Dude, should I get a DELL?

ArBiTaL 24 · Dec 5, 2007

So, all Dell jokes aside...

I'm in the market for a new laptop, and the Dell ones seem pretty good.. Are they ok? Or are there any other brands more recommended? (Remember that I'm in the UK so we don't have the same range as you US guys ^^).

Also - if I do decide to go Dell, I've been looking at the XPS M1530, but I'm finding it near-impossible to figure out what batteries fit it. I'm away from the power a lot so I'd need an extra battery or two, but apart from determining "4 cell / 6 cell / 9 cell", I can't find a battery model, on Dell's site or e-Bay, that mentions the "M1530" model number. Should I be worried about this? Or maybe someone could shed some light for me on which battery(ies) will fit this model?

My budget is about £1000 maximum.. That's about $1,800 or so I guess, so that puts me out of the range of the higher-end "gamer" laptops, but I don't really plan to use it all that much for gaming or anything like that anyways.

Thanks!

Scott9027 · Dec 5, 2007

Definitely, Dell makes some very quality laptops. I would recommend the Latitude series just because that's what I have, but I know lots of people with Inspirons that are solid too. They are a great value.

SeasonalEclipse · Dec 5, 2007

Id get a vostro. I got a nice deal on mine last month. 730 for a laptop with a 8600GT video card, 160 GB hard drive, vista, and 1 gb of ram which I plan to upgrade eventually.

CGR · Dec 5, 2007

I would stay away from Dell products other than monitors.

We have had lots of problems with their desktops and laptops in the last few years.

And its no fun talking to their tech support outside the U.S.

Vengance_01 · Dec 5, 2007

Dell makes great notebooks. Whats your budget, and what will you be doing with it?

ArBiTaL 24 · Dec 5, 2007

Vengance -

ArBiTaL 24 said:
My budget is about £1000 maximum.. That's about $1,800 or so I guess, so that puts me out of the range of the higher-end "gamer" laptops, but I don't really plan to use it all that much for gaming or anything like that anyways.

Mainly to be used for my Uni work - typing up essays, surfing the internet, a little graphics editing (nothing heavy though), general tweaking and fiddling, programming - fairly basic stuff.

That doesn't mean that I want a budget model though - I'd like something that can handle some games should it be nessecery. Again, nothing especially heavy - of course it'd be lovely if it could handle HL2 and the like, but that would be asking too much of a Laptop.

The main issue is battery life, and is the main reason I'm not just picking a cheapie off e-Bay. The longer the battery life (without sacrificing things like screen brightness), the better, and preferably one that is easy to get hold of replacement batteries for, so I can get a couple of spares - and hence my above question on the batteries!

SeasonalEclipse / Scott -

Thank you for those recommendations! I found them on the site, but they seem to be more budget models, which is fine, but I can afford to get a higher-end one if that will mean drastically higher performance or battery life (and yes, I know those two are usually mutually exclusive

)

andyl33t · Dec 5, 2007

I had a Dell Inspiron 6400, and after 6 months using it I had to return it to Dell. I would not recommend Dell for the following reasons:
The laptop was very buggy and had errors, after ringing the technical support who did not know what was wrong with it, I had to tell them which part to repair. The engineer came and he brought the wrong part, so he came the next week. That next week he came and again, he bought the wrong part. ****ed of with this, I complained to Dell and they assured me that he would fix it the next time he came. So he comes back, and hey guess what? He brings the wrong part! For the 3rd time!!

I had to have a very long arguement with Dell, and after many phone calls they refunded my laptop.

benbaked · Dec 5, 2007

We have some Dells at work, laptops and towers, and with the exception of one they've been solid. I had the keyboard go out on an Inspiron 2200 and Dell had a replacement keyboard at my door the next day, with instructions and the prying tool.

Sederien · Dec 5, 2007

I got an outlet Dell laptop as a cheap replacement when my Compaq kicked the bucket (just after its warranty expired and I was in Japan to boot).

And for regular, everyday usage over the past two years, I really can't complain. I've had no issues with it and it surprised me.

ArBiTaL 24 · Dec 5, 2007

So that's about half the people saying "Get one! They're great!" and half saying "Don't get one! They're rubbish". Typical

.

Well, I wouldn't really be concerned if it decided to stop working. Unlike Joe-sixpack users, I'm not afrain to take a screwdriver to the casing and poke around to see what's wrong

.

