Buying Advice - Not an expert to say the least

[Flick]

Helloo, I appreciate any advice offered herein.

Using the template from the sticky-

I'm looking to spend 500-1k I think, though suppose may go to the 1200 mark.
Size and style doesn't really matter to me.
I'll be browsing t'internets, music, data transfer, word processing and all the usual stuff and lot of these at once. I imagine some very basic gaming though opportunity to do more wouldn't be wasted, though crysis/other last few year games with good graphics NOT needed.
I'll be moving around alot.
I'm after vista as it comes standard , premium/home/whatever tbh, not a priority. Not adventurous enough for linux.
I'm happy with a standard matte screen for cheapness and glare issues.
Hard Drive 250 GB is a safe minimum, I think.
DVD RW is it, blue-ray'll go unused.
Looks and style pretty unimportant.

I appreciate I'm being vague and it seems all I'm saying is get me the best for my money but still..

I'm possibly looking at the inspiron 1720, good choice? Better ideas?

Thanks for any help.

Edit:

Possibly looking at the XPS 1330 aswell now.
How much of a glare issue is truelife?

[Paul]

Hi Flick,

I think the XPS M1330 would be better for you rather than the Inspiron 1720 as you say you will be moving around with it a lot. The Inspiron 1720 is a big laptop and is more of a desktop replacement.

However in my opinion the XPS M1530 is a better option than the 1330 as you have better graphics card options plus the 15.4" (1440x900) screen.

Regarding the screen; I have a truelife screen and I love it, colours appear much more vibrant and it is just a nice screen. I have never had any glare issues, although I rarely use my laptop outside in the sunshine or with my back to a window where the glossy screen may become a problem.

I know there are some forum members who have recently bought XPS M1530s, maybe they will be able to give some feedback on them.

[zetski]

hey flick,

i've recently purchased myself a xps 1530, specs are: t9300, 3gig of ram, 250gig drive and 8600GT. The machine runs great and looks great, very slim. I managed to get it for 774 [inc vat and delivery] It also runs all the latest games really well. I've tried assassins creed, CoD4, hl2:episode1,2 - I've yet to try crysis and gears of war. But the games i've tried run at mid/high settings under winxp.

[Flick]

Thanks Paul & Zetski, I have narrowed it down to 2 specific deals now.
I am still considering the inspiron as its size and weight isn't an issue to me, I'll be buying the carry case rucksack whatever computer I choose.
In my mind, it's between

Inspiron 1720
T8300
-Vista Home Premium
-17.0" screen
-4096MB Memory
-500GB HD[/i]
256MB nVidia 8600M GT
8X DVD+/-RW
£769

XPS 1530
Same Processor
-Vista Ultimate - Product Red
-15.3" screen
-3072MB
-320GB HD
Same graphics card
Equivalent drive
£799

I'll trust the true life screen issue, had a look at a friend's laptop with a truelife and noticed nothing.

Is Vista Ultimate (Product red version if relevant) worth sacrificing a gig memory, the bigger screen, 180 GB from the HD and £30 for? Is there something I'm missing? [Serious question - Not sarcasm ]

[Paul]

Going just on the hardware specs between these two deals I would have to go for the Inspiron 1720. It definitely offers more value than the xps m1530 if you are not worried about the size, weight and style.