[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by StarScream

Not the Vaio P - its 60k plus.

I was just about to say that. But I will keep the other netbooks in mind - plan to go do some scouting at the regular electronic superstores in Bangalore tomorrow...What kind of prices can I expect for each of these today?

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

I was just about to say that. But I will keep the other netbooks in mind - plan to go do some scouting at the regular electronic superstores in Bangalore tomorrow...What kind of prices can I expect for each of these today?

The Dell Mini 12 is about 31k.
The HP Mini is about 25k
The Lenovo Y series or Ideapads are 45-50K (they are full fledged laptops).
Personally, I would go for the Dell Mini 12 - decent size screen and keyboard compared with other netbooks.

[married2speed]

Hey all
a short chit-chat at today's "gurgaon meet" let to the discussion, Thinkpad T400 or HP 6930p and even so, "DELL".

Dell latitude is ruled out, (bad reviews for an expensive notebook) so would apprecaite inputs solely on "performance" and "reliability" in the 2nd year viz-a-viz, HP or Thinkpad?

Cheers!
m2s

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by married2speed

Hey all
a short chit-chat at today's "gurgaon meet" let to the discussion, Thinkpad T400 or HP 6930p and even so, "DELL".

Dell latitude is ruled out, (bad reviews for an expensive notebook) so would apprecaite inputs solely on "performance" and "reliability" in the 2nd year viz-a-viz, HP or Thinkpad?

Cheers!
m2s

Thinkpad, any day. And they come with three years warranty - standard.

[sam003]

I have HP DV6345US laptop. It has 945GM Intel graphic inbuilt card. I would like to upgrade this to GeForce. Can I do that. if yes which model is suitable for gaming. As this one hangs a lot during 3D games.

And I know we can not downgrade this to XP, due to missing drivers for wireless card reader etc etc. But did anyone tried using XP on these laptops

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by StarScream

The Dell Mini 12 is about 31k.
The HP Mini is about 25k
The Lenovo Y series or Ideapads are 45-50K (they are full fledged laptops).
Personally, I would go for the Dell Mini 12 - decent size screen and keyboard compared with other netbooks.

Oh my god! I saw the Acer Aspire 1 and it sucks! Very tacky and lousy finishing. I have to get back to more research now...next up is the Samsung netbook...

[devrajman]

try giving a look to Lenovo Ideapad S10 @ ard 25K, also IdeaPad S10e netbook

[SirAlec]

Originally Posted by sam003

I have HP DV6345US laptop. It has 945GM Intel graphic inbuilt card. I would like to upgrade this to GeForce. Can I do that. if yes which model is suitable for gaming. As this one hangs a lot during 3D games.

And I know we can not downgrade this to XP, due to missing drivers for wireless card reader etc etc. But did anyone tried using XP on these laptops

you can't upgrade Lappy Graphics.

yes! XP can be installed on this. its the problem with sata drivers. HP people hase disabled this in bios, and kept sata in AHCI mode only instead of IDE copmatability. In short to push Vista. ALl the drivers can be had from different manufacturers. all you need to know is the company that makes them.

Like wifi is made mostly by intel broadcom, atheros. similarly card reader is made ny riccoh, TI etc.

[Whiz]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Oh my god! I saw the Acer Aspire 1 and it sucks! Very tacky and lousy finishing. I have to get back to more research now...next up is the Samsung netbook...

I would strongly suggest the Asus EEE PC when it comes to Netbooks, as they are the best in that segment and also great VFM. The 1000HE series is highly rated among all.

Check out the review for this Netbook at Notebookreview

[Whiz]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Oh my god! I saw the Acer Aspire 1 and it sucks! Very tacky and lousy finishing. I have to get back to more research now...next up is the Samsung netbook...

Originally Posted by sam003

I have HP DV6345US laptop. It has 945GM Intel graphic inbuilt card. I would like to upgrade this to GeForce. Can I do that. if yes which model is suitable for gaming. As this one hangs a lot during 3D games.

And I know we can not downgrade this to XP, due to missing drivers for wireless card reader etc etc. But did anyone tried using XP on these laptops

As mentioned by SirAlec, you cannot upgrade the inbuilt graphics card of laptops, if your laptop is used more as a desktop replacement then, you could try an external graphics card option but that's not a great idea.

When it comes to gaming, it's a combination of factors like the games you play, HDD speed, RAM, Screen Size etc. that make it run faster/slower.
For e.g. Flight Simulator X is a CPU intensive game which requires more processor speed than anything else.

Just by upgrading your graphics card (assuming it was feasible with laptops) would not have solved your problem.

