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US laptop deals

Old Nov 6th 2009, 7:38 pm
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Default US laptop deals

Got a booklet from Dell today, some good deals in there if you want a good spec laptop cheaper than usual (i.e. not a budget model, something quite powerful).

Inspiron 15 - Core2Duo 2.2GHz - 4GB RAM - 320GB HDD - Windows 7 x64 - $549

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...988&oc=dnpczy4

~~~~~~~~~~

As Black Friday is upon us, and perhaps towards Christmas, maybe more deals will become available, if you see a good one post it here.
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Old Nov 6th 2009, 11:45 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by BritishGuy36
Got a booklet from Dell today, some good deals in there if you want a good spec laptop cheaper than usual (i.e. not a budget model, something quite powerful).
At home, Sheila uses a Dell Latitude D500 laptop, and I use a Latitude D610. At work, I have an E6500 laptop and an Optiplex 960 desktop. Sweet machines! I have never been a fan of the 64-bit O/S... but, to be fair, there's a lot more 64-bit programs now than there used to be.

I've been running Windows 7 on my laptop for over a month now (our University got an advance copy of the RTM version for the IT staff) and it's very stable. Works well with XP drivers if no Win7 drivers are available. I've also got Win7 running on an old (1999) Optiplex GX110 and although it runs slowly (only has 512 megs RAM) it is stable and works quite well.

Ian
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 4:14 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by ian-mstm
At home, Sheila uses a Dell Latitude D500 laptop, and I use a Latitude D610. At work, I have an E6500 laptop and an Optiplex 960 desktop. Sweet machines! I have never been a fan of the 64-bit O/S... but, to be fair, there's a lot more 64-bit programs now than there used to be.

I've been running Windows 7 on my laptop for over a month now (our University got an advance copy of the RTM version for the IT staff) and it's very stable. Works well with XP drivers if no Win7 drivers are available. I've also got Win7 running on an old (1999) Optiplex GX110 and although it runs slowly (only has 512 megs RAM) it is stable and works quite well.

Ian
a very technical friend of mine (published IT author) has been trialling W7 for a few months and has done nothing but rave about it too. Seems its in far better release condition than previous products!
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 4:54 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Is it just me? I don't get the Dell thing at all. They're nothing great and nothing particularly terrible. You can nearly always find better value elsewhere....or worse.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:00 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by fatbrit
Is it just me? I don't get the Dell thing at all. They're nothing great and nothing particularly terrible. You can nearly always find better value elsewhere....or worse.
So what would you suggest? I need a decent laptop that can do the usual things (word, excel, powerpoint, BE, reading the newspaper, youtube, listening to operas...) - budget up to about $1200? (Or willing to go higher if there's a good reason...). Using it mainly at home but occasionally need to take it on business trip if Netbook insufficient.

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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:04 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by fatbrit
Is it just me? I don't get the Dell thing at all. They're nothing great and nothing particularly terrible. You can nearly always find better value elsewhere....or worse.
I haven't found anything at that price point with a processor that good, and certainly not from a major brand. That's why I posted it.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:25 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by Elvira
So what would you suggest? I need a decent laptop that can do the usual things (word, excel, powerpoint, BE, reading the newspaper, youtube, listening to operas...) - budget up to about $1200? (Or willing to go higher if there's a good reason...). Using it mainly at home but occasionally need to take it on business trip if Netbook insufficient.

Whatever the special on Newegg or at Frys is. Laptops are disposable items these days. If you're not doing anything processor intensive (by this I mean mainly video creation work) I think your budget is wasteful -- I'd set it around the $800 mark and buy whatever the special is on that Friday or the following Monday. Post the Newegg specials when you're ready to buy and folks'll comment.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:26 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by BritishGuy36
I haven't found anything at that price point with a processor that good, and certainly not from a major brand. That's why I posted it.

But you still haven't explained Ian's Dell thing!
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:33 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by fatbrit
Whatever the special on Newegg or at Frys is. Laptops are disposable items these days. If you're not doing anything processor intensive (by this I mean mainly video creation work) I think your budget is wasteful -- I'd set it around the $800 mark and buy whatever the special is on that Friday or the following Monday. Post the Newegg specials when you're ready to buy and folks'll comment.
This is my point - you don't need to spend anything even close to $800 on a laptop unless you are a heavy gamer and need more than standard graphics. Even today's on-board graphics will now run Aero Glass with ease.

I doubt anything on offer at Newegg or Frys will beat the Dell I linked to for value.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:34 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by fatbrit
But you still haven't explained Ian's Dell thing!
Your opinion is that Dell are nothing special. Whilst there are better machines, my opinion is that there aren't usually any that are better value. They are usually above average build quality and unless you drop them off the table they're reliable too.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:35 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by Elvira
So what would you suggest? I need a decent laptop that can do the usual things (word, excel, powerpoint, BE, reading the newspaper, youtube, listening to operas...) - budget up to about $1200? (Or willing to go higher if there's a good reason...). Using it mainly at home but occasionally need to take it on business trip if Netbook insufficient.

you can get a shiny Sony Vaio for that money....lovely machines but way over priced...

For what your using, set of external travel speakers and a netbook would do all that you need, a Asus eeepc 1000HE, Samsung n120 etc - $300-400

More convenient for travel, good battery life.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:36 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by Bob
you can get a shiny Sony Vaio for that money....lovely machines but way over priced...
Yeah Sony machines have always been way overpriced (same as their TVs).....you can usually save 30% and still get the same spec with another brand.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:40 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by BritishGuy36
This is my point - you don't need to spend anything even close to $800 on a laptop unless you are a heavy gamer and need more than standard graphics. Even today's on-board graphics will now run Aero Glass with ease.

I doubt anything on offer at Newegg or Frys will beat the Dell I linked to for value.
I get the Aero Glass effect on PCs with 512 MB of memory and single core, 32-bit processors with crappy on-board IBM graphics! Of course, I don't run Windows. And of course, I turn it off after having the Wow exclamation because it really doesn't help productivity having closed Windows burning up or exploding rather than just shutting.

It never even passed my mind that Elvira was a gamer -- I'm sure she's not.

Yep -- I think you're right. She could cut her budget even more without losing anything worthwhile.

I just don't get the Dell thing.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 5:49 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by BritishGuy36
Your opinion is that Dell are nothing special. Whilst there are better machines, my opinion is that there aren't usually any that are better value. They are usually above average build quality and unless you drop them off the table they're reliable too.
I keep my desktops forever -- some of them have less than 50% original parts inside as I jut swap them out as they fail. But I never upgrade them per se. But laptops are different -- unfortunately I do drop them off tables because I use them when on the go. Just buy one at the sweet price (wish I didn't have to pay the bloody Windows tax! -- one point in favour of Dell, I suppose!) and never expect to get more than a couple of years out of them before they bite the dust. I really don't care what mark is on the case -- although I avoid stuff with VIA graphics because their *Nix support is so crappy.
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Old Nov 7th 2009, 6:08 pm
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Default Re: US laptop deals

Originally Posted by fatbrit
It never even passed my mind that Elvira was a gamer -- I'm sure she's not.

Yep -- I think you're right. She could cut her budget even more without losing anything worthwhile.

I just don't get the Dell thing.
Your not wrong there

I do like to listen to opera while I'm working though

Also, I need a fairly large screen because my eyesight is poor and I often have to enlarge stuff to be able to read comfortably.

Also, because I do occasionally have to take it along on business trips it would be nice if it were slim and not too heavy.

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