Travel Technology - Need a new laptop, is Dell the best deal out there?

I think I need to buy a new laptop, as my extremely old X21 is starting to show its age

I've seen the Dell deals, and it seems that they are running some good discounts on www.deals2buy.com

Dell Inspiron E1705 Core™ Duo T2250, 1.73GHz
17" WXGA
2GB RAM
120GB
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW)
802.11b/g
1yr Warranty

$1,119.20

Is there anyone out there that can match that price/configuration on a consistent basis

The Dell coupons are always available

It's a nice deal, but not necessarily the configuration that I would buy.

1. The memory is crippled at 533Mhz. You want the faster memory, not necessarily from Dell if its cheaper from a third party. (Their upgrade from 1G to 2G/667Mhz is around $250. I think you can just buy 2 1G fast ddr2 SO-DIMMs for around $200.)

2. The disk drive is only 5400RPM. You want to upgrade to the 7200RPM drive for a better/faster experience.

3. The screen rez is only XGA+. I would upgrade to the higher rez panel.

4. I would upgrade the processor to the T7200 which is 2.0Ghz with 4MB cache.

5. The configuration uses on-board integrated graphics. I'd upgrade to the fastest graphics processor I could afford.

All those things don't make it a bad deal, but that's why it's cheap. Once you start upgrading to something you might actually buy, it isn't as cheap as that. Of course, if you don't care about any of that, go for it.

-David

And, I believe that Dell now charges sales tax for deliveries in most states. Amazon.com and many others do not.

This will undoubtly start another apple war but here goes:

MacBook (13 " white)

* 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x512
* 80GB Serial ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
* Superdrive 6x (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
* AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth
* Built in iSight (webcam)
List price $1,299, special promotions available at various on-line sights.

Applecare (3 yr warranty - btwn $209-249)

Granted, to run WinXP, you'll need to purchase legitimate software but with recent upgrades in Parallels, etc., you get two operating systems.

I think I need to buy a new laptop, as my extremely old X21 is starting to show its age

I've seen the Dell deals, and it seems that they are running some good discounts on www.deals2buy.com

Dell Inspiron E1705 Core™ Duo T2250, 1.73GHz
17" WXGA
2GB RAM
120GB
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW)
802.11b/g
1yr Warranty

$1,119.20

Is there anyone out there that can match that price/configuration on a consistent basis

The Dell coupons are always available

I have this computer with the T7200 processor core2duo, 17" WUXGA, 2GB memory, 7200 RPM Drive, 256 mb video card, sound blaster, a dvd burner, and many other upgrades, and it cost $2500 at the time I got it. If you upgraded to all of that it would probably cost close to the same I paid.

Personally, I think Dell laptops are:
overpriced
inconsistent in quality
have compatibility issues (efforts to marry you to their power converters)
overload thier boxes with Junk software (AOL etc)
poor customer service (overseas I think)

Personally, I think Dell laptops are:
overpriced
inconsistent in quality
have compatibility issues (efforts to marry you to their power converters)
overload their boxes with Junk software (AOL etc)
poor customer service (overseas I think)


(quoted bolding mine)

As a road warrior, this alone caused me to hand my corporate Dell back to my company and buy my own laptop. I love the iGo power solution for all the devices I travel with, and Dell's insistence on using their charger only made their "solution" a non-starter.

I am now actively recruiting other high-mileage travelers in my company to drop Dell altogether. If Dell can't or won't compete on innovation, quality, price and service, but instead must rely on "proprietary" approaches, I'm not interested.

FTR, I bought a Sony VAIO. Extremely light, which is an important factor for me.

(quoted bolding mine)

As a road warrior, this alone caused me to hand my corporate Dell back to my company and buy my own laptop. I love the iGo power solution for all the devices I travel with, and Dell's insistence on using their charger only made their "solution" a non-starter.

I am now actively recruiting other high-mileage travelers in my company to drop Dell altogether. If Dell can't or won't compete on innovation, quality, price and service, but instead must rely on "proprietary" approaches, I'm not interested.

FTR, I bought a Sony VAIO. Extremely light, which is an important factor for me.

I hear you. I thought about this recently when I plugged in my power adapter to do some last minute work on a presentation in a London hotel. I heard a "pop" and the power supply was dead. I walked literally around the corner to a computer fair and picked up a new brick and was back to work in less than 30 minutes. If it had been a Dell I would have been hosed.

