Dell Laptop Questions

[byronkincaid]

I'm going to order a laptop shortly. It's weird on the Dell website you can spec pretty much the same computer on 3 different base models and you get 3 different prices.

I hate paying for extended warranties. It saves a lot of money to just have Collect and return, 1 year service only. whatever that means. The sale of goods act says that stuff you buy should last a reasonable period of time. If it packs up in 18 months and they refuse to fix it I could just take them to the small claims court for £35ish right? Anyone think I need to buy a warranty?

Is it worth paying £11.75 for 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024) instead of 2048MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)?

9 cell battery instead of 6 cell for £23.50 seems like a good thing to do?

Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-PCI Card (for Core 2 Duo Processor) or Intel(R) Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card for £11 extra? I have a BT home hub that I want to connect it to wirelessly. Also hotels and stuff for when I'm away.

Carry case needed? I will be taking it to Vegas etc. Do you put laptops in your suitcase or take them on as hand luggage? I don't need it on the plane but it might get stolen from my suitcase?

My GF is gonna use it to do spreadsheet stuff on Exel. So that means I need to get Microsoft Office 2007? I know I could prob get a copy somewhere but as it's important stuff for her job I'd rather be totally legal. Do I get the Basic version or the home version for a few quid more? I doubt we need the business version she's not gonna be doing anything too complicated.

So basically it's for 4 tabling online poker with Poker tracker and PAHUD, simple spreadsheets and reading Blonde. Can I have Outlook Express on 2 computers to get my emails?

This is how I'm thinking of specing it

Components
BASE Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT  Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only edit
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LCD 17" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WUXGA (1920x1200) TFT Display with TrueLife™ edit
MEMORY 2048MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024) edit
HARD DRIVE 160GB (5,400 rpm) Sata Hard Drive edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB ATI® Mobility™ Radeon® X1400 HyperMemory™ graphics card edit
PRIMARY BATTERY 9 Cell, 80Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
Accessories
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Intel(R) Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card edit
CARRY CASES Targus Campus Notebook Backpack XL edit
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES No Floppy Drive Option edit
COLOR CHOICE No Snap on LCD Back Cover edit
Services & Software
SECURITY SOFTWARE No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English edit
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office 2007 Basic - English edit
PHOTOGRAPHY SOFTWARE No Photo Organising & Sharing Software/No Photo Editing Software edit
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Also included with your system
KEYBOARD Internal Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY) 
Gedis Bundle Reference List N03947 - DHS 9400 (3) 
Order Information Inspiron Order - UK 
Modem 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter 
Standard Warranty Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only 
Money Off Savings Save £100 inc VAT 
S&P Flyer DHS Inspiron / Dimension Flyer 
Dell Internet Order Dell Internet Order. 
Shipping Documents English Documentation with Eng Power Cord 
NOTEBOOK ESSENTIALS Creative MuVo V100 1GB MP3 Player 
Power Supply 90W AC Adapter 
SYSTEM MEDIA Inspiron Resource DVD - Vista (Diagnostics & Drivers) 



From  £1,295.70
£1,135.82 Includes VAT & Shipping
 
 

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks for any answers.
 
 

[Acidmouse]

You don't need to spend more then 500 quid on the stuff you will be doing on a lappy. Duel core 1g you sorted.

[byronkincaid]

You don't need to spend more then 500 quid on the stuff you will be doing on a lappy. Duel core 1g you sorted.

need resolution for 4 tabling

[WellChief]

Is it the Inspiron or the XPS model you're getting? 

I would go for the £11.75 extra for the ram, and the carry case - it'll moving your laptop around safely.

[Sheriff Fatman]

Definitely get the 9-cell battery (and consider buying 2 of them as they're a nightmare to get hold of when not part of a new purchase).  These 17" Dells love to eat power.

Also, ALWAYS take it on the flight as hand luggage.  I had a laptop broken in hold luggage from the way the hold luggage got thrown around.  Fortunately it was a work machine, but still annoying as hell (it was a small plane where they made you put hand luggage into the hold as you boarded the plane.  I kicked up a stink beforehand about it getting damaged and they proved me exactly right.

