Shopping for a Dell laptop

[hsfnewbie]

Hi,

I've been shopping for a laptop for a while (currently waiting for a good deal to come along), and I am wondering if you guys can help me distinguish/choose the right options for my needs.

My intentions for this laptop are gaming on the side(primarily MMORPGs like WoW and RTS), watching movies, photoshop, and dreamweaver @ 1280x1024 resolution. So basically a portal media machine. However, I am not sure how much I need of CPU and screen.

Dell offers the following speeds: 1.6 (free), 1.73 (+100$), 1.86(+200$), and 2 ghz(+400$)

I currently have 1.6 selected, but I am wondering what are the price/performance gains from going up? Do you value spending 200$ for an extra .26 ghz? Is it that big of a performance jump? Does UXGA make a big difference over SGA+?

If you guys know of a better laptop for similar price, please do tell.

Under Dell Business, I currently have this around 1673$ or so which is pretty good in my eyes without coupons or discounts. After discount it's 1173$ + tax + shipping

Thank you for your comments and feedback. 🙂

here are the details:
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 730 (1.60 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
LCD Panel 17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife?
Memory 256MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 1 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce? Go 6800
Hard Drive 40GB Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives Free! 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 Internal Wireless (802.11 a/b/g, 54Mbps)
Productivity Software No productivity suite - Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Security Software No Security Subscription
Digital Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic
Primary Battery 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (53 WHr)
Dell Service & Support Plans No Extended Service, Support or Ltd Warranty
Onsite System Setup No Onsite System Setup
Dial-Up Internet Access No ISP requested
Digital Imaging Photo Album? SE Basic
Mail- In Rebate None
Miscellaneous Inspiron 9300
Financial Software Pre-Installed No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial
Purchase Intent Purchase is not intended for resale.

 

[silverbuyer]

Check this link often. There's currently a $750 off a $1500 inspiron laptop for dell home, but it probably won't last much longer.

 

[fbrdphreak]

A thing to keep in mind:
You chose the 6800 which to me means you're going to game. The 6800 won't run the newer games well @ 1920x1400 or whatever crazy res WUXGA is. It definitely won't come 6 months from now. You will have to lower screen resolution, which on LCD's causes a large reduction in image quality. If you're gaming, perhaps choose WSXGA+. If primarily you need desktop real estate, WUXGA will be very nice 😀 Just keep in mind things will be very tiny, hope you have good eyesight 😉

In regards to processor speed: the general rule of thumb is to spec out everything you need except the CPU. Then buy as much CPU speed as you can afford. In regards to which speed to get for the money, I would go with the 1.73. It offers the most performance for the money, but if you want to penny pinch just get the 1.6; you won't be disappointed.

Otherwise looks like a nice config. I assume you're upgrading the RAM yourself?

Feel free to check out our Dell 9300 review:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/dell/89/1/1/

 

[hsfnewbie]

Thanks for your responses.

I plan to run my games at most 1280x1024. Even on my Desktop which has a GF6800 GT, I only run BF2 at 1024x768 (But I run World of Warcraft at 1280x1024).

Yes I plan to upgrade the RAM myself via Crucial. I'm thinking a 1 gig stick will suffice.

Right now, Home deals aren't much better than Small Business deals for me. In Small business I get a free upgrade to DVDRW whereas in Home it'd have to add another 99$. Also tax and shipping the same. I notice the same options that I want in Small Business cost more than Home.

Again, my primary intentions is for this to be a portable (obviously not as powerful vs my home machine) media center in case I need to stay at places where I have no access to a computer.

I'm really not in a real rush to purchase a laptop, but it'd be interesting to see the next generation of laptop video cards.

 

[fbrdphreak]

I would go to a Dell kiosk if you have one in a mall near you to see if they have a Dell 9300; check out the interpolation from resizing to 1280x1024. I don't know how bad it is, but its worth looking into.

Crucial makes good stuff and its nice to know they'll refund it if its not compatible, but just save your $$$ and go to NewEgg. Add 1GB

In regards to the next gen mobile video cards, it will be a while. RIght now the 16-pipe ATI MR X800XT is the best, but only showing up in high end gaming machines. Dell's next XPS laptop might have it. Alienware offers it in a P4 laptop. VoodooPC offers it in an A64 laptop (for like $5K+). Give it time 🙂 Or get an XPS2 with the 6800 Ultra

 

[Iscycl]

nvm, found a thread answering my question... thanks!

 

[Valkerie]

Er, excuse me. I've seen Inspirions, and they are Dell's "junk" models. Please do yourself a favor and do not get the Inspirions. For that same money, you can get a laptop that isn't a company's junk model.

 

[silverbuyer]

Originally posted by: Valkerie
Er, excuse me. I've seen Inspirions, and they are Dell's "junk" models. Please do yourself a favor and do not get the Inspirions. For that same money, you can get a laptop that isn't a company's junk model.

They look pretty good to me. I had an 1150 for a while and it was built sturdy and ran great. I didn't have any problems with it. Have you had a bad experience with dell or are you an HP employee. 😀

 

[mparr1708]

Originally posted by: Valkerie
Er, excuse me. I've seen Inspirions, and they are Dell's "junk" models. Please do yourself a favor and do not get the Inspirions. For that same money, you can get a laptop that isn't a company's junk model.

I'm no dell fanboy but I've worked on a lot of Inspirons and that statement just doesn?t make since to me. I've seen some that I thought were better then others but I certainly wouldn?t call them junk. Everyone is entitled to there opinion but mine is based off of the 50-60 Inspirons I have in production that I am personally responsible for maintaining. I have another 70 or so Optiplexs and a little over 100 poweredge servers that I am the primary repair tech for. Needless to say I have experience with Dells product line and to call them junk just seems ludicrous.

At my previous job it was all about Compaq/HP. Dell has at least as good and often better build quality across the board. IBM is known for there great laptop build quality (there price to performance ratio sucks but there build quality is usually very good) and I can see where Dell may be slightly less but I sure wouldn?t call them junk.