It's a nice deal, but not necessarily the configuration that I would buy.

1. The memory is crippled at 533Mhz. You want the faster memory, not necessarily from Dell if its cheaper from a third party. (Their upgrade from 1G to 2G/667Mhz is around $250. I think you can just buy 2 1G fast ddr2 SO-DIMMs for around $200.)DELL ADD $187 to go from 1G to 2G
2. The disk drive is only 5400RPM. You want to upgrade to the 7200RPM drive for a better/faster experience. "Disk Drive" or Hard Drive? I never use the disk drive anymore. The 7200 RPM HD is only 100GB for $19 more while the 5400RPM is 160GB!
3. The screen rez is only XGA+. I would upgrade to the higher rez panel.ADD $118
4. I would upgrade the processor to the T7200 which is 2.0Ghz with 4MB cache.ADD $159

It's a nice deal, but not necessarily the configuration that I would buy.

1. The memory is crippled at 533Mhz. You want the faster memory, not necessarily from Dell if its cheaper from a third party. (Their upgrade from 1G to 2G/667Mhz is around $250. I think you can just buy 2 1G fast ddr2 SO-DIMMs for around $200.)

2. The disk drive is only 5400RPM. You want to upgrade to the 7200RPM drive for a better/faster experience.

3. The screen rez is only XGA+. I would upgrade to the higher rez panel.

4. I would upgrade the processor to the T7200 which is 2.0Ghz with 4MB cache.

5. The configuration uses on-board integrated graphics. I'd upgrade to the fastest graphics processor I could afford.

All those things don't make it a bad deal, but that's why it's cheap. Once you start upgrading to something you might actually buy, it isn't as cheap as that. Of course, if you don't care about any of that, go for it.

-David


It's the kind of laptop I bought for home use. It's not a stunning setup, but it does what I need. My work Dell is a Latitude D820, loaded up, for almost $3K.

Don't skimp on the RAM if you want to ever upgrade to Vista.

I hear nothing but horror stories about Inspirons from IT guys.

If you’re going Dell, go Latitude.

My thoughts about Dell:
1) The add ons are designed to be lower priced than the aftermarket add ons. If this is not the case than Dell is not doing their research properly. This is to motivate you to add something or more memory than you may need. It is rare that a Dell rep will say "oh that is so pricey you don't need that much memory."
2) My Dell was like steel. I bought it in early 2002 and the HD only recently went bad and this was using it daily in 300 different hotels and dozens of airports per year. Never had a problem with the system itself. Someone at Best Buy told me the new Dell's are not as hearty though.
3) The battery went bad very early and would not hold a charge well but I waited to long to get fixed under warrantee and did not want to spend the $150 on a new one. I THINK they may have fixed this issue.
4) The power supply seems overly bulky and easy to lose in hotels. When I bought a new one at Best Buy for $90 but Best Buy would not replace it when it broke even though a had a special Best Buy warrantee because they said I abused it - whatever - the Best Buy staff almost had me arrested I was so angry but that is another story. The power supply company actually sent me a new one immediately without even having to return the old one.

I would get that Apple all day long over a comparably priced Dell.

If you don't need Windoze, you're better off running OS X. If you do need Windoze, you can run it on your Apple.

I hear nothing but horror stories about Inspirons from IT guys.

If you’re going Dell, go Latitude.Is this a new issue with Inspirons? Maybe people are holding on to their Dell's too long so they have made them so they wear out faster. I started with a Compaq from CompUSA. Man that thing had MAJOR problems before a year was even up.
$3,000 seems too much for a laptop.

dell has amazing service (i dont mean the CS side, i got so fed up with overseas call centers, i use the online chat). their turnaround is <24 hrs and they use overnight mail. you say "X is broken!" they say "try doing Y" you say "Y doesnt work" they say "ok send X in, we'll replace." very cool for laptops that are more fragile than laptops.

<SNIP> Is this a new issue with Inspirons?
From about the last 12 months or so.

I still have a 4 year old Inspiron 8200 that I use as a beater. The hard drive failed after two years, and I had to disable the touchpad due to an errant pointer a few months ago. I suppose that could happen to any machine.

