New laptop, choices, choices

Well, since I killed my daughter's I6000 (well, it was dead and I didn't
fix it), I am going to buy myself a new laptop. (that's the way it
works, right?)

Anyway.

I'm torn on the choices. I was sure I wanted the little XPS1330, but
wow it is expensive. I went to the kiosk to see it and all they had was
a mockup. What's up with that? Since I couldn't see a working screen,
I couldn't form an opinion. If I was a serious traveler like I used to
be, it would be a no-brainer.

But I'm not. The most this will move is home office to bedroom to back
porch.

So, I am looking at the 1420 and 1520. The 1520 is the updated I6000.

I'm leaning towards a little smaller and lighter, hench the 1420. The
limitations are:

1) No nVidia 8600, the best is the 8400
2) No WSXGA+

The first doesn't seem to be a shopstopper as I very rarely game and the
games I have are old enough that they'll likely run just fine.

The second is tougher as I haven't seen the sizes and resolutions. I
may hit Best Buy to look at other machines and see what they look like
for comparison.

My gut reaction is that 1680x1050 on a 15.4" screen would be tough to
read. Yes, I know I can play with the dpi, but what would the real
estate do for me? I don't really program anymore, which is where it
would be helpful.

The 1420 offers WXGA+ which should be 1440x900, which is the resolution
on my I9300. I like that resolution and think I could live with it on a
3" smaller screen.

So, I'm leaning towards the 1420.

I have a 10% off outlet coupon, so I have two days to decide and find
the right one on the outlet. One quirk I have noticed on the outlet is
that the T7500 processor is cheaper on outlet machines than the T7300.

So, I am leaning towards a 1420 with the T7500, 2GB memory, 120GB
7200RPM drive, WXGA+.

Should be just under $1000 with the coupon at the outlet.

Comments and suggestions welcome!

Tom

 

Well, I ended up fixed my I6000, so no new laptop.

Shoot, I wanted one..

 

yep it's PRICEY!!

 

It won't be for long.
One of the great benefits of this economy is that consumers
support (relatively) high prices only as long as the
differences/advantages are clear. Dell was the second (after
Sony) to combine that level of power and functionality in such a
package. The XPS1330 is about 20% less costly than the Sony
products with which it directly competes, and Toshiba already
has a toe in the ring.

As Acer, HP, and others enter that marketing battle, prices will
fall quickly. And each new entry will bring with it some new
benefit or feature.

For the consumer, it's great. For the market planner at Gateway,
it's a puzzlement.




I know lots of facts, but don't understand them.

 

More info Tom. How did you fix it??

 

See you below...

Another alternative would be an outlet M1210. They are priced very
well and I love mine.

I seem to remember that you have a larger notebook already, with
either a 17" or 20" screen (true?). The advantage of a larger
notebook to me would be to use it with Remote Desktop to connect to my
desktop computer.

Agreed -- based on what you say you'll use it for, video wouldn't be a
show stopper, although I know you stream TV (I have no idea how, it
would be interesting to know) so I don't know if more powerful video
would help with that.

't really program anymore, which is where it

I found the 1680 x 1050 to be very readable, even with my 44 year old
eyes that now need progressive lenses, however you hit the nail right
on the head when you said you might not need it anymore because you
don't program. The main advantage of the WSXGA+ has always been for
programming tasks (which I don't do anymore either).

Someone else may be able to calculate how the 1440 x 900 on a 14.1"
screen compares to 1680 x 1050 on a 15.4" screen. I have used both,
and have the 1440 x 900 resolution on my 640m, and it seems like the
text size was very close.

One thing I don't like about the Inspirons, like my 640m, is that the
build quality seems sub-par. On two different laptops of that type
the screen needed to be tightened after a while. I found out that
it's not that hard to do. Also, it doesn't have a solid feeling.

That's a good configuration. I have stayed away from the 160GB 7200
rpm drives because they have been having problems (if I wanted that
capacity I'd Google to see what drives and if problems have been
resolved). I have never regretted getting a 7200 rpm drive -- it
doesn't seem to decrease battery life.

My favorite laptop in that price range right now is the Latitude D520.
It's very solid -- magnesium roll cage and steel hinges. A modular
battery can fit in the drive bay, getting up to 11 hours (as one
review reported) with the primary and secondary batteries. I like
that it has a standard aspect screen rather than wide. It has more
verticle resolution, which is good for many applications, such as web
browsing and word processing. It doesn't have the glossy screen which
could be a show stopper -- for me I like the non-glossy when using it
for "business" purposes (at meetings, etc). I don't have to worry
about window glare behind me or have to adjust the angle to avoid
glare.

