Comments on: Input needed: I’m buying a laptop tonight

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:16:30 +0000

I know you want a Dell, but if you haven’t bought yet and are mainly concerned with a Windows PC, I work for HP and will loan you my employee discount (an extra 10% off and you still get all the additional discounts.)

By: chie

chie — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:05:33 +0000

you should make sure to donate the computer (through a refurbisher) once you replace it. the true lifespan of a computer is *up to* 10 years, and, understanding that you’ve run the gamut to fix the laptop, the problems sound fixable. (i have years of experience fixing and building computers.) it’s really good to donate computers, socially, environmentally, and financially (tax deductions).

By: did

did — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:58:51 +0000

I got a Gateway at Office Depot because it was a good deal…and I couldn’t afford to get a MacBook Pro like I wanted. Now I have a $699 piece of junk. It works…but I’ll keep it around just in case I have to run something using Windows software, otherwise, I’m getting a MacBook Pro this semester, plus I’m getting a 8 gig iPod Touch for free after rebate when I buy my MacBook Pro (I was going to buy one anyway!)

I wouldn’t be downing Mac’s because if EVENTUALLY (since they have Intel Core Duo processors) you want to run Windows, you can. BTW, Vista is junk!

By: verandoug

verandoug — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:51:57 +0000

I wouldn’t own a Windows PC on a bet. The days of owning one of those time hogs for me went out the door seven years ago when I began purchasing Macs. Ooops. I said the “m” word there. For me the hours and hours and hours and hours…… of troubleshooting issues and problems was not worth the money saved because inevitably, there was always just one more thing I needed to buy. Plus, it took away so much time from my family. I shall not bore you with the details. However, my top of the line computer would not accept Windows XP with over ten formats. There were so many days where I was told my only hope was to format the hard drive and start again. I haven’t done that in over seven years. So just suffice it to say that I have friends that still buy Windows and still deal with the issues involved whilst I get my work done and live my life normally. Plus, I have an iPod Touch. How in the world did I ever live without my iPod? Someone asks me for a phone number or address, I have it. If we are stuck in a very tedious waiting situation, we watch a movie. I never lose my notes that I take because they are on my iPod. That’s a $300 item they are giving away at back-to-school plus a free printer. OK, so you like Dell. Good for you. I love my Mac! As one giving advice, I think it only fair that you tell your listeners the truth about computers. Apple stands behind their product with American speaking people and they are excited about what they can develop for us to make our time on the computer a pleasant one. Dell, in my experience, does not. I owned one for one month and that did it for me.

By: Elsie

Elsie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:20:26 +0000

I haven’t seen anybody posted this….but, I always read and search http://www.fatwallet.com for any tech/computer needs….lets say they’re like the moneysavingsmom of technology IMHO…

By: Money Saving Mom

Money Saving Mom — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:17:25 +0000

Thanks for all the helpful input and info!

We ended up getting a sweet deal last night on a brand-new Dell. I can’t wait for it to come in so that I don’t have to use this loaner laptop anymore!

By: Lea

Lea — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:29:07 +0000

I JUST bought a Dell Inspiron 1525 I think it was or maybe 1520 < ?> it was $499 at Best Buy on sale! good deal and then if you buy the laptop you can buy a new canon printer for $10.99. I was very happy with the buy it has windows vista and all the perks. It is basic and fast and has enough memory to meet my personal needs. Recommended!!! Again that was at Best Buy

By: Dana~

Dana~ — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:46:24 +0000

SO??? Whadya buy??

