Notebook Buy

[ZesteR]

I will get a bluetooth adapter for under $10 rather than integrate it into the laptop for $20.

Why?? Seriously, what's another $10, really? I would think the convenience of having it built in would definitely be worth $10. Seems silly to me.

 

Other than that, that's a great buy, and has plenty of power for you (once you do the RAM thing).

 

Nice choice with the better battery, you definitely won't regret it. The screen is also gorgeous too, I love mine!

Ya know, I actually thought that... but I already sent my mom the steps on ordering this.

She is asking, why do you need that video card and why can't you just get the cheaper OS. and it's a pain to explain everything to her.

 

I see what ya mean, b/c it would be nice to have a headset that is bluetooth stereo and listen to music using that, but i can honestly not complain about getting a dongle via usb.

My whole point is to keep to a budget.. and the little things like $20 here and there means a lot. Especially since I def. went over it by 20 bucks.

 

 

And Mav --

I still am a full time student, but I also work 45+ hours a week. I feel more professional carrying a bag, than a bookbag.

I'll check into the wenger carry bags.

 

*ugh* my g/f already says my Tote bag with all my tools in it is my murse (man purse) now I'll have another one.

 

Christmas is gonna come early this year! (They better not hold it until then!)

Edited October 10, 2007 by ZesteR

[Cujo]

few things. the ram is most likely two sticks but that's just what dell does. one reason i like asus is they only put 1 stick so leaving you an upgrade path. shared typically means it's shared with the video card, which it likely is. you probably have 128mb of actual video ram and 128mb is shared system memory using nvidia turbo cache. don't expect this laptop to play many modern games well but css should work just fine.

 

one thing to keep in mind if you just get a single 2gb stick you will not be running in dual channel mode therefore losing some performance. i would go 2x1gb as you'll likely never play games at a high enough res to pushing your ram limits that much.

 

also, with that card you should be ok running css at native res but most newer games will struggle heavily at that high of a resolution. you'll likely be running 1024x768 in most games with that setup.

 

one other thing i hate about dell is that they can't even put gigabit ethernet in their laptops when really it would cost them an extra 10-20 cents per laptop. asus doesn't make a laptop without gigabit ethernet.

 

weird how you're getting an 800fsb cpu and they're only putting in 667. that's got to be another minor cost cutting move (see above gigabit rant) and i wouldn't be surprised if your laptop supports 800mhz ram.

 

good job on the 9cell and you'll appreciate the extra res in windows. overall, a solid laptop and good job getting rid of that extra software junk.

 

 

 

if you can't tell i hate dell but i still recommend them for piece of mind that everything will work.

 

 

ok this is long enough. cya.

Edited October 10, 2007 by Cujo

[ZesteR]

thanks for all the input!

 

I have some questions:

 

few things. the ram is most likely two sticks but that's just what dell does. one reason i like asus is they only put 1 stick so leaving you an upgrade path. shared typically means it's shared with the video card, which it likely is. you probably have 128mb of actual video ram and 128mb is shared system memory using nvidia turbo cache. don't expect this laptop to play many modern games well but css should work just fine.

This means Ill have 2 512MB sticks at 677MHz.

You're saying, the RAM is shared with the video card? meaning when graphics is needed, it taps into my RAM?

Which means the 8600M GT Is really a 128MB card? and it gets the rest of the 128MB from the RAM using nvidia turbo cache (which I've heard of, but did not know it is for video cards.)

 

Second thing I forgot to ask - all the pictures show VGA out.. upgrading to the higher end vid card, would that give me DVI?

 

one thing to keep in mind if you just get a single 2gb stick you will not be running in dual channel mode therefore losing some performance. i would go 2x1gb as you'll likely never play games at a high enough res to pushing your ram limits that much.

weird how you're getting an 800fsb cpu and they're only putting in 667. that's got to be another minor cost cutting move (see above gigabit rant) and i wouldn't be surprised if your laptop supports 800mhz ram.

For both of those quotes, I agree with getting 2x1gb sticks to utilize dual channel mode. But how would I be able to find out if my laptop supports 800MHz ram? I want to get the sticks almost when I get the laptop, so I do not have to waste time on 1gb RAM.

 

one other thing i hate about dell is that they can't even put gigabit ethernet in their laptops when really it would cost them an extra 10-20 cents per laptop. asus doesn't make a laptop without gigabit ethernet.