Another option would be to go the Lenovo Thinkpad route. They have
been deeply discounted, and there are coupons that can be used on top
of their discounted prices.

 

Reseated the CPU, but it didn't last long.

 

Tom, what's your opinion on the Nvidia video cards vs. ATI video cards on
the Dell laptops?

 

On a laptop, I don't know. On a desktop, I generally prefer nVidia as
ATI's drivers are terrible and their control panel consumes a huge
amount of memory.

On the new laptops, the only choice is Intel integrated or nVidia.

 

What screen resolution would you go for if getting the
D520?

Would you stick with XGA?

Or go for higher SXGA+?

Something weird abt Dells web page....when you click on
14" models only you still get the D520. But the blurb
says its a 15" screen

 

The D520 may come with a 14" or 15" screen choice. I don't remember
because I've had former D5xx laptops and already know that the 15"
screen is great so when I helped my friend order we automatically went
for that.

Definitely the SXGA+ -- very readable.

I really like the non-glossy screen for business uses.

You sound like me in the past buying and selling systems. I was able
to do it without much financial loss when Dell had the $750 rebates.
They don't now, so my timeframe for having a laptop is back to the
usual 3 years for me.

 

Hmm.... I will double check

Maybe since the D520 is 15" and not 15.4"..... they've
classified it in the 14" range or something

Really?! I would have thought that high off resolution
would make for VERY small text and such. No?

 

What did you replace your 640m with -- you sold that to your
brother-in-law right?

What are your needs for a laptop. Start with your needs and then
decide how to proceed.

For example:

- Portability (and how portable)

- Cost (including the length of warranty you'd like)

..- Use: business note taking, multimedia, games?

and fill in your other relevant factors.

Once you do that then it makes sense to go into these details more.

On your 640m what resolution did you have?

 

=====

For whatever it might be worth ... I recently bought an Inspiron 6400,
as
a needed 'fix' to my 4.5 year old Ins. 4100 (which is still *almost*
fine) :

I think this is "T7200" -- core 2 duo 2GHz; 15.4'' WSXGA+ (1680x1050);
100Gb 7200rpm (the biggest 7200rpm they had), 2Gb ram; ATI Mobility
256Mb (but the offers were alternating between this and nVidia). I
was
waiting for a few months for a deal where the "stars
aligned" (somebody
here nicely called it this way -- and it may have been you? ; and
then
I got it, with a few extras (extra big battery, faster RAM for
programming,
70-Dell-dollars, and a little more), for 1500. This is with 3 year
warranty.

Without these extras I believe it would've been, very loosely,
somewhere
between 1200 and 1250. Still with the 3-year warranty. (Maybe around
a
month after I actually bought it, a deal showed up which would've made
it
up to around 100 cheaper. I didn't regret it, one can't wait forever;
but the
fact is that the price went down a bit more.)

I've been reading advice here (thanks!) on checking out the Outlet --
and
I did ocassionally -- but this machine was needed and supposed to be
as
reliable as possible, so I somehow did not feel comfortable enough
with
the Outlet. Altogether I am very happy with the box and the price
point,
given the configuration I got. (Btw: it's got basic Vista; I do agree
with what
seems to be a prevalent opinion, that it is not production ready yet;
but my
system of choice is Linux and it only made sense to use an opportunity
to
actually get Vista. I believe that it will replace XP as the main
system.)

Also, I think I can say that the resolution seems to me to be almost
exactly
the same as 1440x1050 (or so) was on 14.1'' screen (on my old I4100).
If
I did not need it for programming (I do), I'd still find it much more
pleasing
than anything lower. I really enjoy the big 15.4 with this resolution.
But then
I cannot comment on how hard is to read it, really.

Hope this may be of some help, let me know if I can supply more info.

PS. Btw ... could anyone supply advice on where to get an inverter
for
an old (Ins4100) machine ... but a reliable source? I got two over
eBay
and they in fact do not work ("100%, tested, etc"). They do start --
and
this is better than what mine does -- but then auto shut off, which
only
confirms it that is the inverter. That whole ins.4100, which is
otherwise
still very fine, is now not really usable, just because of this tiny
piece.
An advice on a reliable source would be much appreciated.

 

=====

For whatever it might be worth ... I recently bought an Inspiron 6400,
as a needed 'fix' to my 4.5 year old Ins.4100 (which is still 'almost'
fine) :

I think this is "T7200," core 2 duo 2GHz; 15.4'' WSXGA+ (1680x1050);
100Gb 7200rpm (the biggest 7200rpm they had); 2Gb ram; ATI 256Mb
(but the offers were alternating between this and nVidia). I was
waiting
for a few months for a deal where the "stars aligned" (somebody here
nicely called it this way -- and it may have been you? ; and then I
got
it, with a few extras (extra big battery, faster RAM for programming,
70
Dell-dollars, and a little more), for 1500. This is with 3 year
warranty.

