Need some help buying a laptop

BamaMatt

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Jun 11, 2006
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I have a few questions on the Dell E1505 laptop. To give you some background I use a laptop for playing some online poker, surfing the web, watching a few videos/dvd's and downloading a little bit of music. My question is what do I need in a laptop.

I'm really liking the E1505 by Dell. I have put together one and this is what I put together.

Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2300E (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MH)
(I'm not familiar with the T2300E...is it better than Pentium M?)

1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
(Is 1GB enough or can I drop down to 512MB?)

80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive

Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
(how much difference would an upgrade make?)


Is this the best laptop for me or does anyone have any other suggestions? I'm trying to stay less than $1,000. Thanks in advance for your help!
 

killernotebooks

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Core Duo is better than Pentium M yes.

Don't drop to 512 MB - keep 1 Gig.

80 GB 5,400 is fine for what you are doing.

GMA950 - Fine for what you are doing, but Not recommended.

You may want to bump up your cost to $999, here is a 30% off $999 coupon
30% off $999+ - Dell Coupon 6N4J2?S?DSH1T5
Enter the coupon code at checkout.

pimps_dont_tap.jpg
 

BamaMatt

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Thank you for the coupon and I pushed my price to over $1000 but the coupon did not work. It said I did not meet eligibility requirements. When I clicked on view details this is what I got in return.

ALL ORDERS ARE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE BY DELL. Offer subject to your employer's continuing participation in the Dell Employee Purchase Program. Pricing, specifications, availability and terms of offers may change without notice. Taxes, fees, shipping (other than TV free shipping offer), handling and any applicable restocking charges are extra, and vary. Free shipping offer available in Continental (except Alaska) U.S. only. Valid for U.S. Dell Employee Purchase program, new purchases only. Limit of 5 systems per customer please. Dell cannot be responsible for pricing or other errors, and reserves the right to cancel orders arising from such errors.

Also, I upped my GMA to a 128MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1300 HyperMemory™, do you think that is fine for what I want to do? Thanks again!
 

BamaMatt

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Still won't let me do it. I get this message now.

LIMITED TIME OFFER!

Limited quantity offer – only 4000 systems available for purchase with this coupon code. Limited time offer beginning 6/8/06 6:00 am CT through 6/15/06 5:59 am CT or after 4000 redemptions (whichever occurs first). ONLINE ONLY: Save 30% off $999 or more select Inspiron ™ notebook systems. Includes the following order codes: ib130s1, ib130s2, ib130s3, b130pv1 e1505s1, e1505s2, e15053, e1505s4, e1705s1, e1705s2, e1705s3, e1705s4, e1405s1, e1405s2, e1405s3, e1405s4 (before tax, restocking fees, shipping & handling)! This offer is not combinable with other dollars off, percentage off or mail-in rebate offers. Only one coupon may be applied per cart at checkout. Coupon code expires after first 4000 uses, or when the limited time offer expires, whichever is earlier. Offers subject to change. View details in My Cart. Enter coupon code at checkout to receive this offer. The Home & Home Office site and offers contained herein valid only for end users and not for resellers and/or online auctions. Prices, specifications, availability and terms of offers may change without notice. Taxes, restocking fees, shipping, handling and any applicable restocking charges are extra, and vary. U.S. Dell Home Systems Co. new online purchases. Purchase limit of 5 systems per order, but coupon discount applies to only 1 system per cart. Limit of 5 systems per customer please. Dell cannot be responsible for pricing or other errors, and reserves the right to cancel orders arising from such errors.


Thanks for trying to help me!
 

BamaMatt

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Thanks a lot! That worked for me and saved me $332!

Would you mind looking over the specs on this laptop and telling me if it is going to be compatible with what I want to do with a laptop? Let me know where I can upgrade and downgrade. I basically use a laptop for dvd playing (traveling), downloading and listening to music, playing lots of poker, and the basic college student work.

Also, how big of a difference is the T1300 to the T2300E that I had in another customization that I had made up? Is this going to affect my speed a lot (thats my main concern).

Also, I didn't get a power adapter and this is the first time I've bought a laptop off the net. I thought a power adapter would be a standard with the laptop? Am I wrong? Thanks again for all of your help!


Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ Solo processor T1300 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 128MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1300 HyperMemory™
Hard Drive FREE! 80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Sound Options Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service, Support
Mobile Broadband No Broadband Expresscard technology is available in the market now
Operating System Re-Installation CD PC Restore recovery system by Symantec
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
 

killernotebooks

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The T2300 is a core duo processor, that means there is 2 processor cores and the T1300 has 1. It is about a 25-40% difference, here is my Core Duo page so you can see graphically the differences. It is sizable.

For the office software I would go to www.openoffice.org and just download open office 2.0 which is the exact same as MS Office, I know you don't have it on your list but, to save you money later.


Otherwise, looks like that will be fine for what you are using it for.

 

BamaMatt

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Jun 11, 2006
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Last question for you KillerNotebooks, I promise!

How often does Dell run these coupon specials for that good of a deal?
 

killernotebooks

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BOSS, I looked into the aluminum laser etched skins. It's a go. Now you can get pretty much any color you want anodized and also glossy anodized. I have to say the sample looked sweet. Now 2 - 3 weeks for my prototypes to be done.