Im shippin off to college soon - I need a laptop

[MakeYourslf2012]

Hey guys


Im customizing a Dell Inspirion for when I go to Michigan State University this fall. The thing about Dell that irks me is they don't give you the actual operating system. I want a clean install, free from all of Dell's ad-on crap. Yeah, I know - they give you a disk that returns the drive to the "factory conditions", but thats not good enough when im shelling out $1500.


Now I have an A+ instructor that tells me if you argue with customer service long enough, they will send you the entire OS witht he product key that went on your system. He's bought both an Inspiron and XPS within the past 2 years and has snagged a version of XP Home every time.

I havent seen them and I am no longer in contact with him. Has anyone attempted/accomplished this? If not, any suggestions?


Thanks
makeyourslf2012

[Stuey]

You can order the OS disc for $10 - not too bad. It should be on the order page somewhere as "recovery media" or something of the sort.

Also, check out http://www.xpbargains.com/dell_coupons/ - they list Dell deals and coupon codes.

[tomster2300]

I don't like Dells. My father has had to use numerous Dell Latitudes for work and they always develop some kind of problem before he gets to trade it in for a new one. Each new model presents a new list of problems, and the beat goes on.

If Dell's customer service is anything like HP/Compaq's then good luck on getting anything, especially an OS disk, in a timely manner, if ever at all.

[jer888]

Another vote against Dell.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=176251

[EzyStvy]

Since the original poster already has a Dell, me thinks it too late to talk him out of it

Dell went to using a restore partition a year or so ago....They offer/offered the cd for $10.00 at the time of the sell and will probably sell you another one if its not too late...

[MakeYourslf2012]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Actually, I havnt bought the Dell yet, I just have it customized and ready to order. $10.00 is not to bad for the Windows CD, Im surprised they even give it to you. I was looking around on the Dell forum (which i should have done to begin with) and customers said they had no problem getting the Operating System disk.

Other than jer888's video card problem, is there any other reason to not go with a Dell?
I've been doing a little research and talk to a variety of laptop owners - all of the Dell customers said they are perfectly happy.

[Floppyman]

Since you're going to a big school like MSU, be sure to check out what deals/discounts they have on laptops/software. You might be surprised. HTH

[andper10]

If you want to customize/upgrade your dell with new parts in the future, then I would recommend that you don't get one. Even if you try to add a 5 year old video card, it will not have enough power to run it. I tried to add a Radeon 9250 to ours (I believe we got it in 2005) and it would not power the card. Pathetic. They also tend to not have a Graphics expansion slot (at least the lower cost ones). Ours only has PCI slots...not even an AGP slot. If you were willing to take a stab at building your own PC, you could get plenty of help from this community. If you post what you are going to order here we can tell you what it would cost to build it yourself. It should be quite a bit cheaper. But if you are set on getting a Dell, watch for ads (I believe the back of USA Today in the Sunday paper has some) and know that you will pretty much need to keep things the same as long as you have the computer. No significant graphics upgrades.

[Stuey]

Originally Posted by andper10 If you want to customize/upgrade your dell with new parts in the future, then I would recommend that you don't get one. Even if you try to add a 5 year old video card, it will not have enough power to run it. I tried to add a Radeon 9250 to ours (I believe we got it in 2005) and it would not power the card. Pathetic. They also tend to not have a Graphics expansion slot (at least the lower cost ones). Ours only has PCI slots...not even an AGP slot. If you were willing to take a stab at building your own PC, you could get plenty of help from this community. If you post what you are going to order here we can tell you what it would cost to build it yourself. It should be quite a bit cheaper. But if you are set on getting a Dell, watch for ads (I believe the back of USA Today in the Sunday paper has some) and know that you will pretty much need to keep things the same as long as you have the computer. No significant graphics upgrades.

He wants a Dell laptop, not a desktop.

We all know that the low end Dells are stripped of several features such as AGP ports and the such.

Many people here are also aware of the inability to upgrade certain features of a Dell such as its graphics performance if the system wasn't originally adequately equipped for those parts. Most times if it has a low end GPU, it cannot be upgraded to a high end GPU, but going from integrated GPU to stand-alone is typically near impossibly unless the PSU is upgraded as well.

One buys a Dell not for its upgradability but for its damn cheap cost.

Also, I still think that the cheapest way to get a dell is to scour the net for coupons, and then calling them up after applying said coupon and asking for a greater discount. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. Only once was I told (after three attempts) that the price I was seeing online after a 35% coupon code was the absolute lowest that they could go. Sometimes they'll throw in a warranty upgrade, other times some component upgrades and keep the price the same.

If you see a particular price online configured to your liking, call them up, configure it with them, and then give them the coupon code after you check its validity. I've done this 3 or 4 times now. I always start off the phone call with "I configured a system with the features I require, but it's a little above my budget - is there anything that you can do to lower the cost a bit for me?". Then they proceed to walk me through a configuration and we talk about pricings. They usually then go talk with their manager and come back to the phone. Sometimes I push for more, and they'll meet me half-way, or make an even better offer after talking with their manager again. The entire time I'm honest with them, and like I said, I start off the call subtley and politely asking for a discount. Sometimes a person may have met their quota for discounts, other times I get a nasty person who's busy and a rush to make a sale. Businesses can negotiate on a price and so can you.