[byronkincaid]

Is it the Inspiron or the XPS model you're getting? 

I would go for the £11.75 extra for the ram, and the carry case - it'll moving your laptop around safely.

Inspiron

[kinboshi]

That's a cracking resolution for a 17".  That's pretty much what you're paying the extra for.

On the extras for £11 here, and £15 there - get them.  The advice is always to spend to your budget - if you can afford to get these 'extras' on your budget, then get them.  You'll only regret it in a year's time if you don't.

Either get the carry case, or invest in a better one from elsewhere.  You can take your laptops on as hand-luggage, but you have to take it out of the case when you go through security.  Foe security reasons, some people recommend a backpack-type laptop case (if you're going to be walking round with it a lot - say through the middle of London and using the tube, etc.) - so that it's not as obvious what you are carrying.  Otherwise there's a whole selection of cases to choose from.

Be careful with the screen though.  Don't place anything heavy onto it, and try not to bang it about.  I had a Dell laptop a few years ago (could have been any make really, it just happened to be a Dell), and it got some pretty rough treatment and the screen packed up.  Getting it repaired would have been a few hundred quid - probably more for yours.  Just be careful what you place in the case with it.

Oh yeah, and go and get a £250 laptop for the missus!!  You don't want her hassling you to use yours when you're playing...

[Longines]

Faster RAM for the sake of twelve quid? I would.

9 cell battery? Definitely.

The wireless-N card for twelve quid? Might as well - it's backwardly compatible with a/b/g.

Do *not* put in your suitcase. Cracked screen a racing certainty. Take it in hand luggage.

Office Home gives you OneNote and PowerPoint instead of the Basic package's Outlook.  Personally I'd rather use Outlook than Outlook Express so would go for Basic.

And I'm with you on warranties. Reduce it to 90 days collect and return and use SOGA if need be.

[AndrewT]

As I was reading your mail I thought - 'he mentions 4-tabling poker but hasn't mentioned the most important thing for this - the screen resolution.'

Then I read this:

LCD 17" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WUXGA (1920x1200) TFT Display with TrueLife™ edit

Oooh mama - 1920x1200 on a laptop. Tasty.

As kinboshi said - this is what you're paying for. Any laptop which has a 1920x1200 screen is going to be way overspecced for anything else to do with playing online poker.

And don't bother with any extended warranty crap - if anything serious is going to go wrong it will happen pretty soon.

[RichEO]

Office Home gives you OneNote and PowerPoint instead of the Basic package's Outlook.  Personally I'd rather use Outlook than Outlook Express so would go for Basic.

It's not instead of outlook, outlook is with all versions of office.

[RichEO]

So basically it's for 4 tabling online poker with Poker tracker and PAHUD, simple spreadsheets and reading Blonde. Can I have Outlook Express on 2 computers to get my emails?

If you want to run a nuclear power plant then I'm sure it will cope no problems, poker and excel... have you heard of overage

You can get your email on 2 PCs no problem. You need to set it to leave your messages on the server and set it to delete them after a period of time (I usually do 14 days). This is so that if you are receiving them on one PC for a while then go to the other you don't want to get loads of outdated (100s) emails downloading. Outlook express tho.... upgrade to outlook (or thunderbird).

[lazaroonie]

seriously, why spend money on ms office ?

download openoffice 2.1, it does everything you need.

[byronkincaid]

thanks for all the help guys. I've never really used a spreadsheet. Can she save stuff she's done at work on exel and play about with it at home with openoffice? Is it pretty much exactly the same? She's putting some money  towards this expecting to be able to know how to use it with no problems and she's a lot worse with computers than I am.

[marcro]

Oh yeah, and go and get a £250 laptop for the missus!!  You don't want her hassling you to use yours when you're playing...

Agreed.  Sharing the laptop can only lead to grief from the trouble and strife.  It will not be long before you are playing in a tournament and she needs to do some excel work at the same time.

[marcro]

I have bought my last few laptops off ebay with great success.  You can buy brand new Dells and save £3-400.  An example being:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Inspiron-9400-2GIG-DDR-160HD-True-Life-VISTA_W0QQitemZ110104181387QQcategoryZ177QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem