college lappy! =D

[duckies]

looking for a duo core
15.4-14 widescreen
x700 @ least
with bluetooth
100gb 7200
im on a budget of 1-1.5k

love KN but cant afford =*(

 

[g-paw]

My wife just got a Dell 1505 which you could get the way you want in your price range. Dell laptops seem to be OK and one advantage is that you can get an XP disk for about $10 extra rather than the restore disk. The first thing I did when she got it was format the hard drive and did a fresh install of Windows to get rid of all the crap Dell and all the other major mfgs put on their machines. When you get your first sales call from India after you buy the machine, tell them to take you off their list unless your desperate to talk to someone.

 

[Archaggelos]

I would suggest you check out www.ibuypower.com www.cyberpowerpc.com and www.xoticpc.com

Hopefully this helps.
God Bless

 

[killernotebooks]

I'd recommend trying to contact anyone you are going to buy from frist. Either through email or on the phone to see if there is even a human available to help you should you need it.

 

[g-paw]

I'd recommend trying to contact anyone you are going to buy from frist. Either through email or on the phone to see if there is even a human available to help you should you need it.

Definitely a good idea. Dell now has something like instant messaging for support I've used. You send your question and then start a dialogue with the person. While there was not a solution, wanted to diable the mouse pad, which apparently you can't do, the guy on the other end was helpful and at least understood my question. Of course this only works if you have a working computer.

 

[killernotebooks]

What type of DELL do you have, and do you want to be able to toggle on/off the mousepad... or just turn it off?

Dell now has something like instant messaging for support I've used. You send your question and then start a dialogue with the person. While there was not a solution, wanted to diable the mouse pad, which apparently you can't do, the guy on the other end was helpful and at least understood my question.

"The difficult is done right away while the impossible takes a little longer."

Here is DELL's download site where you can get a touchpad driver which is reported as saying, "- Improved that the setting change of "Settings for Scroll" and "Touch Sensitivity"". If you are turning it off because of that.

OR

You can disable the touch pad and track stick or adjust their settings by using the Mouse Properties window. Here is the procedure for the D600 for example.

In Windows XP, open the Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware and click Mouse.

In Windows 2000, open the Control Panel and double-click the Mouse icon.

On the Mouse Properties window:

Click the Device Select tab and select Stick, Stick and Pad, or Pad only.

Click the Touch Pad tab to adjust the touch pad settings or the Stick tab to adjust the track stick settings.

Select the desired settings and click Apply.

Click OK to save the settings and close the window.

 

[g-paw]

What type of DELL do you have, and do you want to be able to toggle on/off the mousepad... or just turn it off?

Dell now has something like instant messaging for support I've used. You send your question and then start a dialogue with the person. While there was not a solution, wanted to diable the mouse pad, which apparently you can't do, the guy on the other end was helpful and at least understood my question.

"The difficult is done right away while the impossible takes a little longer."

Here is DELL's download site where you can get a touchpad driver which is reported as saying, "- Improved that the setting change of "Settings for Scroll" and "Touch Sensitivity"". If you are turning it off because of that.

OR

You can disable the touch pad and track stick or adjust their settings by using the Mouse Properties window. Here is the procedure for the D600 for example.

In Windows XP, open the Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware and click Mouse.

In Windows 2000, open the Control Panel and double-click the Mouse icon.

On the Mouse Properties window:

Click the Device Select tab and select Stick, Stick and Pad, or Pad only.

Click the Touch Pad tab to adjust the touch pad settings or the Stick tab to adjust the track stick settings.

Select the desired settings and click Apply.

Click OK to save the settings and close the window.



The Laptop is an E1505 and the tech support person said the pad couldn't be disabled. Also, used Google and came up with the same answer. I tried disabling and deleting the driver in the Conrtol Panel but it just re-installs when rebooted. There are some previous Dell laptops that allow you to disable the touch pad in the BIOS but this one. Although this reminds me that I just did a BIOS update so I'll have to chaeck again. But thanks for the suggestions

 

[killernotebooks]

I don't think you should blow out that driver, on the contrary, doesn't the driver have specialized software to disable anymore?

Do you want it disabled ALL the time?
If so...
-I would take a piece of heavy paper or wax aper, place it on the mousepad and trace or cut with an exacto knife around the edges so you have an exact template of the touchpad (take your time to make it perfect).
-Go to the hobby store (like Hobby lobby) and get a small sheet of Acetate (around $2).
-Place the template on your acetate and use a Dremmel type tool to cut out your template. (easily purchased and returned at any Home Depot). I would also make a small slot in the edge so you can get a knife in there later should you need to take it off.
-Use spray adhesive (availavble at any office supply or hobby store) to adhere your acetate protective sheath over the touchpad. You can remove the sheath with the slot you cut in it, and clean the spray adhesive off with a product like "Goof Off" or the like.

You could also try to mask your touchpad with tape and paint on that rubberized tool coating (Home Depot). You may actually still be able to use the touchpad when you really had to (test first because the rubber may insulate all of the signals to the pad).

Lastly, I could send you a small piece of carbon fiber gaming skin which is 3 mil vinyl that easily is peeled off you could apply over the touchpad and cut with an exacto. It would probably be the most stylish and easiest to remove in the future.

I like my Wakizachi, it has a button at the top to quickly enable and disable the touchpad. [insert gratuitous product plug here]

 

[g-paw]

I don't think you should blow out that driver, on the contrary, doesn't the driver have specialized software to disable anymore?

Do you want it disabled ALL the time?
If so...
-I would take a piece of heavy paper or wax aper, place it on the mousepad and trace or cut with an exacto knife around the edges so you have an exact template of the touchpad (take your time to make it perfect).
-Go to the hobby store (like Hobby lobby) and get a small sheet of Acetate (around $2).
-Place the template on your acetate and use a Dremmel type tool to cut out your template. (easily purchased and returned at any Home Depot). I would also make a small slot in the edge so you can get a knife in there later should you need to take it off.
-Use spray adhesive (availavble at any office supply or hobby store) to adhere your acetate protective sheath over the touchpad. You can remove the sheath with the slot you cut in it, and clean the spray adhesive off with a product like "Goof Off" or the like.

You could also try to mask your touchpad with tape and paint on that rubberized tool coating (Home Depot). You may actually still be able to use the touchpad when you really had to (test first because the rubber may insulate all of the signals to the pad).

Lastly, I could send you a small piece of carbon fiber gaming skin which is 3 mil vinyl that easily is peeled off you could apply over the touchpad and cut with an exacto. It would probably be the most stylish and easiest to remove in the future.

I like my Wakizachi, it has a button at the top to quickly enable and disable the touchpad. [insert gratuitous product plug here]

Thanks for the offer and suggestions but it's my wife's machine and it doesn't really bother her but it really bugs me and I seldom use it. I'm just going to leave it as is because if I make any permanent change or alter the appearance, I'm likely never to hear the end of it. Sure if you have a wife/girl friend you know what I mean.

 

[Johnny77]

looking for a duo core
15.4-14 widescreen
x700 @ least
with bluetooth
100gb 7200
im on a budget of 1-1.5k

love KN but cant afford =*(

The Asus S96J(15.4") and the Asus A8jm(14.1") models fit your criteria. Both are amazing machines, and are well within your price range. Geared2play, powernotebooks.com, proportable, and milestonepc are great resellers.

For more information, check out the forums at notebookreviews.com