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Doubtful on certain specs....help.

post #1 of 11
2/14/06 at 4:37pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all, firstly this is the specs that i think i'm goin to order:



Base System Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo Processor T2500
2.0 GHz, 2MB Cache, 667 MHz FSB

Genuine Windows(R) XP Professional (English)
XP Professional SP2 Edition (English) CD Media

Displays 17" UltraSharp(TM) Wide Screen UXGA Display with
Truelife(TM): 1920x1200

DIMM Memory 2048MB (2 X 1024MB) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
60GB Ultra ATA 7200RPM Performance Hard Drive

Internal Optical Drive Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Combination Drive
with dual layer write capabilities

McAfee(R) Security Center(TM) 7.0 - 15 Months OEM


Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945 Dual Band 802.11a/g 54Mbps Wireless Mini
Card

256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(TM) Go 7800

Carbon Fiber Color Kit

9-Cell 80Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Dell(TM) Wireless 350 Bluetooth Module

90W Primary AC Adapter (110V/220V)


after reading countless threads ,coupled with the fact that this is my first ever notebook purchase, i found out a few things that makes me second guess some of my choices(well..i am slightly paranoid by nature..):

firstly: I found out that most users format their HDD to get rid of all the annoying softwares dell preinstalled, so my question is , should i get XP PRO?? or should i get the cheaper XP HOME, then format and install with my XP PRO CD? or can i format with the XP Pro cd that comes with the pakage?

secondly: if i am gonna format anyway, what will happen to the mcafee? or should i just drop the option?

third: the bluetooth module, apparently it eats up memory with several background processes that start automatically, and how many bluetooth devices are actually out there? are there bluetooth printers and scanners? so far what i found are phones, keyboards and mice....should i drop this option as well?

lastly: is there a big difference in performance between the 5400rpm HDDs vs 7200rpm HDDs?


apologize for being long winded. any advise will be aprecciated.

thanks!
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post #2 of 11
2/14/06 at 4:42pm
Get the bluetooth card from ebay or check the ForSale/Wnted thread here at the forums, its much cheaper then.

DEFINATELY FORMAT THE HDD!!!

Hdd speed is a personal decision. reality is the 100gb 5400 is comperable to the 60gb 7200rpm in performance 4 various reasons. check some of the other threads for the info.

Mcafee sucks anyway, look at the dell forum for the thread about best AV.
found here

http://www.notebookforums.com/showth...ight=AntiVirus
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post #3 of 11
2/14/06 at 4:45pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for the super quick reply man, you just saved me some money!

thanks!
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post #4 of 11
2/14/06 at 7:15pm
I ordered the XP Pro media with my 9400 and clicked every other button available for 'All Media' (UK).

Came with XP Pro and Drivers Media which is fine for a reinstall to working system, but on your default XP Pro install you will not be able to :-

Burn A DVD, CD
Play A DVD
Use Your Media Direct Function.

I had to call Dell and go through a 20 min call to tell those dudes I wanted all CD's for any apps that were installed on the machine.

They were all delivered by courier within 24hrs. Hope I don't have to call again LOL

Dougie.

EDIT : sorry, they also ship with all the CD's the AOL, Tiscal McAfee crap as well, but then, you can just put them in the 'garbage'
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post #5 of 11
2/14/06 at 7:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by scotland
I ordered the XP Pro media with my 9400 and clicked every other button available for 'All Media' (UK).

Came with XP Pro and Drivers Media which is fine for a reinstall to working system, but on your default XP Pro install you will not be able to :-

Burn A DVD, CD
Play A DVD
Use Your Media Direct Function.

I had to call Dell and go through a 20 min call to tell those dudes I wanted all CD's for any apps that were installed on the machine.

They were all delivered by courier within 24hrs. Hope I don't have to call again LOL

Dougie.

EDIT : sorry, they also ship with all the CD's the AOL, Tiscal McAfee crap as well, but then, you can just put them in the 'garbage'
Hi Scotland,
Did you receive the CD to install the Dell Media Direct software to an unpartitioned drive or newly partitioned drive?
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post #6 of 11
2/14/06 at 7:23pm
Thread Starter 
right, but i think i'll use nero for burning and maybe zone alarm and avg, the dell softwares arent really a credible bunch.

thanks Dougie.
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post #7 of 11
2/14/06 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HapiROTT
Hi Scotland,
Did you receive the CD to install the Dell Media Direct software to an unpartitioned drive or newly partitioned drive?
Hi,

The Media Direct software was on the CD I received marked 'Eurotools CD2'. It also had Corel PhotoCrap or something on it.

It is the full install version. There is a download on the Dell site that looks like some kind of upgrade, but will only install if it finds the original install.

I've still to find out how to get the media direct function to work from Power Up on the front buttons, but only because I use Ubuntu Linux and use the GRUB bootloader (Media Direct writes to your MBR).

Anyways, if your stuck for any of the stuff.....

Dougie
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post #8 of 11
2/14/06 at 7:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by scotland
Hi,

The Media Direct software was on the CD I received marked 'Eurotools CD2'. It also had Corel PhotoCrap or something on it.

It is the full install version. There is a download on the Dell site that looks like some kind of upgrade, but will only install if it finds the original install.

I've still to find out how to get the media direct function to work from Power Up on the front buttons, but only because I use Ubuntu Linux and use the GRUB bootloader (Media Direct writes to your MBR).

Anyways, if your stuck for any of the stuff.....

Dougie
Thanks Scotland
I may bend your ear when I try to install linux ( still undecided on which distribution)
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post #9 of 11
2/14/06 at 10:25pm
I just uninstalled the applications i didn't want. Took me about 45 minutes. I then ran registry mechanic to get rid of loose ends. Now I have all media functions, no bloatware, and a backup partition incase something goes wrong. I don't find it very hard to uninstall the stuff.
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post #10 of 11
2/15/06 at 4:31am
Thread Starter 
u mean you didnt format the HDD?
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post #11 of 11
2/16/06 at 4:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weaser
I just uninstalled the applications i didn't want. Took me about 45 minutes. I then ran registry mechanic to get rid of loose ends. Now I have all media functions, no bloatware, and a backup partition incase something goes wrong. I don't find it very hard to uninstall the stuff.

Well, download Autoruns from http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html and then have a rethink on your strategy LOL

And while your there you may as well download http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilitie...tRevealer.html , especially if you buy music from Sony and ain't heard what those mothers have being doing.

Dougie.
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