Dell Studio Questions

Hello,

I am doing some research for a friend who is looking to buy a new laptop and I wanted to know what major differences are their between the inspiron and studio ranges, I know the studio range is new, but on the dell website, you can compile similar setups with the inspiron being slightly cheaper.

Also in regards to the studio, it comes with a b/g wireless card, is this the best one to get? or would it be recommened to get the n one?

Finally I have compiled the following setup and was wondering what ppl thought? The laptop will mainly be for uni work, note taking, etc, not much gaming,

Also is it worth upgrading to a processor which 800mhz rather than 667mhz, will it make much difference?

- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5750 (2.0 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 Cache)
- Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1- English
- 1 Year Base Warranty
- Purple Colour with Microsatin Finish
- 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
- 2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera - CCFL
- 3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048+1x1024]
- 250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
- 256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3450
- Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive including Software
- Primary 9-cell 85 WHr Lithium Ion battery
- Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
- Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)

All for £530.00, is this good value??? or would it better to get an inspiron one?

 

That will work great for what you need it for, for a good price too. The only thing I'd suggest is getting the 6-cell instead of the 9-cell battery. It also makes causes your laptop to become heavier and it makes your laptop slightly wider. Also, The 9-cell is way overpriced in the US, I don't know about the UK. This is because the main battery factory burned down a few months ago.

The Studio was meant to be in between the XPS and Inspiron in terms of quality. The video card is fairly nice if you don't plan on playing hardcore games.

Most people choose the wireless-N card due to the fact that if you have a wireless-N router it increases the speed and range of your laptop internet. Wireless-N is becoming more common in routers.


The Inspiron would also probably fit you perfectly. Especially if it is cheaper than the Studio. Really I think the Studio was meant to be for more "looks" and if you planned on upgrading it a lot. It no longer comes standard with a back-lit keyboard or fingerprint reader which I find stupid.

 

Thanks for your reply, would the wireless-N card work with any router or would you have to get a specific n one?

 

The Wireless-N DOES work with any router capable of wireless-G(which are the common routers) and I'm sure any other common router, in other words it is backwards compatible.

 

In regards to the battery, I think my friend is looking for it to be as mobile as possible, hence the 9 battery size, would it be considerably heavier with this?

 

Yes, the 9 battery size makes it heavier and it also makes the laptop just a bit wider because the battery is bigger than the 6-cell which fits in perfectly.