+1000 I don't understand why they couldn't. I will most def. use it for LANs or dvd playing and do you think there is a way to get Gigabit thru Express Card slot?

 

good job on the 9cell and you'll appreciate the extra res in windows. overall, a solid laptop and good job getting rid of that extra software junk.

TY. I was only going with the 6-cell b/c of cost, but i used that to boost the price over 1299 and qualify for the $325 coupon.

[appalachian_fox]

--side note--

I will be posting up a thread about laptop suitcases/carriers. (not bookbags, needs to look like a pro )

Targus ftw.

 

I don't know about Wegner, but I do like the Targus stuff.

 

I will get a bluetooth adapter for under $10 rather than integrate it into the laptop for $20.

 

Sorry to hear you have to explain everything, so you're probably not going to get it internal, but for $10 it would have been so much easier. No dongle to lose or break off, no risk of damaging a USB port, but it's not THAT big of a deal as long as you're paying attention.

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy it either way, a little dongle shouldn't ruin your laptop experience.

[ZesteR]

I will get a bluetooth adapter for under $10 rather than integrate it into the laptop for $20.

 

Sorry to hear you have to explain everything, so you're probably not going to get it internal, but for $10 it would have been so much easier. No dongle to lose or break off, no risk of damaging a USB port, but it's not THAT big of a deal as long as you're paying attention.

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy it either way, a little dongle shouldn't ruin your laptop experience.

Ya, for a bit there, it was like she was going to back out of it..so I did not want to push anything. I'll be happy with what I get.

And honestly, right now I will only use the bluetooth to sync up my palm to it. When the prices of stereo bluetooth headsets (the nice kind for both ears) go down, I will pick one of those up. (no my PDA does not support it )

 

i was looking at the targus bags on newegg... they all look the same.

my boss has one of the blue ones, so I cannot get that or he'll be taking my laptop home and having a field day.

[boiler]

Second thing I forgot to ask - all the pictures show VGA out.. upgrading to the higher end vid card, would that give me DVI?

No. I believe only the 17" laptops have DVI out no matter what video card you have. The 15" and smaller only have VGA. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am. That was the case when I was laptop shopping back in February for my 9400 at least.

 

My 9400 actually has both VGA and DVI with the 7900gs vid card.

Edited October 11, 2007 by boilersax

[Cujo]

thanks for all the input!

 

I have some questions:

 

few things. the ram is most likely two sticks but that's just what dell does. one reason i like asus is they only put 1 stick so leaving you an upgrade path. shared typically means it's shared with the video card, which it likely is. you probably have 128mb of actual video ram and 128mb is shared system memory using nvidia turbo cache. don't expect this laptop to play many modern games well but css should work just fine.

This means Ill have 2 512MB sticks at 677MHz.

You're saying, the RAM is shared with the video card? meaning when graphics is needed, it taps into my RAM?

Which means the 8600M GT Is really a 128MB card? and it gets the rest of the 128MB from the RAM using nvidia turbo cache (which I've heard of, but did not know it is for video cards.)

 

Second thing I forgot to ask - all the pictures show VGA out.. upgrading to the higher end vid card, would that give me DVI?

 

one thing to keep in mind if you just get a single 2gb stick you will not be running in dual channel mode therefore losing some performance. i would go 2x1gb as you'll likely never play games at a high enough res to pushing your ram limits that much.

weird how you're getting an 800fsb cpu and they're only putting in 667. that's got to be another minor cost cutting move (see above gigabit rant) and i wouldn't be surprised if your laptop supports 800mhz ram.

For both of those quotes, I agree with getting 2x1gb sticks to utilize dual channel mode. But how would I be able to find out if my laptop supports 800MHz ram? I want to get the sticks almost when I get the laptop, so I do not have to waste time on 1gb RAM.

 

one other thing i hate about dell is that they can't even put gigabit ethernet in their laptops when really it would cost them an extra 10-20 cents per laptop. asus doesn't make a laptop without gigabit ethernet.

+1000 I don't understand why they couldn't. I will most def. use it for LANs or dvd playing and do you think there is a way to get Gigabit thru Express Card slot?

 

good job on the 9cell and you'll appreciate the extra res in windows. overall, a solid laptop and good job getting rid of that extra software junk.

TY. I was only going with the 6-cell b/c of cost, but i used that to boost the price over 1299 and qualify for the $325 coupon.

 

i'm lost with all the quoting so i'll just answer in order.

