Buying a Dell - can I get an opinion on this?

vibrant

Hi there,

I hope I'm allowed to ask for opinions on this... but I've decided to replace my creaky old laptop and I really don't know any techie people to ask their opinions!

I need a laptop for home use - I don't run any games, I don't have huge mega software needs, just your basic photo editing stuff, word processing, MP3 storage, that sort of thing. The only thing I can see myself needing in this package that is not offered is some sort of AntiVirus software, but I don't mind buying that separately. Works is offered, but I use Word, Excel etc, so that is useless to me. I see that it's set up for Wireless internet, but I use cable broadband, so I'd have to buy a special modem for that, am I right?

Dell are offering this laptop for E775 - is it a good deal guys? I'd appreciate any comments on the matter. Thanks in advance.

Components
AMD® Turion 64 Mobile Technology MK36
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2 (incl Operating System Re-Installation CD) - English
Basic Package, 2 Year At-Home Service
15.4" Wide Screen XGA TFT Display: 1280x800
512MB 533MHz Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x512)
ATI Radeon® Xpress 1150 256MB HyperMemory™
80GB (5,400rpm) Hard Drive
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
6 Cell, 56Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Accessories
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless Mini Card18
No Carry Case
Services & Software
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection
Microsoft® Works 8.5 - English
No Photo Organising & Sharing Software/No Photo Editing Software
Also Includes
Internal Keyboard - (QWERTY) - UK/Ireland
List N01156 - DHS 1501 (2)
Inspiron Order - Ireland
System Documentation
English - Adobe Reader 8.5.8
65W AC Adapter
56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter
Collect & Return, 90 Days Service only
Save Euro 70 inc VAT
Dell Internet Order.
Promo Hard Drive Upgrade SATA 60GB(5400) - SATA 80GB(5400)
Network Assist 1.2 - 90 Day Trial
Resource CD- Contains Diagnostics and Drivers

Obelisk29

Seems pretty decent to me for your requirements and if you knock off the 2 year warranty it drops it down to €679 - although, personally, for peace of mind, i'd keep it.

Laptops direct have this Samsung R40 with a Core Duo 1.66ghz processor for €712 with a one year warranty. It only has integrated graphics as opposed to the Radeon X1150 on the Dell.

Don't buy anti-virus software just download a free one like AVG.

As for Word, Excel etc, you could use Open Office (a free open source alternative) or if you or any member of the household is a student, you can get the MS Office Student & Teacher edition (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) for about €180 from Dell.

The Student & Teacher edition can be installed on up to three systems as opposed to the OEM version that you buy from Dell for €144 for the Office Basic edition (Word & Excel) which is limited to the machine it's installed on.

O29

vibrant

Obelisk29 wrote:

Seems pretty decent to me for your requirements and if you knock off the 2 year warranty it drops it down to €679 - although, personally, for peace of mind, i'd keep it.

Laptops direct have this Samsung R40 with a Core Duo 1.66ghz processor for €712 with a one year warranty. It only has integrated graphics as opposed to the Radeon X1150 on the Dell.

Don't buy anti-virus software just download a free one like AVG.

As for Word, Excel etc, you could use Open Office (a free open source alternative) or if you or any member of the household is a student, you can get the MS Office Student & Teacher edition (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) for about €180 from Dell.

The Student & Teacher edition can be installed on up to three systems as opposed to the OEM version that you buy from Dell for €144 for the Office Basic edition (Word & Excel) which is limited to the machine it's installed on.

O29

Oh I'd keep the 2 year warranty, for the sake of a few euro, it's worth it! I have all the Word, Excel etc discs, but thank you for the tip! I shall look into the Samsung you mentioned, but I don't really understand the difference between the two graphics... which is better? Thanks for your reply.

Obelisk29

No expert on graphics processors / cards myself but from what I understand the Radeon is far better than the Intel integrated graphics - however, I don't think it's too important unless you're going to be playing games on the system.

Wrt your Word, Excel discs - if they were purchased with your old system, then they're more than likely OEM versions which are only licensed to the system they came with. If they're Office 2003 and you've registered the them, then you'll probably need to buy again.

If they're Office 2000, you should be ok as afaik that was the last version of Office that didn't require activation.

Hope this helps.

O29

Tom Dunne

vibrant wrote:

I see that it's set up for Wireless internet, but I use cable broadband, so I'd have to buy a special modem for that, am I right?

