Just ordered a Dell Laptop... anything I need to know?

[KDOG]

I have a Inspirion 5000e on the way...It has a 700 P3, 128mb PC100RAM, 10GB HDD, the bitchin' 15" ultra XGA TFT screen, the 8X DVD drive and ATI Rage Mobility 128 16MB, (what sound system do they have?) Hey, they have free shipping goin on now and I got a surge protector with it. And I got Works Suite 2001 with it. So I took advantage of the good deal they had goin and jumped on it. Any advice?

Oh check this out, the sales guy talked me OUT of getting the P3 850 saying it would only be about 1-2 percent faster and it would be better just to go with 128MB of mem instead of 64MB with the 700. Is that right?

 

[oblivion2888]

no not rilly u want the 850

 

[ElFenix]

you should have gotten just 64 megs of ram anyway, dell charges ripoff prices for ram. crucial has it for like half. and its still dropping

 

[luv2chill]

Well what did you pay for that beast?

l2c

 

[loogie]

get some pr0n dvds.

 

[John]

The Dell sales guy is wrong. You should get the fastest cpu that you can afford when buying a laptop. I am assuming you paid ~ 2500.00 for it.

Not saying you got a bad deal or anything, but you could have bought:

Inspiron 8000e
800MHz
64MB (added 64MB PC100 for 64.00 from a reputable vendor)
10GB HDD
8x DVD
32MB ATI Rage
15" SXGA+TFT
56K

....for 2660.00

 

[KDOG]

Well I paid a little over 2500 for it. Free shipping mind you, saved me around what, 80-90 bucks?

About the CPU, yeah I would have liked to have gotten the 850 but it was like another $400 to have it. I say for price performance ratio, its better the way I got it... any operational suggestions?

 

[Fardringle]

That beast would give you 4+ (or more) SETI work units per day..

 

[rhinox99]

You should've gone with the 850 and the 64megs of ram.
Hey, ram you can always upgrade later but the cpu is pretty much permanent

 

[KDOG]

Guys did you read what I wrote? They would have charged me another $400!!!! I didn't want to have to sell a kidney to get it!!!
I do believe the CPU is upgradable, just a bigger pain in the ass to do it...

 

[Zucchini]

8000e? Is that a massive full sized laptop or something? Anyways, if your just using the laptop for normal stuff for school then 700mhz is fine. Just make sure to go with no less then 128mb ram

 

[rhinox99]

Wow I just learned something, I never knew you could upgrade a laptop cpu.
How much did they charge you for the extra 64mbs?

 

[John]

<< 8000e? Is that a massive full sized laptop or something? >>



Nope, it is actually the SAME weight and thickness of the 5000e.

KDOG, you could have gone with 800MHz &amp; 32MB ATI for only a few bucks more if you would have considered the 8000e. However I am sure you will enjoy your new notebook. I really cherish my Latitude CPX.

 

[KDOG]

DANG!!! They charged me 200 bucks for 128MB (1 DIMM)!!!! Im calling my sales rep right now and telling them to drop it down to 64MB!! Glad you guys said something!! Thanks!!

 

[John]

No prob Hope it isn't too late.....

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

Just be careful with that lcd. jeez those things are expensive to replace, about 3/4 of the initial cost of the notebook. And those big 15 inchers are even easier to crack.

 

[Whitedog]

One thing. And please trust me, I work with Dell laptops for a living. CPU's in Laptops ARE NOT upgradable! they are hard soldered to the mainboards... the rest of the components are made to go hand in hand with that CPU, you can't just solder in a new CPU.. it would take MAJOR surgery if it were even possible...

Anyway, like I was saying, we deal exclusivly with Dell products where I work. They are Very good laptops.. with the excpetion of one item. the Displays. Keep a close eye on it, if it start acting funny, GET IT REPLACED before the warrenty runs out! Other than that, great machines! We just had a guy drop his from the overhead in an airplane to the floor and it didn't hurt it at all!

though, I don't know why you got that BIG Heavey model! I hope you don't have to carry it much the CSx models are MUCH lighter and have a 14.1&quot; display

[EDIT] About the CPU's being soldered to the Mainboards, that may or may not be true with the BIG laptops.. I don't have any knowelde on those, we only have the travel friendly models...[/EDIT]

 

[KDOG]

Ok, I left a message on my sales reps machine, and I sent an email to customer service...when I get some cash I'll pick up another 64 (or even 128 with the prices the way they are) and stuff it in there...

 

[rhinox99]

Good decision, you can pick up a SODIMM in the fs/t forums for alot less than what Dell charges you

 

[ElFenix]

if they charged you an extra $200 over the 64, which sounds about right, you could get a stick of 128 crucial and still have $75 or more left over.

 

[cavingjan]

Get one of the wetsuits for your laptop if they have a version that will fit it. Yes the neoprene does not really help that much to protect it, no you can't take it out in the rain or underwater but the hard plastic backerbaord for behind the lcd has saved my butt twice. IDiot at work just tossed some standard's book on my desk with both of my laptops on it. Cracked the backpanel for the one but didn't damage the one with the wetsuit.

 

[Aboroth]

Actually the CPU for the 5000e is removable, and therefore upgradable. Here are there are instructions on the Dell support site on how to remove it. Removing the processor

The funny thing is that almost everything in a Dell laptop is removable, including the video.
Video

 

[Zucchini]

Hmm how much and were would one get a wetsuit protective cover for a laptop? I have a sony z505js by the way

 

[hans007]

yeah you can always buy a new processor, some stores sell them and usually they can be found on e-bay