Right now I carry a Dell XPS that will be coming off lease soon. Reliable, but at almost 10 pounds I’m worried that I’ll break the tray table.

I can spec anything I want, so I’m not married to Dell. I need something that travels well and can handle SolidWorks without grinding along, so I’m open to suggestions.

I hear nothing but horror stories about Inspirons from IT guys.

If you’re going Dell, go Latitude.

Its really an issue of which ODM (Compal, Asus, Quanta, etc) happens to be making the particular model (latitude, inpsiron, etc) at the particular time you buy.

Outside of waranty and customer service (and things like that), brand names like Compaq, Dell, IBM, etc mean very little. There are about 10 ODM's whose laptops comprise more than three quarters of the market share of laptops. Thye end up with a variety of OEM names (Sony, Dell, etc) branded on them. Shop by ODM and youll find much more consistency in quality.

Thinkpad. 'Nuff said.

Its really an issue of which ODM (Compal, Asus, Quanta, etc) happens to be making the particular model (latitude, inpsiron, etc) at the particular time you buy.

Outside of waranty and customer service (and things like that), brand names like Compaq, Dell, IBM, etc mean very little. There are about 10 ODM's whose laptops comprise more than three quarters of the market share of laptops. Thye end up with a variety of OEM names (Sony, Dell, etc) branded on them. Shop by ODM and youll find much more consistency in quality.

Could you explain more? How do you buy by ODM? And which companies should you look for?

Could you explain more? How do you buy by ODM? And which companies should you look for?

judge for yourself:

search the internet for reviews for the biggest 4
Quanta
Compal
Wistron
Asus

Then check something like www.resellerrtaings.com for reviews of resellers.

Ive been partial to Compal and Asus over the last few years (with an edge to Compal).

This site lists some Compal resellers: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60041

The Asus website lists some Asus resellers:
http://usa.asus.com/wheretobuy.aspx

I've had good service from www.powernotebooks.com , but Im sure there are plenty of other good resellers. www.resellerratings.com seems to be a good objective rating service (you actually have to show an invoice number for an actual purchase to enter a rating on a reseller.

Put me solidly in the pro-Dell camp. I've had good experiences with them over the years.

I do second getting a Latitude and the T7200 CPU and video card if you can swing it. I also strongly recommend with any laptop getting as much waranty coverage as you can. Dell's completecare coverage has saved my a few times when I've accidentaly done harm to my laptop.

Steve

Do you really need/want a screen that big? What is the use of the laptop? If you're travelling a lot, I'd go with a smaller screen unless you want a portable table. Any dual core processor will be fine for business purposes. The processing power will be far beyond what you need for email and word processing. A dedicated graphics card is nice and you'll get better graphics quality than the built in intel stuff, but ignore anyone who says to get the fastest graphics card possible. Unless you're looking to spend your productive time shooting bad guys or doing 3d modelling, you don't need it.

In terms of the best vendor, I'd do some research. I'm not sure that Dell is considered that great by laptop afficionados. It is often favored by corporate IT departments for the low initial price point.

DELL ADD $187 to go from 1G to 2G


That's for slow 533Mhz memory. When I looked, it was something like $247 for the 1G to 2G 667Mhz memory.


"Disk Drive" or Hard Drive? I never use the disk drive anymore.


uhm, ok, if you say so. :)

-David

This will undoubtly start another apple war but here goes:

MacBook (13 " white)

* 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x512
* 80GB Serial ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
* Superdrive 6x (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
* AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth
* Built in iSight (webcam)
List price $1,299, special promotions available at various on-line sights.

Applecare (3 yr warranty - btwn $209-249)

Granted, to run WinXP, you'll need to purchase legitimate software but with recent upgrades in Parallels, etc., you get two operating systems.

You're comparing a 17" notebook with a 13" notebook.

A more realistic scenario would be to configure the E1705 similar to the 17" Macbook Pro and then do the comparison.

