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Close to pulling the trigger, please review

post #1 of 27
3/24/05 at 11:26pm
Thread Starter 
Inspiron 9300Intel® Pentium® M 730 Processor (1.60GHz/533MHz FSB)

Operating SystemMicrosoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

Display17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™

1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm

256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 6800

60GB 7200rpm Hard Drive60GB72

Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem

24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive

Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 Internal Wireless (802.11 a/b/g, 54Mbps)

Productivity Pack including WordPerfect®

No Security SubscriptionNS[412-0755]25

Primary Battery9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr)

Carrying CasesLarge Backpack Carrying Case

No Extended Service, Support or Ltd Warranty

LCD/Color KitsCarbon Fiber QuickSnap™ Cover

Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Internal(2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)


TOTAL: $1,623.05
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post #2 of 27
3/24/05 at 11:28pm
Do this change. Keep the 6 cell battery and just by the 9 cell as an extra battery for 129. It is a 30 dollar difference and you get the 6 cell as an extra. Also, I would go with the DVD Burner but that is me. Otherwise great config and I hope you pull the trigger and enjoy it
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post #3 of 27
3/24/05 at 11:31pm
That's basically what I did. Now what do I do with an extra 6 cell battery? Suggestions :-P?
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post #4 of 27
3/24/05 at 11:32pm
Thread Starter 
Wow, nice tip on the battery! Also, I was thinking about getting the DVD burner but alas my DVD player is an xbox and they don't play burnt DVDs.

edit: can't you have both batteries in at the same time?
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post #5 of 27
3/24/05 at 11:34pm
(OT) Mod the sucker, then. It's worth it.
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post #6 of 27
3/24/05 at 11:35pm
Well, it would certainly be possible from the standpoint of MAKING ME LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT (always a safe bet with technology). But then you're much better off waiting for someone who knows what they're talking about to answer.
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post #7 of 27
3/24/05 at 11:40pm
That price seems kinda high. You do know about the $800-off coupon, don't you?

PG4C$S21G58WSF
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post #8 of 27
3/24/05 at 11:49pm
Thread Starter 
it does seem high, but thats 2527 - 35%. am I doing something wrong here? I really want to order and am not wealthy!
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post #9 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:00am
Gotcha. I forgot the 35%-off deal was still on. Pull the trigger if you're happy with the 1.6 CPU. Personally, I would go for a faster CPU and drop some of the other stuff like snap-on covers and bluetooth.
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post #10 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:10am
Thread Starter 
you did see the part about not being wealthy, right? hehe, anyway I can't really justify even 100$ more for what looks like a 130mhz boost.
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post #11 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:11am
Yeah....my question is why would you load up everything and not the processor, unless you are going to do the CPU upgrade yourself?
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post #12 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:13am
Well, if you're not wealthy, you can use the $800 coupon to get a $2000 config for $1200. You'd have to sacrifice some goodies, but you could still get your WUXGA and go6800, which are really all that matter, and $1200 is a bargain for that kind of GPU fire power.
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post #13 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:14am
Thread Starter 
i am having a hard time figuring out where 2.0ghz is going to be worth 400$ more than 1.6ghz.

Actually even the 6800 was a splurge, this is going to be almost exclusively for database crunching.
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post #14 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:29am
If the computer is gonna be used almost exclusively for database crunching, I would suggest that you not splurge on the 6800 but a 1.86GHz. The x300 w/128MB will do ok with occasional gaming.
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post #15 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:36am
Thread Starter 
yea perhaps you are right. 2 questions:

What is the difference in battery life between the X300 and the 6800?

Can you have 2 betteries in simultaneously?
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post #16 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:41am
If I remember correctly, the 6800 uses 2.5 times the power than the x300. With a 6- cell, you should expect more than 3 hours with the x300 and less then 2 hours for the 6800. Close to 5 hours with the x300 and 9-cell, and just a little over 3 hours with the 6800 on the 9-cell. No, you cannot use 2 batteries simultaneously, buy you can hibernate you computer, and then switch the batteries.
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post #17 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:44am
Dude do NOT go with the lower card. Use the 35% off and keep the nice 6800togo. The card will insure your lappy is not obselete in a couple of years. You will definitely get a longer usage out of it with the 6800 and it will never be 129 (199-35%off) to buy the card separately. So go for the better card. that and buy the 1 gig of ram through Dell because with 35% off it is cheaper than buying it new. RAM, video and a fast hard drive are the largest speed factors in a laptop at this level. The difference between 1.6 and 2.0 is not that great (well not $400 anyway. Of course with 35% off it is only 260 more). Still vid card, RAM, and HD in that order will get you the most performance for your buck...
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post #18 of 27
3/25/05 at 12:49am
Operaman, but he already stated that the computer will almost be exclusively be used for database crunching. So for what occasional gaming he does, I think the x300 will do the job just fine. I agree that if you can't justify a $400 different for 400MHz, you shouldn't get the 760, but that's why I suggested the 1.86GHz. The 1.6GHz might be a little too slow for number crunching as the Pentiums M's are already known for not being very fast when the processes are floating point intensive. Its all up to the buyer in the end though.
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post #19 of 27
3/25/05 at 1:00am
Might I be the first to say, bad choice of words.
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post #20 of 27
3/25/05 at 1:04am
Yea, but resale value is important as well. The battery life MIGHT be effected by 15-20 minutes at most and the performance difference is phenominal. The 1.86 is a good compromise, but memory and hardrive along with video card makes the most difference in performance. As a guy who builds desktops and refurbs laptops for grins this is just a fact man.

BTW, I wasn't trying to step on your toes as I was posting before you had put your reply up. So it was not in response to you.

As for number crunching then settling on the 1.86 and getting a gig of ram and perhaps the 7200 hard drive will do the trick.
though the 60 gig 5400 with 8 meg cache is a fine drive and the 80 GB is a good combination of size vs performance.

I stand by the card though. It is just a good call to get the better card at the nominal fee they are charging for it. It will influence the resell value by a good 200-300 a couple of years from now, and it is better to err on the side of too much power at your finger tips than not enough...
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