Just a few questions about the E1505

Hi there, I am in the final stage of purchasing an e1505...and I have a few questions...here they are

1.) Can the memory and the HD be swapped out (fairly easy?)

2.) Can I upgrade my warranty (from the standard 2year) after I purchase the laptop, and if so how long after? and how do I go about doing that?

3.) Is there a real difference between the XGA and the SXGA+ Display?

4.) Can you purchase the Quicksnap covers after you purcahse the laptop and can you install them yourself?

5.) What do you think about the Dell Draft N Wireless? is it worth the $30 upgrade . I want to keep it under $1,500 and adding this will push it over...

Thanks for all the help

 

Yes the HD and memory are easily upgraded.

I believe you can upgrade the warranty anytime while it is under warranty. Might want to double check on it.

You will see more on the SXGA screen.

Don't know anything about the covers.

You need a N router to get the benefit of a N card.

 

1.) Yes, both of the memory slots are in a bay underneath the laptop, you only need to remove 2 screws to get access to the bay. The harddrive is held in place by two screws on the bottom right side of the laptop-also easily upgraded.
2.) Yes-you can upgrade after purchase, but you should be aware that the e1505 will come with a standard 1year mail-in warranty, not a 2 year.
3.)As ZaZ said, you will see more on the screen-also not an option for the matte wsxga+ screen, you must get truelife.
4.) Yes, easily purchased and installed aftermarket.
5.) I think draft-n is a waste of money at this point, wait until it becomes a standard, then you can get an "official" card and just switch them out...There aren't really any reasons to go N in my opinon.
As ZaZ said, you will need to have an N router to use the card, there are some compatiblity issues-might want to research the possibilities.

make sure you use the dell coupons!

Hope this helped!

Cheers

David

 

about the Dell Draft N wireless, on dells website it says
"50% faster and 25% more range when used with 802.11g routers" , what is that all about?

you can switch them out?

Thanks for the info on the dell coupons!

 

Yeah N is better then g, its faster, and has better range. The thing is about it now is that its supported very little, not many areas use it yet since its so new. Just get the regular, and in a few years when it starts to become the norm you can just switch our wirless cards. Its an easy upgrade. The bay should be on the bottom of the notebook, 1 screw to get at it.

 

So then is it really worth it to pay the extra $100 to get the SXGA+ over the XGA?

 

What are the screen resolution differences between the two?

 

there are con sides to getting the higher res

it may make things too small and you constantly have to increase text size which makes getting the high res useless. so you should try before you buy especially if you read a lot of text

the pros are you get better viewing angle, some say brighter, more real estate (but keep in mind that you get more real estate by making everything smaller, though you can always switch to a lower res when you have high res lcd)

if you are getting the higher res screen for gaming, then let me tell you that you shouldn't. the e1505 only has a x1400 and that gpu can't really handle many games at swxga, especially new games.

the wxga is 1280x800, while the swxga is 1600x1024

 

wxga is 1280x800

wsxga is 1680x1050

 

Get the better screen. I had a salesman who tried to convince me there was to much glare, but I am glad I got it. It is much brighter and clearer. I passed on the Draft N card. I would suggest you wait. Many users on Dell's forum are having issues with it. Get the Intel 3945 not the Dell brand wireless nic. As stated before, save your money and wait until it becomes a standard. Get as much memory as you can and get as much warranty as you can. Get the 9 cell battery, Get the x1400 graphics card (otherwise you will regret it later).

 

The only real games I plan on playing on it, are CS:S and maybe WoW and it doesnt really bother me if they arent on high, I just wouldnt mind playing them on it ...I am trying to find results on how well CS:S runs on the E1505 but all I am getting is how well it ran before the dedicated GPU upgrade (when it had the Intel GMA 950)...any idea?

 

CSS and WoW will run on integrated graphics, but on low settings...

As mentioned before, get the x1400...its a decent card and will help future proof your machine.

 

Ok thanks for all your help I have purchased my Dell E1505 ^^ with the following specs:

E1505 Dual Core
- Intel® Core 2 Duo processor T7200 (4MB Cache/2.00GHz/667MHz FSB)
- Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD
- LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife
- Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
( Will upgrade from Newegg to 2gigs 667mhz [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231069] )
- Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory
- Hard Drive 120GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive ( I am upgrading to one of the two 100gig 7200rpm HD's but I dont know which one to choose...this [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822146230] or this [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822146053] )- Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
- Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
- Combo or DVD+RW Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
- Sound Options Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy HD Software Edition
- Wireless Networking Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g
- Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft Works Suite 2006- Includes MICROSOFT WORD plus much more!
- Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) Norton Internet Security 2006 Edition 15-months
- Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (Going to buy a 9-cell when I can afford it, right now I cant, so I will have to wait )
- Warranty and Service 2Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service ( Same goes for the warranty I was told I could upgrade it anytime by calling the Dell Extended warranty # )- Getting-Started Help Dell On Call, 30day, Getting started Assistance, unlimited incidents
- QuickSnap Options Carbon Fiber QuickSnap Cover
- Miscellaneous Award Winning Service, Support
- Bluetooth Options Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)

...once again thanks for all your help what are your thoughts on what I purchased?

 

What made you go with XGA monitor. Just asking. I too have the 6 cell battery it lasts about 2 to 2.5 hours. 2 year warranty is good. I only got a 1 year for I could not afford any more at this time. What do you plan on using your laptop for...

 

Casual usage, email, some photo editing, and casual gaming what made me go with it, is that I really dont care for the extra real estate space, the cheaper the better, at least thats what I believe in :]