So, if I configure the Dell E1705 with the current promotion (20% off) with the upgrades (mostly listing the upgrades below) I would get today:

T7200 Processor
Windows XP Media Center Ed (with vista upgrade coupon)
WUXGA Panel
1G 533Mhz Memory (We'll buy the 2 x 1G DDR2 667Mhz SO-DIMM from Newegg)
100G 7200RPM Sata Drive
DVD burner
Nvidia GeForce Go 7900GS/256M graphics
80 Hour 9-cell primary battery
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)
Base software pkg
Base warranty (1 year mail-in service)

Total (after 20% off coupon from dealcatcher.com): $1588

2 x 1G DDR2 667Mhz SO-DIMM from newegg: $200 (Cheaper than the $247 upgrade from Dell)

Total: $1788 (includes an extra 2 x 512M DDR2 533Mhz SO-DIMMs that you can easily sell on ebay for $50 - $75).

All things considered, that's not a bad price for a notebook like this with fast memory, fast hard drives, upgraded panel and pretty decent notebook graphics (better than the x1600). And if 80G hard drive is good, the 80G 7200RPM hard drive is probably $100 cheaper.

My original point was that $1120 was the price for a crippled configuration. Depending on what you're using it for, the $1120 configuration may be fine for some people.

-David

Just a few more cents...well, maybe a dollar or euro or two. If you're looking for a "deal", it'll depend on what you're using the machine for. I've had a bit of history with portables, and a few key things stick out. 1) Screen size... 2) weight... 3) powerpack, and 4) speed.

Started years ago in the misty dawn of time with a Dell, can't even remember the model. It was too too heavy, so I just left it at home. Gave it away when I got my next machine.

This was a Sony V505AX... trusty, but I bought just before Centrino came out, so I had to keep sliding a WiFi card in and out. Finally wore out the PCMCIA connector! Most of the time this wasn't an issue... the machine was lightweight and I kept it docked most of the time. Screen was kind of small so....I gave it away too.

Then I had a Dell Inspiron 6000. 15.4" Screen, built in WiFi, nice sized disk. It started to hurt my shoulder. While most of the time it was left in one place, every time I traveled it hurt to even think about picking it up. Plus, any time anyone (even in E+ / C) ahead of me reclined, forget it. Since then, I've given it away as well.

Did that when I got my present machine - Sony Sz110. Love the machine. LOVE the machine. Screen's nice and wide, Dual Core is speedy, batteries last fine. AND, no proprietary power brick like the Dells. Got REALLY REALLY tired of having to keep a Dell brick and all the rest of the adapters. I use the Sony as my primary PC - runs Lotus Notes 6.x, all the MS Office suite, and when at home, keep it connected to my TiVo so I can download all TiVo'ed programming for watching on the road. Sweet sweet machine.

The Sony I use with a Kensington 120w adapter that has these little add-on thingies. Can hook up my Sony... my 2 motorola Cell Phones... my iPod... my Sony still camera - all with ONE adapter. Can't say enough good about the Kensington.

With all that said, I'd pay the extra that folks recommend for... 1) Memory, memory, memory. 2) Separate, not shared, graphics. 3) A large speedy disk. The other considerations - brand, reliability, etc. - go to consumer reports or it's equivalent and trust their judgement if those are important.

As always, YMMV. Good luck!

It depends.. what type does suit your personality...

I think Dell, Compaq, and Fujitsu all are great but I havent tried the Acer Laptops yet...

If you r planning to buy one...

There is is new models available on compaqs....

thank you

"A more realistic scenario would be to configure the E1705 similar to the 17" Macbook Pro and then do the comparison."

No, the only thing Dell has that comes close to the quality of an Apple laptop is an XPS. I think the reason why he suggest the MB is that not many people want to travel with a 17" laptop. They're massive.

To the OP, I'd check out some laptop books. They'll do comparisons. As for people's recommendations:

Large, fast disc: Fast is good, but large? The person is working and doesn't really need 160Gb of storage. I have a 40Gb drive and it would take decades of spreadsheets to fill it.

Dedicated video card: Nice, but don't spend a lot for it. The cheapest dedicated card you can find will suffice.

Memory: Plenty of times companies, particularly Dell, charge WAY too much for memory upgrades. You can always put more in later or by it on the aftermarket and put it in yourself.

Processor: Any dual core processor is going to be miles ahead of the processing power needed for business applications. Remember, you were doing the same thing not too long ago on a P3 laptop. The software for email doesn't suddenly need $250 processor upgrades to run.

Screen: I'd go 15" maximum. Your machine gets too big otherwise. I have a friend with a 17" screen and its like a table.