 

with the shared vid ram that's just my guess that it's using turbo cache. i could be wrong though. dell would know (hopefully). same thing with the ram. dell should know what is compatible.

[ZesteR]

Future Reference:

never break down quotes to "help" cujo with my questions lol.

[Unclean]

Future Reference:

Can't we use this knowledge now? Why do we have to wait for the future?

 

never

Never say never!

 

break down

This term isn't PC. I'd suggest "divide" or "separate".

 

quotes to "help" cujo

Cujo needs help?

 

with

Find an alternate word besides "with".

 

my questions

What questions do you have?

 

lol.

Did you actually laugh out loud as you typed that? There are some people in this world that type that WITHOUT ACTUALLY LAUGHING! These are indeed tragic times. (slight snicker, followed by a grin, followed by another snicker that was louder from typing out my behavior)

[ZesteR]

Thanks for breaking down into quotes, it "helped" me a lot

LOL (and i serioulsy did that and co-worker looked at me)

[ZesteR]

Dell Inspiron was ordered!

Thanks again Mag for that great coupon!

 

I got everything ordered in Post #23

 

I will have to order my RAM and a bag soon. Still lookin at bags though. They all look the same to me.

[ZesteR]

3 brands of PC6400 2x1gb RAM - 800Mhz

 

Just last week, the price for the OCZ was $104 and the other two brands G.Skill and GEIL where around $78-90 respectively.

 

Now the OCZ is at $80! I def. have to jump on this!

 

 

still need a bag.

worth going to best buy and whatnot to look at them and actually hold one

[ZesteR]

Dell has been shipped, it will be here next tuesdy and my mom said i have to do some sucking up to get it early.

so that means lunch on tuesday lol

 

i should be recieving the 2 GB OCZ ram i got off newegg. that cost me 85 bucks after shipping and it's 800MHz

hopefully my mobo supports it.

[[LaW]Maverick]

I'm tellin' ya', give the Wegner (Swiss Gear) bags a shot...can't beat a lifetime warranty that a company actually stands behinds :-)

 

Oh, and for reference's sake, the Video RAM does work pretty much how you described it. When the computer needs it, it taps into your system RAM...As far as I know ALL Dell laptops do that (so do most of their desktops) unless they're XPS systems.

 

Anyway, congrats on the laptop! I think you'll be quite pleased with it. You can't beat the price you got from Dell, that's for sure.

[Playaa]

I just toss it in whatever bag I happen to find lying around.

then again I don't travel with mine as much as a college student would.

 

this post was entirely worthless wasn't it?

[ZesteR]

Mav.

I thought they were all bookbags, but they have suitcase/carry-on ones too.

I'm checking them out now.

lifetime warranty is def. a plus with someone ill use everyday

they are a bit more expesive, and newegg does not show their capacity sizes.

ill prob. take my laptop to a store and stick it in there and see if there is more room for my accesories.

 

concerning the Video RAM -

I should be good though, right?????

256MB from the graphics card, then 2 gb of RAM.

By next year, prices will drop again and ill upgrade to 4 gb RAM.

 

 

Playaa -

it wasn't worthless.

it made me realize that I should get a bag and not just grab one laying around b/c i will use it everyday.

 

thanks

 

edit:

Wegner bag - doesn't show capacities

Targus one - shows capacities

 

My dimesions of my laptop:

14.12 x 1.47 x 10.5 (inches)

 

I measured my boss's bag and my laptop would fit very tightly with no room for headset or wireless mouse

The targus one would fit it nicely and have room to spare and it's cheaper w/ free shipping.

The wegner's look nice, but targus ones are cheaper and bigger.

Ill have to find the capacity of the wegner one from their website

Edited October 19, 2007 by ZesteR

[lostoften]

I broke my swiss gear bag and had to have my grandma sew it back up for me. I ripped the strap right from the bag, guess thats what I get for carrying pharmacy books in it.

[[LaW]Maverick]

Zest: from NewEgg

 

"Fit Most Screen Size 15"/15.4""

 

 

That being said...Lost, why didn't you cash in on the warranty? Slaugher has that bag Zest, just the 17" version for his 17" laptop. He likes it as far as I know, and has a wireless mouse, power brick, headphones, and some other miscellaneous junk in there. :-)

 

Like I said, I don't have much personal experience with Targus, but my Dad didn't like their bags much--he broke a bunch of 'em. IF the people here, however, say they're good--I'm sure they are. I value the opinions here a lot. :-)

 

In the end: buy what makes ya' happy.

