THE Laptop Thread: Configs, deals and questions.

[iraghava]

Ask Dell if they'll give you a downgrade. Otherwise, my friend bought a 1420 a little while back & immediately downgraded to XP & he's not had any problems.

[motorheadinc]

I second what others have said regarding Vista.

Its a complete resource hogger.
remember all the bells and whistles come at a price (In case of Vista its the performance with which u pay).

Stick to XP till Vista SP 2 stable is released. What i suggest is to try getting OEM OS which i find is not offered as an option in Dell in most cases.

@ Vikram18. Go for the xps worth the last penny u pay for it.

@ Moralfibre : get a dell. I dont have a good experience with HP. Will not have the 100 BHP u have in ur ride

@ W 12 : I had an Acer myself for 2 years. Didn't have many problems though its a bit fragile and the body coating gets bad real fast. Suggest to go for Dell, Toshiba , Sony.

@ Nitroxx: Buddy as some one has already said, the build quality is no longer the same.

@ shuvc: You have a great balance of price and performance in the Inspiron.

[shuvc]

Is XP SP2 still being sold? If so,
- approx cost?
- where to buy online?

[jesal]

Originally Posted by kb100

Just placed an order for a DELL XPS 1330 in Black with all the bells and whistles!!!

Try as I might I couldn't keep myself away from that beauty!!

Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Processor
3 GB 667Mhz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
Genuine Windows Vista Business with Aero Interface
Slim & Light WLED Display
250GB SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD Writer with Dual Layer etc etc
NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS with 128 MB GDDR3 dedicated Graphics Memory
Finger Print Scanner/Reader?
Wireless
Bluetooth
9 Cell 85Whr battery
Dell Bluetooth Travel Mouse
Dell Bluetooth Stereo Headset
Ear Isolation Buds
8 in 1 Card Reader
McAfee Security Center 15 Months OEM

And all this WITH

Dell Care Premium 3 year complete cover with Accident Damage Protection!

Cant wait to get it delivered!

One question - DO you think Black is the way to go or would RED colour have been better???

sounds niice i want to know how much for. and also why are people complaining so much about vista i have been using for a year without any issues what so ever. its just so nice. i guess people are using old hardware and new windows. anything older than a year and vista hates it. upgrade parts and enjoy vista. i find it way better than xp. i am using both right now

[motorheadinc]

Originally Posted by shuvc

Is XP SP2 still being sold? If so,
- approx cost?
- where to buy online?

WHY do you want SP2 when the SP3 is already in market?

Product Information Center - How to Buy

you can get the prices too from here. as they are suggested by microsoft the prices wont vary much.
Try if u can get a better deal from a local vendor as these sites will charge u shipping as well (that too from the US)
you can get trial version too and the sites from where you can order online is given too....

happy shopping

[kb100]

Originally Posted by jesal

sounds niice i want to know how much for. and also why are people complaining so much about vista i have been using for a year without any issues what so ever. its just so nice. i guess people are using old hardware and new windows. anything older than a year and vista hates it. upgrade parts and enjoy vista. i find it way better than xp. i am using both right now

Jesal... My brother works for Dell.. so got it dead cheap!

And yes Vista on 1GB RAM was really slow!.. lets see if the 3GB is going to make any difference

I wonder if I am Dual Booting, I can map Outlook in both onto the same .pst - can I not?.. That way whatever changes I make in one will reflect in the other as well.

[gopz]

Originally Posted by kb100

I wonder if I am Dual Booting, I can map Outlook in both onto the same .pst - can I not?.. That way whatever changes I make in one will reflect in the other as well.

Yes thats possible, you just need to drag all your mails into one PST file, and you can configure Outlook on both OSes to access the same file.

[vikram18]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Ask Dell if they'll give you a downgrade. Otherwise, my friend bought a 1420 a little while back & immediately downgraded to XP & he's not had any problems.

There are some compatibility issues with certain Graphics/Audio/Bluetooth cards etc. I was configuring one online and I couldn't choose some with XP

[khanak]

Does anyone know where I can get a new charger for my laptop. My old charger has a big cut in the wire and my laptop cannot be turned on without it. I have another charger that works perfectly well that came with my old laptop. The size of the plug that goes into the laptop is different. Is there anyway I can get some kind of adaptor or something for it?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by khanak

My old charger has a big cut in the wire and my laptop cannot be turned on without it.

Khanak, it would be a simple matter to have the wire changed. Take it along to your friendly neighbourhood store!

[jesal]

Originally Posted by kb100

Jesal... My brother works for Dell.. so got it dead cheap!

And yes Vista on 1GB RAM was really slow!.. lets see if the 3GB is going to make any difference

I wonder if I am Dual Booting, I can map Outlook in both onto the same .pst - can I not?.. That way whatever changes I make in one will reflect in the other as well.

uh huh can u pm me the price as well. i want to upgrade this year, am looking to get a vaio in red color unless u say dell is better. wht is the diff between inspiron and xps series. and dont worry with 3gb ram your laptop is flying with wings. like its on red bull

[navin]

Guys, I saw a Toshiba R500 today. It is nice. under 1kg. Are there any other options under 1kg (with a min 12" screen and DVD combo drive). The Lenovo X300 maybe?

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by navin

The Lenovo X300 maybe?

I saw the X300 yesterday and yes that is exactly what you should be looking at. The only sad part is the 64gb Solid State Hard Drive.

You could look at the Sony TX series as well - they're terrific even if expensive. (EDIT: Its TZ, not TX)

I use the Dell D420 which is perfect for my requirements - it lacks an optical drive, but in these days of 32 gb USB drives who really needs a disk drive? It is 1.2 kg and feels paper-light. You can also upgrade the Hard Drive from 80gb to upto 160. I'm not planning to upgrade the existing drive, however - I plan to buy the new 120GB PCMCIA slot solid state drive, which will take my capacity up to 200 gb for a few grammes more.

[gopz]

Originally Posted by jesal

uh huh can u pm me the price as well. i want to upgrade this year, am looking to get a vaio in red color unless u say dell is better. wht is the diff between inspiron and xps series. and dont worry with 3gb ram your laptop is flying with wings. like its on red bull

Sony VAIO

+ Looks & style
+ Carry-in Service is great
+ Finish is of high quality
- Lot of bloatware
- Warranty is NOT international
- Overpriced

Dell XPS

+ Looks
+ Lightweight & Sleek
+ Onsite service
+ Worldwide warranty incl accidental damage as an option
+ Priced reasonably
+ Goodies like Creative EP-630, Bluetooth headset, Sleeve case etc
- The wait period after paying money and ordering it
- Cannot take the laptop physically to any service center for quick repairs

[jesal]

Originally Posted by gopz

Sony VAIO

+ Looks & style
+ Carry-in Service is great
+ Finish is of high quality
- Lot of bloatware
- Warranty is NOT international
- Overpriced

Dell XPS

+ Looks
+ Lightweight & Sleek
+ Onsite service
+ Worldwide warranty incl accidental damage as an option
+ Priced reasonably
+ Goodies like Creative EP-630, Bluetooth headset, Sleeve case etc
- The wait period after paying money and ordering it
- Cannot take the laptop physically to any service center for quick repairs

thanks for that. but online i was head to head and dell went more expensive after i customised it . sony for 55k and dell for 57k obviously dell was powerful. but then im thinking and they say online the BT headset is optional not part of standard packages. what is the best brand that makes laptops right now anyways. im thinking of going abroad and picking one up if not from here