Vostro 1500 - Did I make the right decision?

Hi guys, I am new here, and I just pulled the trigger (again) on a 1500 Vostro. I was messing around with coupons and building systems for a week before I found the deal that I feel pretty comfortable with.

I first had my Vostro with a 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo, 1gb Ram, Nvidia 128mb 8400, XGA+ with TrueLife, Intel Pro wireless card, 80gb hard drive, etc. I had a 30% off coupon that brought the total to $707 to my door after shipping and CA tax.

I slept on it and decided to change my order to everything the same except I upgraded the video card to a Nvidia 256mb 8600 and my screen to the SXGA+ with TrueLife for only $100 more for both upgrades. So basically I am paying a little over $800 to my door. I figured I can make it more a desktop replacement with those upgrades.

Does this sound like a good choice? I have read horror stories about these displays, will I experience problems? What should I be looking for?

I am very comfortable with my deal and the bang for the buck so far until I receive my system and really check it out. It says an estimated ship date of 2/6/08. Do they usually ship before the estimated date? Any info on this situation would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Yeah thats a good deal.

 

You cant beat the Vostro 1500 as far as value for money goes at the moment, imo.

Is that 1GB RAM a typo? all the configs Ive seen a the dell uk site offer 2GB as minimum at the moment.

 

LOL. :laugh: You too? When did you order yours?

Here's my info!

Vostro 1500, Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, 2.2GHz, 800Mhz FSB, 4M L2 Cache

15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD
1GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
80G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
Google Small Biz Home Page Internet Portal
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem, for Inspiron
24X COMBO CD-RW/DVD for Vostrowithout Roxio Creator
Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini card

Order Date: 1/30/2008

Est. Ship Date: 2/6/2008

Est. Delivery Date: 2/11/2008-2/13/2008

Total: $805.27 (how about you?)

I also live in California...Southern California to be exact. I'm guessing you ordered on the 30th too? Tax was a real PITA.


I skimped on the hard drive, RAM, the screen, and the DVD drive. I'll have to create some backups of Vista and look for another 2gb to pair with my Corsair 2gb valueselect...which has yet to hit $30 before rebates. I also opted to go with the regular screen. I prefer my font and images larger and I don't have enough time to go through multiple returns and bad customer service for an LG screen.

 

That's funny, I am also in So. Cal, San Diego to be exact. I originally had my order date on 1/29 with a 2/5 estimated ship date, but I changed some specs the next day, so I also have an order date of 1/30 with a 2/6 estimated ship date now.

Bro, I'm not sure if you used a coupon, but it doesn't seem like it. My grand total after everything was $820 and change for more specs than that. **EDIT** I just realized that you got a 2.2ghz 4mb cache Core 2 Duo. Here is what I got in a nutshell:

2.0ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4" WSXGA+ Screen with TrueLife
1gb of PC5300 667mhz Ram
Nvidia 256mb 8600M GT
80gb 5400 SATA hard drive
Intel Pro 3945 A/G Mini Card
Windows XP (I don't care for Vista yet)
8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+R write capability, w Roxio Creator
Dell Wireless 355 BlueTooth Module, (2.0+EDR), for WindowsXP

After I ordered I heard about the WSXGA+ screens being grainy and LG is the luck of the draw. I guess I will take my chances and just use the return policy if anything is wrong. It seems like you paid just as much for less, so let me know if you need any tips for a coupon.

 

Yeah that is 1gb of RAM, I live in the States. Instead of paying $150 extra for 2gb of RAM through Dell, I am going to buy 2gb for about $35 and install it myself. Same goes for the hard drive, I might upgrade that myself to a 7200rpm one.

 

Cool! I also forgot to mention that I got Bluetooth as well. It's only a $20 upgrade, but I think I got a pretty stacked system for a little over $800. My more detailed specs are a couple of posts above.

I am going to upgrade my RAM to 2gb's myself for about $35 and possibly upgrade my hard drive to a 7200rpm drive as well.

How do you like the notebook? Do they ship earlier than the estimated date? Thanks!

 

Dude, I used a 30% coupon too. The main difference between yours and mine is that I got the 2.2ghz 4mb L2 cache and the Intel wireless-N card.

In hindsight, I could've just opted to stay with the Dell 1505 Wireless-N and increased my HD size. I don't need a DVD burner, so I just stuck with the CD burner/DVD reader combo. Good enough for me.

Now that I think about it, you got the more "balanced" out version. You didn't invest extra in the Wireless-N card but you put some $ into the screen.

I personally don't have more than a couple of weeks after the latest delivery date to make returns for a grainy LCD. Although I'll admit that the pricing for getting WSXGA+ was nice, I wasn't too hot on getting a dim grainy Samsung LCD screen and having to spend upwards of several months just to make sure that I'd get the right one. Now THAT would be a pain!!

