laptop for $1300

[warlord55]

my brother needs a laptop for college for $1500 but would like it more around $1300 it's not for gaming just for normal school work, and minor games that almost any pc can use, and is a dell isnpiron(sp?) that good of a laptop.

[PrntRhd]

Welcome to the PC Guide forums!
:)

Do you have the specs or a link for the Dell Inspiron you are considering? Will the notebook be connecting to the college's networks?

[Budfred]

If the games are not graphics intensive, there are many laptops available for under $1000... If he wants more power than he actually needs, $1500 is probably about right...

[warlord55]

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNDWKA2&s=dhs&sm=2
thats the inspiron
specs:
CPU:Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7100 (1.8GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache) i think would be good enough
Ram:1GB will do
GPU:i dont no much about laptop GPU's
HD:80Gb will be plenty
also add Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 - Word, Excel + PowerPoint, and 3Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor, 24x7 Phone Support into the price
or this xps:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DYCWLS1&s=dhs

[Budfred]

Their service contracts are a major money maker for Dell... I would drop that unless your brother just isn't willing to get help from places like this... Most problems that will happen that are due to the hardware should be in the first year... And Dell service is garbage unless you are a corporation...

[warlord55]

i no, i dont like dell either, but they have some of the cheaper notebooks that i've found, would these be any good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834114375
http://www.buyxg.com/system/ntbka3k.asp?v=d
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220165 with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16832116135

[Budfred]

i no, i dont like dell either, but they have some of the cheaper notebooks that i've found, would these be any good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834114375
http://www.buyxg.com/system/ntbka3k.asp?v=d
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220165 with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16832116135

I couldn't see anything on any of those links... Were they to a shopping list or something like that?? You need to post the link to the public ad for the product...

[warlord55]

k ill try again:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220165
with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116135
or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114375
or http://www.buyxg.com/system/ntbka3k.asp?v=d

[classicsoftware]

You want an Acer, Lenovo or a Toshiba


Like one of these (http://shopper.cnet.com/4144-5_9-0.html?query=Acer%20Travelmate&sort=highprice&fOrder=&tag=srt.prch)....

or

One of these (http://www.pcconnection.com/Search?CatId=202851&Id=+2147482349+203562+203204+203188+2147483327+203 208+2146746992+2146705786&Offset=0&Sort=Most+Popular).....

[warlord55]

those are good but they have bad warrenty, i need one with 3 yrs

[classicsoftware]

You can upgrade the warranty.....

[Budfred]

Again, I would go with something cheaper than most of what you are looking at, but I would get at least 2 Gig RAM if he will be using Vista... My experience with warranties is that they are not that helpful, but they do make people feel safer... The one type that does make sense to me is the loss plans that will replace the computer if you drop it or it is stolen...

[classicsoftware]

Again, I would go with something cheaper than most of what you are looking at, but I would get at least 2 Gig RAM if he will be using Vista... My experience with warranties is that they are not that helpful, but they do make people feel safer... The one type that does make sense to me is the loss plans that will replace the computer if you drop it or it is stolen...

Now this is 100% solid advice. Follow this and you will not go wrong.

Windows Vista:

2 GB of RAM (minimum) Vista needs a GB for itself.
120 GB Hard Disk (More if you are downloading music)
Video: Separate video card required to get all of Vista's eye candy. The trade off is reduced battery life.


Windows XP:

512 MB RAM (minimum) XP needs 256 for itself.
60 GB Hard Disk (More if you are downloading music)
Video: On Board video is fine unless you are doing some serious gaming.

[pangea33]

Considering that many of the links I've seen are well below budget, I highly recommend investing some of that remaining money in a screen with higher resolution.

You can upgrade the typical stuff in a notebook like ram and HD, but you're stuck with the resolution you pick. I've got a notebook that supports 1280x768 but often wish I would have sprung for something a little better.

[SpiderPig_Squad]

dell sucks. get faaar away from that brand. if ur bro is looking for his money's worth, and wants a long-lasting product, DO NOT GET A DELL.

i speak from experience. a bad. experience.

[pangea33]

I am not a big fan of Dell either, but did have a pleasant experience recently. My fiance gave me her Dell 6000 when she got a new work machine, and I noticed that the battery was going dead very quickly. Initially I was going to cough up the $130 for a replacement, but started doing a little research.

Yeah, it turns out that it had one of those exploding, crotch-burning Sony batteries in it. Clearly they need to replace these fire-hazards, and should probably include an apology in the package. Even still, I was told that the replacement would take about 20 days to arrive. I completed the request for a replacement on a Friday, and it arrived on Tuesday. Complete with a label and postage paid for return shipping.

Personally, I thought that was pretty solid on Dell's part. Dell bashing without details about the user's experience is pretty useless IMHO.

[Whyzman]

Yeah, it turns out that it had one of those exploding, crotch-burning Sony batteries in it. Clearly they need to replace these fire-hazards, and should probably include an apology in the package.I admit, I haven't had any personal experience with Dell products, so it would not be fair for me to render a personal opinion regarding their products or customer service as my information would be hearsay.

However, I don't know that I would use dealing with the liability and safety issues of a "crotch bomb" as Dell's underlying paradigm for all customer service transactions. In this instance, it appears they were serioulsy looking out for the customer...

It would be great if all companies viewed customer service as potential fires and handled them as liability and safety issues... ;)

[Budfred]

I have had direct experience with Dells and a number of other brand names, so I am quite qualified to trash them as much as I feel inclined to do... :D :D

When people ask for recommendations, we can't base those on an individual positive experience here and there, we need to go by the trends... The trend for Dell has been downhill for quality and service for a number of years... People at my company can get "discounts" on Dells and I would love to simply recommend that they take advantage of those discounts, but I see someone price out a $400 computer and end up paying closer to a $1000 for the actual system, with the discount!! With that kind of discount, quality problems and poor customer service, I recommend they think about it and consider other options before going for a Dell...

[warlord55]

he ended up getting a sager