Question:
Dell e1505 a good choice?
I'm looking for a laptop to replace my desktop. It'll be my only computer for a fairly long time.
1) What is your budget?
$1000-1100 including tax and s/h
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
a. Ultraportable; 12" screen or less
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Movies, music, web surfuing, chatting, school work (it comes last, of course :p )
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
It'll have to be fairly mobile
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Not much of a gamer, but I do enjoy some classics once in a while ie: Starcraft, Homeworld, Mechwarrior
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
nope
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
The more the better, I never know if I can get an outlet in class
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
Online is fine if theres enough reviews for it
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
USA
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Widescreen
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
No preference
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Not unless it's extremely ugly
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
I would like to buy one within 2-3 months, and it has to last me for a good 4 years of college
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 160GB?
60+ is good, the more the better.
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
Not so sure about needing a DVD burner, but if it's a cheap addon, why not
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Anyways I was messing around in dell's shop and I came up with something I think that would suit me:
That, with a gig of aftermarket ram, with all taxes and shipping, would put me right around my budget max.
I thought of a 2.0ghz core 2 duo instead (+$200), but I don't think I really need that much processing power for what I'm doing.
Questions:
Is that furture proof? This has to last me 4 years, and I would like to upgrade to Vista if it turns out to be a big enough imporvement
What would you upgrade on it? I'm sure that in the 4 year period I'll have some cash to buy bits and pieces for it
Do I need a Core 2 Duo? It's $90 extra for the 1.66... I have no idea what it does better :p
I'm open to suggestions to other laptops too, so don't be shy :D
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
I would suggest you upgrade to the T7200 since it won't be a whole lot more (remember you're using a 20% off coupon) and it will be a better processor as it has the 4MB L2 and you definitely want a C2D if you are planning on keeping this thing for 4 years. C2D supports a 64-bit OS while Core Duo does not. Upgrade the X1300 to the X1400 as well because it's a lot better. Drop the Creative integrated HD audio because it's nothing but software and worthless. If you're going to upgrade to the 9 cell battery then spend the extra and get the 6 cell and 9 cell both because it's not much more then the 9 cell by itself. I ordered an E1505 earlier today with the 20% coupon and the config was much like what i just recommended to you except that i only went with the 6 cell and it was under $900 before tax. That leaves you money to upgrade to 2 gigs of RAM.
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
You've done a great job of working out your inital configuration prior to posting. The 1505 does seem like a good choice for you, too. In the end, there is no beating Dell in terms of value. A couple of thoughts:
Concerning Vista: Everyone's underwear is turned inside-out over Vista. It won't be a huge improvement for most people. I definitely can't advise actually paying for it - not that I would recommend getting it any other way. In any case, whether you pay for it or obtain it through some other means, that system will run it just fine.
Regarding little upgrades. They tend not to be really great options for laptops. Only certain upgrades are feasible, and they tend to get pretty pricey. You might want a TV tuner at some point, but you can get an external for $40 or so, so don't rush on that.
The 120GB hard drive is a reasonable investment.
Recommendations:
1) Upgrade to the WSXGA screen. While I normally wouldn't recommend that (I think it's an excessively-high resolution for most people's needs), you'll find the viewing angles much much much better. The WXGA panel has pretty crappy viewing angles.
2) Dell's come with a lot of cra- er ... bloatware loaded on them. Some recommend doing a format and reinstall. It strikes me as unnecessary, but not a bad idea. A thorough dumping through add/remove hardware should do the trick.
3) When doing that, ditch Norton ghost. Doing so will regain 30 gigs of your hard drive that Norton wants to use for backup. You can find that 30 gigs in the form of what appears to be a second hard drive. It's actually part of your main hard drive, but you can store stuff on it the same way.
4) One poster (tempted to say it was Pulp or Zazonz - ?) once wrote something along the lines of the following regarding the timing of a laptop purchase: If you need the laptop, get it. If you don't need it, wait. You will experience buyer's remorse no matter what, so don't even think about avoiding it. Just do the best you can to get the best you can. If waiting 2-3 months won't hinder you at all, wait it out. If you know you're going to use it for taking notes in class, go ahead and get it; it's great. In 2-3 months, price-to-performance ratios will be a little better, but get what you need when you need it.
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
Thanks for the input guys.
I don't really want the WSXGA screen, mainly because I don't feel it's necessary to pay $90 for it.
As for the C2D upgrade, is the 64bit thing very important? I don't do anything processor intensive, and I just can't justify spending $200 more for the 2.0ghz core... Would it be possible to upgrade the 1.6 to a 2.0 later on if I find out I need it, and if yes, would that be much more expensive?
If I drop the sound card and add the x1400, that only increases the price about $13... Which means I can get at least another gig of ram to bring it up to 1.5. I sort of want the 9-cell battery, because it was a pretty big factor in me getting this over the Hp dv6000 with it's tumor like 12-cell battery :p
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
I strongly suggest getting the best processor possible now (C2D) and getting the least amount of stuff that you can easily upgrade later. Upgrading a processor is extremely costly and hard to do if you're not a professional. The same thing goes for the GPU.
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
So you think I should get the 2.0ghz C2D? What exactly can I easily upgrade?
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
C2D is important but i don't think you really need the t7200 right now
the 1.66 or 1.83 C2D are all very powerful cpus and are about 10-20% better then their C1D counterparts
get the video card upgrade since you can't upgrade that later
the audio isn't really that important since the laptop's speakers are pretty bad , unless you got a really nice set of headphone
you can upgrade the CPU later on to 2.0 ghz but that will void your warrenty and it will be cheaper when the intel quad core comes out
all technology product's value depreciate fast
get the battery upgrade it's worth it
EDIT: you can upgrade memory, harddrive and optical drive easily, other things not so easy
EDIT 2: wsxga would be useless to you if you plan on gaming as the weak x1400 won't be able to put out many games at that resolution (but probably can for those old games you listed). The wsxga IMO is not a good upgrade because it gets are to read when you have such high resolution on such a small screen and if you do a lot of reading, it gets tiring
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
I'd say upgrade the processor and video card. Even if your not much of a gamer, and prefer classics, you never know... they may release a newer version of some game you wanna play... I would get teh WSXGA display...
You can easily upgrade the ram and hard drive... thats really about it.
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
Ok, so with some upgrades, my config looks like this:
It comes out to $939.20, with the 9-cell.
Within budget, I could upgrade either the HD to 120gb or the video card to the GeForce go 7200... Can the X1400 play older games fine? I really don't think I need the graphics card.
Of course I wouldn't be able to get any ram upgrades for a few months.
Answer:
Re: Dell e1505 a good choice?
The X1400 will be just fine for the games you mentioned. Since you don't play much anyway you should not have a problem. Besides that, the X1400 is about on par with the Go7200 anyway. Not really any significant difference between the two. Good luck and happy computing!