Laptop: Is this a good deal?
Discussion
It's all in, vat and delivery, for £550.
Intel Centrino Mobile 1.5GHz Processor (1Mb L2 Cache), 512 MB DDR RAM, 40GB Hard Disk Drive, 15" Widescreen TFT Colour Screen, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, nVidia GeForce FX Go 5200 64 MB Graphics Card, 56K Modem, 10/100 LAN, Wireless LAN, 1x Microphone jack, 1x Line-in jack, 1x Line-out jack, 1x PC card slot (type 1/2), 1x Infrared, 2x USB 2.0, 1x FireWire (4-pin), 1x Parallel, 1x External VGA, 1x S-Video (7-pin), 1x Security lock point, Works 7.0, Windows XP Home Operating System
1-Year RTB Warranty.
Intel Centrino Mobile 1.5GHz Processor (1Mb L2 Cache), 512 MB DDR RAM, 40GB Hard Disk Drive, 15" Widescreen TFT Colour Screen, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, nVidia GeForce FX Go 5200 64 MB Graphics Card, 56K Modem, 10/100 LAN, Wireless LAN, 1x Microphone jack, 1x Line-in jack, 1x Line-out jack, 1x PC card slot (type 1/2), 1x Infrared, 2x USB 2.0, 1x FireWire (4-pin), 1x Parallel, 1x External VGA, 1x S-Video (7-pin), 1x Security lock point, Works 7.0, Windows XP Home Operating System
1-Year RTB Warranty.
Yup - not bad.....
Just finished installing a new laptop for the GF
Dell Inspriron 510M with similar spec to yours but downgraded to 1.3GHz Celeron and upgraded to include 60Gb disc, 15" SXGA resolution and carry case for £594.84 inclusing of VAT and P&P.
I reckon we've both got cracking deals.
Yours a Dell as well ?
Just finished installing a new laptop for the GF
Dell Inspriron 510M with similar spec to yours but downgraded to 1.3GHz Celeron and upgraded to include 60Gb disc, 15" SXGA resolution and carry case for £594.84 inclusing of VAT and P&P.
I reckon we've both got cracking deals.
Yours a Dell as well ?
Alas I'm not. The address is www.cheap-it.com/ some systems are refurbished, others ex demo and a few brand new. Mine falls in the final category.
...and the WiFi will be slow, assuming that this is important to you. As for processor speeds, all the points taken regards bus speed, cache, etc. My point about the processor was that a 1.5ghz is slower than faster centrinos. And i say again, he will get soon fed up with the lack of grunt. As for comparing Centrino with Pentiums, I didn't. But since some of you do... as the yanks say, 'ain't no substitute for horses'. Try fully loading both (speed) comparable processors, with a full winxp 2003 OS, load a few MS office Apps, load a few web browsers, chuck in the the usual flotsam of all things security related, do some proper work on it, and then tell me why, given the choice people are still speccing P4s. my underlying point is, you (usually) get what you pay for, and once he gets beyond 'what he bought it for' he will yearn for more HP...
That's why I run an Inspiron 9100 with a 3.2GHz P4 HT. It was bought when this model first came out and is distinctly not budget. I couldn't/wouldn't spend this much if it were my money.
The GF wanted an affordable laptop and doesn't need the grunt. The spec is a lot better than I was expecting for the money and it's more than acceptable - nuff said
The GF wanted an affordable laptop and doesn't need the grunt. The spec is a lot better than I was expecting for the money and it's more than acceptable - nuff said
Dr Strangelove said:
...and the WiFi will be slow, assuming that this is important to you. As for processor speeds, all the points taken regards bus speed, cache, etc. My point about the processor was that a 1.5ghz is slower than faster centrinos. And i say again, he will get soon fed up with the lack of grunt. As for comparing Centrino with Pentiums, I didn't. But since some of you do... as the yanks say, 'ain't no substitute for horses'. Try fully loading both (speed) comparable processors, with a full winxp 2003 OS, load a few MS office Apps, load a few web browsers, chuck in the the usual flotsam of all things security related, do some proper work on it, and then tell me why, given the choice people are still speccing P4s. my underlying point is, you (usually) get what you pay for, and once he gets beyond 'what he bought it for' he will yearn for more HP...
It depends really what you want it for. Most people buy a laptop for a portable PC. When this is the case then battery life is normally the reason to buy a centrino and not some stonking great desktop imitation laptop that guzzles batteries like an Irishman downs Guiness on St Patricks day. Don't forget even the powerful desktop replacement laptops have cut down processors so the performance in no where near as fast as the machines they 'pretend' to copy.
My 1.5Ghz centrino gives me 6 hours battery life when I am using the wifi, and I have no problems with wireless speed even at a measly 11mb. Considering my broadband is less than half of that whats the problem?
ultimasimon said:
...and the WiFi will be slow, assuming that this is important to you. As for processor speeds, all the points taken regards bus speed, cache, etc. My point about the processor was that a 1.5ghz is slower than faster centrinos. And i say again, he will get soon fed up with the lack of grunt. As for comparing Centrino with Pentiums, I didn't. But since some of you do... as the yanks say, 'ain't no substitute for horses'. Try fully loading both (speed) comparable processors, with a full winxp 2003 OS, load a few MS office Apps, load a few web browsers, chuck in the the usual flotsam of all things security related, do some proper work on it, and then tell me why, given the choice people are still speccing P4s. my underlying point is, you (usually) get what you pay for, and once he gets beyond 'what he bought it for' he will yearn for more HP...
It depends really what you want it for. Most people buy a laptop for a portable PC. When this is the case then battery life is normally the reason to buy a centrino and not some stonking great desktop imitation laptop that guzzles batteries like an Irishman downs Guiness on St Patricks day. Don't forget even the powerful desktop replacement laptops have cut down processors so the performance in no where near as fast as the machines they 'pretend' to copy.
My 1.5Ghz centrino gives me 6 hours battery life when I am using the wifi, and I have no problems with wireless speed even at a measly 11mb. Considering my broadband is less than half of that whats the problem?
And it's a 10 quid update to replace the 11b miniPCI card with an 54M 11g miniPCI for faster network file transfers. Laptops aren't as fast as desktop machines, but in the real world, why would they be? Battery life and portability are key. My 1.6 Centrino (5+ hours battery) performs in the real world pretty much the same as a 2.4GHz P4. That's plenty for my requirements.
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