New Laptop

[Tom J]

My wife's desktop is about 5 years old and ready for replacement. I think I am going to give her my two-year old Dell Inspiron 5160 laptop and buy a new one for my use. Aren't I nice guy?

I want a laptop, but I use it primarily as a desktop replacement. Mobility is essential, but only used occassionally and the mobility demands aren't that great. That being said, if it was more mobile, I may use it more for that purpose.

I browse the net, use e-mail and do a lot of work on MSOffice 2003. I am not a gamer per se.

Here are some of my thoughts:

Brand: I have had good luck with Dell, but I am not wed to this brand. Any comments about brands you like or brands you would avoid would be appreciated. Along those lines has anyone had any recent experience with Acer? I had a desktop 10 years ago and found it acceptable. The reason I ask is that Staples has one on sale for about $600 that has a lot of the things I like.

RAM: I am thinking I would start out with IGB, though if the price is right I would go 2GB. My biggest concern is future expandability.

Processor: I think I want a duo-core. I have always had intel chips, but if someone can me some feedback on AMD I could be persuaded to go that route if the price is right.

HD Size: I have got an 80 GB right now and I have not filled a 1/4 of it, so I don't think I need anymore capacity, but if there are other advantage with a large hard drive I would like to know about it. I do have a 250 GB external hard drive that I use for storing backup files that I will be connecting to whatever I get.

Wireless: I will obviously want a wireless card. I have a wireless router in my home right now. I am not up on the options, so any advice would be helpful.

Screen Size: I have a 14 or 15 inch screen right now and find it perfectly acceptable. I don't think I want to go much smaller. I am wondering if I want to go from a 4:3 ratio to a 16:9 ratio. Any thoughts along these lines? I want to be able to see the desplay, but I don't think I need a highend display like some gamers may like. Maybe I am wrong here.

OS: Most of the new laptops come with Windows Vista Basic or Home Premium. I am thinking I would like Home Premium, but this is something I have not researched, so I would like your thoughts. I use Windows XP right now. I have MS Office 2003 Professional and may update to 2007 Premium at some point fairly soon.

Price: I don't want to go over $1000 and would love to stay under $750.

Where to Buy: I have done all my recent purchase on line from Dell, but I am open to other options. One thing I have thought about is Sam's Club or one of the big office supply stores.

Any advice about the subjects I have mentioned or other things you think I should think about would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.

[gad5264]

Tom,
I bought a new Dell "Inspiron" last Novemeber. Have had the battery replaced two times (which was not part of the Dell/Sony recall). After about 2 hours on the phone with tech support it was finally diagnosed that the mother board was bad and not communicating with the battery to charge it. Last Friday a service tech came to my work and replaced the mother board. No problems over the weekend and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[sacherjj]

I've had good luck with Dell laptops. I've used two for work and my girlfriend had one for years, before I bought her another for Christmas a couple years ago. If you don't have to buy quickly, you can often find a real good deal with Dell. bensbargains.net, slickdeals.net, hotdealsclub.com, and fatwallet.com are all good places to find Dell bargains.

I agree that you don't want to go under 1 Gb for RAM. A low end dual-core is a good choice for power/performance. I wish you could by new computers with XP. I have used Vista and don't like it.

Looks like the current offer is 20% of the Inspirons:
20% Off Select Inspiron Notebook Purchases $999+ order codes 6VAFF-DNCWHA1, 6VAFF-DNDWHA2, 6VAFF-DNDWHA3, 6VAFF-DNCWFA1, 6VAFF-DNDWFA2, 6VAFF-DNDWFA3, 6VAFF-DNCWEA1, 6VAFF-DNDWEA2, 6VAFF-DNDWEA3, 6VAFF-DNCWGA1, 6VAFF-DNDWGA2, 6VAFF-DNDWGA3, 6VAFF-DNCWHS1, 6VAFF-DNCWHG1, 6VAFF-DNCWHP1, 6VAFF-DNCWHS2, 6VAFF-DNCWHG2, 6VAFF-DNCWHP2, 6VAFF-DNDWHG3, 6VAFF-DNDWHP3, 6VAFF-DNCWFS1, 6VAFF-DNCWFG1, 6VAFF-DNCWFP1, 6VAFF-DNCWFS2, 6VAFF-DNCWFG2, 6VAFF-DNCWFP2, 6VAFF-DNDWFG3, 6VAFF-DNDWFP3, 6VAFF-DNCWES1, 6VAFF-DNCWEG1, 6VAFF-DNCWEP1, 6VAFF-DNCWES2, 6VAFF-DNCWEG2, 6VAFF-DNCWEP2, 6VAFF-DNDWEG3, 6VAFF-DNDWEP3, 6VAFF-DNCWGS1, 6VAFF-DNCWGG1, 6VAFF-DNCWGP1, 6VAFF-DNCWGG2, 6VAFF-DNCWGP2, 6VAFF-DNDWGG3, 6VAFF-DNDWGP3 • w/ Coupon 3T1P07DB496T2Q • exp 3/8/07

[LCHIEN]

it sounds like you are buying some features just because they are there.
if all you do is office and browse the net, then you don't need a huge upgrade.
Duo-core is presently not used by any software you mention and is not likely to be for several years, if you plan to stay with with the OS that comes with it, that's overkill.
Wide screen - for watching movies. Big HD, for movies, too.
laptops are now two categories, one ultrasmall (~3 lbs) for real mobility and desktop replacements (~6-7 lbs) for moderate mobility (room to room).

