Latitude D800 options for processor, display, Vista & partition

5 options I would like suggestions for:

A number of processor options from 2 to 2.6 GHz and L2 cash from 2M to
6 M. Added cost goes up to $390. Should I pick any option but the
2GHz 2ML2 standard option?

Vista options are Home, Business and Vista Ultimate. Any reason to
chose anything but Home for a home office?

Display options are WXGA, WSXGA & WUXGA. I am not doing gaming, but
want to use it for home office and audio visual (movies, photoshop,
etc)

Is the 3 or 4 year accidental drop and damage insurance Dell offers
worth looking at? ($169 & $199)

Should I have them partition the drive with a primary 20, 40, 60 GB
partition with the ramaining standard storage for $10?

my opinion, the std 3 yr warranty is fine.
esp if you plan to use it just home.
i would pick a 4mb or 6mb cache processor
and a speed of core2 2.2 or greater
i tend to stay away from the fastest, becaue those are usually priced
higher and not cost effective.
i've gotten all 3 resolution screens, and they are all great.
it depends on what max resolution you want.
if you dont want the tiny print, then stay away from wuxga.
however, i have wuxga so i can remote control to my 24inch and see the
entire screen. it is fine for my ailing eyes.

are you sure you want VISTA?
home is fine, i hear it runs faster than the other versions.
i certainly wouldnt pay for the upgrades.
then again, i would wipe it and put XP pro on it.


eganders wrote:
> 5 options I would like suggestions for:
>
> A number of processor options from 2 to 2.6 GHz and L2 cash from 2M to
> 6 M. Added cost goes up to $390. Should I pick any option but the
> 2GHz 2ML2 standard option?
>
> Vista options are Home, Business and Vista Ultimate. Any reason to
> chose anything but Home for a home office?
>
> Display options are WXGA, WSXGA & WUXGA. I am not doing gaming, but
> want to use it for home office and audio visual (movies, photoshop,
> etc)
>
> Is the 3 or 4 year accidental drop and damage insurance Dell offers
> worth looking at? ($169 & $199)
>
> Should I have them partition the drive with a primary 20, 40, 60 GB
> partition with the ramaining standard storage for $10?

oh and the hard drive,
i guess it depends on the size you get. if you have a 160gb+ drive, then
the primary should be 40 or 60, but not smaller.

eganders wrote:
> 5 options I would like suggestions for:
>
> A number of processor options from 2 to 2.6 GHz and L2 cash from 2M to
> 6 M. Added cost goes up to $390. Should I pick any option but the
> 2GHz 2ML2 standard option?
>
> Vista options are Home, Business and Vista Ultimate. Any reason to
> chose anything but Home for a home office?
>
> Display options are WXGA, WSXGA & WUXGA. I am not doing gaming, but
> want to use it for home office and audio visual (movies, photoshop,
> etc)
>
> Is the 3 or 4 year accidental drop and damage insurance Dell offers
> worth looking at? ($169 & $199)
>
> Should I have them partition the drive with a primary 20, 40, 60 GB
> partition with the ramaining standard storage for $10?

Hi!

> A number of processor options from 2 to 2.6 GHz and L2 cash from
> 2M to 6 M. Added cost goes up to $390. Should I pick any option
> but the 2GHz 2ML2 standard option?

I don't think there is much point in picking the most expensive processor
choice on the list. Choose something from the middle of the road. More L2
cache is not necessarily better--the processor has to be able to keep it
filled in order to take the most advantage of it.

You will be running Vista, so the areas to focus on are RAM and disk speed.
RAM is the most important. 2GB is ideal if you can afford it, more is not
likely to useful (or even usable) unless you will be running a 64-bit
version of Vista.

> Vista options are Home, Business and Vista Ultimate. Any reason
> to chose anything but Home for a home office?

The Home edition should be fine, but there are two sub-editions in that
category. There is Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium. Home Basic is
almost the "bottom of the line" in all the Vista choices, and has nothing
but the basics. If all you plan to do is work and don't care about fancy
stuff, Home Basic is probably fine.

> Display options are WXGA, WSXGA & WUXGA. I am not doing
> gaming, but want to use it for home office and audio visual (movies,
> photoshop, etc)

You should get the best display that you think you will be able to see
clearly. WXGA is basic, WSXGA adds resolution, and WUXGA will be the highest
resolution display you can get. Note that unless the panel size increases
for these choices, the higher resolution panels will appear to have smaller
text and graphics on them. This isn't really a problem unless you don't see
reasonably well. This is where going to a store where laptops are sold and
looking at screens similar to what you plan to buy can be a big help.

> Is the 3 or 4 year accidental drop and damage insurance Dell offers
> worth looking at? ($169 & $199)

If you think with a good deal of certainty that these things will happen to
the system, I'd look into the three year option. After four years you may be
looking at a new laptop for performance or wear and tear reasons. You might
also see what your existing insurance would do--it may be cheaper/better
coverage than what Dell is offering.

> Should I have them partition the drive with a primary 20, 40, 60 GB
> partition with the ramaining standard storage for $10?

Only if you intend to keep programs and data separate from one another...or
if you intend to multi-boot (which may require you to do the partitioning
over again). If you do opt for the partitions, choose the 40GB or larger
options so Vista and your programs have room to grow for the future.

William