[tj123]

Originally Posted by Ketan

Hi,

I'm running Windows 7 x64 on Lenovo T400 notebook. I have currently got 4GB RAM, can someone confirm if this model can support more than 4GB (8 or 16GB) RAM?
In that case, I shall try to find out the upgrade path.
Thanks.

Max support for your model is 8192MB

Some facts about W7

While the maximum RAM limit for 32-bit Windows 7 editions is 4GB, when it comes to the 64-bit editions, the amount of memory that the OS can address depends on which edition you are running.
Here are the upper RAM limits for the different editions of Windows 7:

• Starter: 8GB
• Home Basic: 8GB
• Home Premium: 16GB
• Professional: 192GB
• Enterprise: 192GB
• Ultimate: 192GB

[tj123]

Originally Posted by lazy

Hi Friends

Am looking to buy the Lenovo S10-2 netbook.

Am in Bangalore now.
Getting quote of 20500/-, however not getting it in Pink.

Any pointers where I can get hold of a pink S10-2 at the same price.

cheers
lazy

A bit late to comment ...Check out the Samsung N120 or the new range ... it has an excellent keyboard and battery life.
I got it for 23k along with an external USB powered dvd writer.

[Ketan]

Thanks for the response TJ,
is there an official website that confirms that T400 can support 8GB?

[anandtheleo]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Guys what is current going rate for a 2Gb DDR2 ram?

I have got a quote of Rs1800, is this fine?

Depends on the Mfg. and the Mhz, please check this site (given below) for prices. But from what I see currently in the site, the price seems good.

http://www.deltapage.com/

[Technocrat]

Thanks a lot Anand, Yes I will ask him the brand & check the website as well.

[tj123]

Originally Posted by Ketan

Thanks for the response TJ,
is there an official website that confirms that T400 can support 8GB?

I would say got to a compshop & try out the 8 GB. If it work nothing like it..

[Ketan]

okay, got some links that confirms that this model (T400 2768 A-65) supports 8GB.
Thank you.

[e1t1bet]

I have almost zeroed in on the Studio 15. I have a few questions here:
(1)Is the studio 15 significantly worse in build quality than the XPS?
(2)Do Dells come with a firewire port? (as this is not mentioned on the site) This is absolutely essential for me, as otherwise I won't be able to run my presonus firewire soundcard (I have a homestudio)
(3)I am primarily choosing Dell because I am sick of HP's horrible a.s.s which is always out of spares. Is it advisable to go for the 3 year complete warranty?

Thanks in advance

[cpyder]

IMO, the build quality as such of all dells are pretty much same. Although I havent seen a Studio yet, but going from the Vostro, XPS (I have one) and Inspiron they seem to be pretty same. Although Vostro could be slightly more rugged given the target consumers. The difference lies basically in the visual appeal with Vostro being pretty much box-like, Inspiron is looks a little better plastic box and XPS slightly better off with the brushed metal finish. However, I must say that I do not find Dell Lappys better looking as compared to others. In fact I find HP/Sony lappys better looking (read sleaker) as compared to my XPS.

The innards, once again are similar with difference lying in the components like CPU etc. Strictly with build quality, nothing much that I can visually determine.

I guess they all come with firewire which is pretty much a norm nowadays. Its almost like USB ports. All Dells that I have seen had firewire.

Choosing warranty for a long time is personal choice. Refer to discussions above in this thread. But what I know is that Dell's A.S.S. is top notch all over the world. Dell is perhaps the only brand which offers warranty against your misdeeds as well (somewhat akin to an insurance). They cover the laptop against damages from fall, tea spillage etc as well. (you might have to pay up extra though). So if you see yourself putting your laptop to some rough use, the extended warranty may be a good option. If not, it might just be waste of money. Remember, if it is manufacturing defect, it will show up in one year's usage. If not, probability of such defect rising later on is almost nil because laptop does not have moving parts (except HDD and fans) which will deteriorate with time and usage*. After one year, cost of changing an HDD/Fan will definitely be less than cost of warranty cover.


*= Exceptions are always there though. My last Laptop, an Acer Aspire sprung up a motherboard problem in about 14 months. A little internet search revealed that it was indeed a manufacturing defect and many users complained about it worldwide. But I still say that it is really rare. And yes, (quoting another user from abroad) Acer does not seem to have done anything about it. They replaced the motherboards with those of same batch, which promptly failed again.. and again.. and again. Till finally the warranty period got over.

