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HP dv4000 vs Dell Inspiron 6000D

R

RyanPaulShaffer

Diamond Member
Hello all! I've been wracking my brain for weeks now trying to figure out the best laptop for me at the best price. I've finally narrowed down my decision to the HP dv4000 and the Dell Inspiron 6000D. After talking with sales reps from both companies, here's the best that they offered.

Conteder #1!

HP dv4000:

Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional for $29.99
Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 750 (1.86 GHz)
Display 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
Graphics Card Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Memory 256MB DDR SDRAM (1x256MB)
Hard Drive 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
Networking Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG WLAN
Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money
HP extended service plans 3-year HP Express Repair extended service plan
your additional options:
Click "edit" to modify. NOTE: These items are in stock and will ship immediately.
Special printer offer Free HP Deskjet Printer

Total: $1303.50 shipped with taxes (after $100 in rebates)

Contender #2!

Dell Inspiron 6000D:

Inspiron 6000D Intel® Pentium® M Processor 750 (1.86 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home
Display 15.4 inch UltraSharp WSXGA+ LCD Panel
Memory 256MB DDR2 SDRAM 1 Dimm
Video Card 128MB DDR ATI's MOBILITY? RADEON X300 PCI Express x16 Graphics
Hard Drive 80GB Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software No productivity suite - Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Security Software No Security Subscription
Digital Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic
Battery 9-cell Lithium Ion Battery (80 WHr)
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 3Yr Ltd Warr,At-Home Service,and Tech Support plus Nights and Weekends
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months EarthLink Internet Access Included
Digital Imaging Photo Album? SE Basic
Financial Software No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial

Total: $1,466.31 shipped and with taxes included

I personally dislike Dell, as they are kind of shady, have a reputation of building sub-par equipment, and they outsourced all of their tech support to India. This shadiness was further confirmed by the sales rep I spoke to, who amongst other weird things, said he never heard of the 6000D and that "everyone buys Dell!". :disgust: However, Dell seems to be the only one in my price range that offers dedicated graphics. And their prices are all instant...25% off and my education discount gave another $180 off. So it comes to about $700 off, which is as good as their best coupons give. I'm kind of frustrated though because I've heard of people getting crazy good deals from Dell on Inspirons much better than this. I must be doing something wrong...grr... *Edit* Also, the hard drive speed in the Dell seems to be a mystery...is it 4200? 5400? 7200?

I like HP better than Dell overall, but 2 things bug me about them. One is that the price is after $100 in rebates. I don't like rebates, because companies tend to forget about them or they take 6 months to get back to you. The other thing that is more serious is that the notebook only has integrated graphics...the Intel GMA 900. It's not that huge of a deal, since I won't be doing much gaming, but I would like to game occasionally, and integrated graphics are really bad and hog your system resources. :thumbsdown:

I'm going to be buying 1 GB of RAM on NewEgg in any case. The HP only comes with DDR333 PC2700 memory, so I'm going to have to ditch the stick that comes with it. The Dell comes with DDR400 PC3200 memory, so I could probably keep that and add another gig, since I've heard that DDR533 doesn't really add much to performance because of higher latency issues.

I really need some feedback about this soon, because I intend to order one of them tomorrow! Any insight on the intangible qualities of each laptop ie. build quality, customer service, tech support, weight, ergonomics, screen quality, battery life, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Ryan
 
If you dislike Dell, go with the HP. No point in getting a better product if you don't like the manufacturer.
 
Originally posted by: sirfergy
If you dislike Dell, go with the HP. No point in getting a better product if you don't like the manufacturer.
Click to expand...


I'm not just going to dismiss a better product just because I don't like the manufacturer. I'm shopping for the best product at the best price, which is why I even considered Dell in the first place. Besides, my opinions of Dell are just that...opinions. Other people have gotten Dells and love them, so it's not like if I get one I'm guranteed to hate it, you know?
 
I own the 6000 and think it's an excellent laptop. I would get it over the HP. Dell support is excellent if anything goes wrong.
 
I thought Dell had really good customer service. The lady I talked to was right here in the US of A (Had a British accent though) Since your a student make sure you contact the educational number instead of the general service techies. I have the 6000D and I couldn't be more pleased, if you are looking for the coupons try gottadeal.com and riffle through the coupons currently up. I doesn't hurt to try some in the code box to see if your price will come down. Have fun!
 