Without these extras I think it would've been, very loosely,
somewhere
between 1200 and 1250. Still with the 3-year warranty. (And maybe
around a month after I actually bought it, a deal showed up which
would
have made it up to around 100 cheaper. I didn't regret it, one can't
wait
forever; but the fact is that it went down a bit more.)

I've been reading advice here (thanks!) on checking out the Outlet,
and
I did ocassionally, but as this machine was needed and supposed to be
as reliable as possible, I somehow did not feel comfortable enough
with
the Outlet. Altogether I am very happy with the box and the price
point,
given the configuration I got. (Btw: it's got basic Vista; I agree
with what
seems to be a prevalent opinion, that it is not production ready yet;
but
my system of choice is Linux and it only made sense to use this as an
opportunity to actually get Vista. I believe that it will replace XP
as the
main system.) The build quality does leave a little to be desired, but
my
experience with these is ... excellent, actually. (Well -- so far.)

Also, I think I can say that the resolution seems to me to be
practically
the same as 1440x1050 (or so) was on 14.1'' screen (on my old I4100).
If I didn't need it for programming (as I do), I'd still find it much
more
pleasing than anything lower. I really enjoy the big 15.4 with this
crisp
resolution. But then I cannot comment on how hard is to read it,
really.

Hope this may be of some help, let me know if I can supply more info.

PS. Btw ... could anyone supply advice on where to get an inverter
for an old (Ins4100) machine ... but a reliable source? I got two
over
eBay and they in fact do not work ("100%, tested, etc"). They do
start
-- and this is better than what mine does -- but then auto shut off
within
half a minute, which only confirms it that is the inverter. That whole
ins.
4100, which is otherwise still very fine, is now not really usable,
just
because of this tiny piece -- which I am certainly prepared to buy.
An advice on a reliable source would be much appreciated.

 

=====

For whatever it might be worth ... I recently bought an Inspiron 6400,
as a needed 'fix' to my 4.5 year old Ins.4100 (which is still 'almost'
fine) :

I think this is "T7200," core2duo 2GHz; 15.4'' WSXGA+ (1680x1050);
100Gb 7200rpm (biggest 7200rpm they had); 2Gb ram; ATI 256MB
(offers were alternating between this and nVidia). I was waiting for
a few months for a deal where the "stars aligned" (somebody here
nicely called it this way -- and it may have been you? ; and then
I got it, with a few extras (extra big battery, faster RAM (only for
programming, 70 Dell-dollars, and a little more), for 1500.
This is with 3 year warranty.

Without these extras I think it would've been, loosely, somewhere
between 1200 and 1250. Still with the 3-year warranty. (Maybe
around a month after I actually bought it, a deal showed up which
would've made it up to around 100 cheaper. I didn't regret it, one
can't wait forever; but the fact is that it went down a bit more.)

I've been reading advice here (thanks!) on checking out the Outlet,
and I did ocassionally, but as this machine was needed and meant
to be as reliable as possible, I somehow did not feel comfortable
enough with the Outlet. Altogether I am very happy with the box
and the price point, given the configuration. (Btw: I got basic
Vista;
I agree with what seems to be a prevalent opinion, that it is not
production ready yet; but my system of choice is Linux and it only
made sense to use this as an opportunity to actually get Vista. I
believe that it will replace XP as the main system.) Now the build
quality does leave a bit to be desired, but my experience with
these is ... excellent, actually. (Well -- so far.)

Also, I think I can say that the resolution seems to me to be
practically the same as 1440x1050 (or so) was on 14.1'' screen
(on my old I4100). If I didn't need it for programming (as I do),
I'd still find it much more pleasing than anything lower. I really
enjoy the big 15.4 with this crisp resolution. But this would be
a personal preference and, for thing, I cannot comment on how
hard is to read it, really.

Hope this may be of some help, let me know if I can supply more
info.

PS. Btw: could anyone supply advice on where to get an inverter
for an old (Ins4100) machine ... but a reliable source? I got two
over eBay and they in fact do not work ("100%, tested, etc"). They
do start -- and this is better than what mine does -- but then auto
shut off within half a minute, which only confirms it that is the
inverter. That whole ins. 4100, which is otherwise still very fine,
is now not really usable for me, because of this piece -- which
I am certainly prepared to buy. An advice on a reliable source
would be much appreciated.

 

Doesn't matter what you get. Expect it to be delayed.