Next Month

[jeresimo]

Hi fellas Finally, I am buying a Notebook next month that is for sure and this will be connected into Home LAN via our existing D Link Wireless Air+ DSL Broadband Router. I need your comments and recommendations so that it will help me decide once and for all before I close the deal. TIA for your additional inputs.

The Note book I am thinking of buying:
Dell Inspeiron 9100 - From $1,960 Now :$1,810:

Intel® Pentium® 4 w/ HT Technology 2.8GHz, 15.4-in. WXGA

Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Dell Recommended

512MB DDR 400MHz 2 DIMMs Dell Recommended

64MB DDR ATI's MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 9700 AGP 8X Graphics

FREE 4x CD/DVD burner (DVD+RW/+R) Upgrade! (from Combo Drive) Online Only Special Offer


60GB Hard Drive at 7200RPM [add $149 or $4/month1]

Wireless Wide Area Networking Options:
Dell® Wireless 1450 Internal Wireless (802.11a/b/g, 54Mbps)

96 WHr 12-cell Primary Battery with Subwoofer

Additional Battery: None

Productivity Software :
Productivity Pack including WordPerfect® and Money®

SERVICE & SUPPORT :
1 Year Limited Warranty plus 1 Year Mail-In Service

Dial-Up Internet Access :
6 Months of America Online Membership Included

[Redfallon]

should be a good laptop, 12 hours battery life with a 2.8C, that's not bad! dell's are good, alot of people on here like them if they *had* to buy a prebuilt (like a laptop!)

[mairving]

I prefer the Dell Lattitude line much more than the Inspiron. They are just made better IMO and are lighter since most of them use the Centrino chip. The D505 and the D600 are the ones that I buy the most of. Actually have one sitting on my desk here and another one that shipped out yesterday. I paid about the same for a Lattitude with similar specs but it included a docking station which makes it easier to hook up mice, keyboards and printers. A couple of things that I would consider changing with this unit. One is you can save a little by getting the Dell 1350 Wireless adapter which is b/g, but you shouldn't ever need the a, unless you have an older wireless system that requires it.

I would also consider changing the warranty from 1yr to 3yr. I think that it costs about $150 for a 3 yr one but it is a lot of money to spend and only get a 1yr warranty.

[kram 2.0]

A very nice laptop you have there configured - Mobility Radeon 9700, and a 7200 RPM HDD . I would think that you would only need MS Windows XP Home (unless you work in a business and a network), as the difference is very little. Besides that, looks great

Hope that helps,
kram

[colecifer]

Unless you really want the P4, i've heard great things about the intel pentium M, worth looking into. Also hear great things about the 600m. The current one looks good to though.

[Jaggannath]

Yup, a very nice bit of kit you've got there... I'd agree with the Latitude comment, of the few people I know who've got one I've heard only good things. I can't believe you're getting so many hours out of your battery, that's pretty damn good
I'm assuming you're going to play games on this a fair bit yeah??

[jeresimo]

Thanks fellas for your quick responses. i realy appreciate it.
Mairving, could you please help me here. I am confused why you prefer Centrino, considiring the maximun CPU power of it is most 1.7 Ghz where as the P4 could go as 3.20 Ghz.
Thanks.

[jeresimo]

Anybody pls? TIA.

[Redfallon]

i think i heard that centrino's run at a lower speed, but are still comparable to a higher clocked p4, kinda like amd's....i don't know this for sure, I can check later tonight, and get back maybe tomorrow, unless someone else answers...

[ric449]

I'm not sure on this, but I think it may be the pipeline. Look here for a explanation: http://ricserv.servebeer.com/pipeline.html (If you are brave enough, it can be pretty confusing!)

[kram 2.0]

Originally posted by jeresimo Thanks fellas for your quick responses. i realy appreciate it. Mairving, could you please help me here. I am confused why you prefer Centrino, considiring the maximun CPU power of it is most 1.7 Ghz where as the P4 could go as 3.20 Ghz. Thanks.

Hey - this is a basic explanation of Intel Pentium 4 to Intel Centrino (Pentium M). Obviously, the INtel P4 would be far stronger - more power. The Intel Centrino technology utilizes a small amount of energy to get a good amount of work, therefore greater fidelity. It offers an approx. 5~8 hour battery (I know that range is big), and always comes with internal Wi-Fi 802.11b or 802.11g. And also, it tends to be lighter. For your system? I'd say stick with the Intel P4 - you seem to have very powerful components that should benefit from a more powerful CPU.

Hope that helps,
kram