HELP! Laptops, What do you think?

[Kram4sites]

Recently I have found a $750 off deal for Dell Inspiron laptops $1999+... In result I have customized an Inspiron 9300 to meet the price criteria.

Here are the specs...

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Pentium M Processor 740 (1.73 Ghz/@MB Cache/533mhz Fsb) [+$100]
17 Inch display
512 MB Dual Channel DDR2 [+$50] [[!!DOES THIS MEAN 1, 512 MB STICK!!?]]
256MB GeForce Go 6800 [+$200] [[!!Hell yes!! but too bad no x800!!]]
80 GB Hard drive [+$70]
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
EXTRA BATTERY [+$125] [[!!Should I get this? or upgrade something else!!]]
8x Max DvD Rom Drive
Intel Pro/Wireless 2915 Internal Wireless (a/b/g) 54Mbps
6-cell lithium Ion Primary Battery (53 whr)
ADDITIONAL BATTERY 9-Cell Lithium Ion (80 whr) [+130] [[!! I dont want to run out of juice, but do you think this is neccessary? or should I uprade something else?!!]]
LINKSYS WRT54GS 802.11b/g Wireless-G with SpeedBooster Broadband Router [+$86] [[!! I need a wireless router...!!]]

I upgraded the ram because I plan on buying on buying another 512 chip and installing it myself for 1 gb in dual channel... will this work? and how hard is it to install ram in a laptop?

Also... I got the extra battery because the primary is only a 6 cell... and when I use the laptop I want to have the ability to constantly use it unplugged from the power socket... can I have one battery charging while im using another?

Also if you feel iI should change any of the specs... PLEASE tell me what... and why... thank you!

Also what do you think about the laptop... total comes to about... $1407 dollars...

Also if you seen any other deals I can use in addition to this, or you found a cheaper laptop that performs better for the money please tell me... thanks agian!

[Xenocide]

get 256mb, and buy a 2x512 from newegg, sell your 256 stick.

that would probabbly be the most cost effective. dell uses rather high latencies on their ram. my pc2700 in the 700m was cas 2.5

[Kram4sites]

Alright any other suggestions? how much could I get for the 256 stick?

[ozzlo]

I'm not sure you will need 3 batteries lol...

if you upgrade the primary battery to the 9 cell instead of the 6 cell you should get somewhere between 3-4 hours...

the 6 cell only does like 2-3 hours...

if you really need more juice... don't upgrade the 6 cell and buy an extera 9 cell that should give you around 6 hours or better...


if you are going to be on the road I would reccomend a car adapter...

watch out when you buy your ram for your notebook... there are a few people online that claim they have compatable ram but it's not 100% compatable... you should get the same manufacturer as the 256 stick with exact same timings to gaurentee it will work... some laptops are very pickey about their ram... i'm not sure if the i9300 is or not but I would just be on the safe side...

[nstabl]

pretty good deal, its prob fat though, when you get a laptop the point is mostly to be portable, hence the fact i got an ibook :D

[ozzlo]

Dimensions
Height: 1.6 inches/41.5 mm
Width: 15.5 inches/394 mm
Depth: 11.3 inches/288 mm

Weight
Starting at 7.85 lbs3

Display
17" UltraSharpTM Wide Screen

Features
Device Status lights
Front and Center backlit CD/DVD media control buttons

I just can't think of staring at a 12" screen all day long...



It's definatelly not small but It's got a 17" screen... I use my i8600 so much that I wish it had a larger screen...

I like the fact that the media control buttons are on the front so you don't have to open the laptop up to change the song...