By: Amanda Atkinson

Amanda Atkinson — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:41:41 +0000

My mom just purchased a “bent & dent” for my son this summer. It’s a brand new computer and we have found no scratches or dents or anything wrong with the laptop. I guess it is one someone purchased and returned. She got it much much cheaper than if she had purchased it “new”. Ordered it online through dell.com

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:12:01 +0000

I used an HP pavilion desktop for over 8 years! It is just now going down on me, so we took the plunge and bought a MAC (but from their refurbished store online). Certified good as new with a warranty but huge savings. My friend just ordered an HP laptop online from Wal-Mart for just under $700 with a few accessories included. I love her laptop! It is really, really nice and a lot of features and quality for the money. She is very pleased with it and feels like she got a good bargain. I am an HP advocate because of my awesome experience with the aforementioned computer. We just decided to try something new at home! But if I would get a laptop, I would go the route she did after playing around with hers and seeing what it features for the money.

By: jenn

jenn — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:02:48 +0000

I just got an email from Dell with this link: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?config_data=&c=us&cs=19&fb=1&l=en&oc=DNDEPA8&s=dhs&dgc=EM&cid=33645&lid=805316

Get coupon codes here:http://www.techbargains.com/

Buy through ebates to save even more!

By: Chiara

Chiara — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:02:25 +0000

Hi, I hope this isn’t too late. My hubby is a frugal guy and a techie at the same time (no, it’s not an oxymoron ). Try slickdeals.com or newegg.com, the hubby says there’s a laptop on slickdeals for $400 after rebate (this is on the 27th).

I have an IBM and I’ve tried various laptops from the ancient MACs to Toshiba (it crashed after only 1 year!). I thought I will never buy anything else but then IBM got bought out by Lenovo and I haven’t heard much about how great or not so great Lenovos are. The IBM ones tend to be pricier (usually more than $1000) but in my book, it’s worth every penny.

As for Windows Vista, just be prepared. You might find some bugs and things might be frustrating for a while but eventually, you’ll conquer the ‘puter

Have fun!

By: Sonya

Sonya — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:27:32 +0000

We purchased my daughter a Dell for Christmas because her met ,by way of our cat with the liquid of a reed diffuser, which melted her keyboard. It has already encountered problems. I don’t know if it is the Vista or what. My desktop also a Dell is shot. I run a virus protection program regularly updated and renewed. I think sometimes it’s because of so much junk on the net and no matter what we do they wind up with problems faster than they did.

By: My Boaz's Ruth

My Boaz's Ruth — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:04:51 +0000

I get my best deals on notebooks at Fry’s.

However, if you are set on Dell, I’m not sure how much of a bargain you can get because I think only Dell sells Dells. Maybe a corporate discount through your husband?

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:00:33 +0000

Since this has turned into a discussion about favorite computers, I must say that we also had a terrible experience with our Dell laptop– so many problems, bad customer service, and really expensive replacement parts. We’re currently looking for something new, so I’m watching this discussion intently.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:52:35 +0000

Don’t have time to go through all the comments, so I don’t know if it’s already been recommended, but I’d suggest you look at http://www.pricegrabber.com . I find lots of great deals on there. Have fun!

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:41:56 +0000

Hi! I got a new Dell laptop in November, I had lots of luck saving money! I went to http://www.dealcatcher.com/ and saved over $500 on my laptop! I also found a free shipping offer and ordered my laptop directly from Dell and got it within a few days. Best of luck!

By: Ginny

Ginny — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:57:06 +0000

I apologize for not having time to read through all the comments here before leaving mine, so if this has already been said, just delete it!

We have always ordered our Dell computers directly from them. That way, we are able to customize it to meet our needs. We will wait until they are running a “free shipping” special, which I realize you cannot do.

While scrolling to the bottom of the page, I noticed someone had commented that Dell isn’t the company they once were; however, the only time we did not purchase a Dell, we got burned. Dell continues to have a good reputation as far as customer service is concerned, too.

We haven’t checked it out since we’re not in the market for any new computers, but have you checked WalMart to see what kinds of prices they have on the Dell’s they sell?

By: dwarren

dwarren — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:50:34 +0000

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/Search.do?c=1&searchType=user&keyword=c770&searchSection=All&go.x=9&go.y=8

$450 + tax after rebates

Can’t beat it! And Dell’s have been poor quality in recent years.