That's for slow 533Mhz memory. When I looked, it was something like $247 for the 1G to 2G 667Mhz memory.

1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz [add $187 or $5/month1]

I think some people do too much "tinkering" with their laptops. The less you mess with your system the better many would be but some use there laptop as a proving ground for their superior intellect and [i]I believe reduce the overall life.

"Disk Drive or Hard Drive? I never use the disk drive anymore."

uhm, ok, if you say so.
Does that mean you disagree? People use to use Disk Drives a decade ago but they are not needed anymore. I bought one for my Dell 5 years ago and never took it out of the box. There are so many better methods for storage media and transfer using the USB port, most programs come on CD's now and with most files I simply attach and e-mail and bring it up and save on any computer that I want.

"A more realistic scenario would be to configure the E1705 similar to the 17" Macbook Pro and then do the comparison."

No, the only thing Dell has that comes close to the quality of an Apple laptop is an XPS. I think the reason why he suggest the MB is that not many people want to travel with a 17" laptop. They're massive.

To the OP, I'd check out some laptop books. They'll do comparisons. As for people's recommendations:

Large, fast disc: Fast is good, but large? The person is working and doesn't really need 160Gb of storage. I have a 40Gb drive and it would take decades of spreadsheets to fill it.

Dedicated video card: Nice, but don't spend a lot for it. The cheapest dedicated card you can find will suffice.

Memory: Plenty of times companies, particularly Dell, charge WAY too much for memory upgrades. You can always put more in later or by it on the aftermarket and put it in yourself.

Processor: Any dual core processor is going to be miles ahead of the processing power needed for business applications. Remember, you were doing the same thing not too long ago on a P3 laptop. The software for email doesn't suddenly need $250 processor upgrades to run.

Screen: I'd go 15" maximum. Your machine gets too big otherwise. I have a friend with a 17" screen and its like a table.Great real advice that strays from the "the most is always necessary" way of thinking. I personally prefer the 17" screen because my laptop is also serves as my home computer and so much of today's online environment is video based but is does make traveling more difficult.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB
OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 [with free upgrade to Vista]
SCREEN: 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ [Save $118 with UGA+]
MEMORY: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz [Save $187 with 1GB/667MHz]
Since both have 667MHz is 2GB really that important vs. 1GB?
HARD DRIVE: 100GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive [Save $19 with 160GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive]
If a large 160GB drive is not important than 7200 RPM (vs. 5400 RPM) most be more important.
CD DRIVER: 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
VIDEO CARD: Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (Cheapest)
SOUND: Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ HD Software Edition (Only option)
WIRELESS CARD: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g [Add $23 for a Hi-Speed: Dell Draft N Wireless]
OFFICE: Microsoft Office Basic - Includes Word, Excel, and Outlook email [Qualifies for Office 07 upgrade – Save $56 for Office Suite with only MS Word instead]
ANTI-VIRUS: 15 months of either Norton, McAfee or PC-cillin
WARRANTY: 4Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service (Save $119 for 2Yr or $55 for 3Yr]
ACCIDENTS: [Add $94 for CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service to 4Yr Lim Warranty]

TOTAL PRICE = $2056

dell has amazing service (i dont mean the CS side, i got so fed up with overseas call centers, i use the online chat). their turnaround is <24 hrs and they use overnight mail. you say "X is broken!" they say "try doing Y" you say "Y doesnt work" they say "ok send X in, we'll replace." very cool for laptops that are more fragile than laptops.This too has been my experience, and I also prefer Latitude (as I understand it, the line was/is designed to best serve corporate IT departments by making components as standard as possible for as long as possible). I also have had excellent tech service from Dell over the years, with as noted above, minimal hassle for replacement parts, as well as very swift turn around.

By contrast, my experiences with Toshiba, Gateway, Micron and others over the years were all consistently terrible. Ridiculously long tech-related phone calls with bad follow up, etc.

I keep hearing that Dell's had bad service in the past couple of years, though. Can anyone tell me what the main beefs have been?

