ur advice on a new purchase

tylerdylan

Hi all
I want to buy a new laptop
uses are basic emailing,surfing,some downloading storing music (backup for mp3 player) and photos .
never used for games bar a bit of draughts...
must have dvd burner as curent laptop does not.
would also like to have built in wireless but have a network card in current laptop that could be used.
portability and battery lenght not a deciding factor.
would also prefer at least a 15' screen.
would be happy w/ a 40-60 hard drive.
was looking in compustore at a hp dv 5016 for 999 euros.
lovely looking machine or the toshiba satellite m40-313 priced the same.
so any thoughts?
many tks

kippy

Have you looked on dell.ie?
I think you will find something that fits you needs and budget there something like:
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&oc=N04645A&rbc=N04645A&s=dhs&sbc=iedhsrsinspn_6400_1
Take off the three year warranty and upgrade to a DVD burner and you have a stonking machine for a decent price.
You may in fact be better going for their value systems which you can upgrade before you buy, I think you'd get a decent deal.

There are also a few decent machines in Dunnes/Tesco from time to time that may be worth a look but some people have issues with the models that they have for sale.
Kippy

tylerdylan

thanks kippy
yes am looking on dell at the moment but not sure if how to confirm they have built in wireless and also about the graphics? whats the story with the 90 day warranty? I thought all purchases have a eu standard of 1 year?

kippy

For support, by default all of the dell machines are ticket with 3 year support but this is sufficient:
No service upgrade selected - 1-Year Collect and Return service only [subtract € 290.40]

So Its a one year collect and return warranty-the 90 day thing is standard.....

Generally the Intel Graphics is known as "Onboard graphics" and would not be ideal for playing serious games-and the 256 shared memory means that the card would be using some of your 512 memory to work. In my opinion not a problem so long as you are not doing serious gaming or CAD and Video editing. Alternativly upgrade to one of the other cards available.


Intel® Pro WLAN 3945 Internal Wireless (802.11a/b/g 54 Mbps) for Duo Processors [Included in Price]

If you look further down the config page you will see this ticked. so there is an onboard wireless card in the machine.
Kippy

tylerdylan

I looked at the link and taking of the 3 yr warranty and upgrading to a dvd writer will cost 871.
Thats a good price but i now have another dilemma because i found the dell outlet store.they have lots of notebooks at different prices but please dont laugh do they include the basics like a plug?

MiCr0

the will all come with a plug and power cable

(everything these days comes with a plug)

tylerdylan

I took your advive kippy and ordered the inspirion 6400
stayed w/ the 1 yr warranty and upgraded to a dvd burner.
got bumped up hard drive to 80 gigs.
same graphics card all for 871.inc del/vat.
Paid by cc and got order no etc.
However I called dell this morning to ask if the laptop had infrared....

Well that was a huge mistake,after being transfered all over the place,being asked to spell it,what was it,was it a dvd part or a program....
I was then told my order was cancelled and I was going to be transfered to sales to reorder!!

While I was happy with the spec of the laptop and price I am now concerned about the after sales service.I never mentioned anything about cancelling the order and the price is different today.
Is this a sigh?

MunsterCycling

They have a contract with you to supply you with what you ordered, get on to sales a make a lot of noise (I don't mean shout at them) and they may well throw in the IR for free with the same spec machine. After sales support has a bad rep with dell from reading the reports here but depends on who you get!

wingnut

IR is not common on modern laptops. You can however buy a usb to infrared stick for around €10 euro if you shop around online. Some models @ dell may have the option to add it but I would say a small number of models. Some manfacturers still put IR on their models (acer for example). It has largely been superseeded by Bluetooth superior transfer speeds and NLOS operation.

Dell's used to have a great after sales service center for laptops in Scotland. They have moved it to India and it has suffered badly as a result. In my experience the standard of English of the indian call center staff is not good enough (Dell are probably paying them a pittance). If you persevere you will eventually get what you want but be tansfered over and back between sales service etc. and get your head wrecked.

The outlet staff are Irish so if you are ordering again, I would go outlet. You will probably get the same machine, for the same price but with a three year warranty for the same price from the outlet.

TBH I would never buy a laptop without a 3 year warranty unless I was prepared for the possiblity of writing it off in year 2 or 3, or had it covered on insurance. Repair of most of the components will set you back the price of a new laptop. I bought 150 anaully where I worked before and there was a substainal amount repaired under warranty in year 2 and 3 (not dells though).

tylerdylan

Thanks guys I think I will try the outlet.
I was not too pushed either way in the IR its just that they didnt know what I was talking about.
The girl just cancelled it.I do agree its very hard to understand the people in India and they also seem to find it hard to understand us.

Would the outlet laptop be in perfect condition ie the casing not scratched etc?