Dell Laptop

[Platyply]

I'm attending CMU this Fall, and for my major its suggested I get a Laptop. I was going to get an Inspirion 8000, but then AMD had to throw a monkey wrench and introduce the Athlon4 mobile. So . . . I'll wait a year or so to see what manufacturer's can come up with; which leads me to the topic of my post: will Dell see the light? I only trust Dell as far as laptop's go, but I'm an AMD fan boy. Dell's "AMD stability" shtick is getting old, and they just need to come out and say, "Intel has threated not to get us chips on time if we sell AMD's chips". Would there be a chance they would offer AMD-based laptop's in the next 18 months?

 

[SpeedTrap]

well Intel has alwyas made the best laptop chips and I cant see a AMD not heating up like a mofo, so id go Intel still since the cooling of a laptop should come first.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Dell + AMD = Not very likely.
as for laptops i would not be worried about the athlon4 for right now, its going to be a good 6-8 months if not more before a good laptop using that chip comes out. if your going to get a dell go for the 8000 with a geforce 2 go, and your set for a good laptop that can game well for a good year or more!


Crack Rabbit

 

[Blayze]

<< if your going to get a dell go for the 8000 with a geforce 2 go, and your set for a good laptop that can game well for a good year or more! >>



yeah what he said

seriously that is a great laptop, and should last you for a good while

 

[Platyply]

how upgradable are laptops? OEM upgradable or custom-built PC upgradable?

 

[HomerSapien]

I know everyone praises dell, but i seriuosly believe they have a problem with their laptops. My family has 3. A 3500, 3700, and a 5000e. 3500 has had the power button replaced, hard drive replaced, ram replaced all within 2 months. the 3700 has had two screens, a motherboard, and the video go out. Its main use was dvd's and word processing. The 5000e, our newest and least used, has had the floppy go out after 4-5 uses of it (crossing fingers that is all).

I just dont understand how 3 computers that are taken care of go bad so quickly. I would stay away from them or at least get the best warranty that they offer.



Battery life is horrid among all laptops. Expect 3 hours at the absolute max if all you are only running word processing. Personally, i would wait for the crusoe laptops. So far, they have one with a 14 hour battery life.

 

[RossMAN]

if your going to get a dell go for the 8000 with a geforce 2 go, and your set for a good laptop that can game well for a good year or more!

I agree. I hope you know the Inspiron 8000 isn't a light laptop and is more of a desktop replacement. Dell currently has some awesome deals on their Inspiron 4000 laptops for $1399 you get a P3/700, 14.1 LCD, 128MB RAM, 10GB HD, combo 56k/NIC, Windows ME, MS Works 2001, battery, etc. that's a great price! It doesn't have as many bays nor GeForce2 like the Inspiron 8000 does but it sure is cheaper and lighter.

 

[CrackRabbit]

HomerSapien, I have an Inspiron 5000e, and i have had two parts fail on me, the hdd and the DVD drive (the dvd was my fault though i suspect) but dell was always quick to replace them with minimal hassle, thats why i praise dell

 

[j@cko]

<< I only trust Dell as far as laptop's go, >>



Well, IBM is better than Dell's. But more expensive.

 

[ElFenix]

if they want you to have a laptop then either a) they're lying and you really won't do a damn thing with it (like the engineers here; or b) they want you to take it everywhere with you like the MBAs here. in either case, don't bother getting one until you get there, see what they really want you to do. if you're going to carry it everywhere you will not want an i8000, they weigh 10 lbs and by the time you have that, books, and other supplies you'll be carrying enough weight that you might as well skip going to the gym. as for athlon4s not being in good notebooks, sony is already selling a duron vaio. its the same thing minus some cache which you'll probably never miss.