buying M1330 in Canada

Hello all,

I've been visiting this website for a while however, today I decided to register! .

Anyways, I'm going to university this fall in Canada and I want to buy a laptop. I'm sort of leaning towards the M1330 ATM.

However I have some questions:

1. I'm aware of the university discounts US students get, however, is there a similar one here in Canada?
   
   On a side note, is there any other manufacturer that offer good discount for students in Canada?​
2. I like to upgrade to a 4GB RAM, however, Dell's price is INSANE. So I'm going to have to select the 2GB and upgrade myself. The question is: If I select the 2GB option and choose the Vista Ultimate option, would it be the 32bit or the 64 bit edition of Vista? Correct me if I'm wrong, is it true if I want to upgrade to 4GB it only works on the 64bit?
   
3. I know the M1330 comes with 2 DIMMs, if I select the 2GB option, do they install 1x2GB RAM or do they put 2x1GB? Do I have a choice which one to select if I call Dell?
   
4. the following is a technical question: I know they put the 667MHz DDR2 RAM in the system, Can I upgrade it to a 800MHz DDR2 alongside with the 667Mhz? would the system even support the 800MHz DDR2?

Thank you very much in advance for the support. and I'm sorry if I'm asking too much question...

 

I can answer some of the questions...

#1. Doesn't look like www.delluniversity.com has any option for Canadian students, but you can try www.dell.ca/epp

#2. You can trade in your 32-bit Vista for the 64-bit Vista

#3. 2x1 GB RAM -- i'm not sure if you have a choice. You can call and ask... (or someone else might know)

 

Wow, that Dell Canada EPP site must be new...

1. There are no educational discounts with Dell Canada. Apple has educational discounts. I don't believe HP, Gateway, or Lenovo do. Lenovo is part of the Visa Perks program though. You can save $100 off a T61 if you buy it with a Visa card.

2. Dell is only offering the 32 bit OS as far as I know. You can definitely install 4GB of RAM for use with a 32 bit OS, but only (approximately) 3.1GB is available for use.

3. I believe the 2GB option states Dual Channel, which means both DIMMs are filled (2x1GB).

4. The Santa Rosa platform on which the M1330 is built does not support DDR2-800 speeds. You can install DDR2-800, but it will be downclocked to DDR2-667, which is its maximum supported RAM speed.

Hope that helps.

 

1) No, those discounts are not available in Can

2) Get cheap RAM from Tigerdirect or Newegg

3) As far as I know, the only option is 2 X 1GB, but it never hurts to ask (them)

4) The lowest FSB would be used. Note that you can't get Dual Channel if they are different

 

At my university (Waterloo), Dell offers a discount of 2-12% to faculty rather than students. A Canadian Education Purchase Plan would be nice.

 

1. Actually, Dell Canada DOES offer student pricing in Canada. If you've been accepted at a university, check with them as Dell seems to negotiate deals separately with each university. For example, at U of T, the base price for the m1330 is 1179.

 

^How do you check with Dell?

 

u either call them or u go to one of their kiosks

too bad UBC don't have discount

 

Damn, I go to UBC I've been bugging random reps about student discounts in Canada.

Although I do have quite a few friends at U of T !

 

Thank you all for your...

Another question, most games nowadays require at least a 256MB at the very minimum and 512MB as the recommended. The M1330 has 128MB, is that even good for games?????

Thank you

 

Costco.com sells one right now, no custom config. yeat like HP on their site. I'm still waiting to find somthing, but thinking of calling dell.ca, my wife goes to UWO will see. Costco offers 2years warranty and covers across Canada/ USA.

 

i tihnk it depends on what games, i don't think the 8400gs will be able to run new games very well. however the card should be powerful enough to run old games like hl2 and oblivion. Don't expect to run these games on max settings though.

 

I just made the purchase at Costco.com $1794.36 usd. (1925.cad.)
for almost same setup on Dell.ca (Sub-total $2,027.00 / Shipping $0.00 / GST $121.62 / PST $162.16 / Total Price 1 $2,310.78 cad.
$385.78cad. in savings and I can deal with my Costco warehouse if needed. + 90 to deside if I really want to keep it.

 

yeah, just use it for 3 months then bring it back for a refund or an exchange for a new system..

 

I just find that dealing with places like costco is very easy and no restocking fees. If I'm not 100% happy I'll take it back, but I think I will be :>

 

hl2 and oblivion require a min of 256MB card. I don't know of a game that allows 128MB nowadays.. the only thing polling me back from buying the system is the 128MB graphics card ....

 

i played oblivion on my 64mb 7400 go card
vista use part of your system memory as video card memory

 

Since when can Canadians order from costco.com? Last I heard we were stuck with stuff on costco.ca...

 

I didn't think we could order from costco.com and on costco.ca they don't have the M1330 listed

 

So the Dell University (US) deals look awesome. How would it work for a Canadian student who's going down to the states for university?
I have a friend who's heading to the University of Charleston, and I'm wondering if I can get him to get a laptop for me.
Would Dell ship up to Canada, or would he have to wait until he's down there?
Also, what about warranty issues. Would be be able to ship it to the Canadian depot, or would it have to go back to the US?