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Buying a laptop TODAY UPDATE: PURCHASED LAPTOP

V

Vogel515

Senior member
Must have:

15.4" screen
Decent battery life
WiFi (they all have it now right?)

Will be used for:

Web Development (Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, Apache, MySql, etc)
Occasional movie watching on trips

Bonuses:

New over refurb - but I'm fine with a refurb
Bluetooth - not necessary but it'd be nice
Not toshiba.


Price range:

Up to $1300

UpdatE: Purchased the laptop
 
I just picked up an Asus GS1-X1 from Best Buy. It's more gamer oriented, but I absolutely love it.

$1050 for 4GB RAM, 1.83ghz C2D (could've gotten a better CPU online...), 320GB HD, gigabit ethernet, wireless A/B/G/N (most of the options online include Bluetooth), GeForce 9500 GS video card.

You can find better deals on Asus machines over at newegg.com, I just unfortunately needed one right away, without shipping.

Check out their F8 series or M series for more business/professional looking ones.

I'm severely impressed by the quality of the machine, and the complete lack of bloatware pre-installed (I removed the Office trial and the 90 day Symantec suite, and didn't have anything else I didn't want on it).

EDIT:

Some online suggestions (I'm very biased towards Asus at this point, since my Dell 600m was a PoS for the 3 years I had it, and my work-issued Compaq nx9420 loves to lock up whenever I attach a USB device, but the Asus I just got, and the one my friend bought a few months back, just seem awesome).:

Video in this one could be better, but if you're not gaming, it's great:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220305

Better CPU, better video, different body style:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220342

Better CPU still, more RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220308

There's also some really great 14" options - the screen has the same resolution as a 15", but is obviously a bit smaller. On the plus side, they are lighter, more portable, and get better battery life.

Cheap, decent CPU, great video:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220299

Slight CPU upgrade:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220331

And on up from there. Here's a more full list of the ASUS options offered at Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...der=PRICE&Pagesize=100




 
Thanks for the advice, I'm looking at them all now.

The lack of bloatware is a huge bonus... I'd even be interested in a laptop with no OS installed... I have Windows Vista Home Premium retail (can be installed on 2x machines according to the agreement)
 
I've personally been using a Dell XPS M1330, the M1530's little brother, and I'm definitely impressed. I don't even like Dell - I usually tell people to steer clear, but they really did something right with the current generation XPS notebooks (well, the 13 and 15 inch ones). If you get the M1530 with integrated graphics and the 9 cell battery, you'll be going strong for 6+ hours (assuming you're being a little conservative in usage). Be sure to search for coupon codes on Google 😉

If you must have a 15" laptop, that's all I'd recommend for your price range.
 
Been looking at the 1530's lately and they seem like nice lappy's. How are the integrated graphics for watching TV or movies? Playing WoW?

I hear Vostros get hot hot hot. IBM price premium still too high and I do want to play some WoW when I go over to my girlfriends for the weekend.
 
Hello Slugg - there is a coupon right now for $450 off so I think I'm going to buy one tomorrow morning... I ended up giving it one more day.

Those Asus ones looked nice but weren't quite a match for what I was looking for.

Thanks all!

 
Ok I pulled the trigger and I think I got a great deal:

Unit Price: $1,749.00
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $1,749.00

-- XPS M1530 -- Intel® Core? 2 Duo T7250 (2MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB)
-- Tuxedo Black
-- 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
-- High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LCD(1440x900) & 2MP Camera
-- 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS
-- Size: 320GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
-- Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
-- Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
-- Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
-- Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card
-- Free Upgrade to a 9 cell Battery
-- 3Yr In-Home Service, Parts Labor, 24x7 Phone Support
-- Finger Print Reader XPS M1530
-- Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0+Enhanced Data Rate)

-- Dell EPP Members save $550 off this XPS Notebook System!
- $550.00

-- Logitech V220 Wireless Mouse - Jet Black
Unit Price: $29.00

ADDITIONAL DISCOUNT AND COUPONS
------------------------------------------------

-- Dell Members receive 8% off systems priced $800 to $1600 with 3/4yr At-Home service.