Your cable modom should have an ethernet port. This looks like a larger telephone port and the laptop should have one too, so all you will need is a standard ethernet cable.

If you do want to go wireless, you would need to buy a wireless router. The setup would be NTL <---> Wirleless Router <----> Laptop.

If you are considering purchasing from laptopsdirect.ie, do some reseach first. I have ordered from them and didn't have a problem. However, there are some horror stories floating around, such as this.

I don't really understand the difference between the two graphics... which is better?

Don't worry about it, TBH. For what you want, the integrated graphics is all you need. It just means with integrated graphics, you can't really play games. It doesn't sound like you would be too worried about that.

vibrant

tom dunne wrote:

Your cable modom should have an ethernet port. This looks like a larger telephone port and the laptop should have one too, so all you will need is a standard ethernet cable.

Ahh yes, that's the setup I have now - I use NTL and have a byoo-ri-ful bright blue cable running all over the gaff :rolleyes: Good think I'm not big into interior design, I'd be asthetically offended otherwise hehee!

Thank you everyone for your replies, I am going to go ahead and order the laptop either tonight or tomorrow morning. I see ads on the TV that say the model I'm interested in now comes with 15 months of free McAffee anti-virus software, so it's all looking good.

Cheers again.

optiplexgx270

That exact spec as far as i can see is in the dell outlet at the moment for €618 inc vat. - the 140 off voucher. Just removed it from my basket: Identifier:FXBVMX9F

See here:

http://outlet.dell.com/Emea_Dfo/EuDispatcher?target=SpecPage&serviceTag=FXBVMX9F&country=IRL


Thats the price ex vat 651+20/21% VAT - 140 for the current special offer=618.

vibrant

That's a big difference, thanks! But would it have a warrenty if it's from an "outlet"??

optiplexgx270

Same as per a new one (1 year CAR) or you can add on (124€ up to 3 year CAR). I've bought 4 systems from them 1 laptop and were all in perfect nic and only sent one back cos i thought it was loud (wasnt a fault just that particular desktop range was loud in my mind when dell were advertising it as a quiet pc ) Thing with the outlet is that there is only ONE system ie that price is for that particular pc only

thebman

Yeah you can buy an extended warranty on the outlet store.

To protect your laptop, I'd recommend Spybot and Avast. Both free. Spybot, monitors registry changes in Windows and blocks most Spyware from coming on to your system (an anti virus won't do this). You also should download Windows Defender which is free from Microsoft. Avast is a free AV and it as well (in fact better) than some of the paid AV's I've used. I'd recommend it in a second.

Open Office is a good replacement for Ms Office if you end up needing a new license I wouldn't bother. Ms Office 2007 being released features a new format for saving documents in. Ms have opened this standard so any other company can add this support to their software. Open Office will most likely incorporate this into their software. Also it had the same look and feel of Ms Office currently has. The only thing you really miss out on is the grammar checker as it has a spell checker but no proper grammar checker as far as I know.

The laptops you've mentioned will be terrible at games but probably manage everything else fine for you. I'd recommend going for a 2-3 year warranty on a laptop having had one break 1 week outside 1 year warranty .

Anyway your best not to buy software with the laptop. I imagine it works out quite expensive and for a lot of it there are free alternatives online if you know where to look.

vibrant

Thanks for all the advice, in the end I didn't get it from the outlet - I just wasn't confident that it'd be 100% kosher, we have some refurbed PC's at work and they are a bit iffy to be honest... but I'm happy with what I ordered. Just hope they deliver it when they said they will!

Cheers again.

AntiRip

vibrant wrote:

Thanks for all the advice, in the end I didn't get it from the outlet - I just wasn't confident that it'd be 100% kosher, we have some refurbed PC's at work and they are a bit iffy to be honest... but I'm happy with what I ordered. Just hope they deliver it when they said they will!

Cheers again.

you can get some pretty great deals in the outlet store. I got an inspirion 9300 last year which was e1700 for e802 in the outlet store. It was brand new and the spec was amazing. Alot of the outlet store's pcs are cancellations etc and comes with the same guarentee.

optiplexgx270

Yeah as far as the Dell outlet goes "refurbed" wouldnt be the word. The original purchaser would have had the PC for a MAX of 7 days.

Your money in the end. Good luck with whatever you got.