Couple of questions regarding Dell E1505??

I am trying to decided between a Dell E1505 and a HP DV5178us at CompUSA. I can pay a little more for the Dell and get it configured a little better. My questions are:

1) I read on these forums that the business notebooks are made better than the consumer. Would I be better off going with the 6400?

2) The system I am looking at is follows:

Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ Duo T2500 (2MB Cache/2GHz/667MHz FSB)
O.S. Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
Hard Drive 80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner with DL DVD+R write capability
Sound Card Integrated Audio
Wireless Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft Works Suite 2006
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support

ACCESSORIES
Netgear WGR614 Cable/DSL Wireless Router
Unit Price $50.00
Dell Home Customers: Save 10% off Select Networking!
Limited Time Offer!
- $5.00

TOTAL:$1,305.00

I was wanting to stay around $1,200, but I was paying more once I downgraded on the items and could only use the $450 coupon. Would it be better to maybe get a 40GB HD and reduce to the 1.83ghz and upgrade my ram to 2GB now, then replace the HD with a 80gb 7200 rpm? I'm not looking at doing much gaming. Maybe Call of Duty or Brothers in Arms. I'll mainly be downloading mp3's, ripping cds, maybe watch a movie from time to time on it, digital photos, and web surfing. I'm not sure what the best configuration for that would be.

Thanks
Jeff

 

The 6400 is not a business notebook, it just comes with the the little stenciled name on it that says 6400 rather than e1505. Other than that the two notebooks are identicle.

As far as upgrades, get the highest CPU you want to spend money on and go from there, if you have more budget to fill out bring up the HD or buy an EXTRA battery (as that is usually only about $30 more than just upgrading it). If you are planning on adding more RAM and a bigger HD in the future then by all means skimp getting those choices from del. Their prices for [good] upgrades of that type are sky high. Or you might also want the at home warranty as sending in your new notebook is never fun if you have problems.

 

I would say just stick with the e1505. From what I'm used to, I would recommend getting the following

1.83ghz Core Duo (middle ground, a big performance boost from the 1.66 while the 2ghz is only a minor step from the 1.83ghz)
512MB DDR2-533 SDRAM (when you can find another stick for $35-45 on newegg depending on what brand you get, why spend $80?)
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (at least get the X1300, I hate Intel Graphics, and if your a gamer, get what you can afford)
9 cell battery (if your on the go alot and not near an AC outlet, get the bigger battery)

Other than that, if your lucky, you can get free Big name anti-virus software for free from certain ISP's. If not, go with AVG or Panda. As for the MS Office, there is always OpenOffice.org which is getting better every day.

And one more thing, take advantage of those dell coupons on this site!

 

First configure an Inspiron E1505 system for just over $2000+

use this code for the $750 off of $2000+: ZRFVGS97PK1F1?
and this code for the $100 off of $2000+ : 43SHS371Z9M09R

Thus your subtotal will go down to ~$1150..

and I'm not reccomending you to use these these coupons... but I'm threatening you to do so
...especially since you're ready to dish out $1300
and if you're really thinking on buying the e1505

 

Don't get any confused by the names, in my country there ins't inspiron e1505, there's only an inspiron 6400, both business and home, that is the same notebook for both, so in the united states will be the same!, maybe is just less junk-software included in the business option.

 

No- we got the same junk software in our e1505s too.