Subtotal: $1,129.76
IVA: --
Shipping and Handling: $24.98

Import Fee: --

Shipping Discount: -$24.98

Total: $1,129.76

Edit: And of course, thank you all for your help!
 
I bought a 1530. They are nice. I am waiting on my second replacement. Should ship any day.

I ordered my first one on 4/28. It was delivered on 6/2. It took 5 weeks. They are having problems with battery supply, or so I was told.

The first one had a faulty screen, so I called the day it came and got a replacement sent out. It came a week later. When I revieved it, there were dents in the palm rest. I called on 6/12 to get a new one sent out, and it has been taking a bit longer. It should arrive next week.

I love the laptop so far. Since this one gets sent back when my new one comes, and I can just swap the hard drives so I don't have to reinstall anything, I can lug this one around without any worries, since it is not mine. It is nice and light.

My specs are T9300 2.5 C2D, 4GB RAM, 250GB 7200RPM HDD, 256MB 8600GT, Intel Wifi ABGN, 1440x900 LED LCD, 8x DVDRW, Bluetooth, 3 year warranty with complete care, etc. I paid $1378 shipped. Other than the crappy screen on the first, and dents on the second, it is an attractive and very fast laptop. I hope my third one will be perfect.

Good luck.
 
slugg: I will give a post a review once I receive it (could be a few weeks)

mattocs: I'm not sure whether I feel better or worse about buying it now. Hopefully they are no issues and it just runs great!
 
I am sure it'll be fine. My first issue was a screen, 1680x1050. They don't even carry them anymore. I was able to talk them into giving me the LED screen instead of trying to find me another crappy 1680x1050.

And with the dents, I offered to have them send me the palm rest and i'd install it, but they wanted to send a tech out to do it. So, I told them I wanted a new system.

Did you order from the Outlet? Even if you did, you still have the 21 days to get a replacement if it is not a good system.

 
Did you order from the Outlet? Even if you did, you still have the 21 days to get a replacement if it is not a good system.
Click to expand...

Nope got it new... I was looking at comparable machines in the outlet and they were about the same prices which I found surprising.

Thanks for the information about the issues you had, I owned a dell desktop and found that dell service was always pretty good. When I had issues with my NIC card two days before a final exam they credited me with $50 and told me to go out and buy a replacement card after attempting to remotely troubleshoot it.
 
Ok, so I received the laptop yesterday and as promised here is a review at first glance:

First off, the Dell ship data was supposed to be July 28th, nearly a month from the data I ordered it. This was a bit dissappointing but for the deal I got and the price I was fine with it. I am even more happy that it showed up a week and a half sooner than I expected.

Packaging - I've always had a thing about not purchasing expensive electronics from brick and mortar stores because they get bounced around more than they need to. (I used to work at both Wal-mart and Radioshack when in high school and I can tell you that we literally just threw stuff out of the truck) It looks like dell took a note from Apple in making packaging part of the dell experience. The laptop was shipping a large box, the charger and adapter came in a seperate well marked / marketed box and the laptop itself came in another similar box, both snuggly secured in the first box. The laptop also had additional foam padding suspending it in the box to prevent extra jarring, and it was secure in a somewhat decent laptop sleeve.

Shipping - Dell used DHL, I was notified at every step of the process, box arrived in perfect shape and took 3 business days.

Overall, I was pretty impressed.

Now for the laptop itself:

First off let me preface this by saying that I've only owned 1 other laptop (Toshiba Tecra S1) and I'ved used many a handful of others. By no means am I a professional when it comes to evaluating laptops.

First Boot - pretty standard, pretty fast. Had to go through the initial set up steps of entering my name, setting the clock, downloading updates. The laptop seems to be very snappy - as expected.

Bloatware - crapware - There appears to be a number of dell applications / utilities pre installed, I will need to do a format / re-installation of windows to get rid of that crap.I was given a re-installation cd for the laptop so that is pretty nice. (might have had to pay for it though) Other apps that are installed that I do not necessarily need: google toolbar, google desktop, intel storage manager - do I need this?

