Laptop advice, please...

[schmalex]

Mods - Please leave this here for 30 mins or so, as I want to try & get input quickly for a purchase. Thanks, Alex.

Folks - I am pretty clueless when it comes to laptop spec's. Can someone tell me if the spec below is a good deal?

DELL INSPIRON 15 Laptop for £399

Components
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit- English
Intel® Celeron Dual Core T3000 (1.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 Cache)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection
Also Includes
No Accidental Damage Support
Inspiron 1545 (UK, FCG13) - T3000 (1.80GHz, 800MHz, 1MB cache)
N1254512
Inspiron 1545 Order - UK
15.6" Widescreen WXGA WLED (1366 x 768) TFT Display with TrueLife™
No Camera Included
Black Colour with Matte Finish
Documentation Inspiron 1545
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
320GB (5,400rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Inspiron 1545 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)
65W AC Adaptor
4-cell 28WHr Li-Ion primary battery
No Carry Case
1 Meter Power Cord
Intel Integrated GMA 4500MHD
Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)
No Bluetooth Upgrade
Internal Keyboard
Microsoft® Works 9.0 - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)
No DataSafe Online Backup 2GB (Direct)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
Black palmrest

[AndrewTait]

I'd say it's ok, if a little overpriced. Dell always charge a premium for their products, but they are generally well built.

The spec sounds ok, Win 7 is still a bit of an unknown as yet, but I've been using it since pre-release beta, and haven't come across many problems.

The memory and disk drives are ok, but the processor is a trimmed down processor. However, if all you are doing is surfing the net, sending some e-mail, and a bit of word processing, then it should be able to cope without too much strain.

I would suggest looking around for a a lesser brand (Acer for instance), and get a more featured laptop for similar money, or look for a similar spec for less.

Edited by AndrewTait on Saturday 5th December 20:49

[schmalex]

Thanks for that, chap. I've been reviewing the Dell site & come across a Studio 15. Down from £750 to £480. The spec is:

Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T4300 (2.1GHz, 800MHz, 1MB cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit- English
Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection - English
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year
FailSafe® Theft Protection - track and protect lost or stolen laptops - 30 days free trial
15.6in Widescreen High Definition (1366x768) WLED with TrueLife
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
320GB (5.400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
512MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 4570
Fixed Internal DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive including Software
Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery
Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)
No Bluetooth Upgrade
2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera
Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
Free Napster® with 60 Free Songs and 1 year Free Music Streaming
Midnight Blue with Microsatin Finish
Accessories
Services & Software
Also Includes
No Accidental Damage Support
1 Meter Power Cord (3 Wire) - UK
English - Documentation Studio 1545
N1253502
1 year of coverage included with your PC
Studio 1555 Order - UK
No Carrying Case
Studio 1555 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
90W AC Adaptor
Wireless Label - Pentium Dual Core
Silver chainlink palm rest – with Black Chainlink cover only
Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic

Is that a better deal?

[Dogwatch]

schmalex said:

Mods - Please leave this here for 30 mins or so, as I want to try & get input quickly for a purchase. Thanks, Alex.

Folks - I am pretty clueless when it comes to laptop spec's. Can someone tell me if the spec below is a good deal?

DELL INSPIRON 15 Laptop for £399

Components
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit- English
Intel® Celeron Dual Core T3000 (1.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 Cache)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection
Also Includes
No Accidental Damage Support
Inspiron 1545 (UK, FCG13) - T3000 (1.80GHz, 800MHz, 1MB cache)
N1254512
Inspiron 1545 Order - UK
15.6" Widescreen WXGA WLED (1366 x 768) TFT Display with TrueLife™
No Camera Included
Black Colour with Matte Finish
Documentation Inspiron 1545
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
320GB (5,400rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Inspiron 1545 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)
65W AC Adaptor
4-cell 28WHr Li-Ion primary battery
No Carry Case
1 Meter Power Cord
Intel Integrated GMA 4500MHD
Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)
No Bluetooth Upgrade
Internal Keyboard
Microsoft® Works 9.0 - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)
No DataSafe Online Backup 2GB (Direct)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
Black palmrest

You might want to try benchmarking it against this from Play.Com which I have my eye on for the family.