To those people saying not to get one: What brand would you recommend? I'm completely open to brand at the moment, I just want one new (so I don't have to worry about the typical dead battery problem that plagues so many e-bay laptops), that does the job... Dell was just the first company to come to mind ^_^.

jivetrky · Dec 5, 2007

I had a Dell E1705 and thought it was great. Played games quite well for the price paid. Things are way cheaper now too. You can get a great performing laptop with an 8600GT in it and play most games at reasonable levels. Of course it'll do anything else you want as well. Only thing with a laptop that can play games well (which is usually a 17" because they don't put the high end graphics chips in the 15"ers[unless you spend a ton of $$ that is]) is that they are going to be larger and heavier, thus not quite as portable as other not-so-gamable laptops would be.

But anyway, I loved my E1705, the performance was good, the screen was incredible (1920x1200 resolution on a 17" display is as crisp as can be) I'd definitely recommend a Dell notebook to anyone looking for great price vs. performance. Sure there's better laptops out there, but for the price you can't really beat them.

djrussell · Dec 5, 2007

i've got a dell m90 from work that's been solid so far. it's pretty much a desktop replacement that i have to take mobile every now and then. i do some serious solid modeling on it though and it's been good. it's kind of high end though so i don't know if it can speak much for the low-mid range.

for your battery concerns, why not just buy the laptop and then pick the batteries up after that? cost doesn't varry between model that much does it?

for brands, i had an hp pavilion ze5400 ~4 years ago. it was great to me. built like a tank. not super pleasent to carry though.

ArBiTaL 24 · Dec 5, 2007

Thanks for the extra advice people!

djrussell - The problem with buying the laptop and then getting the batteries is that I can't figure out which batteries are compatible with which laptops. Dell doesn't make it easy to figure out!

Also, I know this is random, but what do you guys think of this:
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_Vaio_BX51VN_Laptop_VGNBX51VN/version-1.asp

? I know it only has a 5,400rpm HD, but would that be much of an issue on a laptop? It doesn't need to be for gaming really, I can do that on this desktop if it comes to it.

djrussell · Dec 5, 2007

that laptop is really only strong in the processor and ram. you don't really need the ram either. try and get one with 1x1gig or 2x512mb and upgrade it yourself. i don't know what uk prices are but i saw a 2x2gig kit at frys last week for $95. the screen is low res for the size and integrated graphics =

. bluetooth is kind of neat though if you would use it.

jivetrky · Dec 5, 2007

ArBiTaL 24 said:
Thanks for the extra advice people!

djrussell - The problem with buying the laptop and then getting the batteries is that I can't figure out which batteries are compatible with which laptops. Dell doesn't make it easy to figure out!

Also, I know this is random, but what do you guys think of this:
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_Vaio_BX51VN_Laptop_VGNBX51VN/version-1.asp

? I know it only has a 5,400rpm HD, but would that be much of an issue on a laptop? It doesn't need to be for gaming really, I can do that on this desktop if it comes to it.

See, Dell can give you way more for less:

attack · Dec 5, 2007

I've had a bunch of dell laptops and I think they're the way to go honestly. You do hear stories about bad service/products, but you'll hear the same about any other, especialy considering the fact dell outsells everyone by leaps and bounds, so you'll hear more complaints because of the numbers, but % are pretty even.

bLack0ut · Dec 5, 2007

I hear lenovo makes some high-quality notebooks, but I've only personally owned Dell laptops(and they were so-so).

ArBiTaL 24 · Dec 5, 2007

Awesome! Thanks for the advice people, Dell it is (well, may be

) then

.

Shame they don't come with integrated fingerprint readers like the Sony one though hehe.

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn....aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=451-10474

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn....aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=451-10473

Would I be correct in saying that these would work with my XPS M1330(N12X3303) config? I suppose it would be best to get the lappie with the standard 6-cell one since it fits properly, and get a couple of 9-cell ones for when I'm away from the mains longer

.

Crana · Dec 5, 2007

Why don't you look into Acer? I'm using one right now and know a few people who have one and have nothing negative to say about them.

Acer AS9813WKMI - This thing is a total beast for less than £900! 20" screen!

Acer Travel Mate 5720 - This one fits what you want and 3.5 hours battery life is great.

ArBiTaL 24 · Dec 5, 2007

Crana said:
Why don't you look into Acer? I'm using one right now and know a few people who have one and have nothing negative to say about them.

Acer AS9813WKMI - This thing is a total beast for less than £900! 20" screen!
Acer Travel Mate 5720 - This one fits what you want and 3.5 hours battery life is great.

Wow, not bad! Pretty they ain't, but those are some nice specs are pretty good prices! One to consider

.

I think one of the problems and benefits of the Internet is the massive choice it gives you when buying something. Almost makes me get sentimental about the good old days when you could just walk into a shop and pick something from the 9 or 10 options on the shelves

.

Dude, should I get a DELL?

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