Either way, a format will solve these issues its something I expected to have to do. I will note that there is not nearly as much crap on there as I expected (last computer I bought came installed with an ISP and at least a dozen useless products)

Physically - I like the new way the screen is affixed to the base, it seems much sturdier. Overall I really have to say the laptop feels solid. Much more so than the Toshiba I had or the HP I used while visiting my parents.

Another thing is I opted for the 9 cell battery and I was afraid it was going to jut out the back of the laptop, but instead it juts out the bottom and keeps the laptop at a tilt allowing for better airflow and it makes it easier to type.

Styling - I think it looks pretty sleek, my girlfriend also agrees. It's a laptop, I'm not really sure what I expected. It's better looking than the old IBM ones, it's not super glossy like the HP one I used, its black with brushed aluminum trim.

If you have anything you want me to look at and tell you let me know. I will post again in a week with more stuff pro/cons.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase through dell so far.



 
You might consider giving Dell a call to find out if your video card is one of the many affected by Nvidia's faulty chip announcement.
 
i guess you havent bought a new preconfigured system in a while, but pretty much all companies ship with tons of bloatware. theres a few exceptions, like the dell vostro line.
from what i hear sony is the worst when it comes to bloatware though

 
Ok, so I emailed Dell's customer support no answer yet about that...


Otherwise, I have had the laptop running all day so far and here's some more information:

- the laptop is dead silent which is great, my girlfriend recently bought one and hers often sounds like a lawnmower.
- The laptop got pretty warm pretty fast which was a concern at first, but in the 6+ hours its been running now it has not gotten any warmer.
- It scored a 4.1 on the Vista Experience scale - whatever that means.
 
Ok, so after having the laptop a full day I figure I can now say a bit more about it...

I got home around 6pm last night and powered the laptop up, I figured that since I paid the extra $100 for the upgraded battery I'd test it out.

6pm-7pm: Showed girlfriend features, configured the wireless network, she used it to surf the web to find dinner recipes
7-8pm: Girlfriend used it while cooking
8-9pm: Experiments using the web cam / finger scanner (g-rated, don't get too excited)
9-10:30pm: I left the laptop on, forgot to turn off the web cam.
10:30pm-11:15pm: we got on youtube and looked at videos while relaxing before bed

This morning when I turned it on, battery says 36% remaining (1 hr 40 minutes)

Albeit these are far from scientific results I was pretty impressed. The entire time I thought it was sleeping I actually had the camera on preventing it from going into sleep mode, and it was still capturing images.

This was all using Dell's recommended power saving settings. There were also multiple re-boots while installing software.
 
I've had similar results with my M1330. Glad to hear you're enjoying your M1530 - I knew you'd like it 🙂
 
Originally posted by: mattocs
My specs are T9300 2.5 C2D, 4GB RAM, 250GB 7200RPM HDD, 256MB 8600GT, Intel Wifi ABGN, 1440x900 LED LCD, 8x DVDRW, Bluetooth, 3 year warranty with complete care, etc. I paid $1378 shipped. Other than the crappy screen on the first, and dents on the second, it is an attractive and very fast laptop. I hope my third one will be perfect.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Wow! If I had found that price on that system, I would have bought it immediately!

Did you use a certain coupon or offer to get that, or did you do the outlet? That is essentially exactly the system I want, except you have it much cheaper than I can find.

Thanks for any help you can give...
 
I got it using a one day summer deal that just happened to be going on...

I am actually debating on getting the smaller one now that I have this. It's a great laptop and I've had 0 issues with it. I might be willing to part with it depending on your location, PM me if you'd be interested.
 
Well, I'm actually looking at Mattocs's notebook. I'm particularly interested in his configuration, which precisely meets some of the wants I had. The cheapest I've been able to arrange that thus far is about $1550, and it still wasn't quite as nice as his.

Thanks though.
 
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