DirtyBird September 30, 2005 Share DirtyBird Member September 30, 2005 I just purchased a new Inspiron 9300 from Dell, for $1700. Here are the specs: Pentium M 760 Processor (2GHz/533MHz FSB) 17 inch UltraSharp Wide ScreenXGA+ Display 1GB, DDR2, 533MHz RAM 256MB NVIDIA 6800 GO Video Card 80GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive Does anyone have this laptop or has had experience with it - if so, what do you think? Also, for you computer techies out there, did I make a good purchase in your opinion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackieChan September 30, 2005 Share JackieChan GC Alumni September 30, 2005 Eh, it's alright. The Pentium M and 1 GB are probably best parts about it. For a laptop at that price, it's a pretty good deal. Still......it's a dell. It's a DELL!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magruter September 30, 2005 Share Magruter Member September 30, 2005 I just bought thisfor 1200$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox September 30, 2005 Share appalachian_fox Member September 30, 2005 I have the ancestor of that laptop (Inspiron 8600 if I'm keeping my numbers in order), and it is great. The Pentium M is an awesome processor and it must be the coolest (temperature-wise) Pentium in a long time with loads of "oomph". I think I have a 5650 GoFX video card in mine. I do want to mention that for the vid cards from my generation, Dell has to update the drivers (or you have to be real good at scavenging third-party drivers, which I am not). I am not sure with the new gen of video cards. I say this because Dell never updated my drivers. However, I still play Source just fine at Low settings, 1024, or 800x600 at high settings, and obviously HL2 works even better (1024 at high iirc). Obviously you'll be able to do better, probably much better. The Ultrasharp screen...*drool*. I did notice the RAM gets really really really hot (did I mention really?), especially under load but even when it's not so much. Don't know if that's an issue with this model, I know Dell was aware of the issue and I hope their engineers looked into cooling it better. I would be happy to have that for $1700, because...well...it's a laptop. Portability is great. It's a Dell, of course...But...Dude, you're getting a Dell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBugs September 30, 2005 Share TheBugs Member September 30, 2005 eww dell. it will probably break within 4-5 months :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBird September 30, 2005 Author Share DirtyBird Member September 30, 2005 Thanks for the feedback. I have 3 Dell desktops and have never had a problem with any of them, that's why I continue to stick with Dell - they've worked great for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo September 30, 2005 Share Cujo Member September 30, 2005 dell makes great laptops. it's their desktops that i despise. mostly cause i can build you a better one for half the price. if i could build laptops i'm sure i'd hate their laptops too. btw, they charge an arm and a leg for upgrades. that's mostly why i hate them. dirty, looks like a killer laptop. should bring you many great gaming hours. how's the battery life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOFX September 30, 2005 Share NOFX Member September 30, 2005 http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-Latitude-C400-P3-...1QQcmdZViewItem thats what I bought for 350 bucks in April Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBird September 30, 2005 Author Share DirtyBird Member September 30, 2005 I upgraded to a 9-cell Lithium Ion battery, which gets about 5 hours of battery life. Speaking of Dell desktops - yes, they are very expensive. When I bought my Dell XPS about 2 years ago, I paid $2500 for the following: 1 GB RAM 120 GB HD 17" CRT Monitor ATI 9800 128MB Video Card Pentium 3.0 GHZ Processor I have now since upgraded to an ATI X800XL 256MB card and the computer still runs every game to it's highest settings. However, I look at their new XPSs now, and they start at half the price, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox September 30, 2005 Share appalachian_fox Member September 30, 2005 Yeah, DirtyBird, I say you got a good deal on that laptop. I've never had issues with Dell either, at least nothing on the order of machines ceasing to work after 4-5 months. Heck, at work all we run is Dell, and I've never had a major problem with the desktops and servers here, no downtime for hardware issues. Now, when I mess up an install of our map servers and take down a machine for a day...But that's not Dell's fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOFX September 30, 2005 Share NOFX Member September 30, 2005 (edited) I upgraded to a 9-cell Lithium Ion battery, which gets about 5 hours of battery life. Speaking of Dell desktops - yes, they are very expensive. When I bought my Dell XPS about 2 years ago, I paid $2500 for the following: 1 GB RAM 120 GB HD 17" CRT Monitor ATI 9800 128MB Video Card Pentium 3.0 GHZ Processor I have now since upgraded to an ATI X800XL 256MB card and the computer still runs every game to it's highest settings. However, I look at their new XPSs now, and they start at half the price, lol. