Just purchased 9300

Hey everyone, I have been visiting this site for maybe a year off and on now, and I have finally purchased my first notebook, so I thought I should go ahead and join the forums I've been reading. I capitalized on the :750: and configured a 9300 with the Pentium M 750, 1GB DDR2 Ram, Geforce6800, intel wireless 2200 with bluetooth, 60GB 7200 RPM HD, etc. I saved some money by not going for the tv tuner or the WUXGA screen, and was hoping that was a wise decision. I like to game but have traditionally been a console gamer (all nintendo) so i didnt think the higher resolution screen would be necessary for my needs.

Anyway, just wanted to ask in general what people think of their 9300's, build quality, performance, reliabilty, and so forth. Usability outside of my apartment isnt really necessary, but I would like to know how portable it really is (not only in terms of size and weight, but battery life). This may be a stupid question, but does the 7200 RPM make a big difference in performance, or significantly hurt battery life? Also, i opted for the 6 cell battery in favor of getting an additional 9 cell, so do they both use the same battery port or can you connect a primary and spare at the same time? i assume not, but again, im new in the laptop realm and wasnt sure.

I promise my future posts will be much more concise

 

Congratulations on your purchase first of all.

The battery life on the 9300 isn't bad for the screensize and options. If you were to use this without AC it is good for WP and internet. I believe the battery life is around 3 hours of use. (I might be wrong, also depending on what you are using it for). You can extend this by turning down the brightness settings on the screen and if not need the Wireless LAN card. The other thing that I have not looked into is a case for the I9300 I know Dell offers one, but I am going to look into a different case, my friend has found a few that are really nice. I have read several forums on this laptop before buying and I think for the price this is one of the best laptops for the money, especially if you used any of the coupons posted online for the 9300.

 

Welcome to the forums
Just a couple of specifics: With a 6 cell, you'll get around 2 1/2 hours (hopefully) with full brightness and wifi. With a 9 cell you'll get about 4 to 5 hours. Like USAF said, you can adjust your settings to extend your battery. I haven't seen a way to use one battery as your primary and one as a spare. I normally just use my 9cell, and don't even think about using my 6 cell.

For the most part, the 9300 is an okay notebook. I've had some problems with mine, mostly hardware problems. I had a screw break off on the lower left hand side of the screen, so now the bezel is starting to crack, and the hinge screws are getting lose. Mostly everything on mine is just minor problems and complaints. My customer service has been good for the most part with dell. They have always taken care of any problems that I have. I just wish they would send me the part and I could do the repairs myself, but they like to send their own tech out.

SG

 

the 9300 is an awsome machine, you'll love it! The only thing i was a little disappointed on was the "feel" of quality on it. The HP dv series and the mac powerbooks "feel" are a totally different class. So just be careful with it lol. on the plus side, it is a bit lighter than i tought it would be, so the tradeoff isnt too bad. I have the same screen as you do, and i love it. Its a perfect DTR, you may want to consider an external HDD when ur using it at home or something if u like to do mass storage. I got the 60 gig 7200 also, so ill keep mainly the big storage programs (games) on the HDD for good performance, and videos, etc on the external one.

My new 9300 comes in the mail tomarrow cant wait!

 

Congrats Red97vette I hope you enjoy your 9300, from what I have read and heard that are a few nit-picky things, other than that I have read it is pretty stable compared to some of the other reviews I have read...I am hoping Dell will update my information soon, my 9300 is in boxing status and has been since Sat. So I am hoping by the end of the week.

 

I already have an old gateway desktop (not reccomended BTW) so i will use the three hard drives in this for storage and keep my notebook HD only for games/software. honestly, 60GB should be plenty of room for the few PC games i actually "play" (framerates for HL2 and CS:S are below unacceptable), office, and documents.

I'm glad to hear the screen is not an issue, though im sure teh viewing angle is not as good. I went ahead and purchased the backpack to carry it around, as i am currently in grad school at ohio state and might as well be able to bring it with me to class safely if necessary (or if i plan to be really bored). It looks nice enough, but im having second thoughts and am thinking about getting the traditional laptop bag for it instead (strictly because it looks more professional). I was also pleasantly surprised to see that even though i ordered it yesterday that it is already in the testing stage of production.

 

I have the same problem, my desktop is not bad by any means, except when I want to put up some good graphics...slow framerates limit my gaming. The laptop will replace my 500mhz one that I am on now. Also my desktop will be used by my wife for our business...I think I am going to by a eternal hardrive to keep with my laptop, there are a few things that I do that will take up alot of my HDD space...my work apps and proggies and files take up about 75-80 gig...it is not a bad idea to get an external as long as it isn't huge, that is my 2 pennies worth.