[e1t1bet]

Thanks for the help cpyder. I was concerned about firewire because some HPs do not come with firewire these days (I think the dv 4 series).
As far as warrantly is concerned, there are way too many laptops that are lemons. My three year old hp pavillion had one motherboard change after around 1.5 years, and the same problem has reoccurred. This time I am out of warranty

[e1t1bet]

Dell has a dedicated store on Inner Ring Road (Inside the Dell complex), Bangalore. Just coming back from there, and I must say that the Studio 15 looks absolutely stunning with the matte finish et al. Also, Dell studio has a firewire port.
So, my final configuration is:

Dell Studio 15 Laptop (S540811IN8)

Color Options:
Ruby Red Colour with Black U-Trim
Processor:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz/ 1066 FSB/ 3MB Cache)
Operating System:
Genuine Windows Vista(R) Home Premium SP1 32 bit (English)
Warranty & Service:
3 Years Complete Cover Accidental Damage Protection
Display:
15.6 " Full HD(1080p)WLED (1920 x 1080)Display with TrueLife(TM) w/Camera
Memory:
4GB (2X2GB) DDR2 SDRAM Memory (No 3GB RAM option)
Hard Drive:
500GB SATA Hard Drive
Video Card:
512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570
Optical Drive:
Slot Load 8X DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double layer write capability
Audio Solution:
Integrated Stereo Sound with Subwoofer
Wireless Network Card:
Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 (802.11a/g/n) Half Mini-card
Bluetooth Module:
Dell(TM) Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
Palmrest Option:
Silver Palmrest
Carrying Cases:
Targus Value Top Load DFD Carrying Case (15.6")
Batteries:
9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Keyboard:
Dell(TM) Keyboard with Touchpad (English)
Remote Access:
Dell Remote Access, free basic service
Datasafe Backup Service:
Dell Online Backup 2GB

All this for Rs.63,835.36 + delivery (No VAT, if bought directly from Dell retail). Should approximately come to 65k
All I await now is my salary for October, and thereon I shall join the Dell brigade

[bj96]

Originally Posted by jinojohnt

3. There is no provision for splitting your hard disk in the original OS. You need to work with only c:\ drive. If you need to split your hard disk to d:\ and e:\ drive, you need to reformat your disk and install (pirated?) OS. [You may ignore this point, some peope told me that this is the issue with all laptops. You need to use third party software to split your disk.]

Not quite right. You can "re-size" a disk which has windows installed (I have done for xp and 2k) w/o formatting the HDD or need to reinstall OS. It (specially) helps on a new computer when not too much user and/or application data is written on to the disk yet. If you are familiar w/ Linux tools (need not master) and can follow some commands, you can do it yourself using free open source tools **.

Refer this: Resize Windows Partition with Open Source Software

Also refer this, if you are not familiar w/ Disk terminologies:
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...artitions.html

Attached is the screenshot of my office Dell Latitude w/ partitioned hard disk. It has 160GB HDD and came w/ only one large (C:/) partition. I "re-sized" it into 30/130 GB. No reformat or OS reinstall required.

-BJ

** DO NOT ATTEMPT if above links look Greek and Latin

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by e1t1bet

I have almost zeroed in on the Studio 15. I have a few questions here:
(1)Is the studio 15 significantly worse in build quality than the XPS?
(2)Do Dells come with a firewire port? (as this is not mentioned on the site) This is absolutely essential for me, as otherwise I won't be able to run my presonus firewire soundcard (I have a homestudio)
(3)I am primarily choosing Dell because I am sick of HP's horrible a.s.s which is always out of spares. Is it advisable to go for the 3 year complete warranty?

Thanks in advance

1) Between Inspiron and Studio i find the fit and finish better in Studio. Keyboard is also nicer to type upon compared to Inspiron. I haven't tried XPS so i can't compare Studio with that.

2) Studio has a 1394a 4 pin firewire port.

3) Yes peace of mind if you can afford it.

4) You may want to opt for Vista 64bit edition if you want to upgrade the memory in future (Edit: 32bit supports only 3GB as you'd know). 64bit Vista will cost you 107rupees and 15paise more go for it. You will anyway get an upgrade to Windows 7 from Dell so choose Vista 64bit now and you'll get Windows 7 64bit as the upgrade. Makes sense?

Also another point i wish to make is that Studio and XPS comes with an eSATA port, but there's a catch. These ports run at SATA1 1.5Gbps speed compared to the newer SATA2 3Gbps standard. IF you plan to use an prebuilt external storage (like a MyBook, FreeAgent, Extreme etc) connected by eSATA your system might hang up or won't boot etc. This is because most of these prebuilt drives operate at SATA2 standard. Remedy for this problem is to set the HDD jumper to limit the speed to SATA1, this can be done with openable eSATA HDD case; but will be difficult with prebuilt external storages.

Well, i tried connecting a 1TB MyBook to my Studio and it didn't work, that's how i came to know of this issue.

[e1t1bet]

Sankar, thanks for your input.
I am not going for Vista 64 because of driver issues. I have a lot of audio equipment that is extremely driver sensitive.

And you are correct. The Studio is noticeably better built than the Inspiron. I checked all Dell laptops at the exclusive store.

[tj123]

Originally Posted by e1t1bet

Thanks for the help cpyder. I was concerned about firewire because some HPs do not come with firewire these days (I think the dv 4 series).

As far as warrantly is concerned, there are way too many laptops that are lemons. My three year old hp pavillion had one motherboard change after around 1.5 years, and the same problem has reoccurred. This time I am out of warranty

Usually HP's , Lenovo's & Dell are in the assembling game and source parts from contract manufactures. No wonder there products are turning out to lemons in the long run.

My office laptop a Dell had its optical drive, keyboard, motherboard replaced under warranty. After this experience I don't trust these brands any more.
I prefer a Samsung/LG /Sony for computers and peripherals.