Dell Laptop User Thread

[darrenlee78]

depends on ur requirements... let us know wat u using it for.

 

[Shinji_U]

...... juz buy and u eye new 1 again .........

Buy a new toy now, can start saving up for the next toy lor. I need to save up to start family also, so need to plan budget. But the next notebook I get will probably be the yothans powered ones, dual core mobile CPUs... of course with a powerful GPU. After using notebook for so long, a little hard to go back to desktop... don't know why leh.. when I see 1024x768 desktop resolution my head start to ache... 1600x1200 still ok, not bad... but my requirements a little high la... desktop resolution must not be below 1920x1200...

I'm a weirdo...

 

[tangsp]

Hi,

After reading this thread... think I will get a Dell laptop, but can someone explain the different configuration that they offer? My usage will most likly be running Xilinx ISE program or Visual Studio, maybe some gaming... budget <$2000

Was at Dell website and am choosing between 700m, 510m and 6000... but dun quite understand the difference between them... any advice?
- what would the amt of RAM be adequate for the OS 256M?
- a faster HD would be prefer then a larger one, do they offer upgrade?
- DVD writer gd to have but not a must
- oh, also will upgarde to 3 yr warranty...

Thanks
Vince

 

[Shinji_U]

Hi,

After reading this thread... think I will get a Dell laptop, but can someone explain the different configuration that they offer? My usage will most likly be running Xilinx ISE program or Visual Studio, maybe some gaming... budget <$2000

Was at Dell website and am choosing between 700m, 510m and 6000... but dun quite understand the difference between them... any advice?
- what would the amt of RAM be adequate for the OS 256M?
- a faster HD would be prefer then a larger one, do they offer upgrade?
- DVD writer gd to have but not a must
- oh, also will upgarde to 3 yr warranty...

Thanks
Vince

I'd recommend the i700m with 1GB memory, you will need to choose between a faster HDD (7200rpm) or a HDD that has a larger capacity (5400rpm). The fastest HDD for notebooks now is the Hitachi 7,2000 rpm HDD, but only comes in 60GB size. Forgotten what is the largest HDD Dell offered. Maybe you can post some questions and the people here will try to answer as accurate as they can, including me.

 

[SFFMadness]

I'd recommend the i700m with 1GB memory, you will need to choose between a faster HDD (7200rpm) or a HDD that has a larger capacity (5400rpm). The fastest HDD for notebooks now is the Hitachi 7,2000 rpm HDD, but only comes in 60GB size. Forgotten what is the largest HDD Dell offered. Maybe you can post some questions and the people here will try to answer as accurate as they can, including me.

wah, upgrade hdd to 7200rpm!!!

better be careful ya. Afterward too much heat in the ultraprotable book, laptop die faster

 

[Shinji_U]

wah, upgrade hdd to 7200rpm!!!

better be careful ya. Afterward too much heat in the ultraprotable book, laptop die faster

I'll upgrade mine, but I'd rather buy from SLS, so that the next time I change my notebook all I need to do is plug in the harddisk and save time from reinstallation of everything...

 

[SFFMadness]

I'll upgrade mine, but I'd rather buy from SLS, so that the next time I change my notebook all I need to do is plug in the harddisk and save time from reinstallation of everything...

Hope you have adequate cooling since you will be infront of your laptop for long hours playing games

 

[Shinji_U]

Hope you have adequate cooling since you will be infront of your laptop for long hours playing games

To be frank, the new hitachi 7200rpm 8MB buffer HDD ain't that hot. my i9300 harddisk chassis is located right below the pcmcia slot which I don't use, so I'll normally leave it there without the dummy plug to allow the heat from the HDD to come out, also I can plug in a PCMCIA notebook cooler and have it suck the hot air out if that's necessary.

Alot of i9300 users who upgraded their HDD to the 7200rpm ones didn't notice an increase in heat, but on the average a decrease of 7-14mins battery life after swapping to the 7200rpm drive. Since everyone who uses i9300 got no heat issue with the 7200rpm drive, I'll go along with it as well.

