Help me decide on a laptop

hoonn · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:37 am Post subject: Help me decide on a laptop

I'm sorry if this is this the wrong forum. I just saw" for whatever purposes" in the forum description and decided to post here.

*copies and pastes*

I am currently in the market to purchase a laptop and I am interested in purchasing either of these two laptops: Dell XPS M140 and Dell Inspiron E1705. I should note that I'm getting the laptop mainly to run digial softwares like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, OpenCanvas, etc. Here are some major differences:

Inspiron E1705:
Screen size: 17"
IntelÂ® Coreâ„¢ Duo Processor T2300 (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Price: $1,183

Pros: Nice screen size and from what I've read, duo processor sounds amazingly powerful. Dell.com is also currently having a sale which gives $400 off for spending $1400+ on the laptop.

Cons: It doesn't have a S-video unless I get the media center addition with the tv tuner which is an extra $130.

XPS M140:
Screen size: 14.1"
Processor: IntelÂ® PentiumÂ® M Processor 750 (1.86GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
price: $1148

Pros: Has a built in S-video, which all laptops should have. It looks slick, small, and powerful enough to run softwares I need to use.

Con: The price is almost about the same as Inspiron E1705 while E1705 uses the new dual processor.

I'm really split on making the decision because while I love the portability and the functions that XPS offers, E1705 seems to offer more in terms of power. I also am very confused about the Media Center Edition and the differences between XP professional. I also don't know how much difference the duo processor makes compared to the Pentium M processor. Also, since the pricing is almost similar, it makes it even harder to decide. Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Shadow · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 7:42 am Post subject:

I think you should buy the Inspiron E1705:
Screen size: 17"
IntelÂ® Coreâ„¢ Duo Processor T2300 (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Price: $1,183

because it's scree is biger and it only cost about 40 more dollers than the :D h
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hoonn · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 7:53 am Post subject:

Yea.. I'm leaning slighty more towards E1705.. I'm just trying to see if anyone else thinks otherwise. Thanks for the reply :D

Shadow · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:49 am Post subject:

Your welcome :D
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Yohn · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:53 pm Post subject:

I've got an inspirion I9300 that's the Media Center edition with a 17" screen, and I love it to pieces.
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Schala-Kid · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:10 am Post subject:

my parents offered to by me a laptop last year. my mum still insists on it, but the truth is it wont do what i want it to do... in a way that i want it to.

portability is nice feature, but not if it dies after so and so using it. the keys are living hell if my dad's is anything to go by - i'm so used to daily typing on a normal keyboard than the tiny, weird, flat keys of a lap top.

screens, bit small. capabilities... i dunno, i still think they're somewhat limited. navigation - hell with touch ones, rollerballs, but mouses are okay, so long as they're not minature ones.

there's too many hurdles i wish to not bother with.

if i were a novalist, then sure, having a laptop would be awesome, i'd get over that fidgety keyboard thing.

but i can't justify a laptop. i want to play some online games, and be heavy on the media, use excel frequently and accounting and financial forecasting programs - and well, i wanna hook it up to my room, run it through my tv and stereo - it can be done, so i want to do it... but probably not a lap top.

i'd like to get a new computer, which now makes me: :off topic: so i'll leave it at that

Arcana · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:12 am Post subject:

Are you looking for hugeness of screen, or portability? A 17" laptop is going to be a pain to carry around if you're looking to bring to and from school or work every day on the bus.
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hoonn · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:51 am Post subject:

Arcana · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:15 am Post subject:

If you're going to continue using "the norm", then the Pentium M will do fine.

However, you seem to want more power, and a bigger screen. If that's the case, then the 17" with Core Duo is the better option for you.

However, be sure that you check the extras included. I've noticed that you did not post complete system specifications. What hard drive size and speed? How much RAM? What kind of burner does each one have? Do you need a bag? How about extra batteries? What's the battery life like? Does it come with a mouse or a USB key?

Also, be sure that you double-check the sizes. What's the footprint? How heavy? How thick?

It might be the case that the Inspiron E1705 has fewer features than the XPS M140 in terms of extras; it may also be the case that the Inspiron E1705 weighs a ton.

What you need to do before buying is to decide what you need in a laptop, instead of asking people you don't know on a strange Internet forum. Based on what you've said, you're looking for a desktop replacement kind of system that has some portable features; if that's the case, then power and comfort (i.e. screen size, keyboard size) are probably more relevant than portability (i.e. size and weight) and battery life.

Oh, and Dell is notorious for making crappy products. Their service is excellent, but apparently the laptops they ship out are kind of crappy, at least according to the experiences of many colleagues of mine who've done ordering and service at the University I used to be at. They'll go out of their way to help you replace your laptop if it breaks down, but the problem is, it might break down. If you do go for a Dell computer (or any other computer, for that matter), I recommend making regular backups.

But you all make regular backups anyway, right? :)
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hoonn · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:24 am Post subject:

hoonn · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:26 pm Post subject:

Sorry to double post but I just wanted to thank everyone here for giving me feedbacks and whatnot. Arcana, I basically reviewed the system and went with the E1705. Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it!

Alucard · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:48 am Post subject:

I personally would advice you checking the website of Alienware.

Their computers and laptops are total ownage if you fully upgrade :D

(They aint cheap though :? )

Regards
Mister Alucard the vague forum junky
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Arcana · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:59 am Post subject:

Ah, cool stuff, Hoonn. Hope it all works out for you.

I've heard that Alienware stuff really isn't that great - for the price you pay, you're not getting an awesome price-performance ratio, and their customer service apparently isn't that awesome either. Seems like it would be a better idea rolling your own PC.
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