*NOTE* This thread has been edited; before I was asking which laptop to buy; now that I've decided, about 16 or 17 posts into the topic is when I edited this.
I'm buying one for college. I'm getting it for gaming, school, and some processor-intensive applications (i.e. video editing.) And no, I'm not getting a mac. I want to be able to play what comes out game-wise for the next couple years (and I don't mean full settings, just play.) Battery power isn't too much of an issue, as though I will need portability, I won't be constantly using it on the quad. Pretty much anywhere I'd be using it there'd be a plug. So, here's what I'm going to try to do.
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 750 (1.86 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen XGA+ Display
1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr Technical Support
256MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 1 Dimm
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability (note that I included this to bring it above the $2,000 price so I could use the coupon; it was the only upgrade I was interested in. If anybody thinks another upgrade would be a better deal than this, tell me. The DVD burner costs $100 more than the CD burner/DVD player. Burning DVDs isn't a necessity to me, though it would be cool. I'm sure I could buy a spindle of blank DVDs, and use my ipod to burn it on somebody else's computer if need be.)
6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (53 WHr)
256MB NVIDA® GeForce? Go 6800
40GB Hard Drive
This all adds up to $2,027 before tax. After this coupon:
Save $750 on any Inspiron Notebook purchase of $1999 or more. Coupon expires 5/12/05 at 5:59 am CT or after 3000 uses, whichever comes first.
it gets knocked down to $1,277.00.
Now, here's where the next $250 or so comes in. You'll notice that everything except the processor, the graphics card, and the DVD burner is the lowest available from Dell. Because their prices to upgrade via them are so much, I'm going to do it myself. So this is where I need advice.
The hard drive and the RAM are what I plan on upgrading myself. I'm looking at getting a 60 GB HDD and a gig of ram. So does anybody have a reccommenation along those lines of what to get, either specifically or just brand-wise? I'm looking for the best deal possible that would still have good performance; I don't need a 7200 RPM HDD or really expensive RAM. Just something that works well/quiet/cool/smooth/whatever it happens to have and won't cause a bottleneck.
Also, I'm going to sell what Dell gives me HDD and RAM wise on ebay or something. I figure I could get around $50 for the HDD and as for the RAM...not a whole lot, but a few bucks. With other accessories I'll be getting (optical mouse, cat5 cable, carrying case) by shopping for deals elsewhere, I figure I'll meet or barely exceed my $1500 budget.
So, further advice is much appreciated and I thank all of you who have helped me so far, you've been really helpful.
Also, I'm assuming notebook hard drives are standard. Correct?
I'm buying one for college. I'm getting it for gaming, school, and some processor-intensive applications (i.e. video editing.) And no, I'm not getting a mac. I want to be able to play what comes out game-wise for the next couple years (and I don't mean full settings, just play.) Battery power isn't too much of an issue, as though I will need portability, I won't be constantly using it on the quad. Pretty much anywhere I'd be using it there'd be a plug. So, here's what I'm going to try to do.
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 750 (1.86 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen XGA+ Display
1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr Technical Support
256MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 1 Dimm
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability (note that I included this to bring it above the $2,000 price so I could use the coupon; it was the only upgrade I was interested in. If anybody thinks another upgrade would be a better deal than this, tell me. The DVD burner costs $100 more than the CD burner/DVD player. Burning DVDs isn't a necessity to me, though it would be cool. I'm sure I could buy a spindle of blank DVDs, and use my ipod to burn it on somebody else's computer if need be.)
6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (53 WHr)
256MB NVIDA® GeForce? Go 6800
40GB Hard Drive
This all adds up to $2,027 before tax. After this coupon:
Save $750 on any Inspiron Notebook purchase of $1999 or more. Coupon expires 5/12/05 at 5:59 am CT or after 3000 uses, whichever comes first.
it gets knocked down to $1,277.00.
Now, here's where the next $250 or so comes in. You'll notice that everything except the processor, the graphics card, and the DVD burner is the lowest available from Dell. Because their prices to upgrade via them are so much, I'm going to do it myself. So this is where I need advice.
The hard drive and the RAM are what I plan on upgrading myself. I'm looking at getting a 60 GB HDD and a gig of ram. So does anybody have a reccommenation along those lines of what to get, either specifically or just brand-wise? I'm looking for the best deal possible that would still have good performance; I don't need a 7200 RPM HDD or really expensive RAM. Just something that works well/quiet/cool/smooth/whatever it happens to have and won't cause a bottleneck.
Also, I'm going to sell what Dell gives me HDD and RAM wise on ebay or something. I figure I could get around $50 for the HDD and as for the RAM...not a whole lot, but a few bucks. With other accessories I'll be getting (optical mouse, cat5 cable, carrying case) by shopping for deals elsewhere, I figure I'll meet or barely exceed my $1500 budget.
So, further advice is much appreciated and I thank all of you who have helped me so far, you've been really helpful.
Also, I'm assuming notebook hard drives are standard. Correct?
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