It's £30 more and is only Vista Home premium (upgradeable), but seems fairly similar and has:
2gig processor
4gig RAM
bigger battery
500g hard disc

Really depends what's important to you. I bought an older version (smaller disc and RAM etc) of the Acer a year ago and have been very happy with it.

[AndrewTait]

schmalex said:

Thanks for that, chap. I've been reviewing the Dell site & come across a Studio 15. Down from £750 to £480. The spec is:

Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T4300 (2.1GHz, 800MHz, 1MB cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit- English
Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection - English
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year
FailSafe® Theft Protection - track and protect lost or stolen laptops - 30 days free trial
15.6in Widescreen High Definition (1366x768) WLED with TrueLife
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
320GB (5.400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
512MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 4570
Fixed Internal DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive including Software
Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery
Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)
No Bluetooth Upgrade
2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera
Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
Free Napster® with 60 Free Songs and 1 year Free Music Streaming
Midnight Blue with Microsatin Finish
Accessories
Services & Software
Also Includes
No Accidental Damage Support
1 Meter Power Cord (3 Wire) - UK
English - Documentation Studio 1545
N1253502
1 year of coverage included with your PC
Studio 1555 Order - UK
No Carrying Case
Studio 1555 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
90W AC Adaptor
Wireless Label - Pentium Dual Core
Silver chainlink palm rest – with Black Chainlink cover only
Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic

Is that a better deal?

That sounds more like what I would be looking for, for a similar price.
It's got the full fat processor, and a reasonable graphics card, so is more likely to handle the fancy bits of Windows Vista/7. It's got a better battery (the more cells the longer it lasts!)

They are also throwing in some extras, which are nice to have, but wouldn't want to pay for - Datasafe, Napster etc.

[AndrewTait]

Dogwatch said:

schmalex said:

Mods - Please leave this here for 30 mins or so, as I want to try & get input quickly for a purchase. Thanks, Alex.

Folks - I am pretty clueless when it comes to laptop spec's. Can someone tell me if the spec below is a good deal?

DELL INSPIRON 15 Laptop for £399

Components
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit- English
Intel® Celeron Dual Core T3000 (1.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 Cache)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection
Also Includes
No Accidental Damage Support
Inspiron 1545 (UK, FCG13) - T3000 (1.80GHz, 800MHz, 1MB cache)
N1254512
Inspiron 1545 Order - UK
15.6" Widescreen WXGA WLED (1366 x 768) TFT Display with TrueLife™
No Camera Included
Black Colour with Matte Finish
Documentation Inspiron 1545
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
320GB (5,400rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Inspiron 1545 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)
65W AC Adaptor
4-cell 28WHr Li-Ion primary battery
No Carry Case
1 Meter Power Cord
Intel Integrated GMA 4500MHD
Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)
No Bluetooth Upgrade
Internal Keyboard
Microsoft® Works 9.0 - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)
No DataSafe Online Backup 2GB (Direct)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
Black palmrest

You might want to try benchmarking it against this from Play.Com which I have my eye on for the family.

It's £30 more and is only Vista Home premium (upgradeable), but seems fairly similar and has:
2gig processor
4gig RAM
bigger battery
500g hard disc

Really depends what's important to you. I bought an older version (smaller disc and RAM etc) of the Acer a year ago and have been very happy with it.

This is what I was getting at, by looking at the slightly lower percieved brands, you can get a better machine for a similar cost. Dell will always cost more, because they are seen as being a premium brand.

Edited by AndrewTait on Saturday 5th December 21:01

[Vespula]

The second Dell is much better for games, if you never play games then the first Dell is fine.

Dell is a good company.

I also like Acer.

[schmalex]

Great, thank you for that. I'm not worried about the Napster / datasafe stuff either, but as they are freebies.....

[schmalex]

Thanks so much chaps. Bought the second one as a joint christmas present for Mrs K & I, as, other than work laptops, we haven't had a home PC for 5 years!!!!

[james_tigerwoods]

You've clearly already bought, but I bought my Mum a decent (for her) Dell laptop from PC World (I know, I know - but I needed for her to be able to take it back in case it breaks).

My criteria always starts with cost - £400 in this case. I then discount anything that is a Celeron (or AMD equivalent) and ensure that I get as much memory and disk space as possible for that money. Oh, and I discount anything that's Packard Bell.

I got her an Inspiron 1545 - not what I'd buy for me, but it's more than capable for her and she's happy with it