Nutha' laptop question...

Joined
Dec 13, 2005
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6,105
Hi gents-

I was just curious if anyone could help me out about a laptop decision.

I was looking at a couple of dells at bestbuy, an inspiron and a XPS. I believe the latter is their more 'refined' model. The XPS was in a smaller size that I want, has 4g memory (versus 3 for the inspiron) and a little larger hard drive. The inspiron was also 14", versus the 13" on the XPS that I wanted. The 1lb weight savings on the XPS were another selling point.

The inspiron was $520 and the XPS was $1000. So my question is, do you guys know if the differences in the 'extras' and in the basic qualities of the XPS vs. inspiron make it worth the price difference?

Guess I'm looking for lots of people to say either "that's stupid, save $500 and go with the inspiron" or "of course, spend the money to get more quality". :D
 
Well the XPS (just guessing here, I'm a die hard Apple fan, and not just because it became "cool" to have an iPod....) would have better quality components. It comes with XPS support, which is a bit like a 5 star hotel compared to a motel. It weights a bit less, and it's going to be built better. Less chance of having to buy a new one because it broke.

When buying a computer, you should always go as high end as you can. This will save you money in the long run because you won't have to buy another one quite as soon. I know people who are fine with the PowerBooks of old.
 
That's exactly what I wasn't sure of. I didn't know if buying a nicer (?) laptop was a waste, in that it might be outdated 6 months down the road. Also didn't know if a 'nicer' laptop would be more likely withstand a student's satchel. :D
 
Outdated and not useful are two different things. A cheaper computer TENDS (not always) to be outdated sooner but also not useful. Spend some extra cash and you're computer should retain usefulness longer even if outdated.
 
Lasting Windows laptops are rare. If I had a choice, it'd be a higher end XPS or a nice ThinkPad (IBM). Cheap computers become outdated faster, and when they're outdated, a lot less useful. ^ I noticed 65535 mentioned that too.
 
If you have the money go with the XPS! It has good specs is currently under $1000 and has great reviews. A couple of my friends have them, one has the current model X1330-146b and the other has last years model. They both love them and have worked great.

As for stuff being out dated, there are two major trains of though. #1. Out dated means there's something faster, bigger ext. which some how makes the computers that work fine not fine? #2 it has out lived it's usefullness IE doesn't run current programs.

I'm of the second line of thinking. Buy as good a computer as you can afford and it will most likely last you longer because it's better built and because they tend to have better specs which means it keeps up with rising system requirements longer.

Hope that helps.

Heber
 
Word of advice.....don't ever buy a computer from one of those big box electronics stores. Buy directly from the maker online or if they have a store go there and buy it.
 
Don't be afraid to check http://www.tigerdirect.com

Sometimes they have some great deals on factory rebuilds. Usually it is equipment that has been returned for one reason or another and they can't sell it as new. I know a couple of guys who got great deals.
 
I've got a previous gen XPS laptop- the M1210 and it's holding up quite well, both physically and running quality wise.
 
Grrrrr....I bought an inspiron a few years ago off the Dell website, and it cost me $1200....the fact that you can get it for less than half that now really chaps my ass....
 
I have about as high-end Inspiron you can get, and it's doing fine, running Vista, which I like!
That said, if I had to do it again, I would probably go with the XPS. Probably has a better graphics card than the Inspiron. Looks better, too.
 
Sorry to wake the dead folks- If I did get a Vista-running inspiron, is it worth getting an upgrade to 4gb of memory? Or will 3 cut it fine since I'm not gaming, etc?
 
3 should cut you fine, however the processing speed would be a factor. If it starts to feel sluggish, try turning some of the fancy graphic effects off. Vista is RAM intensive. It eats it like a pig and leaves few leftovers. If you've got the spare cash, get 4. (Better yet, get an XPS and put the 4 in that so you've got something that will last a bit longer.)
 
i just bought an xps 1530, think i paid about $1700. much better components, extras, everything than inspiron. fingerprintreader, webcam, great stereo, amazing screen, 4gig mem, 250gig hard drive, free fall sensor, hdmi, slot load dvd player. its a real beauty!
 
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