1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz [Included in Price]
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz [add $187 or $5/month1]



I started with the $999 base system. The 2G upgrade was as I quoted, and in that case, you're better off buying it on your own. If you're really going to buy this system, you would need to configure it both ways to see which one comes out as a better deal. At any rate, they are charging $187 for an upgrade which should cost around $100 or so, however unless they offer a relatively cheap 1 DIMM offer for the 1G/667Mhz option, there's no way to reasonably use the 2 x 512M dimms that come with it and get the same performance as 2 x 1G 667Mhz Dimms. These systems use dual channel memory, and the best performance comes from using identically matched DIMMs, at the fastest speed the system supports.

Adding replacing DIMMs in a notebook is trivial.

Turn off the notebook, unplug it, wait a few minutes for it to cool off. Turn it over, loosen one screw, pop out the old SO-DIMMs, replace with the new ones, re-tighten screw, plug back in, turn on.

They are keyed, so you can't put them in the wrong way. Most memory sold at newegg, including the memory I found for $199.99, has a manufacturers lifetime warranty.



"Disk Drive or Hard Drive? I never use the disk drive anymore."


Does that mean you disagree? People use to use Disk Drives a decade ago but they are not needed anymore. I bought one for my Dell 5 years ago and never took it out of the box. There are so many better methods for storage media and transfer using the USB port, most programs come on CD's now and with most files I simply attach and e-mail and bring it up and save on any computer that I want.

Hard drive is the same thing as a disk drive. I think you're referring to the floppy drive, which some may refer to as a diskette drive. In all my years in the industry, I've never heard anybody refer to the floppy drive as a hard drive. The term floppy is used because the media itself is flexible. And I agree with you, I don't bother with floppy drives anymore.

-David

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB
OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 [with free upgrade to Vista]
SCREEN: 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ [Save $118 with UGA+]
MEMORY: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz [Save $187 with 1GB/667MHz]
Since both have 667MHz is 2GB really that important vs. 1GB?
HARD DRIVE: 100GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive [Save $19 with 160GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive]
If a large 160GB drive is not important than 7200 RPM (vs. 5400 RPM) most be more important.
CD DRIVER: 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
VIDEO CARD: Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (Cheapest)
SOUND: Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ HD Software Edition (Only option)
WIRELESS CARD: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g [Add $23 for a Hi-Speed: Dell Draft N Wireless]
OFFICE: Microsoft Office Basic - Includes Word, Excel, and Outlook email [Qualifies for Office 07 upgrade – Save $56 for Office Suite with only MS Word instead]
ANTI-VIRUS: 15 months of either Norton, McAfee or PC-cillin
WARRANTY: 4Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service (Save $119 for 2Yr or $55 for 3Yr]
ACCIDENTS: [Add $94 for CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service to 4Yr Lim Warranty]

TOTAL PRICE = $2056

Instead of buying Office from Dell, you can buy the Student and Teachers edition of office elsewhere, which also comes with powerpoint and is cheaper. (restrictions apply). Or you can download Open Office which is compatible with MS office for free.

Instead of buying an A/V subscription from Dell, why not use AVG free, which is better than anything they sell?

You configured this with the on-board graphics for some reason. I would go for the best graphics that you can get. Yes, the upgrade is expensive, but worth it. One of the best upgrades you can do on a desktop system (after memory upgrades) is to upgrade the graphics card. You can't upgrade the graphics on a notebook, so it's important to get the best graphics you can when you configure it, depending on the options. The 7900GS is a pretty decent option available on the E1705.

I would skip the audio upgrade. Onboard sound is good enough for most people, especially on a notebook.

Most of the additional expense is probably the warranty and complete care. I guess that's a personal choice if you think you want that.

And yes, the speed of the hard drive is more important than the size for your primary hard drive. For additional storage, if and when you need it, you can get a large USB external drive to store photos, videos, etc and all those things that fill up your internal hard drive.

I would not spend $187 for the memory upgrade from Dell. 1G is ok for Windows XP, but if/when you upgrade to Vista, you'll definitely want more memory. You can buy it later, or compare configurations like I suggested in the earlier reply. I would make sure, in any event, that you do end up with the faster 667Mhz memory, no matter how much you buy now.

