Cheaper Laptops for same quality?

I've been looking at a 14 in vostro thats pretty well equiped @ 1.8 ghz, 2gb, 8400gs, 120 gb ram, webcam, bluetooth
for about 900 bucks.

I heard lots of good things about build [no flex, keyboard is nice, etc] as well as some bad, but I think I would like to stick w/ dell but I think 900$ is kind of a lot.

I plan to use this laptop for college and some gaming so I don't want one thats slow; I would like a c2d w/ 2gb of ram at least.

Are there any other options I have?

Thanks a lot guys

edit: is the 1.8 ghz worth it?

 

From what I usually find, Dell is the cheapest for what you're getting. The only downside I see so far is the insanely bugged build process they're having. Expect to wait a month or so.

 

The thing is, I'm seeing sales for laptops like 500-700 bucks. That seems much more affordable but of course the specs aren't as nice.

 

I haven't seen much in terms of sales, but from comparing specs, I still haven't been able to beat Dells yet.

 

you will not get more hardware for the money.. but imo im about to just spend more due to the issues im having... so its seems very hit and miss..

 

So what, you want a $2000 laptop for $500? Of course that would be great...but unreasonable. Pony up the $900, and you'll be fine...

 

so how are the laptops like that are really cheap?

 

dell laptops are not cheap in quality. the vostro's are really nice. cheap laptops like toshibas and hp's tend to have many issues mainly being cheap motherboards and components that get really hot and burn up. IMO, dell, sony, ibm, and apple make the best laptops and all the rest are crap.

 

well, I never said dells were cheap, but I was wondering about the cheaper laptops. I never realy did pay any attentions to laptops until this summer so I'm kinda clueless about the builds on many of them. i just starting browsing the dells because I saw the incredible specs along with the high popularity.

 

You can easily go to a Best Buy or Circuit City or whatever and try out some really cheap laptops. They really don't do it for me, but YMMV.

Chris

 

what are the issues w/ those laptops? can they not take as much wear and tear?

 

You aren't going to find better value for the price than you will with Dell. Build quality is excellent, and they give you upper-tier parts for a budget price.

 

No. Sometimes Bestbuys has some great deals. Not stellar, but good considering if you buy online you have shipping and waiting. The $600 - 900 range is the sweet spot. You'll pay the least markups.

Generally though, you'll pay a slight markup buying from a store front over online. It can be as little as 5% to 20%. It depends but if you stick to 600- 900 USD, you'll do well. Over that and usually you'll start to get into the 10% to 15% markup range.

Doesn't mean they are BAD laptops. They just aren't the latest and newest models. That's why they are cheaper than the new inspirons and Vostros.

You'll be hard pressed to find a better deal. Like you said it yourself, it's WELL EQUIPPED. If you want less than 900, scratchoff the 8400gs and bluetooth for starters. Downgrade the processor to a T5470 but stick to the 2gb of RAM.

What games are you gonna be playing?

 

but get vista premium, whether buisness or home premium.

 

It's pretty visceral, actually. I can't comment on long-term wear. I've bought two cheap laptops from big-box stores in the past two years, and brought them both back. I dunno -- buttons feel cheap, loose and clackety; the hinges sometimes don't feel substantial; they're flexy and creaky. And if I see another glossy screen, I'm going to barf. (Sorry, gloss mavens.)

I presently use a ThinkPad, so I'm hoping the 1420 I just bought for my wife is going to be somewhat close to the same quality. We'll see...

Chris

 

It doesn't appear that Dell really slacks off on quality and they go out of their way sometimes to make you happy. Just so you know I am on laptop #2 since my first one had some issues with it but the second one that I got to replace it has been trouble-free since. Please note the date of the replacement. I got a BSOD once every 2 weeks. The replacement has had 0 of them since.

Oh and if you can help it try and get something better than the basic warranty just in case.

 

so you guys are saying me buying that vostro is pretty good for the money

 

IMO, you should just stick with the 1.6ghz CPU. It's sufficient enough if you par it up with the 8400M GS.

Just take the base config from
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=bqdwj7a&s=bsd

and add the bluetooth + webcam.

If you were here like a couple of weeks ago, they had to same configuration for $100 less =/ On the plus side, you could always return the Vostro 1500 free of hassle within 21 days.

 

how faster is the 1.8. I would like something at least remotely as strong as my desktop in terms of program start speed. I'm used to things popping up when I click on them w/ my desktop

 

1.8 wouldn't make much of a difference. Same reason why people say if you're going to upgrade get the 2.0 as it has the 4 MB cache. But with the graphics card being the lowest common denominator, not much point.

 

do you guys have benchmarks for this? I wouldn't mind saving the 115$. I have seen lots of people just get 1.6ghz though...

have you gotten your vostro yet wave?
btw, I was always wondering if I should get a dell or intel wireless card. I've had lots of issues with my last external card and I don't want to have any w/ this one

 

Sometimes Dell charges too much for the memory upgrade.

I usually buy them with the minimum memory and then add RAM myself.

It's always easy to do. You can download the manual for whatever Dell model you're looking at from the Dell website and check out the instructions how to do it.

Check the tech bargains forum for Hot Ram Deals and see how much you would save. But plan on having to buy the full whack you'll need. IOW, if you want 2gb, plan on having to buy 2gb of new memory. The stock 1gb Dell memory will probably be in two chips hogging both memory slots, so you will have to toss those (try reselling them for a little $) and insert 2 new 1GB chips.

 

thats the thing, the configuration I set has 2 gb as its smallest option and its cheaper than any other configuration I did

 

Yep. I got 1GB on mine (note that 512MB was the minumum option for mine) and upgraded to 2GB later on when I had the cash. Was still cheaper than bumping up to 2GB at purchase time.