 

 

As far as video memory is concerned, it's really taxing on the system when it's forced to share memory, even if there's a lot of it. That being said, you'll be fine unless you want to play something like Call of Duty 4 on it with the settings cranked. CS:S and TF2 and what not should run fine, though probably not with everything maxed. For instance, I doubt you'll be playing at native res with HDR on, but it will play fine on native res without it. :-)

 

I hope this helps. My wife's laptop (ASUS) has the 8600 in it as well, but it has 256mb of its own memory. It runs modern games just fine, though not with the settings ALL the way up. For instance, it plays LoTRO with the settings on Very High which is the second highest setting, and it looks great.

[Cujo]

very few laptops can game at native res smoothly with all the details turned up. i wouldn't worry too much. afterall, if you were only buying it to game on then you wouldn't be getting a laptop.

[ZesteR]

cujo,

agreed, i plan on doing more than just gaming on it. i plan on doing everything on it, which happens to be gaming and I want to enjoy css and tf2.

 

other games i can enjoy by lowering res. and settings.

 

Mav. - I found a circuit city near me that has this targus bag. here

It's capacity is larger than normal 15.4" ones, but smaller than 17" ones. I will be happy with this one if it's just what I want.

If it feels cheap or too small, I will look into wenger more. I know it's a great product/brand, just looking to get the most out of a bag. Since I will use it a lot.. wegner seems very tempting.

the targus one is right in my price range though. newegg has it free shipping and 33 bucks.

[ZesteR]

The laptop arrived today.

too bad i have to work until 11 tonight.

I'm going to lunch w/ my mom and getting the laptop and installing the 2 gigs into it.

 

I'm thinking about doing a Vista Experience b4 and after the 2 gigs to see the different.

 

I haven't got to circuit city yet b/c i'm so busy at work. Not sure when I'll have time.

Can't wait to play w/ it

 

 

Edit:

The RAM is PC6400, but the Santa rosa board only supports up to 667, which sucks b/c that means I paid an extra 30 bucks for something I cannot utilize.

Also, I heard it's a pain to get to the 2nd ram slot, meaning taking off the keyboard to get at it.

Lol, getting a new computer and ripping it apart already.

 

newegg wants 12 bucks to restock, so i'm just keeping it.

live and learn.

Edited October 22, 2007 by ZesteR

[Cujo]

Edit:

The RAM is PC6400, but the Santa rosa board only supports up to 667, which sucks b/c that means I paid an extra 30 bucks for something I cannot utilize.

Also, I heard it's a pain to get to the 2nd ram slot, meaning taking off the keyboard to get at it.

Lol, getting a new computer and ripping it apart already.

 

newegg wants 12 bucks to restock, so i'm just keeping it.

live and learn.

 

weird cause santa rosa supports 800fsb cpus... i kind of just assumed that meant ram to. don't worry. that extra 30 will be well spent when you sell it/upgrade to a new laptop down the road.

[ZesteR]

no problem.

 

also, I noticed there is no IR port, so a IR remote control is out of the question

 

gotta go bluetooth

 

edit:

dell does not show one, and other websites say there is one..

i can't wait to see the laptop tomorrow

Edited October 23, 2007 by ZesteR

[ZesteR]

I'm now on my laptop

 

It's really amazing right now. I enjoy the eye candy and the screen is amazing.

 

I have to get use the keyboard and need to grab my G7 to use w/ this.

 

I upgraded the RAM.. didn't reseat the 2nd slot well and it didn't boot, then had to unscrew the whole thing again and have my brother hold open the top and ill fixed it.

(Only 1 slot is open to the bottom)

 

I installed Office 2007 no problems, it's really nice and I can't wait to utilize that too.

 

The speakers are decent, nothing amazing.

 

I made a really quick restore point b4 installing anything that I can go back to incase.

 

my mom has a nice carry bag that has wheels I might check out. looks like it can hold a lot for mouse, headset, and books

 

thanks for everyone's input and help on this build!

double thanks for Mag for finding that coupon for me!

[boiler]

Unless you have some physical disability, do not buy a computer case with wheels. do not buy backpacks with wheels.

 

you will be mocked incessantly if you purchase any of those items.

 

suck it up and carry it on your shoulder(s) like a man.

Edited October 23, 2007 by boilersax