 

[SFFMadness]

To be frank, the new hitachi 7200rpm 8MB buffer HDD ain't that hot. my i9300 harddisk chassis is located right below the pcmcia slot which I don't use, so I'll normally leave it there without the dummy plug to allow the heat from the HDD to come out, also I can plug in a PCMCIA notebook cooler and have it suck the hot air out if that's necessary.

Alot of i9300 users who upgraded their HDD to the 7200rpm ones didn't notice an increase in heat, but on the average a decrease of 7-14mins battery life after swapping to the 7200rpm drive. Since everyone who uses i9300 got no heat issue with the 7200rpm drive, I'll go along with it as well.

Well the decrease in 7-14mins of battery life should be a signal that the heat is a problem. You might not see the damage done until months after. Sure you get a huge performance boost but then issit worth the potential damage the heat might cause? Anyway, I just want ppl to be aware that problems might arise from the increase in heat and reduce the life of the laptop.

But then if you are using laptop in an air-conditioned room and/or laptop cooler, should be alright I guess.

 

[tangsp]

BTW which warranty did you get???

- 1GB memory!!! too expensive already lah... maybe will consider 512M

option 1: Cost $0
! By not extending my warranty over 1 year, I understand the risks of higher repair cost on my system not under warranty.
1 Year Standard Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-1800
Notebook Batteries Carry One Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
Regional Support Within Asia Pacific Countries For Notebooks With 1 Yr NBD
Varied From DELL's Terms And Conditions
Please Call 1-800-394-7430 For DELL Technical Phone Support

Option 2: Cost $50.40

! 1YR COMPLETE COVER + 1 YR NBD + 1 YR PLUS PHONE SUPPORT
Regional Support Within Asia Pacific Countries For Notebooks With 1 Yr NBD
Please Call 1-800394-7432 For DELL Technical Phone Support
1 Year Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
1 Year Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
Notebook Batteries Carry One Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
Varied From DELL's Terms And Conditions
For More Details, see www.dell.com.sg/completecover

Option 3: Cost $321.30

3 Years Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
Personal Productivity Kit
3 Years Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
Notebook Batteries Carry One Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
Please Call 1-800394-7432 For DELL Technical Phone Support
Varied From DELL's Terms And Conditions
International Support Over 90 Countries For Notebooks.

Option 4: Cost $530.25
Free 4th year Warranty support with 3 year standard support plan
Includes 3Yr (Next Business Day Limited Warranty,CompleteCover, 24/7 Technical Support).Click "Learn More" for details
3 Years Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
3 Years Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
3 Years 24x7 Priority User PC Phone Support (Round-The-Clock Access)
4th Year Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
4th Year Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
3 Years CompleteCover Programme (Asia Pacific Regional Coverage Only)

Option 5: Cost $617.40
Free 4th year Warranty support with 3 year premier support plan
3 Years CompleteCover Guard
4th Year Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
4th Year Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
3 Years Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
3 Years Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
3 Years 24x7 Priority User PC Phone Support (Round-The-Clock Access)

 

[Shinji_U]

Well the decrease in 7-14mins of battery life should be a signal that the heat is a problem. You might not see the damage done until months after. Sure you get a huge performance boost but then issit worth the potential damage the heat might cause? Anyway, I just want ppl to be aware that problems might arise from the increase in heat and reduce the life of the laptop.

But then if you are using laptop in an air-conditioned room and/or laptop cooler, should be alright I guess.

Ermm... I have a friend who is using the 7200 rpm drive in his i8600, so far did not encounter any problem at all, heat wise, he didn't even notice any increase in heat... but he say his Windows XP and programs loads twice as fast...

 

[darrenlee78]

Well the decrease in 7-14mins of battery life should be a signal that the heat is a problem. You might not see the damage done until months after. Sure you get a huge performance boost but then issit worth the potential damage the heat might cause? Anyway, I just want ppl to be aware that problems might arise from the increase in heat and reduce the life of the laptop.

