<p>so i've 100% decided on a dell. now from there i'm lost. i'm just going to school and not a gamer or anything so i think the XPS is out. but i have a lot of pics and music and stuff, so should i get an entertainment or a basic notebook? and then whether i should get a 1 or 2 GB memory and my major one is what hard drive. thank you sooooo much!</p>
<p>i recommend the 12" one</p>
<p>well that doesn't help much because i know the size i'm getting, but i just don't know the memory or the hard drive or the basic/entertainment style to get... as i stated in my first post.</p>
<p>My son got the 6000 with upgrades last year, and has been very satisfied with it.</p>
<p>let's see if you are getting dell...</p>
<p>Processor/CPU: Don't get Sempron or Celeron. Try for Pentium M or Dual Core. They also have a Solo Core which is a little cheaper but I haven't heard about it much. Recommendation is Pentium M or Dual Core. </p>
<p>Speed: For college IMO anything between 1.6-2.0Ghz should be enough.</p>
<p>HD: 60-80GB</p>
<p>RAM: 512MB-1GB DDR</p>
<p>Video Card: Don't get the integrated one, try to get the ATI XPress Mobility one..</p>
<p>Drives: CDRW/DVDRW ==> CDRW/DVDRW would be better choice than CDRW/DVD because they are cheap nowadays</p>
<p>Software: Frankly don't get any software....Dell has a lot of crap which they are going to offer, but other than the pre-installed Windows XP (get Home not Professional. You will not use the features of Pro anyway), don't get anything else. If you want Microsoft Office you can get student version for much cheaper elsewhere.</p>
<p>Just get the basics of everything else. i.e. no mp3 player, printer, camera, external HD etc. etc.</p>
<p>look out for deals in <a href="http://www.slickdeals.net%5B/url%5D">www.slickdeals.net</a> and <a href="http://www.techbargains.com%5B/url%5D">www.techbargains.com</a></p>
<p>They usually post Dell coupons every week...</p>
<p>The ATI xpress is shared video memory (like the intel) and slightly more powerful than the intel FOR GAMES, it's not an actual dedicated graphics card like the geforce or radeon. I really wouldn't get it for any reason because the intel integrated graphics is perfectly fine for anything you throw at it plus since it's designed for the same board as centrino, its improves battery life and costs less. It also runs games like guild wars and WoW fine, at low settings.</p>
<p>Also there's no reason to get Pentium M over Core Solo because Core Solo is basically a newer version of Pentium M, which has been around since the early 2000's. I also wouldn't waste my money on Core Duo unless you like encoding videos and playing heavy games at the same time. Most of the time Core Solo actually outperforms Core Duo since both cores on the dual core processor aren't even utilized.</p>
<p>Citan posted some good deal sites, but i would also look at <a href="http://www.gotapex.com%5B/url%5D">www.gotapex.com</a> . i got a nice $750 off coupon there that i used on my E1705. As Citan said go with the dual core processor, at least 512MB of ram and an upgraded graphics card (X1400 is pretty cheap on the E1705). There is one thing he left out though, get the 9 Cell Battery. it will give you alot more life out of your laptop while your on the move.</p>
<p>MissSaraAnn, you should probably go for a lappy that's cheap and light. Any laptop on the market today will meet and exceed your needs. I'd definitely definitely recommend searching for coupons on the sites listed by Citan, as well as on notebookforums.com. Don't buy RAM from dell - get your laptop with as little as possible and buy more elsewhere. It's cheaper that way.</p>
<p>^^ I would advise against that..this is laptop we are talking about. It is considerably difficult to upgrade laptop components such as RAM etc.</p>
<p>It's not that difficult, provided you know how to open the latch covering the RAM and install it correctly (which basically anyone with half a brain can do). In fact, it's much harder to install and upgrade RAM on a desktop computer than it is on a laptop.</p>
<p>I agree with cavalier302 in that you should find a laptop that is light, relatively small, and cheap. You don't want to be lugging around a laptop that is 6.5+ pounds along with your already-filled backpack. Dell's laptops aren't the lightest, but you can find a solid one with a nice screen without the added weight.</p>
<p>As you probably won't be using your laptop for advanced tasks such as video or audio editing, you shouldn't worry too much about the amount of memory you have. Most basic laptops from Dell come with 512 MB of RAM, which is more than enough to play music or look at photos. You'll likely be doing a lot of word processing, checking email, going on the internet, etc. Again, 512 MB is plenty for these minor tasks, and you can always upgrade if you'd like. I say stick with 512, unless Dell offers a deal to upgrade to 1 GB for free or a very cheap price, which is likely; they always have deals and free upgrades on their laptops.</p>
<p>The amount of hard drive space you get should be enough to accomodate the amount of pictures and music you have, and you should probably get one even bigger than you think you need just to be on the safe side. Laptop hard drives can get pretty expensive, and they're harder to install or replace than RAM is. Also, with hard drives, its not a matter of simply upgrading. If you want a bigger hard drive on a laptop, you pretty much have to buy an external one or replace your old one (both options can get expensive, and the latter leaves you with an old hard drive that is pretty much useless).</p>
<p>go sony vaio...</p>
<p>Sheesh, it depends. Get the cheapest one that meets your minimum use requirements. And always use their weekly $750, $500, and $350 coupons.</p>
<p>wow your really good at reading he said hes set on a dell... anyway i would suggest the 1505 ihave had mine for about 3 weeks now and its great pm me if you want some more info</p>
<p>Citan, what are you talking about? RAM is very easy to upgrade. It was pretty easily done on my dell, at least. And she doesn't need any other compenent upgrades or upgraded components.</p>
<p>Dell is horrible. Newegg and build it yourself, much better performance, and will come out cheaper.</p>
<p>Dell wouldn't be in business if their computers were that bad. Mine is fine. I doubt the OP has the expertise, time or patience to build one on her own. I sure don't/didn't.</p>
<p>I have heard the Latitudes are stronger and more durable than the home line. My son has a Latitude 610 and likes it.</p>
<p>Dell is a fine choice (as would be Sony, HP, and others). A laptop is far more flexible than a desktop. It's more portable (taking to class, the library, the lounge area, home with you on breaks, using on your bed, etc.) and take up much less space in the tiny dorm rooms. I'd stick with a factory-built laptop rather than a self-built.
Pay a lot of attention to the display since you'll spend the majority of the time staring at it while the computer is actually doing very little. Get a reasonable sized hard disk since multimedia is important to most people today and music/videos take up a lot of space. The actual speed of the processor isn't as important as long as it's reasonable. Make sure it has built-in wireless but most have it nowadays.</p>
<p>Regarding the purchase, check with your college bookstore since most of them have special deals on both the computer and the software to put on it. Their prices generally beat what you can find elsewhere. They also sometimes have extended on-site warranties included in the price that can be very convenient.</p>
<p>go with d610 (or they may have d620s now) or the 410/420. the latitudes are much studier than the inspirons and no more expensive.</p>
<p>of course i recommend ibm's over dells though - ive only had bad luck with them, even though they've always been prompt when fixing it.</p>
<p>cavalier: she seems like a novice...and notebook ram is more difficult to upgrade (depending on model) than desktop.</p>