I checked out the Inspiron 6000 coupon at that GottaDeal place. It was a pretty good price, but I do not want integrated graphics unless I have to. I tried to apply the coupon on my student cart, but it wouldn't take. Too bad. 🙁 I'm on the phone waiting on hold with Dell Education now. Hopefully they can work with me better than that greasy Dell Home guy.
 
Well, after about 2 hours of exhausting haggling with Dell, I just placed my order for an Inspiron 6000D. It turns out that the 40% off coupon was the best that I could get. Dell Education couldn't match the Home price unless the Home people could save my cart, and the Dell Home people said they couldn't save my cart because I was using an online only coupon. So I tried really hard, but in the end, I got a decent deal (though not tremendous).

Base Unit:
Inspiron 6000D,Intel Pentium MProcessor 750 (1.86GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB) (221-8509)
Processor:
15.4 inch WUXGA LCD Panel for Inspiron 6000d (320-4268)
Memory:
256MB, DDR2,400MHz 1 Dimm, Inspiron 6000 (311-4737)
Video Card:
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300Video Card, for Inspiron 6000 (320-3897)
Hard Drive:
80GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive for Inspiron 6000 (341-2126)
Operating System:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Service Pack 2, English, for Inspiron (420-4766)
Operating System:
Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access (463-2282)
Operating System:
Image Restore (412-0689)
Operating System:
Windows Media Player 10 (420-4928)
Operating System:
DELL SUPPORT 3.0,INSP (420-4830)
Operating System:
Dell Media Experience,v2.1, for Inspiron (412-0706)
NIC:
Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem, for Inspiron (430-0493)
TBU:
Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0, for Inspiron (430-1048)
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive:
8X DVD+/-RW Drive for Inspiron 6000 (313-3243)
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive:
CyberLink PowerDVD v5.5 Decoding Sofware for DVD Drives, for Inspiron Systems (420-5111)
Processor Cable:
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 (802.11b/g) Internal Wireless Inspiron 6000 (430-1255)
Bundled Software:
Corel WordPerfect 12 plus Trial of Quartro Pro and Presentations (412-0803)
Factory Installed Software:
Norton Internet Security 2005 15 Month (412-0760)
Software Disk Two:
Music Match 9.0 Basic 7 day OnDemand (412-0741)
Feature
80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery for Inspiron 6000 (312-0275)
Service:
3 Year Limited Warranty (950-3339)
Service:
Soft Contracts - Qualxserve (412-0359)
Service:
Type 15- Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Week ends, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year (902-5690)
Service:
Type 15- Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Week ends, 24x7 Technical Support, 2 Year Extended (902-4652)
Service:
Technical Support, 2 Year Extended (950-5442)
Service:
Technical Support, Initial Year (960-6910)
Misc:
Earthlink for Broadband (412-0789)
Misc:
Dell/My Way Home Page (412-0625)
Misc:
NETZERO ISP (412-0687)
Misc:
Broadband Icon for Inspiron (420-3224)
Misc:
Paint Shop Photo Album 5.1 Standard (412-0744)
Thank you for choosing Dell (464-0590)
Quickbooks 2005 Special SimpleStart Edition (420-5139)

All this came to $1429.55 shipped with taxes. Not the crazy good deal that the other guy got in the forum, but he was going through Dell Business, and I couldn't beat that. I really wanted to buy an HP, because I just personally think they are better, but after comparing the components, service and prices, the Dell was the way better deal. With the 40% off coupon, I got like $900 off. Not bad at all!

Now all I can do is pray everything goes well, and I get a system that works great. I really wanted to add CompleteCare service, but stupid legalities prevent Dell from offering that in FL. Grrr! :| Nothing I can do about that though...

So now that's all done and the huge load is off my back, what kind of 1GB stick of RAM should I buy from NewEgg? From what I've seen, the Inspiron 6000D comes with DDR2/400 memory. Should I just leave the 256 DDR2/400 and add another 1 GB of DDR2/400, or should I order a 1 GB stick of DDR2/533 and take out the 256 DDR2/400? I'm thinking just add the 1 GB, because I've been reading that the DDR2/533 memory isn't that much faster since it has higher latencies.