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> im not trying to sound cool or anything, but I did a major upgrade 3 years ago and over a course of about 3 months, it ended up costing about $850 bucks... and she is still running strong 1 Gig of Ram 80 gig HD ATI 9500 PRO Pentium 3.0Ghz 21" CRT I could make all the colors match and write DELL on the side with a sharpie and it will be just as good Edited September 30, 2005 by NOFX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akaM2 September 30, 2005 Share akaM2 Member September 30, 2005 I like your purchase dirty, I was thinking of the 9300 too but i may go with the 700m just for it only being 4 pounds, but i dont need it for gaming of anything but surfing and such, the ultrasharp screen is sweet. Did you get the accidentall warranty? even though ive heard its hard to tell them something is wrong but they always replace stuff. My roomate 2 years ago tipped a beer over on his notebook from dell and it ruined the keyboard and the motherboard, within 1.5 weeks he had a brand new laptop, warranties are the best for laptops. Great place with reviews by customers, all good for the 9300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox September 30, 2005 Share appalachian_fox Member September 30, 2005 M2, I agree: That accident warranty thing is pretty good (Do they call it CompleteCare?). I got a friend a brand new LCD for his laptop near the end of his CC contract because "the colors weren't right" (they weren't, but that's because it was getting dim, and that was probably a function of the backlight, not the panel, but they replaced the whole thing). I've also known a few people on campus here do horrific things to their laptops (no beer stories but one mixed drink. White Russian iirc) and Dell always had them new ones lickety split when they had that warranty. So, historically I can say that I haven't heard anything negative about it besides the fact that it's another additional cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBird September 30, 2005 Author Share DirtyBird Member September 30, 2005 No, I didn't get the accident damage warranty - but I'm starting to think whether or not I should add it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox October 4, 2005 Share appalachian_fox Member October 4, 2005 Depends on the price. Big picture, the bottom line is Dell wouldn't offer it if they were losing money. Of course, that's the big picture. If you were buying a few hundred laptops then statistically speaking you might have an objective basis for it. Since you're buying a single laptop (as most of us are) it's really more of a peace of mind thing. Is it worth the asking price to make you feel invulnerable? You know, beer next to the laptop and who gives it it gets knocked over kind of invincible. Knock it off a table or drop it while trying to carry three things at a time. Pretty much all accidents are preventable if you are careful, so it's very much for peace of mind. I would be more inclined to recommend it for a laptop than a desktop, though, to throw in my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 5, 2005 Share Cujo Member October 5, 2005 it's rather sad the way ppl look at technology today. personally, i would never want any drink next to anything of value even if it can be easily replaced. what's the point of wrecking a perfectly good piece of equipment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zerodamage October 5, 2005 Share Guest zerodamage Guests October 5, 2005 I personally am a fan of HP laptops. You can get A64's in them which makes for a better gaming laptop at a lower price than the Dell's Pentium M's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBird October 5, 2005 Author Share DirtyBird Member October 5, 2005 Yeah, I decided against the accidental damage. My laptop is on a higher level on my desk and not next to any spillable things. Also, I got a nice case for it, as far as physical damage. I love the laptop though - it's great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 5, 2005 Share Cujo Member October 5, 2005 zero, i looked at hp and i looked at dell and i looked everywhere and none of them are customizable. i badly wanted an a64 laptop but ended up with a centrino cause i got an asus barebones and bought my own ram, cpu and hdd. an equivalent to my laptop isn't available from any of the major retailers and anything similar is far more expensive. i've already modded the cpu and gpu cooler. there's a ton of enthusiasts with this laptop and one guy is working on a custom gpu heatsink that'll shave off 15C+ and allow much higher clock speeds. you DEFINITELY won't get that kind of thing with a dell or hp. then again i'm into that soft of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox October 5, 2005 Share appalachian_fox Member October 5, 2005 Cujo -- I agree, but there's no accounting for taste. I think a good comparison is to the situation involving Linux: There are plenty of forums where knowledgeable people can help others get going, but it will never have a hope of becoming mainstream while many of those people insist on talking down to n00bs. It takes all kinds... Also, did you mod those with something you made yourself, or is there a site with laptop-friendly stuff? Please link if so, my RAM runs quite hot... DirtyBird, I think you'll be fine. Just make sure you treat it with the respect it deserves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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