Inspiron 6000D questions

I am looking at buying an Inspiron 6000D, probably today. I have a few questions though. First, the screen. Is the WSXGA+ worth the $100 upgrade? Dell calls this "ultrasharp". Is this a glossy screen, like the "trubrite" some other manufacturers call it? I ddn't game at all, so am I better off spending the $100 on something else and just getting the WXGA screen? Is the upgraded screen going to make my icons and text very small? I have a desktop now, and my settings are 1280x1024 at 96 DPI on a 17" Samsung LCD. Which screen will be the most like this one? Also, I am contemplating the processor speed. I am looking at the Pentium M's, the 725 and 740. Is the $50 charge worth it for the 740? This lappy is going to be a desktop replacement, so battery life (I am getting the 9 cell), heat, and noise will be a concern. Which processor will work best for me? Any other opinions on the laptop,and/or recommendatiosn on what to definitly get or definitly avoid as far as options go is appreciated. One more thing, integrated graphics or dedicated? I don't mind spending the extra $50 for the 64MB, but I don't want it to detract from battery life. I don't game, but if battery life is equal, I will get the dedicated memory, in case I want to game some in the future.

Thanks in advance,
Elevatorguy :decision:

 

Welcome to the forums:

To answer some of your questions:
1. Glossy screen: Yes the ultrasharp is the glossy screen for Dell. Some users like the glossy screen, some don't. Alot users have the glossy screen and are not gamers. The best way to decide if it is worth it or not, is to go to a computer retail store and compare the glossy screen to a regular screen. If you like the glossy screen on other laptops, chances are you'll like the glossy screens on dell.

2. Processor: In my opinion, the 740 is worth the charge. Its in the middle, so you aren't paying the high dollars for the 760, yet you have something that will most likely last you the lifetime of your laptop. By the time you are ready to upgrade your processor, you'll probably want to buy a new laptop anyways since this will be 2-4 years down the road (depending on usage).

3.) if you want to start playing games in the future, definitely go with dedicated. If you go with integrated, it will be one of the parts that is very difficult to upgrade down the road if you decide to change your mind on the gaming issue.

As for the heat and noise, I don't have a 6000, so I can't really tell you. A friend of mine has it, and she absolutely loves hers 6000. We do have a 750 which you can find the details of it located here: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2642

Be careful of the pricing. The 6000 is a good mid range notebook, but sometimes when you add everything you want on it, it can be expensive.

SG

 

I have a 6000d so I can possibly help.

Considering this laptop will be a desktop replacement for you (isn't for me) I am surprised you call heat noise and battry life issues but the folllowing shows what I think:

Battery Life: With the 9 cell it is excellent. Just using Office, I get around 5 and a half hours. Running a lot I get around 4. Even this isn't as long as some.

Noise: Excellent. My fans are on now, as its a little hot, but in order to hear them I have to stop typing and put my head to the laptop. I have experienced no hard drive clicking or excellent. I am very pleased about this, especially as in the future I intend to possibly use it in libraries.

I possibly like you, thought I might as well get the D version, just incase I feel like playing some games in the future. You never know how things may change.

In my opinion, WXSGA+ is the best for 15 inch screens like the 6000 even for office. It means you can view the whole page in Word, but theyre still enough pixels to see what you are typing.
However I wouldn't want any smaller than what I have got now.
(although using DPI you can increase things, which actually works well except in the bottom right icons)

As well as this, if you intend to view photographs the higher resolution the better.

Heat: Very respectable. I can have it on my lap on on the covers of my bed with no concern of it getting too hot. It warms my legs rather than burns them. I have never had my hard drive go over 40C.

In regards to the processor I have read that it is better use of money to get a faster hard drive (eg 7200rpm instead of 5400rpm) rather than a slightly better processor.

Hope I have helped
Sam

 

None of the 6000 screens are glossy, Dell's trademark name for glossy screens is TrueLife, Ultrasharp is something else (I believe it's for screens with better viewing angles).

 

Yes, you are correct. Thanks for catching my mistake. I was thinking of the 9300.

The Ultrasharp won't be glossy. The glossy screen is Ultrasharp with Truelife. Like lazybum stated dell defines ultrasharp as enables wider viewing angles and improved contrast ratio for brighter, more vivid colors.

Sorry for the error,

SG

 

I am debating Between these 2 lappy's, what do you guys think? They are both exactly the same price. Obviously, the 6000 has more options than the 9300. What are people getting for battery life on the 9300?

Inspiron 6000 Qty 1
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 Unit Price $1,605.00
30% off Inspiron notebooks $1499 or more!
Expires Sunday, November 27, 2005 Remove Coupon
- $481.50
Catalog Number: 23
Module Description Show Details
Inspiron 6000 Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Display 15.4 inch UltraSharp WSXGA+ LCD Panel
Memory 512MB Shared DDR2 SDRAM 1 Dimm
Video Card 128MB DDR ATI's MOBILITY™ RADEON X300 PCI Express x16 Graphics
Hard Drive 100GB 5400rpmHard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Digital Music Musicmatch by Yahoo!™ Music- Entry level with 90 days of On Demand
Battery 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr) w/ 128mb Memory Key
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Digital Imaging Corel Photo Album™ 6 Starter Edition - Organize and Edit your photos
Financial Software No QuickBooks package selected - includes limited use trial
Operating System Backup & Recovery Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition backup CD

and

Inspiron 9300 Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
Video Card ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X300 64MB HyperMemory™
Hard Drive 60GB 5400rpmHard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Digital Music Musicmatch by Yahoo!™ Music- Entry level with 90 days of On Demand
Primary Battery 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr) w/ 128mb Memory Key
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Digital Imaging Corel Photo Album™ 6 Starter Edition - Organize and Edit your photos
Financial Software No QuickBooks package selected - includes limited use trial
Operating System Backup & Recovery PC Restore recovery system by Symantec

 

For 9 cell with the 9300, I'm getting about 5 to 5 1/2 hours depending on tasks, wireless internet, etc. I believe the 9 cell on the 6000 gets around the same price.

If you want a true desktop replacement, the 9300 would be your better choice. Normally anything over $1300 for the 6000 isn't worth it. The only problem with the 9300 is that its not made for portability, so if you want to take somewhere everyday, it might be a bit of a pain. With that said, I take mine to school/work every single day, and it doesn't bother me.

SG

 

Thanks very much SG. 5 to 5 1/2 hours is very impressive. Is that on wireless and net surfing/downloading?

 

That's with brightness turned partially down ( 3/4 of normal) and websurfing only. Right now, I have about 7 programs running, and brightness on full. My battery indicator says I have about 4:45 hours left, but of course in real life, it is probably 4 hours right now.