Need help deciding on laptop for college. Help!

[nicowju]

I've narrowed my choices down to the Dell Inspiron 4000 and the Dell Inspiron 8000.
I can't decide which one I really want
The things I see in the 4000's favor are:
[*]Its lighter
[*]Its smaller
But for the 8000:
[*]It has the Geforce2Go
[*]It has a 15" screen, but both the 4000 and 8000 can display the same max resolution (1400x1050).

Anyone have any suggestions? Both will be costing approximately the same, the way I configured them.
Thanks in advance!

 

[RossMAN]

Good choices, we can't help you decide though because we don't know if you will be carrying it from class to class. Carrying it all around campus is a real pain in the a$$ because I'd always be paranoid that I'll spill something onto it, getting stolen, typing in class all that clickety clack of the keys plus can you really type faster than writing with short hand and drawing? Probably not.

If you're going to have a main desktop system in your dorm then get the i4000 since most of your gaming will be on the desktop.

If you want a desktop replacement then get the i8000.

What would really suck is you go to college then realize that you're not carrying around your laptop everywhere so then weight isn't a factor.

 

[Blayze]

personally I would go with the 8000 for the Geforce and the bigger screen.

 

[John]

Go for the Inspiron 8100.

Tualatin

 

[nicowju]

I'm going to be bringing 2 other systems to college. One's a 1.4GHz Tbird @ 1684 with a Geforce2 MXR (gonna upgrade it to a Geforce3 eventually), and the other I haven't decided. Might be a P3-700@933 Linux machine or something else. I'm sort of leaning to the i4000, because its lighter and I won't do much gaming on the laptop, but you're right about the fact that it would really suck if when I got there I found that I'm not gonna be lugging the thing around that much

 

[RossMAN]

but you're right about the fact that it would really suck if when I got there I found that I'm not gonna be lugging the thing around that much

Yep that would bite big time. If you really are going to lug it around then get the i4000 because it sounds like your other systems are more than fast enough. You just missed out on a great promo though FREE DVD or CD-RW upgrade and free ground shipping. They have these great promo's once a month so I'd wait until you can get a great promo.

Maybe ask some friends who go to college, what are the pro's about bringing your laptop everywhere with you?

 

[erub]

damn 3 systems!? I hope you have a huge room, or else you want have room for anything else. Most college dorm rooms I've seen would be cramped to fit that many computers in. With the i8000 if you get the Ultra XGA 15" screen, it can display 1600x1200 (that's the native resolution). I can't really see the weight being a factor if your carrying it around, remember you will also be carrying very heavy books (we're only talking a lb or two here anyways)

 

[nicowju]

Yeah. hmmm. pondering the i8000 now
I'll have enough room for sure, so space isn't that big of an issue .

Although I don't get the burner, I have a 16X plextor in my 1.4GHz system, and I won't be burning anything on the laptop. Also, this month they have some free RAM upgrades. So its not too bad

 

[jeffrey]

Just thought I'd link info for the new Dell models.

Text

 

[nicowju]

Dell's site now has the Inspiron 8000 configurable with the 1.13GHz Tualatin. But its a $400-$500 premium over the 1GHz

 

[Toksin]

For god sakes, are you going to be remote fragging on a wireless LAN? For college, you need a word processor to take notes! You obviously have a damn good machine for gaming, why break the bank on a laptop??? If you have the money then spend it, but honestly if you are going to college then you need the money for booze and women! Save it for more important things!