The T7500 was an attractive option for me. 4mb of L2 cache simply means I get a lot more bang out of the processing power. From a n00bie point of view, the processing power should help me multitask.

 

On a further note...I sold another coupon on eBay for $5 just yesterday before the deal died. I'm hoping that this deal wasn't TOO popular and that we haven't been placed in a really long queue. That would really suck.

But if worst comes to worst, I'll have to cancel and just keep my Compaq. In the longer run, that'll just mean I lose nothing but some time spent researching.

 

You sold a coupon? Gotta love people like you

 

Yeah, had no choice! Spent $8 to buy it. But after someone on a website private messaged me a coupon, I figured that I'd be better of reselling that coupon and losing $3 instead of $8. You can do a lot with $5, lol.

 

Damn.. well in that case my hate doesn't turn to you, but the person that sold you it in the first place! Gotta keep your eyes open the coupons are out there and for everyone

 

Where? I went on slickdeals.net and begged...didn't receive a response at first, so got it at eBay.com

I DID subscribe with Dell small business months back but canceled when I thought Dell had officially ended their discounts on the Vostro.

 

Strange...

Maybe it is different over there, here coupons (or vouchers as we say here ) are much more easy to find. We also have a site that is like sickdeals.. but ours seems alot more helpful compared to sickdeals.. what is going on where you need to PM people begging for codes? Proper odd.

 

Ordered 1/28/2008 also using 30% coupon:
Vostro 1500, Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2.0GHz, 800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD (wanted matte)
1GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM (ram is cheap, but 1gb in XP isn't terrible)
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Genuine Windows XP Home Edition, SP2

$707 shipped to my door. The only thing I'm second guessing is upgrading the warranty or maybe adding complete care. I believe I can add that on once I've got the laptop, correct?

 

On slickdeals.net, I just posted in the Dell coupons section. My reply came a bit later...not nearly as quick as I'd hoped!

I think this time of year coupons just weren't available as they had been during the August-November months. Back then people were posting coupons left and right. This time, I only saw up to ten people posting Dell small business desktop/laptop coupons.

 

I will be getting almost the exact configuration as you guys are. Next week I will be ordering a 1500 with an 8600m GT, 2GB of ram, a T7250 (2.0GHz), 160GB HDD, and a DVD burner for $830.

 

How??? If you're in the US, the 30% coupon for small business owners died just last night.

 

Nice job man. Just curious, has yours shipped already, or what is the current status? I just want to gauge how long I will be waiting. Thanks!

 

That sounds like a very good deal to me.

 

Yeah...it does pop up from time to time.

 

HAHAHA! Why don't we start our own SoCal tracking calculator? We can have the geeks here take into account availability or shortage of certain parts as well as average UPS/FedEX times. How about it, people?

 

I'm assuming these coupons are private?

Is there a Dell Mailing list or something that I can sign up for to get future coupons?

 

You don't need a coupon, just select the $599 option and configure as I did.

 

Omg.

And I paid 1700$ for my Vostro over here.

 

Wow, that's crazy!

 

I purchased a Vostro 1500 for $753.90 here are my specs:

Vostro 1500, Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, 2.2GHz, 800Mhz FSB, 4M L2 Cache

15.4 inch Wide Screen SXGA+ display with TrueLife LCD for Vostro 1500

2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM


Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

250GB Hard Drive, 5400RPM, SA160, for Dell Vostro 1500 Notebook

Genuine Windows XP Home Edition, SP2

Google Small Biz Home Page Internet Portal

Dell Support Center 2.0 for Dell Vostro

Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem, for Inspiron

Adobe Reader 8.1

8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+R write capability, w Roxio Creator


Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0


Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) Internal Card
Integrated 2.0 mega pixel webcam 1500
Dell Exclusive MediaDirect Instant Play Software Application
No Anti-Virus/ Security Software requested
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for Vostro 1500
Microsoft Works 8.5 - English

 

There are some good deals posted here. I kind of think I should have configured mine for a better CPU. My configuration was 629 USD though. I did not need a powerful system for what I do.

 

I'm happy with my vostro. I was eyeing the XPS 1530, but there is no way it's worth $800 more with comparable specs

 

I was looking a a similar system. So would you say that the
Intel Core 2 Duo T5270, 1.4GHz, 800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM
is powerful and fast enough for most tasks. I don't play a lot of games, but was wondering how the 1.4GHz processor faired at other tasks?

 

I have a Vostro 1500 with the same CPU and it's more than enough for web browsing, email, word, and even games. As long as you don't try and run demanding CPU intensive programs you should be fine.

 

Vostro 1500 is a great value, you can't go wrong with it