[tomster2300]

Originally Posted by Floppyman Since you're going to a big school like MSU, be sure to check out what deals/discounts they have on laptops/software. You might be surprised. HTH

Definitely a smart move. The UGA campus bookstore is a certified Apple dealer so they give us discounts on all Apple computers. They sell Dell laptops and desktops, but they're all overpriced (which is odd, you'd think it'd be the other way around).

Anyway, most campus bookstores have their own website so you could check on discounts, or the pc manufacturer usually lets you factor in the discount when configuring something online. Apple has an educator's discount section of their site which is identical to their store, but it automatically factors in the discount and displays the lowered price.

[Stuey]

As far as I know, the standard Apple discount is $100 and sometimes they have freebies like a Shuffle or something like that.

As for Dell... I'd recommend trying to stack a student discount with a Dell Home discount. I know a few people who have done so, but sometimes it's rejected and you're only allowed to apply a single coupon.

I highly recommend searching for a coupon code online. Also, they're refreshed about once a week, I think on Thursdays.

[MakeYourslf2012]

I actually have been looking at MSU computing catalog. Im not impressed, for the laptop im think of getting, its the same price from the school and Dell.

Although, they do have Windows Vista Home for around $65 - which you really can't beat.


Anyway, Im trying to decide between the Inspiron E1505 or E1705. I've heard that the 17" can just be a big pain in the butt to haul around all the time, but I'd like to try and atempt to game on it, which would be it's secondary use. I plan on spending aroun $1400 - $1600 - this needs to last me 5+ years.

[Staren]

That's such an any answer then. Get the 1505. Yes a 17" laptop would be way too much of a pain to haul around. I actually now have a 14" main laptop that I only bring out to campus when I absolutely have too, and a 13" Macbook that's my day to day laptop because I got sick of lugging the other one around.

[thefultonhow]

I believe Dell is giving out OS discs for free if you ask for them now. Of course, you have to contact them after the fact to ask them. The $10 option has been gone from the config pages for months, unless they just put it back within the past couple of weeks.

Stuey's advice is good, but I have an addendum -- if you're not getting that good a deal with one rep, call back and hope the system assigns you another. They all have sales quotas to meet, and some of them have more trouble than others meeting their quotas and thus are willing to go lower on price to make the sale.

The sites I use for Dell coupon codes are http://www.xpbargains.com/dell_coupons/ and http://www.gotapex.com/ (the latter gets the codes a bit faster when they come out, but the former is easier to use without digging around). You may also want to search the slickdeals.net forums, especially if you're going for a student discount (search under "EPP coupon" for that).

[PCBrandon]

I have an Inspiron 9300 that I purchased last year for college. Since it was replacing my desktop, I went ahead and splurged and pretty much maxed it out.

A year later, I just received my new MacBook. I'm not pushing the Mac on you (hell, I still use my Dell primarily), but the point is to keep in mind size, weight, and battery life. I purchased the MacBook because I needed a much smaller/lighter longer lasting laptop for classes. I'd much rather chug around a tiny laptop in my backpack than this huge beast in a separate carrying case. Not to mention the space it consumes on my desk is much smaller than my Dell.

As far as purchasing a Dell... I've had no problems with my Dell laptops. Dell is one of the largest (if not the largest?) PC manufacturers... with the size comes more media publicity. The smallest blip is magnified 100x, it's all relative.

[Stuey]

Originally Posted by MakeYourslf2012 I actually have been looking at MSU computing catalog. Im not impressed, for the laptop im think of getting, its the same price from the school and Dell. Although, they do have Windows Vista Home for around $65 - which you really can't beat. Anyway, Im trying to decide between the Inspiron E1505 or E1705. I've heard that the 17" can just be a big pain in the butt to haul around all the time, but I'd like to try and atempt to game on it, which would be it's secondary use. I plan on spending aroun $1400 - $1600 - this needs to last me 5+ years.

I have an E1505 and my roommate has an E1705. The 1705 is indeed a behemoth. The E1505 isn't too easy to lug around itself, but it's more manageable.

If you spend less now, you can save some $$ for an upgrade/replacement in the future. After 2-3 years you might need a battery replacement.

[MakeYourslf2012]

Those lith-ion batteries only last 2-3 years? geez.


Does any body know the power of an nVidia Go 7900GS? Thats what comes stock on the Inspirion I was looking at. Can it compare to a desktop 7800GT?

I'm still kind of pondering in the back of my head if I should just get a low-cost small notebook and bring my desktop to game - its a big hobby I dont want to loose.

[tomster2300]

A friend of mine bought one of the monster Dell laptops two years ago when we started college so he could game on it (the card was a 6800 GS I believe, very high at the time). He soon found it too heavy to take anywhere, plus it wouldn't even play all his games (like BF2, something we both played quite heavily at the time). Like others have said, lightweight and battery friendly are truly the keys when purchasing a college laptop. Especially if you're going to a large university like MSU. You will spend 80% of your time walking (at least your first two years or so until you can finish core), and if you don't feel like handwriting your notes, then you're going to want something travel friendly.

My advice: Keep gaming to your desktop. It's just smarter all the way around, especially expansion wise. You're not going to be gaming too much on the go anyway, so save it for the dorm. Something like a MacBook or any lightweight, 14" screen or smaller laptop is a great choice. Unless you feel like taking your charger with you everywhere you go, you'll want a low powered, battery friendly cpu. Any decent gaming cpu is going to annihilate a battery.

[glc]

Look at the XPS M1210 for portability. It'll game with the Go 7400 option. Use a docking station in your dorm room or bring your desktop for gaming.