please help VOSTRO 1700 OR INSPIRON 1720 ? WHATS BEST ???

Hi everyone

im a newbie and after some advice, im trying to decide between a dell vostro 1700 and the inspiron 1720

both have 17" wuxga screen 1900x1200
geforce 256mb 8600GT
160GB hard drive
core 2 duo 1800 or 2.0 ghz
dvdrw
vista home premium

ive had an acer for the last few years, and not had a dell since an inspiron before that, so i dont know about these new dells and just wondered what difference there is between these 2 and any flaws ? and basicly some help,coz im not sure what one to go for ?

thanks a lot and look forward to some replies !!!


peace out

 

they are the same exact laptop besides color and versions of vista. unless you NEED the media center portion, id say look at the vostros if they are cheaper.

 

Yeah, you generally get better deals on the vostro, and assuming you have a half competent CSR, they can customize it to the point of it being exactly like a 1720(OS and media remote) while still keeping the lower price.

Mostly comes down to personal preference... do you want an all black laptop, or one thats 1/3rd black, 1/3rd silver, and 1/3rd *insert inspiron colour decision here*.

 

Both notebooks are similar. Inspirons have many colors where as Vostro is stuck with black. Inspiron is cool where as Vostro is inexpensive. You are better off with Inspiron!

 

Apart from color, the Vostro and Inspiron are basically the same physically, but the options on the configurator differ, as do the prices and deals.

The money-back warranty with no restocking fee is not available on the Inspiron and other home laptops (unless you local law requires it). In the US and Canada, at least, North American based Gold support is only available on the Vostro and other business laptops.

Fuzzy

 

Searchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Apparently they both suck

 

So does you're attitude.

 

thanks for the replies !!

i have to wait till tomorrow to buy one as ive got to put the cash in to my bank in the morning, so got to make my mind up in the next day or 2

im not fussed about color at all weather it be black, part black,silver or blue or whatever, its the build construction and functionality and performace im more interested in, the price isnt the issue either, as they are costing around the same give or take a few £££ ,(im in the uk btw)

both specs are around the same with same 8600GT and core 2 duos and 2048 ram and 17" screens, so its basicly down to the build of the machines and slight performance and overall quality ?

with regard to this post ...

they can customize it to the point of it being exactly like a 1720(OS and media remote) while still keeping the lower price.

so does the vostro have an inbuilt media remote ? does the inspiron not6 have one ? i cant seem to find anything about this ?

so is the inspiron a better build quality and overall better machine then if they had the same sort of spec ?

thanks folks !

 

what exactly is the media center portion ? and how do they differ on the 2 machines ?


ive been running xp media center edition for the last 18 months or so , and not upgraded to vista yet, a friend of mine was showing me his new vista home premium machine, and was showing me the media center bit on that, with re recording of tv etc, i just assumed that was on all vista home premium ? and you just needed the tv card ?

im interested in yur post and how these 2 machines differ regarding this ? thanks

 

No, my attitude is excellent. So shut your face and recognize that Dell's new inspirons have some serious issues ranging from grainy screens to high pitch noises and crappy screen latches.

 

buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuump

 

I am in the UK too and Im torn between the inspiron and the vostro 15" though. As far as I can both machines are almost identical save for the inclusion of bluetooth as standard on the inspiron and the lower priced processors in the vostros when held against the same model processor in the inspiron. For example I will pay alot less for a 800mHz FSB processor of any speed in a vostro than I could get in an Inspiron.
But, does the bus speed of the proccessor make THAT MUCH difference?
Im currently lurking in the outlet and holding off for free shipping or a better discount on the vostros but Im still undecided.
B

 

im not exactly sure, but i think then faster th fsb the better, it all depends on what you want the machine for ? games or just internet general use etc

from what i gather...the inspiron is more expensive for same spec, ive seen vostros with just £100 odd saving, but seen inspirons with £300 saving

im checking the outlet all the time, doesnt seem to be much movement on there this morning and anything new

i swear there must be ebay sellers that have machines on ebay, that just keep adding outlet machines to their cart but not buying them, ive seen one machine pop up,and go again all weekend, it came back a day later and was there for like 2 mins then went again, and other machines keep dissapearing,reappearing,then going again, they should not let it happen !!

keep posting in this thread with what you see and buy etc !

 

It seems to me that one of the main differences between Vostro and Inspiron is business level support on the Vostro.

I'm a bit confused about the support options on the Dell Outlet site, though; it seems to be fairly arbitrary which options are offered when you add a machine to cart. I was just on my way to doing a bit more searching here about that, and possibly starting a new thread. If anyone knows about this, I'd like to hear from them.

 

i think the support on dell outlet machines varies, you have to click on the system details and see, you get the warranty but you cant add 2 year next day options etc i dont think

ive been looking on the outlet all day waiting for that elusive machine to pop up

 

I agree with all that, Ive seen some good deals that are only there for a couple of minutes at a time then they reappear later only to tell you that someone has already reserved them!
The site is a shambles to be honest, a company the size of Dell should have a better site, outlet or not. I think I might take my chances and call a rep with a spec in mind and try to get a better price. Does anyone know if Dell uk employs any UK based sales people? The last sales person I spoke to had trouble understanding me and I him.

B

 

It seems like when you have something in your cart, then you (sometimes) get options of extra warranty, but I can't see any rhyme or reason to the options that are (not) offered.

I'm particularly concerned about this having made very heavy use of the 3yr onsite warranty with my previous machine; an Inspiron 5150.

I just started looking at the (uk) outlet again today; there seem to be loads of machines compared to a couple of months ago when there was almost nothing.

 

ive been constantly checking all day and have the money ready, the prices seem to vary a little too, about an hour ago a few new machines popped up then went again

i might give them a call too and see what they can offer me, but i dont think they can offer a machine thats in someones cart , they have to wait for it to be removed because i had a machine in my cart earlier,and called them about it,and to purchase over the fone he said i had to remove it

so if people are keeping machines in their carts, it takes the p!ss !!!

 

A difference I have noticed is that the Vostro gives more choice for processors. Not sure about the 17 incher, but I know the 15-inch Inspiron wasn't going to give me a T7100 processor (1.8 gHz, 800 mHz FSB) and cost way too much to upgrade above that. The Vostro, on the other hand, has piles of processor choices -- almost all with 800 mHz FSBs, too.

The Vostro has a black keyboard, which I for one prefer. (The Inspiron's is doomed to turn brown after a few years' use, unless it is well cared for).

Vostro has a 30-day return guarantee with full refund, instead of 85% refund.

Random question that I do not know: Does the Vostro come with a remote control, like the Inspirons?

 

they can both take the remote, you have to purchase that extra

ive seen the remote included on the odd system form the outlet today while searching,but its easily available on ebay for £10 anyway !

 

reading about the screen resolutions has me a little confused..
if you went with the highest resolution capability buying a new 1720, would you even be able to use the high resolution if you didn't have the hd dvd drive?
i guess the question is whether it would be useless or not to upgrade the screen. i can't see small icons being much of a selling point. what am i missing?

 

oops. got my forum links messed up. i'm only an idiot sometimes.

 

'Desktop real estate' is something I find very valuable for lots of the work that I do with a computer, for all sorts of reasons. On the other hand, how much benefit there is of watching video at that kind of resolution, particularly on a relatively small screen, I don't know. Probably not much, IMHO.

 

ive just bought an inspiron 1720 , see my new post for the spec ,i cant wait to get it !

i got a bargain