So if you're looking at gaming, suggest you go for laptops specifically meant for it like the Dell XPS, Dell Studio XPS, ASUS G50 and not to forget Alienware man its my dream to own one though I personally own an ASUS G50.

Hope that helped!!!

[SRK]

I am planning to get my self a new laptop.
Earlier I used one from Toshiba Satellite seires (lasted for about 4-5yrs) but now it is giving me some problems.
1st the harddisk crashed taking away with it all the data and all my designs.
2nd the battery doesn't work.
3rd the CD/DVD rom doesn't function.

So now I need your help in choosing a new one since I don't have much knowledge about computers. The only thing I know is the bigger the numbers, the faster the computer and more expensive it is.
I want it to run 3d & design softwares (pro-e,solidworks,photoshop,etc.) and all other basic functions(movies,music,office,etc.)

Heres what I have shortlisted.
DELL STUDIO 15 with following specifications:
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6400 (can someone explain me about this)
3GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
320GB SATA HDD 5400rpm
512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 (some help here too)

The salesperson at Croma (Bandra) quoted the price around Rs. 48000/-.(can I get a better deal somewhere else?)

Questions:
1.)Is it possible to get the Graphics card (ATI) upgraded later on. (the salesperson said it was not possible)
2.)Can I upgrade the RAM later on (it can be maxed upto 8GB)

Any other alternative with similar specifications?

[harry10]

@SRK- Its a good laptop.
However price is on higher side i feel.
There is a t-bhp member who can help you getting a good deal.
You can pm him- his handle is devarshi84

[Jaguar]

@SRK, here is the real experience my friend had with Dell Studio 15

Its not even one month I bought this dell studio laptop its started giving problems. Its actually within one week time that I got this problem. My laptop was not booting. So I called the tech support and she tried to help over the phone which in the end was not fruitful. She said I need to replace my motherboard. I am like what the hell its not even one month and she is telling me replace the motherboard. So she decided to send the technician to my place. Technician came and did whatever he was told to do and fixed it. Well he spent more than 2 to 3 hours to fix that. Because after putting the new motherboard, it was still giveing some error messages in booting. But somehow he fixed it. Within 24 hours, the problem started again. It was not able to boot. I called tech support again. This time the representative is saying to replace the hard disk.I said you better replace the laptop with a new one. He said he will transfer me to a laptop replacement department. In between this, there were so many times the call was dropped. Finally I reached this so called replacement department. The representative said she is in customer care and as per terms and conditions of dell, they cannot replace a laptop. I am regretting myself now for buying Dell Studio 15

Latest update:

After spending countless hours talking to Dell customer support and visits by technician to replace the hdd, it was found that the issue is with Vista Ultimate auto update. Called up MS tech support and the support guy tried his hand with remote assistance but to no avail.
Finally, Dell is asking me to disable auto update as the solution. They say, the new SP is due for vista and the issue should be resolved. I feel cheated for paying 6k extra over the cost of Vista Home for Vista Ultimate.

Having said this, I use dell both at home and office and have not faced any problems. So, I would like to believe that the issue my friend is facing is indeed an issue with the Vista Ultimate and not the laptop as such.

- Jag

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by SRK

The salesperson at Croma (Bandra) quoted the price around Rs. 48000/-.(can I get a better deal somewhere else?)

Questions:
1.)Is it possible to get the Graphics card (ATI) upgraded later on. (the salesperson said it was not possible)
2.)Can I upgrade the RAM later on (it can be maxed upto 8GB)

Any other alternative with similar specifications?

1. Yes, Dell direct will always give you a better deal than a store - Learn about Dell's notebooks, laptops, desktops, monitors, printers plus computer electronics & accessories.

2. AFAIK, it's not possible to replace a graphics card in a laptop.

3. Yes the RAM can be upgraded later.

4. If you don't need the 15" screen size, then the Studio 14 with the same config is an option for about the same money.

[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by StarScream

1. Yes, Dell direct will always give you a better deal than a store - Learn about Dell's notebooks, laptops, desktops, monitors, printers plus computer electronics & accessories.

2. AFAIK, it's not possible to replace a graphics card in a laptop.

3. Yes the RAM can be upgraded later.

4. If you don't need the 15" screen size, then the Studio 14 with the same config is an option for about the same money.

1. A quick check there online did not yield an advantage over the Chroma price even before adding VAT etc.

2. This is the maximum RAM they are offering for the graphics card online.

3. The 8GB option is more than thirty thousand rupees over the standard 3 GB RAM.

4. Never checked there.