Processor
Processor brand
Processor brand: Intel®
Refers to the company that manufactures the processor.

View full glossary

Processor brand: Refers to the company that manufactures the processor.
Intel®
Processor type
Processor type: Pentium Dual Core
The generation/basic model of the processor.

View full glossary

Processor type: The generation/basic model of the processor.
Pentium Dual Core
Processor speed
Processor speed: 1.86GHz
The number of calculations that the processor can handle in one second measured in millions of cycles (MHz).

View full glossary

Processor speed: The number of calculations that the processor can handle in one second measured in millions of cycles (MHz).
1.86GHz
Bus speed
Bus speed: 533MHz
The maximum rate of communication between the processor and the rest of the system, measured in millions of cycles (MHz).

View full glossary

Bus speed: The maximum rate of communication between the processor and the rest of the system, measured in millions of cycles (MHz).
533MHz
Level 2 cache 1MB
Memory
RAM 2GB
RAM expandable to: 3GB
Memory type (RAM) Info unavailable
Expansion slots 2
Available expansion slots 2
Storage/Drives
Hard drive speed 5400RPM
Hard drive size
Hard drive size: 160GB
Hard drive space is typically measured in Gigabytes (GB) or storage; the larger the number, the more programs, games and data you can use on your computer.

View full glossary

Hard drive size: Hard drive space is typically measured in Gigabytes (GB) or storage; the larger the number, the more programs, games and data you can use on your computer.
160GB
Burns DVDs Yes
Graphics and sound
Screen size (diagonal)
Screen size (diagonal): 15.4″
TV screens are measured diagonally, from corner to corner. HDTVs often look smaller than SDTVs with the same screen size because of the wider 16:9 aspect ratio.

View full glossary

Screen size (diagonal): TV screens are measured diagonally, from corner to corner. HDTVs often look smaller than SDTVs with the same screen size because of the wider 16:9 aspect ratio.
15.4″
Maximum screen resolution 1280 x 800
Video memory 358MB
Video memory type Shared
Ports
TV tuner
TV tuner: No
A TV tuner lets you watch broadcast TV on the system.

View full glossary

TV tuner: A TV tuner lets you watch broadcast TV on the system.
No
Express card No
S-video out Yes
Media card slot Yes
VGA Yes
USB 2.0
USB 2.0: 3
USB is a standard connection port on most PCs. This will allow you to quickly and easily connect and sync the device with your computer.

View full glossary

USB 2.0: USB is a standard connection port on most PCs. This will allow you to quickly and easily connect and sync the device with your computer.
3
Firewire
Firewire: 0
FireWire (or IEEE 1394) is a type of data transfer. Devices with FireWire output can transfer footage directly to a PC with a compatible cable.

View full glossary

Firewire: FireWire (or IEEE 1394) is a type of data transfer. Devices with FireWire output can transfer footage directly to a PC with a compatible cable.
0
Infrared port
Infrared port: No
This port uses an infrared sensor to wirelessly transfer information to other computers.

View full glossary

Infrared port: This port uses an infrared sensor to wirelessly transfer information to other computers.
No
PC card No
Internet/networking
Dial-up modem Included
Ethernet Yes
Wireless 802.11b/g
Bluetooth No
Built-in webcam No
General features
Operating system Windows® Vista Home Premium
Fingerprint reader No
UPC 884420154310
Manufacturer’s part number FE932UA#ABA
Dimensions
Height 10.1 inches
Width 14.0 inches
Depth 1.3 inches
Weight 5.7 lbs.

By: Jill

Jill — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:48:25 +0000

I bought my first Dell laptop as I was entering college, and now I am about to graduate next May and it still works great! The only problem I have encountered was overheating as mentioned before, but as long as you keep it on a hard surface it should be fine. (keeping it on your lap or bed blocks the vents and causes overheating) As long as you have a virus protection software and don’t download anything sketchy or go to sketchy websites your laptop will be fine! Good luck!