Have fun

[themachine]

Dell discounts

If you are leaning towards a Dell, I would check out this website first. http://www.gotapex.com/ They always seem to have a succinct way of presenting the latest discounts on Dell equipment. They tend to favor higher end machines, so keep looking back until you find what you want.

[frumper64]

I just got a new Dell M65 at work and it is a great machine, but mobility isn't it's strong point. The thing weighs 6.5 pounds. Other than that, it's great and has built in wireless connectivity.

[jackellis]

With one exception, I've bought nothing but IBM (now Lenovo) laptops and I've been very satisfied. Keyboards are the best, service is excellent. I bought one for my wife at Christmas that has everything you want except Office and Vista for under $1000.

You want wireless G. N is faster but I'm not sure the standard is set in stone yet so there could be compatibility problems with other equipment. G is plenty fast.

Get 2 GB ram to start with. Windows is a memory hog and the more, the better. RAM does more to improve performance than a new CPU in many instances.

Get at least a 60 GB, 5400 RPM SATA drive. If a 7200 RPM option is offered and you can afford it, get it. The machine boots a lot faster with a faster disk and it performs better with large documents. You'll need the space on Lenovos for the hibernation file that allows you to close the cover to put the machine in hibernation mode, then open it again and restart where you left off. Also for the image of the OS that's put on the disk so you can recover the whole thing if you screw up.

AMD and Intel make fine processors. There are no compatibility issues I'm aware of. I agree with Loring that Core Duo is not essential for what you plan to do and therefore, not worth the cost.

[gsmittle]

Are you wed to the MS OS?

If not, check out the new Macbooks, which will run OS X and, using Parallels, Winderz.

Yes, I'm a known Mac bigot.

g.

[Anna]

If not, check out the new Macbooks, which will run OS X and, using Parallels, Winderz.

Yes, I'm a known Mac bigot.

g.

Hey, nice to meet you. I'm a Mac bigotress.

To the OP, every review I've read on Vista pretty much recommends that you hold off on using it until... I don't really know. The Home edition has serious limitations, and I'd suggest you research them. I don't think you get the eye candy and the security stuff that Vista has to offer if you use Home.

You'll also have to contend with the DRM stuff and authentication problems. I know XP had a little bit of it, but Vista is supposed to be really bad about that. I'm trying to recall which big papers talked about it a few weeks ago. The tech guys are really unhappy about it, and is another reason they suggest to hold off using Vista.

I think you can still buy XP (the software), and if you know anyone who works at Microsoft, they might be able to get you one heckuva discount. NewEgg also sells the OEMs, but I'm not sure what problems go with those.

If you ever decide to use both XP and Vista, the advice I've heard is to install XP first (after partitioning, I guess). If you put Vista in first, it won't allow you to install XP afterwards. (Heard that from Leo Laporte's tech show on radio a couple weeks ago.)

Now, if you can swing a couple hundred dollars more, you can get a really nice and spiffy new Macbook that will run Vista or XP natively (using a free software called BootCamp) so that you won't even know that the Mac OS is there. Then when you have the time and inclination, you can try out the Mac OS itself (which is great, but then I'm a Mac bigot, too).

The funny thing is, in all seriousness, the Macs were thought to have been the most "Vista ready" when Vista came out. They had a software that "graded" a system to see how well they can handle running Vista, and the Macs were coming out on top.

Just FYI.

[KenBurris]

My desktop is a Dell refurb - had no problems with it in 2+ years .(you get same warranty as a new unit) You can get a refurb laptop With XP on it - found this just now.

• Inspiron 1300/B130 Notebook: Intel Celeron M Processor 380 (1.60 GHz/400MHz FSB/1M L2 Cache)
• Genuine Windows XP Home

System Price:$619.00
Operating System
Genuine Windows XP Home Memory
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz (2 DIMMs) Hard Disk Drive
60 GB EIDE Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Video
Integrated Intel Media Accelerator 900 Graphics Modem
Internal 56K Modem Certified Refurbished
Certified Refurbished Base
Inspiron 1300/B130 Notebook: Intel Celeron M Processor 380 (1.60 GHz/400MHz FSB/1M L2 Cache) Media Bay
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability Network Interface Card
1370 Wireless Card NoteBook Screen
15.4 in WXGA Notebook Screen











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McAfee Security Center, 90 Day
Trial pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo
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Microsoft Works 8.5
ISP Search Assist
Dell 725 Printer Driver
ONLINE TRAINING
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Inspiron B130
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AOL Software Documentation
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60W AC Adapter
Shipping Material

You can refine the search also - but if you find something that fits you need to place it in your cart quickly- they seem to go quickly - especially the cheaper units. You get 15 minutes after it's in your cart to make a decision, then the cart gets emptied.