But then if you are using laptop in an air-conditioned room and/or laptop cooler, should be alright I guess.

how does decrease in battery life relate to a heat problem.

a 7200 drive will obviously need more power as it is spinning very much faster than a 4200rpm one.
thus it uses more energy.

 

[darrenlee78]

BTW which warranty did you get???

- 1GB memory!!! too expensive already lah... maybe will consider 512M

option 1: Cost $0
! By not extending my warranty over 1 year, I understand the risks of higher repair cost on my system not under warranty.
1 Year Standard Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-1800
Notebook Batteries Carry One Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
Regional Support Within Asia Pacific Countries For Notebooks With 1 Yr NBD
Varied From DELL's Terms And Conditions
Please Call 1-800-394-7430 For DELL Technical Phone Support

Option 2: Cost $50.40

! 1YR COMPLETE COVER + 1 YR NBD + 1 YR PLUS PHONE SUPPORT
Regional Support Within Asia Pacific Countries For Notebooks With 1 Yr NBD
Please Call 1-800394-7432 For DELL Technical Phone Support
1 Year Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
1 Year Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
Notebook Batteries Carry One Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
Varied From DELL's Terms And Conditions
For More Details, see www.dell.com.sg/completecover

Option 3: Cost $321.30

3 Years Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
Personal Productivity Kit
3 Years Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
Notebook Batteries Carry One Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
Please Call 1-800394-7432 For DELL Technical Phone Support
Varied From DELL's Terms And Conditions
International Support Over 90 Countries For Notebooks.

Option 4: Cost $530.25
Free 4th year Warranty support with 3 year standard support plan
Includes 3Yr (Next Business Day Limited Warranty,CompleteCover, 24/7 Technical Support).Click "Learn More" for details
3 Years Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
3 Years Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
3 Years 24x7 Priority User PC Phone Support (Round-The-Clock Access)
4th Year Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
4th Year Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
3 Years CompleteCover Programme (Asia Pacific Regional Coverage Only)

Option 5: Cost $617.40
Free 4th year Warranty support with 3 year premier support plan
3 Years CompleteCover Guard
4th Year Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
4th Year Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
3 Years Next Business Day (8x5) Onsite Response (Parts + Labour)
3 Years Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600
3 Years 24x7 Priority User PC Phone Support (Round-The-Clock Access)

i think 3 year warranty is about $200++ maybe you can call to doublecheck

 

[SFFMadness]

how does decrease in battery life relate to a heat problem.

a 7200 drive will obviously need more power as it is spinning very much faster than a 4200rpm one.
thus it uses more energy.

I was coming from the point where short battery life in lithium-ion batteries are mainly caused by heat. It could very well be just the drive taking more power. But I would not ignore the extra heat generated by a faster drive

 

[Shinji_U]

I was coming from the point where short battery life in lithium-ion batteries are mainly caused by heat. It could very well be just the drive taking more power. But I would not ignore the extra heat generated by a faster drive

Does heat reduce the battery life?

i9300 battery is far away from the harddrive.. at opposite end... I don't think it will affect...

 

[eurofunk]

nt sure if this is the appropriate thread, but anyone using a dell 8400 desktop kindly pm me pls, thx.

 

[Shinji_U]

nt sure if this is the appropriate thread, but anyone using a dell 8400 desktop kindly pm me pls, thx.

Obviously you are in the wrong thread... this is the mobile computing thread... you ought to post in the desktop or general section...

 

[SFFMadness]

Does heat reduce the battery life?

i9300 battery is far away from the harddrive.. at opposite end... I don't think it will affect...

Yup, heat will reduce battery life. For your case, the decrease in the battery most likely just from the upgrade to 7200rpm hdd. My bad

Btw, did you test how much performance gain there is when did the hdd switch?

 

[Shinji_U]

I haven't bought my 7200rpm drive yet, haven't scout for the price.

 

[SFFMadness]

I haven't bought my 7200rpm drive yet, haven't scout for the price.

I just did a quick check. Ard $215-258 for 40-60gb. Too expensive for my blood