Thinking of getting this M1530..

-Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)
-15.4¿ UltraSharp™ WXGA (1280x800) CCFL Display (220nits) with TrueLife™
-2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
-160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
-NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 8400M GS with 128MB dedicated graphic memory

Basically I can get this for a total price of £629 inc vat/shipping from Dell UK. (Using 10% discount voucher code and the free shipping promotion currently on).

Is this a good price? My budget was really £550 as I needed a laptop that would simply be good enough to last me 1-2 years, and mainly to project a good image onto my external 20" TFT on 1600x1200 (my toshiba a200 laptop can do this but the image on this resolution is terrbible so i need a new one).

what do you guys think? Should I get something cheaper or go for this.

Will mainly be using it to play online poker connected to my external TFT, with the odd bit of gaming.

 

also - anyway of getting that price cheaper? haggling etc? how do?

 

I think Flamenko has a guide on haggling with dell, do a search on the forum.

 

Thanks for the support KnightUnit ...


http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=153497

 

Hmmmm it sounds ok, but with that configuration I would suggest goign for a M1330. It would be more powerful, same graphics and much smaller and lighter.

 

dang.. i just ordered it 15 mins ago.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)

is that fast enough? my current laptop (toshiba a200-15i is intel core duo 1.9gz). much difference?

the final price i got it for was £639. The sales rep said i couldnt use the 10% discount voucher unless i added 1 upgrade.. which was bs. ended up buying a £10 1gb stick anyway.

Another sales rep before told me the 10% discount wouldnt work with the free delivery and other promotion currently on the laptop. which was also bs...

sneaky

 

Hmmm personally I wouldn't get a processor that slow. I would go 2.0 or 2.2ghz. with 2 or 3gb of ram.

You will definitely want to install xp pro on that thing an get rid of vista unless you don't mind 4 minute boot sequences driver issues.

 

When you feel the need, you can always upgrade the CPU yourself. Unlike older model notebook, the CPUs on current units from Dell seems like a very simple upgrade, it's like a RAM and HD, with few more screws and thermal paste. I am looking for next gen CPU with 6M Cache in future. No need to go crazy and order something if you feel like there's no need for it now.

 

The cost of upgrading over time will be greater. How many actually upgrade later?

 

Not always true. Although price have gone down since I orderred. When I was ordering the price of processor upgrade was more expensive, then buying it from newegg. It all depends on the mood of Dell. I did upgrade my M90 from T2300 to T7200 the prices I save justify the few hours I spent upgrading.

 

Well I'll take your word for it. I have not bothered upgrading anything in my notebooks because when I want to upgrade I just sell my old and buy a new.
Way less stress that way for me. But that's just me. My PC on the other hand i upgrade the components.

 

ok ill probably do that at a later date. 2 weeks delivery time.. disgusted!

 

Most people receive their unit before the est. date, but not all are lucky. I ordered mine on Dec. 22 and it has been in boxing stage for past 3 days now. I am also disgusted...

 

Yeah you will get it in 2-3 weeks.

 

if i want to upgrade to 2.2 or 2.4 in the future on this laptop.. will it void the warranty if i get someone to do it? or can i send it back to dell for an upgrade