advice from you nice people!

[zetski]

hi guys,

my first post and i require some advice from the pros

So, i've been browsing round for a new laptop, my price range is <700GBP and ive narrowed it down to the xps and the vostro:

XPS M1530 - £699 inc vat

BASE Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2-cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English
HARDWARE SUPPORT Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support (incl. Gaming and On-Site Support)
COLOUR CHOICE 2.0 mega pixel Camera & Tuxedo Black for CCFL Display
LCD 15.4" Widescreen™ WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display (220nits) with TrueLife™
BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION Biometric Fingerprint Reader with BLACK accent
MEMORY 4096MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
HARD DRIVE 250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT with 256MB dedicated graphic memory
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed 8x DVD+/-RW Slim Slot Load drive, including SW
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)

Vostro 1500 - £680.33 inc vat

[BASE Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.50 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English
LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Display with TrueLife™
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Matte Jet Black with 2.0 mega pixel camera
MEMORY 3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x1024 + 1x2048 MB)
HARD DRIVE 250GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)

which one should i get buy? Are there any better offers in my price range? Am I likely to be able to apply a discount coupon to lower one of these prices?

[Paul]

Hi Zetski,

Given those two choices I would go for the Vostro 1500 due to the 2.5 GHz Penryn processor and the higher screen resolution.

However there are some other choices depending on what is most important to you....graphics capabilites, screen resolution or processor. Have you considered the new Vostro 1510? This laptop is slimmer, lighter and in my opinion more stylish than the Vostro 1500.

Regarding a discount coupon, I have no idea if there will be any released by Dell this week. If they did release one you would most likely not be able to use it for a Vostro anyway as they are normally just for Inspiron and XPS systems.

[zetski]

hey,

thanks for the reply paul. I was wondering if their is any difference between the two Gforce cards? I was told that the XPS is DDR3 and the Vostro is DDR2, could you confirm this for me? Or is the site just got a typo and both cards are infact the same?

I also checked out the 1510, the thing that lets me down with this model is the graphics is a 8400 - Although I am no hardcore gamer I am only going to be purchasing a laptop once and then won't be doing so until it dies So i'd rather get as much as I can for my money. I'm not too fussed about the weight or size of the laptop, so paying extra for the laptop to be lighter or sleeker is at the bottom of my requirements list.

[Paul]

This is correct, although I doubt it means much more than a couple of fps while gaming though.

Originally Posted by zetski

I was wondering if their is any difference between the two Gforce cards? I was told that the XPS is DDR3 and the Vostro is DDR2

[zetski]

thanks for the replies paul, just one more query - does dell do a student discount scheme, im currently studying at university level and was wondering if they offer discounts to students, thanks in advance!

[Paul]

Hey zetski, as far as I am aware Dell do not offer student discounts. If someone knows otherwise please reply.

[zetski]

ah ok. I've been browsing the dell site - so many offers are scattered all over, i've managed to pin it down to three laptops:

Vostro 1500 - £680.33

BASE Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.50 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English
LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Display with TrueLife™
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Matte Jet Black with 2.0 mega pixel camera
MEMORY 3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x1024 + 1x2048 MB)
HARD DRIVE 250GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)

XPS 1530 - Business Model - £774.22

BASE Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.50 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 6 MB L2 cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English
HARDWARE SUPPORT Base Warranty - 1 Year Hardware Support, Next Business Day
COLOUR CHOICE 2.0 mega pixel Camera & Tuxedo Black for CCFL Display
LCD 15.4" Widescreen WXGA+ (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife™
BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION Biometric Fingerprint Reader with BLACK accent e
MEMORY 3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048+1x1024]
HARD DRIVE 250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT with 256MB dedicated graphic memory
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed 8x DVD+/-RW Slim Slot Load drive, including SW
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)

XPS 1530 - Home Model - £879.02

BASE Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.50 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 6 MB L2 cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English
HARDWARE SUPPORT Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support (incl. Gaming and On-Site Support)
COLOUR CHOICE 2.0 mega pixel Camera & Tuxedo Black for CCFL Display
LCD 15.4" Widescreen™ WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display (220nits) with TrueLife™
BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION Biometric Fingerprint Reader with BLACK accent
MEMORY 3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048+1x1024]
HARD DRIVE 250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT with 256MB dedicated graphic memory
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed 8x DVD+/-RW Slim Slot Load drive, including SW
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)

differences:

Vostro 1500:
- good screen
- weaker gforce model [DDR2]

XPS - Business model:
- good screen
- DDR3 Gforce card

XPS - Home model:

- weak screen, known issues with the grainy effect
- DDR3 Gforce card

I'm just wondering why the XPS business model and home model are near identical, with the expection of the business model having a better screen, yet the business xps is cheaper?

[Paul]

Hey zetski,

How did you come up with the two XPS M1530s? What evalue codes are they? Does the price for the business model include VAT and delivery?

[zetski]

hey paul,

All systems include VAT and Delivery, what i did for the XPS business model was as follows:

small businesses section
XPS
cheapest xps 1530 model
edit
checkout

- im trying to order this model but its asking me about my 'business/company' - I'm not actually part of a company, is it still possible for me to order this xps model?

[Paul]

Hey zetski, when they ask for a company name just use your own name in this space. They may ask you where you intend to use the machine also, just say 'at home' and everything will be ok.