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    Any rumors of an 18.4" laptop?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by scarletfever, May 3, 2009.

  1. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm looking for a desktop replacement when I graduate college. I've loved my 17" Inspiron 9300 for the past 4 years, but it's time for an upgrade. My family and I have only ever bought Dells, and we've always been happy with them. Because I'm mostly going to be using the laptop at home, with minimal travel, I'm thinking of an 18.4" laptop. HP has one that looks very reasonably priced, the Sony one is more expensive, but I'm still hoping Dell comes out with one soon. Is there any word that this will be happening? And if not, do you recommend Sony or HP?
     
  2. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    Dell has no plans (at least, none that they've announced) to launch any sort of 18.4" machine. I would just go with 17", but that's me.

    If it comes down to Sony vs HP for an 18.4", I would go with HP.
     
  3. Isend2C

    Isend2C Notebook Deity

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    I agree. The XPS 1730 is pretty big though, with it's 17" display. The Studio 17 once it's refreshed will probably have a 17.3" screen, like the new HP dv7t. Acer and Asus also both make 18.4" laptops. I'd go with the HP HDX 18t for most uses, look towards the Asus' if you need graphical punch.
     
  4. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    I was looking at Asus, but they probably have the least user-friendly site I've seen.

    The Studio 17s are nice, but I always preferred nvidia to ATI graphics cards. If I went with the Dell, it'd probably be the 1730.
     
  5. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    They may have the least user-friendly site, but their computers more than make up for that. :D

    If you're going to go with a 17" Dell, it doesn't get any better than the M1730, for sure.
     
  6. motok

    motok Notebook Consultant

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    asus doesn't need to advertise as much as dell. They are not starving for customers as much as dell is..Plus its asus..Do your homework and research asus' history with laptops and gaming laptops...pretty impressive
     
  7. Isend2C

    Isend2C Notebook Deity

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    Do not go the Asus site to look at Asus'... haha. Oh no, go to NewEgg. Newegg and Best Buy. Maybe Tiger Direct, but they don't normally have that many good deals. Also the GenTech and XoticPC sites have good results for Asus.
     
  8. shriek11

    shriek11 Notebook Deity

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    Well ASUS is a taiwanese company which is why they don't have a US ordering site yet [or anywhere for that matter].

    But then someone also gave a good point that they don't need it anyway. Their turnover should be pretty good anyway..
     
  9. Phinagle

    Phinagle Notebook Prophet

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    Acer, HP, Sony, ASUS, Toshiba, and Fujitsu all have 18.4" notebooks so it's a good bet that Dell will put something out there to compete but you can't say for sure when.

    If you want a guess then if Dell doesn't show anything around June you won't see an 18.4" from them for sale this year.
     
  10. poison7fl

    poison7fl Notebook Consultant

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    18.4"? Jeez, that kinda defeats the purpose of mobility...

    Who needs an 18.4" lappy? 17" is even pushing the limits....
     
  11. Sephoroth

    Sephoroth Notebook Evangelist

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    Heh, might as well carry around an LCD, a Studio Hybrid, and a keyboard/mouse :D. From what I've seen Asus has a pretty good line up with Newegg, Gentech PC, and Excalibur being the best resellers. I was going to get an N81Vp but ended up getting a great deal on an SXPS 1340 :).
     
  12. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm kind of disappointed that there is not only not an 18.4 inch laptop, but out of the 17 inch ones, the studio, to me, is underpowered, and the now alienware one is overkill. I wish there was a Dell version of the HP HDX18t and the Sony AW series...
     
  13. Cin'

    Cin' Anathema

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    You will prolly have to wait a while to see if Dell releases something like that.
    You just never know with Dell.
    Personally going with something that size....you may as well invest in a desktop PC! That's just my opinion, though!

    Cin ;) :)
     
  14. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    I've owned the inspiron 9300 (17") for about 4 years. I love it. I used it primary at my house and my college dorm, but I also occasionally took it to class, on planes, brought it into the living room, etc. Now that I'm out of college I'll be moving it less, but the option to be able to move it is important to me. There is a huge difference in mobility between an 18.4" laptop and a desktop.
     
  15. Cin'

    Cin' Anathema

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    Glad you think that way! :)

    All sizes of lappys/brands/models come's down to...Personal choice...always!


    Cin
     
  16. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks for your advice :) I've only ever bought Dells and have been very happy with them, which is why I'm weary to get a different brand. Hopefully something soon will come out that I like :)
     
  17. Cin'

    Cin' Anathema

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    No problem! :)
    I'm prone to Dell's also.. :) I've never really had any issues with my lappy, or netbook..and when I did, Tech Support took good care of me!

    I hope Dell comes out with something soon, that works for you!


    Cin.
     
  18. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Bad bad time to upgrade. Wait for 7-8 months and get the Nehalem CPU laptops.
     
  19. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    What makes you think the Studio 17 is underpowered? You can configure it into quite a powerful machine, and the ATi 3650 graphics card ain't too bad.
     
  20. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    Thank you, this is information that I like to hear. I know people say to 'buy when you need it' because there's always something new coming in a few months, but if getting a laptop right now is not an absolute necessity, is this something worth waiting for? I don't know anything about this. Also, will it break the bank?
     
  21. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    Well, I've always gone with nVidia cards, and honestly don't know much about that ATi. How does it compare with the nvidia 130m?

    Also, what is most appealing about Dell right now is that their SSDs are VERY cheap compared to most other sellers, and the studio 17 doesnt come with that option.
     
  22. dr_korb

    dr_korb Notebook Consultant

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    Since you haven't mentioned money....you could always go for a Precision 6400 with a Quad extreme 9300 and a Quadro 3700. No way you can say that's underpowered.

    PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Quad QX9300 (2.53GHz, 12M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
    OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate SP1, With media
    LCD 17" UltraSharp™ WUXGA (1920x1200) RGB LED Display
    PRODUCTIVITY Software® Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0,English-French MLANG
    WARRANTY & SERVICE 3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service
    VIDEO CARD NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M, 1.0GB Discrete
    MEMORY 4.0GB, DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
    RAID CONFIGURATION All Hard Drives, Non-RAID, 1 or 2 drive total configuration
    HARD DRIVE 250GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor
    OPTICAL DRIVE 8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load w/Roxio and Cyberlink PowerDVD™
    BATTERY OPTIONS 9 Cell Battery
    WIRELESS CARD Intel® WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
    BLUETOOTH WIRELESS Dell Wireless® 370 Bluetooth Module
    INTERNAL KEYBOARD Internal English Backlit Keyboard
    FINGERPRINT READER OPTION No Fingerprint Reader
    WEBCAM / MICROPHONE Integrated 2.0 MP webcam with dual digital array microphone
    SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION Resource DVD - Contains Diagnostics and Drivers
    MODEM No Modem
    My Accessories
    DESIGNED FOR DELL BAGS Timbuk2 Ultraslim Case (17.0)
    A/C ADAPTER 210W 3P, A/C Adapter

    All for the paltry sum of $3918
     
  23. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    hah, money is an issue, yes. I won't be going above the 2 ghz quad core any time soon.
     
  24. 2wistd

    2wistd Newbie

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    I'm still rocking my 9300 on a daily basis, i think i just hit my 4 years mark with mine too. An upgrade like that 6400 would be awesome.
     
  25. scarletfever

    scarletfever Notebook Evangelist

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    My only regret was getting a 1 GB ram stick instead of 2GB. I might just buy another 1gb stick and throw it in there, and see if the laptop can last until the nehalem laptops come out
     
  26. Jonty

    Jonty Notebook Consultant

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    Get the extra RAM, scarletfever :) I have a Dell Inspiron 9100 (now gathering dust, but that's another story), but upgrading the RAM made a nice difference, especially if you're on Vista.

    As for Nehalem, guys, I wouldn't hold your breathe. Intel has already delayed the release from August to October, since there's no real competition from AMD, and the global downturn means inventory is quite high.

    Also, just because a platform is released, doesn't mean it's immediately adopted. Dell (and some others) have taken months to update in the past, depending on how much they revamped the line. Buy for now and be happy :)