Need new laptop- Dell Insp. 13"?

SpookyPistolero

SpookyPistolero

Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Messages
6,105
Howdy folks-

My laptop is a Dell, it's a couple of years old, and it's mammoth in size (17"). Hauling it is like trying to carry a small child to school, which sort of defeats the purpose of a laptop.

Given that and the fact the letter M fell off recently, I'd like to get a new one. I feel like this Dell has worked pretty well for me (no big faults) so another one would be fine. But this one must be tiny and light!!!

Normally small=money, but the Inspiron 13 is actually relatively cheap. I'm looking at this right now:
http://www.dell.com/content/products...=us&l=en&s=dhs

So it'd be a bit under 5lbs, 2ghz Core 2 duo, 3gb memory, 250gb hard drive.

Last but not least: I need Office! The website lists the 'student edition' at $89. Is that a full edition? I heard someone mention a while back that it's only good for 2 months or something?

So if you'd be so kind as to give your thoughts on (a) this laptop as a choice in general, size, quality, etc., (b) if I nabbed all the options and (c) if the student edition of Office is enough.

This will pretty much be just a school laptop. Lots and lots of research, writing, working with powerpoint, and some music/video playing. No gaming, no photo editing.

Thoughts?
 
I like the Dell 13" Laptops, they offer pretty good performance in a small and light package for a good price. I've played with my neighbors and rather liked it.

The office Home and student and Student versions are full versions with Word, Excell and Power point. They are licenced and sold for non comercial home and student use. Which should be fine since this will be a student laptop. :) I'd say go for it. Retail is $149.99 normally but schools and some computer makers can sell it for $90 with student ID.

The speakers are the only weak spot with the 13" Dell laptops. They have descent sound cards and sound good with nice speakers but the internal ones are a joke IMO when it comes to listening to music or watching movies. They are not very loud and sound tinny/muffled to me. A nice set of speakers or headphones are a must when at home doing anything with lots of sound. My neighbors laptop sounds great when hooked to my Yamaha reciver with Klipsh speakers. ;)

Heber
 
wildmanh said:
I like the Dell 13" Laptops, they offer pretty good performance in a small and light package for a good price. I've played with my neighbors and rather liked it.

The office Home and student and Student versions are full versions with Word, Excell and Power point. They are licenced and sold for non comercial home and student use. Which should be fine since this will be a student laptop. :) I'd say go for it. Retail is $149.99 normally but schools and some computer makers can sell it for $90 with student ID.

The speakers are the only weak spot with the 13" Dell laptops. They have descent sound cards and sound good with nice speakers but the internal ones are a joke IMO when it comes to listening to music or watching movies. They are not very loud and sound tinny/muffled to me. A nice set of speakers or headphones are a must when at home doing anything with lots of sound. My neighbors laptop sounds great when hooked to my Yamaha reciver with Klipsh speakers. ;)

Heber
Click to expand...


That's great info! Just what I was looking for. Thanks a lot!!
 
My company and family has had bad luck with Dells in the last 2-3 years. Our older ones, approx 5 years were great. There customer service really really really sucks. They insist almost every problem is a software issue, even when its not. We've broken a couple keyboards. We've been switching to Toshiba's and have been very happy!
 
I love my toshiba 13", paid $600 at office depot on sale

1.83 dual intel 3gb ram 250 hd

so much lighter and easier to move than my 15"
 
Thanks guys! I'll probably look into a couple of stores over the weekend. I wouldn't mind a mac, but they're a good bit more pricey than I want right now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top