-David

Instead of buying Office from Dell, you can buy the Student and Teachers edition of office elsewhere My former employer offers it for like $20 but at $56 I thought it was no big deal but Power Point would be nice.
Instead of buying an A/V subscription from Dell, why not use AVG free, which is better than anything they sell? Anti-Virus is free.
You configured this with the on-board graphics for some reason. I would go for the best graphics that you can get. Yes, the upgrade is expensive, but worth it. One of the best upgrades you can do on a desktop system (after memory upgrades) is to upgrade the graphics card. You can't upgrade the graphics on a notebook, so it's important to get the best graphics you can when you configure it, depending on the options. The 7900GS is a pretty decent option available on the E1705. Good to know. Someone else here said Graphics card does not matter.
I would skip the audio upgrade. Onboard sound is good enough for most people, especially on a notebook.The audio upgrade is only option I think.
Most of the additional expense is probably the warranty and complete care. I guess that's a personal choice if you think you want that. I thought that was the key...getting Dell's CS support. It seems pretty reasonable if you have even one thing go wrong in 4 years.

Anti-Virus is free.


It may be bundled in the starting price of the configuration you're looking at, but it isn't free. Again, compare that to the base configuration which starts at $999, and lets you select everything. The bundled price could be better, but you can't be sure unless you try configuring it both ways and you don't end up paying for upgrades you don't want.

Same thing with the audio upgrade. The base configuration starts with on-board audio, which is fine for a notebook. (In most cases, it's fine for a desktop as well, if you can coerce unadulterated output out of the coax or optical outputs, without windows interfering with it. If not, there are better audio options than the audigy for PCs.)

The $56 upgrade for Office Basic also sounds like an upgrade from something they bundled into that configuration. Again, try configuring it from the $999 base configuration. Normally the student and teacher edition is cheaper elsewhere than buying Office Basic from Dell. You can buy the software online, from newegg, for example. MS Works Suite OEM, various versions of Office, etc, are all available and are usually cheaper than configuring them with a new Dell computer.

-David

I'll have had my d800 for three years next month and while it's gotten slow and I complain about it alot, it really has been a workhorse. I've had the screen, motherboard, and a couple keyboards die, but Dell has always quickly replaced them under their three year warranty (and I'm not sure the screen really died - Dell sends reps out and if they can't quickly figure out a problem, they just start replacing stuff). This might sound like a lot of broken stuff, but I am really hard on this laptop. I've dropped it numerous times, banged on it with my fists in frustration, and lugged it on well over 150 flights.

I bought the 65w Dell travel power (has airpower, dc, ac) and have used it in europe, Asia, and the US. It doesn't charge as fast, but it does work. I have replaced the battery once, about two years in when it stopped holding a good charge (but this is normal for a battery).

Now, I'm getting ready to replace it, but I'm waiting until Jan 30 so I can get one with Vista pre-installed. Yes, you can upgrade, but I just don't like the idea of "upgrading" an OS. I have the belief that when you install an OS, you want to start from scratch. This has been ingrained in me since the days when I was a kid building computers from scratch (something I won't do anymore).

I have what was the top of the line screen at the time (WXGA?) and it still looks pretty good, but my wife's mac looks better. If I didn't HAVE to get a dell (company buying policy), I'd probably get a mac. As it is, I'm thinking I'll get the d420 just because it's smaller.

Just a couple of general thoughts and addittional mentions:

My D820 (T7200, 2GB, 512 video, 160GB Hard Drive, wireless, bluetooth, 3 year completecare) was $2,200 delivered to my doorstep.

I went with 512mb video because it was available and cheap -- and you never know quite what the future will bring.

I went with the 160GB drive because the technology used in them -- despite being 5400rpm and not 7200rpm -- makes them the fastest drive available. In addition, I've found that with the advent of video files/movies (downloaded from my TiVo, or elsewhere), that I can actually use a lot of disk space (some files are 3-4GB/hour of viewing).

I would agree with others that if you're NOT an IT person who uses the screen a lot, don't get the B820/15.4" machines. Get smaller. I don't like the D820's weight but the truth is that on the whole, I'm willing to pay the penalty for the extra screen real estate.

I will say that this laptop is doggone fast, though. It's the first laptop I've had that qualifies as 'fast.'

Steve

It may be bundled in the starting price of the configuration you're looking at, but it isn't free. Again, compare that to the base configuration which starts at $999, and lets you select everything. The bundled price could be better, but you can't be sure unless you try configuring it both ways and you don't end up paying for upgrades you don't want.Good advice, thank you. At this rate we should come up with the perfect configuration...