m's at work and really liked them

im on a 600m right now... wild!

JPMNICK

09-18-2007, 06:54 PM

im on a 600m right now... wild!

it's like it was meant to be

we can tell our adopted kids we met in a geek message board forum

Kris10

09-25-2007, 10:24 PM

I feel left out, I have an Inspiron 1100. It works. I don't have problems with it. I get reallllllly reallllly nervous about buying new laptops. It makes me have anxiety attacks because I'm a laptop moron. :wallbash: