Can you help me pick a Dell laptop?

Hi,

After reading some of the posts on this and one other board, I really respect the opinions of the members. So, I'm hoping you can help me choose an appropriate Dell laptop, based on my needs and uses:

* Except for occasionally using Photoshop CS (for very large photo files) I mostly use the computer for email and surfing the net.

* I work from home, so the laptop will almost always be at home.

* When I'm in my home office the laptop will be hooked up to my 19" Sony LCD monitor (via a port replicator, I'm guessing).

* I only travel a handful of times a year, BUT...

* I'd like the ability to easily move from room to room within my home, or in the backyard, etc.

* I probably won't use the laptop to watch DVDs too often.

* I am NOT a gamer. No games, period. I know, boring, right?

* This will be my ONLY computer (I'm giving my wife my desktop).

* I'm not as young as I used to be... my eyesight is actually pretty good, but not stellar.


So, in your opinion, which Dell laptop would be best for me? And, any particular specs or options I should get with it?


Thanks in advance!

 

Well, based on what youve been saying, I think you've definately canceled out the Dell 6000, 9300, and XPS series of laptops.

U basically just need a laptop that "works". Most laptops nowadays get good battery life anyway, so I can't even think of a laptop that would be underpowered for you.

My advice, go for the cheapest model you can get.

Just be wary and consider ALL possible uses of the laptop, i.e., are you going to give it to your son for college? will your wife use it? how long do you plan on keeping it?

FOr instance, if youw ant the laptop to last for years, you may want to get one with a pentium M and a decent amount of ram... but that doesnt even really break the bank...

I can't help but think you have an IBM Thinkpad type of mindset, so check them out too. [ ] GOOD LUCK!

 

If you are going to be using this outside, you are going to want one with a glossy screen. Unfortunetly, IBM does not do glossy screens. I think the Fujitsu s6231 would be a good fit. It is light at four pounds, well built and has a very good screen. I'll suggest purchasing at PortableOne.com. It will give you the chance to customize and it comes with a three year warranty. I'll suggest spending the $30 for the 5400RPM hard drive. I think you can get one at NewEgg for around $1200, but it has a one year warranty and 4200RPM drive. Fujitsu is picky about user upgrades. The s7010 is a simillar model with a 14" screen. If you want to spend a little less, the HP dv1000 would also be a good fit as well. Good Luck.






I was robbed by a sweet little old lady on a motorized cart and I didn't even see it coming.

-Lloyd Christmas


Thinkpad T42:
* 1.8Ghz Pentium M * 1.5GB Memory * 60GB Hitachi 7200RPM * 15" SXGA+ Flexview * MultiBurner * Win 2k *

 

If you are planning on using this for a few years, I would go with Inspiron 6000 ($763). The 2200 & 1200 are cheaper but they are also older models.



__________________________________________________________________________________________
Inspiron 9300 || 1.73GHz || 60GB 7200rpm ||1gb DDR2||ATI Radeon X300 64MB || CD/DVD RW || XP Pro

 

Get the Inspiron 6000. Depending on how presbyopic you are will dictate the native screen resolution you need. WUXGA is very small for some people. WSXGA should be enough to do editing on your computer.

_______________________
_______________________
Dr. Gregory House: Like I always say, there's no ?I? in team. There's a ?me? though, if you jumble it up.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by zazonz

 

it's always good to go with a brand you know, are familiar with and have had success buying from in the past...so your reason for going with Dell is good I think...if a company can see you've bought from them in the past and you weren't a pain during at those times they'll be much more understanding and helpful if you were to at some point have a bad experience with one of their products (well, they should in order to keep their loyal customers at least). Either way, I wouldn't rule out the Dell 6000 and would in fact recommend it for you to look at also ... you can get it for a good price and it's much better than the really cheaply built Dell 2200 or 1000 line of budget notebooks. I'm not a fan of "budget notebooks" as they always equate to badly built.

also worth your attention are the Dell Latitude D810 and D610 notebooks, they're business notebooks and cost a bit more but you get a better standard warranty and usually a better build with more security features.

DigitalCameraReview.com | BargainPDA.com | TabletPCReviewSpot.com

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by abaxter
I wouldn't rule out the Dell 6000 and would in fact recommend it for you to look at also ... <hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>
Thanks.

Question: the 700m was suggested elsewhere. Would you recommend that one as well? or do you think I'm better off with the 6000?

 

The Inspiron 6000 seems like the best fit for you. The inspiron m700 makes some sacrifices for portability, namely the keyboard is smaller, the screen is smaller 12.1" and its more expensive than the 6000. The inspiron 6000 would make a great home notebook, its compact but has a nice big screen 15.4" wide screen, and its been on sale for $1000 US, $1200 CAD recently. If your concerned about documents being hard to read on the screen get the SXGA resolution over the UXGA resolution. If fonts still look too small windows settings can enlarge them so they're easier to read. As for the glossy screens (dell calls it ultrasharp) increase contrast and make pictures and video look much better, the downside is that they are more reflective which some people find annoying when text editing while others think its worth the trade off. I'd recommend you checkout glossy versus non glossy screen at a local computer store to see for yourself. I'd also recomend that you check out pcmag.com, pcworld.com, and cnet.com reviews on the inspiron 6000.
peace.

 

Okay... thanks!

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by netspots

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by netspots

 

The 2200 or 1200 would also be fine for you. They are basically the same as the 6000 but aren't widescreen.

Dell I6000