Please advise. Thanks!

Ryan

*Edit* Oh yah, I got the Recovery CDs, which with the coupon, added a whole $4 to the total. Whoopee? 😕
 
I like my 6000d I am typing on right now. I got it for $752 about a month ago using one of those 750 of 1500 coupons.
 
Originally posted by: mmebane
Since you have a dedicated video card, having dual-channel memory won't increase your performance by much.

If you do go with one 1GB stick, this one looks like your best bet:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144180

For DDR2-533, I'd choose this, which is actually cheaper than the DDR2-400 stick:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144183
Click to expand...

The DDR2/400 is out of stock right now. 🙁 But I put it on Auto Notify so I can jump all over that when it's available!

Dell had an error in my address that was really annoying, since they just randomly decided to add some information that I didn't put in during checkout. Grr! But, after speaking with a nice Indian fellow, it is all straightened out. My laptop is in production now...let's hope they are on the ball and get it out early! 😀

Is the sound pretty decent in the 6000? Is there a Line-In port on the notebook at all? If not, would buying a PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy card be a wise choice? I love sound and music, and I have a USB Capture device that I would like to use to capture gameplay footage from my consoles. Any insight would be extremely helpful!

I'm excited...it's been 4 years since I bought a new computer. 😎
 
Out of curiousty, what made you go with the WUXA moniter? I was thinking about that but 1920 by 1200 on a 15" monitor seems like it would be impossible to see. (I have that resolution on my 23" widescreen). to me, on a 17" crt, 1920 x 1200 seems to small (i know the 6000d is a widescreen).

Have you actually seen a 15" at that resolution? Was it readable and comfortable? I really wanted to go for it but I got scared away because of what I read and even the dell salesman told me it would probally be too small.

Either way, let me know what you think now and what you think after you see the unit.

Good luck.
 
Originally posted by: argoldst
Out of curiousty, what made you go with the WUXA moniter? I was thinking about that but 1920 by 1200 on a 15" monitor seems like it would be impossible to see. (I have that resolution on my 23" widescreen). to me, on a 17" crt, 1920 x 1200 seems to small (i know the 6000d is a widescreen).

Have you actually seen a 15" at that resolution? Was it readable and comfortable? I really wanted to go for it but I got scared away because of what I read and even the dell salesman told me it would probally be too small.

Either way, let me know what you think now and what you think after you see the unit.

Good luck.
Click to expand...


I responded to this in your other thread. As far as I know though, you should be able to turn down the resolution, and it should look okay as long as you maintain the widescreen aspect ratio. Maybe I'm wrong?
 
Originally posted by: Mail5398
I like my 6000d I am typing on right now. I got it for $752 about a month ago using one of those 750 of 1500 coupons.
Click to expand...

Is 750$ off the original price or off the price that dell already adds a discount? I can't get a sweet deal like that. :|
 
Originally posted by: RyanPaulShaffer
Originally posted by: argoldst
Out of curiousty, what made you go with the WUXA moniter? I was thinking about that but 1920 by 1200 on a 15" monitor seems like it would be impossible to see. (I have that resolution on my 23" widescreen). to me, on a 17" crt, 1920 x 1200 seems to small (i know the 6000d is a widescreen).

Have you actually seen a 15" at that resolution? Was it readable and comfortable? I really wanted to go for it but I got scared away because of what I read and even the dell salesman told me it would probally be too small.

Either way, let me know what you think now and what you think after you see the unit.

Good luck.
Click to expand...


I responded to this in your other thread. As far as I know though, you should be able to turn down the resolution, and it should look okay as long as you maintain the widescreen aspect ratio. Maybe I'm wrong?
Click to expand...


I also responded to this in the other thread, but why not here to. By running a resolution other then the native one on an LCD may notice some blockiness and other issues since it won't be a one to one pixel match any more. Its doable, and my mom does it and doesn't notice a thing. But some people will easily be able to see a differance and may not like it.
 
Re: RPM on Dell 6000D HDD

Officially it is 4200RPM, but a number of users receive 5400RPM drives on the smaller capacity ones. I would say its less likely for you to get a 5400RPM 80GB, but its a shot 😉
 
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