Cancel 1520 for dv6500t or Vaio FZ?

I am seriously reconsidering my order. Although I have been patiently waiting it for a long time, and the delivery date is coming up soon, all the negative feedback on this forum is making me feel less and less excited about receiving.

The main things that are bothering is that:

1) I can get a better price and Bluetooth (which I want now for some reason) plus the remote if I cancel and reorder. However, I can live without BT, but Dell refuses to give me the remote. Making the deal seem even more unattractive...

2) Complaints about performance and hardware issues. I am getting the impression these are badly made

3) The bulkiness. I saw a friend's old notebook which was around 7 pound. I didn't care about the weight, but I do not like how thick it looks.

4) For some reason, the off-centered touchpad bothers me. Does having the speakers on the bottom of the Inspiron muffle the sound?

Ok, well on top of that, I started looking around some more and saw that the HP dv6500t (linked to the page on HP) looked pretty nice. I wouldn't be able to get a better res screen and the video card is slightly crappier, but I don't think it would bother me that much in the end. If the video card is good enough to run games like Wow, Sims, and maybe SC2 when it comes out, I'll be content. The HP one definately looks more aesthetically pleasing... being much sleeker, thinner, glossy cover, and black interior.

Also the Sony Vaio FZ (linked to Sony page) is even better looking in my opinion. For the specs I want, it is about the same price as the Inspiron 1520 I ordered, except that price doesn't include any warranties. But it does look like it is much better made and attractive.

The Inspiron 1520 has the stats listed in my sig, cost around $1450 shipped, including the DellCare Plus (3yr full warranty).

HP dv6500t = $1312 but with basic (none paid for) warranties



Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7100 (1.80 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
2GB DDR2 (2 Dimm)
383MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
HP Imprint (Radiance) + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam + Microphone
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)
80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
HP Expresscard TV Tune and remote for Windows Vista Notebooks!
High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

Sony Vaio FZ = $1550 (basic warranty)


# Microsoft Works
# 802.11a\b\g\n with BT
# Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
# NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT
# 15.4" WXGA (HC) W/CMR
# SuperMulti (DVD+-R Double layer / DVD+-RW Drive)
# 100 GB Hard Disk Drive (Price reflects discount of $30.00)
# 2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667MHz, 1 GBx2)
# Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300 / 2.0 GHz
# Keyboard Black
# Standard Capacity Lithium-ion Battery (BPS8)

What do you guys think? Worth switching?

 

the dv6500 got pretty good reviews. sony = overpriced

 

well, i wasnt pleased with my first inspiron's order cuz i found a better inspiron deal which came out to 1 more year of warranty, .2 ghz faster processor, and 80 more gb of space and i paid about $100 less than my first order. total came out to ~$1550 and i got the $100 compensation of the 8600gt so about $1450. 2.2ghz, 2gbram, 160gbhdd, 8600gt, 1440x900, webcam, noBT, 3 year warranty. there probably was a better deal but this was the best i got

i canceled my initial order and reordered. it got to my house in 8 days. lol.
initial order: order date 7/2; est. ship date 8/5; est. arrival 8/8
second order: order date 7/10; est. ship date 8/15; est arrival 8/20; arrival date: 7/18 lol.

if you get a better inspiron deal by all means do it


as for the your other options...
i cant really say because i dont know how much is the final price of you dell.
i dont like your 6500t build cuz it has a 2mb cache. there was a site that explained how a 4mb cache can perform about 10%+ better than a 2mb cache. btw i dont know how you are gunna live with a 80gb hDD. cuz when i reinstalled vista i dont exactly remeber but it took up like 20-30gigs :\ as of now like 4 days after i recieved my inspiron, after installing some games and adding my music i used up about 65gb already. you might wanna invest in a warranty too, unless you are anti clumsy. XD (i know with the warranty the hp comes up to ALOT)
the sony is just expensive in general :\ although i admit its the best looking one.

btw the inspiron doesnt look that bad.

 

sony's are just sexy... i wish they were a tad cheaper and had more options for customizing.

 

Yes, the Sony is very sexy, but yes, it is a bit overpriced. Damnit. I'll just use my Dell until something goes haywire, then hopefully Sony will have a sale and I'll get one of those.

 

Does Dell have restocking fee? I would recommend trying the inspiron first before getting rid of it.

 

The way I see it the Inspiron/Vostro may be a little thick but they still look good and the price/performance equation is unbeatable. Bottom line is that you can't match the performance of the 8600M for the price. If you don't need the graphics then the SZ makes for a very good alternative.

Ultimately, do you want to go home with the expensive supermodel or the chubby chick that performs better in the sack?

 

OP, check out Sager 2090. It's nice, you have to buy barebone then customize it. XOTICPC.com

edit:
I am actually considering the Sager 2090.

 

You should just wait for the dell you ordered, it is far more powerful than the other notebooks you stated. And I think the 1520 will look good enough. But im not a girl

 

I wouldn't call the 8400M GT/GS *slightly* less powerful than the 8600M GT, lol. It's a significant drop in performance.

 

FZ's 8400GT is at its full spec speed, and with its 128bit bus and 1520's GT 's slow RAM, they actually are fairly close. 8400GT in FZ is around 75% of the speed of 8600GT in 1520, at least in 3DMark. 8400GS is much slower.

 

Lol..I have NEVER seen someone cancel their laptop based on a forum full of peoples OPINIONS. just because this guy says the laptop feels like this doesn't mean you will see it in the same light. Some expect a mona lisa to come in the mail and thats what they get, others get a bootleg (to them) and the complain about it.

Either way, to leave Dell for HP is just downright nasty. Sony's are great, but as someone said, they cost too much for what they are.

I wouldn't buy an HP/Compaq if my throat were to be slit for not doing so..but again..thats my OPINION on a LAPTOP. I say wait for it..you're almost there..and nothing is stopping you from doing what you want to do with it AFTER you atleast turn the damn thing on. Big mistake to drop dell before you get one.

 

I'll tell you what...cancel that order first and then you can decide which after. All I can say is that the 1520 had horrible sound issues for me...had to return it.

 

the solution is to get an external sound card if its so bad.

 

That is not a solution. The solution is for Dell to fix the issue not expect its customers to pay extra for a work around. I'm cancelling my order today because of this. I sold a Gen 1 Macbook Pro because of the damn CPU Whine and I'll be damned if I'm going to listen to this crap again even if its with my good headphones.

 

I third this!

 

Try reading my review on the 1520 http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=143959

Ive have a sony now, It is a great machine, The LCD is the best ive ever seen, I unfortunately seem to have had bad luck with the Sony due to not having a warranty and a unusual amount of things going wrong.

Out of the three I would go with the HP. You might also consider the Samsung, I think it is called the R70, Its cheap and a very nice looking machine.

 

Hey pwnstar,
I am feeling the same way as you. I got my 1520 2 days back opened it, tried using the headphone jack but the buzzing noise was just annoying me as hell. The same day I returned, dell people said something might be wrong iwth the motherboard. If the problem is still not fixrd then I am going to look into something else.
You guyies are lucky, you can customize your Sonys and HP. Here in Canada i dont get to do that and they are wayyyy more expensive.

 

Sony vaio FZ's touchpad is awful. It's pretty small and the keys are damn hard to press.