$1200

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.4GHz/800MHzFSB, 3M L2 Cache)
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
15.4 inch Wide Screen WSXGA+ TrueLife LCD with Camera
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy
Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini-card
Trend Micro PC-cillin InternetSecurity, English, 3-Years Subscription
Finger Print Reader
Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0+EDR)


been a while since I bought one, kind of out of the loop now but seemed like a good deal.
anything that I left out?



[Edited on April 25, 2008 at 12:27 AM. Reason : d]

4/25/2008 12:22:43 AM

maybe upgrade to a 7200rpm hard drive and a 12-cell battery?... i dunno, looks good to me

4/25/2008 1:23:48 AM

What do you plan on using the laptop for? I'd also opt to upgrade to a 7200 drive and battery if you can. A pretty significant jump from 5400 to 7200 in terms of performance.

4/25/2008 8:33:30 AM

Quote :

"A pretty significant jump from 5400 to 7200 in terms of performance."

hardly.

4/25/2008 9:00:23 AM

^if you want speed, 7200 has faster seek times, transfer rate and I/O access than 5400 drives. If you want massive storage, 5400 is the way to go. In terms of battery life, I believe most companies have gotten the 7200 versions to use almost the same amount of power as the slower 5400 so it's not much of a concern as it was when they were first introduced for mobile solutions.

4/25/2008 9:19:04 AM

noticeable difference between 5400 and 7200

4/25/2008 9:49:28 AM

Quote :

"noticeable difference between 5400 and 7200"

4/25/2008 10:25:05 AM

i'm jealous of the video card...the best i could get was an 8400

but mine was also $200 cheaper (with the T9300) after the 7200 upgrade

4/25/2008 11:35:04 AM

sometimes its cheaper to buy a 7200 drive online at like newegg, install it, and either keep or sell the original drive.

4/25/2008 11:40:55 AM

^ that's what i did...picked up one the 200gb 7200rpm seagate drive with perpendicular recording for ~$110 from dell (thank you slickdeals)

sold the old drive (160gb, 5400rpm) for $100

same with the memory...HP wanted to charge $texas for 4gb, so i got 1gb from them and bought 4gb of mushkin for ~$60...sold the 1gb for $30

[Edited on April 25, 2008 at 12:00 PM. Reason : .]

4/25/2008 11:59:51 AM

I've been meaning to upgrade my laptop hard drive for a while. Just using a 60gb 7200...

4/25/2008 12:03:28 PM

when you say noticeable difference... like really really noticeable or just "nice to have but not necessary" noticeable?

4/25/2008 2:16:30 PM

i think it really depends on what you're doing...i, personally, notice a difference...for the extra $10 it cost me, it was WELL worth it...i'd probably have paid up to $50 for the difference

i usually have photoshop and dreamweaver running at the same time on my laptop (vista ultimate) and i saw a difference after upgrading...also, i tend to work with a lot of HD content (encoding and decoding), and the difference is there, too

4/25/2008 2:21:22 PM

for basic computer uses go, it really won't make a big impact if all you do is surf the web, check your email and play an occasional game. What a faster hard drive offers you is more for productivity improvement in terms of working with large files, doing anything that's opening, saving, and closing a large volume of files, or multitasking. You will notice files loading and saving faster compared to a 5400 as well as a much faster boot time, which boots up usually 40% faster, as well as going into and from sleep mode.

And yes, it really depends on what you plan to use the laptop for, this is why I asked first. If you can afford it, it would be a worthy choice. If you just plan to do normal stuff and watch movies, it's more than fast enough.

4/25/2008 2:42:07 PM

what if I hadnt noticed a problem with my two year old laptop that is much much slower than this... haha

4/25/2008 3:07:11 PM

5400 would work for you. Get the upgraded battery pack though so you can be mobile longer. I didn't upgrade my e1705 just because of the fact that it's basically a mobile workstation and would always be near a power outlet with it.

4/25/2008 3:41:38 PM

hmmm, can you do 3rd party batteries or does it have to be from Dell? I vary rarely use it away from an outlet but it might be nice just in case

4/25/2008 4:00:13 PM

you can, not sure if there are many 3rd party batteries on the market since each make and model are usually different. Check out ebay and pick one up there new for cheap, just make sure it's from a reputable seller so you get a genuine dell battery. You can always buy a battery separate from dell's site. I've seen coupons for accessories and can save a pretty penny that way, but look at ebay first.

The thing is that if you get a geniune battery from dell, you get the 1 year warranty with it so if it craps out, you get it replaced. Don't forget the whole big battery recalls of last year from Dell and other manufacturers. Not saying the batteries now are hazards, but if you buy used or on ebay, just fyi.

4/25/2008 4:44:39 PM

yeah, the 5400 is probably just fine for what you want it for...as for the battery, this is just my personal experience, but i HATED having the 12-cell battery for my HP...the way they designed theirs was so that it was double-stacked, which worked well keeping the laptop elevated, but the battery was just plain heavy, and it wouldn't lie flat in its case since it ruined the flat profile

i finally opted for the 6-cell high capacity, which was $20 less and gets 45 minutes less on run-time (where i'm at about 3.5 hours with full screen brightness, wifi/bluetooth on, and steady work)...it's barely heavier and much more portable (IMO)

ebay probably is your best bet, but i've also purchased batteries from places like http://www.batteries.com/ and had no problem (though they're nearly as expensive as buying them directly from the manufacturer)

4/25/2008 4:52:58 PM

thanks

4/26/2008 12:49:56 AM

ooooh i love overestimated shipping dates, supposed to come in somewhere between the 5th and 7th but its being delivered today

4/29/2008 12:29:30 PM