<p>if you're going to get a dell inspiron dual core series, do not upgrade the RAM on from them. they only offer 533mhz fsb RAM. the dual core processors are 667mhz, so you'll need to order separate DDR5300 RAM yourself and install it in order to not bottleneck your processors with such a simple thing as RAM. if you need to, ask a computer-handy friend or just PM me.</p>
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Dell is horrible. Newegg and build it yourself, much better performance, and will come out cheaper.
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You can't really build your own laptop, short of buying a bare-bones Asus and installing some of your own components. Dell sells basic computers at low prices (w/ coupons). There is nothing wrong with Dells, no matter what some people say. You get a good deal for the money.</p>
<p>The best dell to get is no dell at all, get a sony, toshiba, or HP</p>
<p>I actually just bought my second laptop this week, an Insipron 710m. They are currently having a free upgrade to 1GB memory, I upgraded to 60GB hard drive (identical to my current laptop) and upgraded the wireless card (the baseline one isn't too great from what I've heard). I also upgraded to 3-year warrenty with accidental drop (to protect me in case I spill from my bike with it on my back).</p>
<p>The reasons I went for this laptop is as a busy graduate student, I need a light laptop I can take to and from school each day. My toshiba (Satellite series) is much too large to carry around each day to and from school (~8-10lbs), so I'd just prefer leave it in my office during the week. Also, this Dell comes highly recommended from two people in my department that bought them earlier this year and have had no problems whatsoever with them. </p>
<p>If you want to go for a desktop replacement model, this may not be the right choice for you, but it's great for portability if you want to take it to and from class a lot (it starts at 4lbs). As far as price goes, I got the midline model and with current specials I got it for just under $1200.</p>
<p>One thing I must warn you about though is to never buy a refurbished Dell computer! My parents bought me one when I graduated from high school and months later in my freshman year of college I found that it was never fully reformatted and had viruses on it from over a year before the laptop as purchased. </p>
<p>Also, if you can afford it, the small business versions of Dells are a much better deal than the home computer versions. They are identical, however, the customer support difference is worth the extra price if you can afford it! The small business computer owners customer support calls stay within the United States, whereas the support calls for the home office models automatically goes overseas to India.</p>
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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.
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lol citan when is the last time you saw a dell with a sempron in it?</p>
<p>^^ you are right I haven't seen it....but even if they did don't get Sempron lol</p>
<p>I've never even heard of sempron before hahaha
im planing to get the inspiron E1505 or 6400. Is warranty really nessecary? Cuz i personally am quite 'careful' with my computers. What are the normal things that will often require you to get your comp fixed? droping? spills? or just self destruction by itself? (the previous two i most probably can prevent, the last one.. uhh)</p>
<p>Dell has never offered AMD chips in their PCs, and they've said they don't plan to anytime soon.</p>
<p>I have a 6000 and I'm very happy with it. Of course, it has been replaced by the better E1505/6400. If you value portability though, you might be fine with a 710m or XPS m140.</p>
<p>I think the best combo is a desktop + an ultraportable. You get the expandability of a desktop (plus performance) and the advantages of a computer that you can carry anywhere. I have a Dell Latitude X1 which is the smallest notebook they offer. Its a great deal due to it being nearly identical to the Samsung Q30 (Samsung and Dell had a none compete deal so the X1 is licensed by Dell to build). Anyway the quality is very good and i got 1.2gb of ram and 3 year warranty for 1200.</p>