Rate this computer + price...

1420

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Edition
DISPLAY Glossy, high contrast, widescreen 14.1 inch display (1280x800)
VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8400M GS
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
OPTICAL DRIVE CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORKING Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
BATTERY OPTIONS 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0
WARRANTY AND SERVICE DellCare Plus
3 years in home service, 24/7 technical support
3 years complete care Accidental Damage Service; LoJack for Laptops
3 years Anti-virus/ Spyware Security Suite
1 year of 10GB Dell DataSafe Online Backup
1 year Automated PC Tuneup
Integrated NIC and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium
Processor Branding Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor

Total (including shipping and tax): $1348.53

EDIT: Is it good in terms of moderate gaming (i only own two, civilization IV and 1701AD), portability, style, and price?

 

It's a little hard to rate as merely being 'bad' or 'good' without some sort of criteria. I mean do you mean is it good for my use? Do you have a specific list of things you plan on doing with the laptop?

 

it's not bad, it's not terribly cheap either. it's hard to let us judge your configuration when you configured it to the highest logical standard. the only thing we can judge is price and it's so-so

 

It sounded good to me, way cheaper than mine woulda been if i got a warranty, granted mine is a 1520 though

 

I got this:
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Edition
DISPLAY Glossy, high contrast, widescreen 14.1 inch display (1280x800)
VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8400M GS
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
OPTICAL DRIVE CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORKING Intel Wireless-G
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
BATTERY OPTIONS 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
+6 cell battery and bluetooth
with 1 year in home warranty

total was $1117

you really dont need the audigy SOFTWARE...

 

that is a good deal, too... but warranty is important to me, so I really need the 3 year warranty. Also, does yours include taxes and shipping?

Did you get your deal with coupons?

 

How much did the extra warranty come to?

Size wise, the 14.1" models are about the same thickness and 1" shorter in length and width than the 15.4". For true portability go with the m1330.

For gaming you're going to be limited by the graphics card far more than the CPU. I ordered my Vostro 1500 (same as Inspiron 1500) with mobile gaming in mind. For me it's basically a toy. I was looking at a PS3 and said screw it, this is only $200 more!

I decided to pass on the expensive warranties, they cost too much. I'd rather take my chances than sink $350 in warranties on a system that will be worth less than $400 in 2 years. If the unit breaks out of warranty I'd rather just fix it with used parts or part the whole unit on ebay.. personal preference I guess.

Check out my build in my sig..

 

spec wise its decent, price wise its horrible.

a laptop like is is not for gaming, you would not be able to play current let alone future games with decent settings on a 8400M GS.
also regarding the wireless N selection, how fast is your ISP? if its not significantly more than 20mbit/s than a wireless N is useless for you.

also get rid of that HD audio software thing, pointless.

you should consider the 7200RPM HD, that will have a much greater impact on your boot up time and load up time than anything else.

well if i were you i would choose the most basic warranty. i have plenty of Dell computers in my house, some are 6-7 years old and none of them has ever given me any hardware problems. you are spending hundreds of dollars on a laptop that in 1-2 year would be worth probalby 400 dollars.

 

"For gaming you're going to be limited by the graphics card far more than the CPU. I ordered my Vostro 1500 (same as Inspiron 1500) with mobile gaming in mind. For me it's basically a toy. I was looking at a PS3 and said screw it, this is only $200 more! "

You realize your "toy" laptop can't play blu-rays or 1080p video games?

 

the warranty was about $200... I need to get my computer through law school, I won't be able to buy one for a longgg time!! This is why my warranty is important to me. Plus, my budget is pretty strict.

 

my advice is never buy an expensive computer and hope it'll last you 4 years.
in 2 years, a $500-600 dollar computer would easily outperform this $1300+ computer.

so probalby better just to buy a $650 computer say the $650 smart-value Vostro 1400 package now. and in 2 years buy another brand new computer, you'll actually end up saving money(a 1-2 year old PC have much better resell value than a 4 year old one) and in the end of 4 years you'll have a better computer than this.

 

Try packing a PS3, a flat screen and a few power cords around.

 

Excellent advice.

 

last time i checked PS3 and HDTVs are not mobile. Who knows maybe the poster is a HD DVD person

 

Does the warranty include theft? I'd love to see some insurance statistics on laptop damage vs. theft...

I don't think you'll be sorry with whatever you choose. Go with what you feel comfortable with and you'll feel better about it in the long run.

 

Betamax!

 

well he have laptop lojack, so if his laptop get stolen and is not returned in forgot how many days he get $40-70 back from the lojack company.

 

Ahh... I didn't know that. $40-$70 seems pretty pointless though.

 

hmm, these are all valid things I need to consider. thanks for all the help. the poll is still up and running and any comments/concerns are always welcome. thanks all for participating!

btw, i'm a girl

 

I'm not an avid video gamer... i have a couple games that I like...all PC games I like are economically based and are strategy games. I only have two PC games and I know they work on the computer. I'm not really intending on using this laptop solely for video games. Portability is the most important factor, as I take my laptop everywhere with me (practically attached to the hip). So, under these circumstances, is this computer good, or at least good enough for me?

 

My honest advice, if you're not going to be doing serious 3d gaming would be to get the cheapest unit possible.

Check out these deals:

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/hot_offers_nb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

Take either the $499 or $599 deal (free shipping too), skip the warranty and stick the difference in the bank. If you plan on spending $1350 then perhaps spend a little more and get a baseline m1330... that would be a much better choice at a swanky law school.

 

well even if you don't do serious gaming(not like 8400M GS is intended for serious gaming), having this card still have advantages
1) integrated graphics "steals" upto 256mb of your RAM
2) purevideo 2 helps in dvd decoding, freeing up CPU resources

another thing, you consider ordering a Dell from Dell premier for your school? they usually sell computers with 3 year warranty in the recommended bundle section.