Have decided to order from Dell but..

sunnyside

Still have loads of questions!
Would you recommend custom building it or going with some special offer?
I want duo core processor, xp instead of vista, cd/dvd burner, anti virus software, wireless, a built in webcam and card reader would be good but not essential. A free bag would be good too but that's not important. Wouldn't be using it for games so I imagine what I want is fairly basic.

Most people seem to be saying don't get vista but almost all the laptops in the shops have vista. Tom Dunne posted a message on here saying that you could get an excellent laptop from Dell for 500-600 and from looking in the shops for the last few days they appear to be charging 949 for almost the same thing as dell sell for a few hundred cheaper. Even the acer one I would have chosen is 949 so on price and value for money I'm going with Dell.

How long would I have to wait for Dell to deliver it and is there anything I need to know about anti virus software?
This didn't get mentioned in the shops and it wasn't on the information leaflets I picked up so I imagine there wasn't much of it included but it seems to be included with Dell.

And any special offers or discount codes? I know Dell offer points on pigsback so will hopefully get those.

Thanks in advance for your help again.

humaxf1

dual core...yes

dump vista...yes

cd/dvd burner...as standard these days(nearly)

antivirus...i use AVG free and i dont mess around on the net. norton is BLOAT

built-in webcam...dunno if dell do one

card reader...20quid for external and does 80% of cards

spec for 1GB RAM (maybe 2GB for when vista actually works Okay)

spec for 100Gb hard drive. remember mp3, avi etc. Vista requires circa. 15GB from the start

dell delivery...prob a week at the most. comes from Limerick AFAIK

IF buying from Dell, request recovery CDs. costs an extra 10er, but worth it


On the whole Dell aint tooooo bad really. PC/laptop repair is my day job and most of the probs I see with Dell laptops are software related/malware and people who shouldn't own a laptop/PC in the first place :rolleyes: Anyway...if anything should go wrong, they are dead easy to take apart/change hard drive/memory/wifi/modem.

Another brand you should look at is HP/Compaq (one of the same). I find their support pretty good. they have a "chat with a support technician" which i have used a fair bit. quite helpful.

BostonB

Try to catch a special offer, and add very little to it. Much cheaper that way.

Dell have a webcam on the XPX1210. I think they are replacing with the M1330 so you might get one cheap. The M1330 might not have one I dunno.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=128033
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/dell-xps-m1330-performance-ultraportable-revealed/

That site www.notebookforums.com is good for laptop info.

Black Swan

Security software? I just loaded Kaspersky Internet Security Version 6.0 and am very impressed with it's user-friendly operation, heuristics, and rapid definition updates (They are so fast at issuing security updates that you almost think they are writing the viruses too). In the past I have used computers with McAfee, Norton, and Trend Micro PC-cillin security suites, and have not been pleased. Kaspersky is not a resource hog either, and after dumping Trend Micro and installing Kaspersky on Vista Ultimate, it ran a lot faster. Only downside of Kaspersky is that it isn't cheap to buy.

therecklessone

sunnyside wrote:

And any special offers or discount codes? I know Dell offer points on pigsback so will hopefully get those.

Phone Dell sales, tell them you are placing an order online and will save X amount through pigsback. I just got €50 off my order by doing just that, girl who I talked to took the order over the phone, bumped the HDD to 120GB from 80GB as well. Be realistic though (they won't fall for €200 off...:D )