Getting ready to buy a E1405

Well I just sold my Inspiron 6000d and I will be using that money as well as paying the difference to buy the 1405.

My main reasons for doing this was the size, a 15.4" is just too much to carry around with the size and weight, I feel the slightly smaller 14.1" will do much better (I am okay with the size for the most part just wish it was a bit smaller, so the 1405 should be a better fit).

I do have a few questions before I buy though.

1. Has anyone with a 1405 succesfully used Vista's new Aero Glass user interface?

That is a very important thing to me. I like Vista and it runs great on my desktop (the Betas did at least), so I would like to be able to run the full blown Ultimate or Home Premium on my laptop as well without resorting to the crappy interface.

I am planning on getting 2GB (whether or not I buy aftermarket RAM or have it preinstalled with 2GB is up in the air but I do want 2GB).


2. How good of deals will Dell give out soon?

I know they are moving away from the whole coupon thing into lower everyday prices, but we all know they will offer some good deals.

I bought my 6000d almost 2 years ago with a $750 off $1999 coupon, but this time around I don't need the top of the line. I am going to be looking to keep it to around $1,000 at maximum. So I wonder what kind of coupons does dell offer for orders up to/a bit over $999 traditionally?

The 20% off right now looks good but I haven't tracked them long enough to know if a 25% off or better off $999 or $1199 is also possible?


Quite honestly those are the two things I am in need of advice on the most before I buy. I have read conflicting reports of Aero Glass running on the chipset that the 1405's have (or reports of it requiring some hacking to get to work right), so I would like to hear some actual user opinions.

I'm a computer tech for a living so hacking it is no problem but I know that if you're hacking to get something to work that isn't supposed to its not going to run as sweet. Last thing I want is to run Aero Glass at snail speeds or lower-than-usual speeds despite having a Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM.

So what are your opinions guys?

P.S. Also battery life is another important concern. My question is does the 1405 stand up to its claim of 8.5 hours of battery life on the extended battery? My 6000d did 5 hours easily with XP (about 4 hours with Vista!), so if any users out there can give me their experiences with battery life or the battery itself (as in how bothersome is it to have it sticking out?) I would also appreciate it. Thanks!

 

1.) Users here have reported success running Aero on the GMA950 on their e1405's. Hopefully some of them will post in this topic.
2.) No one knows what kind of coupons will be coming out next, if you see a good deal and need a laptop, jump on it. 25% is possible. In the past there have been $750 off as well as higher. I bought my e1505 with a 40% off coupon (it was a one-time-use only coupon though, not the same as other coupons) As you said Dell is moving away from coupons)
3.) I doubt you'll get 8.5 hours of REAL-TIME usage, but my xps m140 with the 9 cell got 5-5.5 hours of REAL-TIME usage(internet, word processing, screen dimmed). (same basic idea) The battery does stick out, and is kinda ugly, but it's not a big deal. The extra time it affords more than makes up for it.

Welcome to the forums!

 

Search for posts by me. I started a thread that grew into 4 pages.

I am running Vista Ultimate with Areo with no issues at all on an E1405.

Edit: Here it is: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=88714

 

This is only my gut feeling on coupons.

They use them drum up sales during slow periods.

For example, I bought my laptop with a 30% coupon, and it's the only time I've seen it recently. It was also after the back to school rush and before the xmas season.

Now that it's xmas, I don't predict any above average coupons until after xmas.

 

like jeffreydj said vista aero works great (using rtm from msdn as we speak only driver i had to install was the ricoh cardbus xp driver works fine vista does use a lot of memory i have 2 gigs but it is incredibally smooth and seems totally stableno problems except operator errors slight learning curve also office 2007 is wonderful
never thought i would compliment mickeysoft but here it is

 

Sounds good. I am totally in love with Vista + Office 2007 myself thats why its really important to me to get the best experience possible on my 1405.

Jeffery, how many hours of battery life are you squeezing out of your 1405?

Count Schemula, is it usually a pattern to have big discounts right after Chistmas? I don't wanna risk not acting on a 20% coupon if the ones after Christmas are only 10% or 15%.

Oh yeah, and what is Dell's policy on price matching? Say I act on a 20% coupon this week but next week its 25% off? Do they honor those online coupons and refund the difference or what?

 

With basic browsing, etc. and the brightness turned down. On the 9 cell I get close to 8 hours.

On the 6 cell, a little under 4.

 

I don't know. Like I said, it's only my gut feeling. They have no reason to offer killer coupons right now. xmas is driving sales.

20% is pretty much the standard coupon.

I've seen 25% once, and 30% once in the last few months.

 

When I bought in June/July my coupon was 33% off ...

My wifes I bought earlier in November was a 25% of coupon. (Maybe 20%, but I don't remember for sure. I do know her PC was under 1K, which I thought was a good price).

 

I thought the GMA 950 couldn't run aero in vista? Or was that the GMA 900 chipset?

 

I used a 30% coupon. The following week the coupon was 25%. Then it was back to the normal 20%.

So, in the last 3 months or so, it's been 20% all but 2 weeks. And some weeks not even 20%, but $300 off, which, is pretty much their worst coupon.

 

Looks like I will be waiting for a 25% at minimum to order, or 30% in a best case scenario.

Also how is Dell with price matching new coupons -- say I use 25% next week and 5 days later a 30% coupon is out? I dont think anyone touched that question yet unless I missed it.

 

I heard they do price match, but, I'm not sure how that works with coupons?

 

Ah, if anyone finds out by all means let me know. I will feel much better about ordering sooner than later in such a case. Since my old laptop is sold I need one ideally before the next semester starts (which is January 9th!) so I don't want to hold off too long.

Also I think $300 would be the best for me since I am looking at around $1000-range, so that would be like 30% off in my case. Then again with an honest to goodness 30% off I could get slightly better options.

 

You're gonna LOVE the E1405 .. poured over the forums/looked for coupons/waited and got pretty good specs for $720 shipped .. (Intel Core 2 Duo, T5600, WXGA+ w/TrueLife, 120 GB hard drive, Media Center, 1 GB RAM, DVD burner, 85 WHr 9 cell battery, 1 year warranty) ... found the deal in the middle of the night 11/23/06 .. not many available at that price .. arrived in 4/5 days time ... I guess Dell was cleaning out some inventory ...

Agree that Xmas will be driving sales .. after Xmas might be better .. but not sure how long you want to wait .. the BATTERY LIFE IS AMAZING, so is the portability, screen - not sure about chipset performance and the battery does not stick out that much .. I LOVE THIS MACHINE .. and am VERY SATISFIED ... GOOD LUCK ..

CW

 

Thanks! I sure hope I love it.

As a former owner of the 6000d I figure the few things dragging it down for me a bit were the weight, the size (15.4" is slightly too big), and even a little bit on battery life (5 hours is a lot bit just wanted even more!). The 1405 addresses pretty much all of those

Now I just play the waiting game for a good coupon!

 

Look in the Deals Section, I just picked up a E1405 for $799 here are the specs. I did add the true bright screen for $20 though. THis deal is good through 12/8.

Inspiron E1405 Notebook Core2 Duo 1.83GHz 14.1in 1GB 120GB DVD+-RW Wifi MCE $799 shipped
Link to Product Deal Dell Home has the Dell Inspiron E1405 notebook (Inspiron 630m replacement) w/ Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz, 14.1in WXGA, 1GB DDR2, 120GB, DVD+-RW, 56k/NIC/802.11g Wireless, XP Media Center Edition, 1yr warranty for only $799 w/ free shipping.