Laptops Help needed with laptop purchase

[VimJ]

guys i hav to buy a laptop as soon as possible.......hav been lookin thru the dell 1520 but cud anybody tell me how much time do they take to deliver laptops....this is what i have configured i have some doubts though:huh:

Dell Inspiron 1520

Processor: Intel C2D T7100
Nvidia 8600M Gt graphics card
1 Gb ram
15.4 wxga with truelife(1440 x 900)
120Gb HD
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio Software
Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Combination Drive with dual layer write capabilities
Mindnight Blue Color with Microsatin Finish and camera
Dell(TM) Nylon Backpack
1 Year CompleteCover

Total coming to around Rs 63,173.00

Now following are some doubts....
1. Any other companies santa rosa laptops worth looking for in India only...is the Acer gemstone available here and if it is, is Dell one better than Acer

2.I want to have 2gb ram but the update price for 1 more gb is atrocious instead i can add on one 1 gb stick from transcend...will it be fine 1 dell +1 transcend ram???....

3.Laptop carrying case...what do u recommend considering the weight of this lappie i opted to go for backpack but again there are two options one from dell and other Targus......has anyone tried any of these???

4.well this might be personal choice but shud i go for 160gb rather than 120gb or its an unnecessary add on (for Rs 1730)

5. Is complete cover worth upgrading to???How does it work.... i mean how can they insure the laptops against accidents or rather our carelessness??????

 

[Deepak]

1. Any other companies santa rosa laptops worth looking for in India only...is the Acer gemstone available here and if it is, is Dell one better than Acer

AFAIK, Dell is d only 1 with SantaRosa in India

2.I want to have 2gb ram but the update price for 1 more gb is atrocious instead i can add on one 1 gb stick from transcend...will it be fine 1 dell +1 transcend ram???....

Yep, and the preferred way to do it :hap2:

3.Laptop carrying case...what do u recommend considering the weight of this lappie i opted to go for backpack but again there are two options one from dell and other Targus......has anyone tried any of these???

Dunno about Targus and all, but a backpack is what I'd recommed

4.well this might be personal choice but shud i go for 160gb rather than 120gb or its an unnecessary add on (for Rs 1730)

Stick with 120 and get a 120 or more portable later onwards

5. Is complete cover worth upgrading to???How does it work.... i mean how can they insure the laptops against accidents or rather our carelessness??????

I think it is, 1000 more and they replace the lappy rite, mayb some 1 else can shed more light on the details tho

 

[adder]

well the complete warranty is worth it as they will replace it even if u break it to pieces accidently.well i think its better to go for 160gb.
it will come from malayasia so it will take around a week or so.better to call the customer care.

 

[guptaji]

1. Any other companies santa rosa laptops worth looking for in India only...is the Acer gemstone available here and if it is, is Dell one better than Acer

yes..acer gemstone(aspire 5920G) will be available very soon..and yes it wud be better than the DELL, in terms of the specs it provides..pricing is not firm and out yet, but it shud be launched pretty soon..
heres a good review of the notebook
TrustedReviews - Acer Aspire 5920

i personally feel the acer wud be better than the DELL..for its sheer design and more processing power..

2.I want to have 2gb ram but the update price for 1 more gb is atrocious instead i can add on one 1 gb stick from transcend...will it be fine 1 dell +1 transcend ram???....

Dell+transcend shud work just fine..

3.Laptop carrying case...what do u recommend considering the weight of this lappie i opted to go for backpack but again there are two options one from dell and other Targus......has anyone tried any of these???

u can always buy on from the market..search for dell carry bags and u will get enuf links for their reviews and pics..that shud help..

4.well this might be personal choice but shud i go for 160gb rather than 120gb or its an unnecessary add on (for Rs 1730)

at just 1730 extra, u shud go for 160GB

5. Is complete cover worth upgrading to???How does it work.... i mean how can they insure the laptops against accidents or rather our carelessness??????

yes..it is totally worth upgrading..they can and they do insure ur notebook against any accidental spills, damages or watever..even if ur LCD breaks, they will replace it..no questions asked..
its a great option IMO..and if u wanna secure ur lappy investment for longer, and are gonna use it roughly over the coming years..then it makes sense to go in for the 3-year complete cover..

 

[leomax]

Gemstone was launched a few weeks ago if im not wrong..
Two models,dont know the exact difference,one 65k and other 69k..
+ for acer is they have a lot of service centers here in india.

 

[virtuoso015]

I want to have 2gb ram but the update price for 1 more gb is atrocious instead i can add on one 1 gb stick from transcend...will it be fine 1 dell +1 transcend ram???....

Is complete cover worth upgrading to???How does it work.... i mean how can they insure the laptops against accidents or rather our carelessness??????

As far as i know, the dell 1520 comes with 2x512mb ram and when i asked the sales rep if he could change it to 1x 1gb, he said that he had no such option
So, if you are going to upgrade, you will have to remove both ram modules, and buy two new 1gb modules, which can set u back by about 5k

Complete cover is highly recommended, cos you never know... Accidents do happen

 

[Deepak]

Better get 1x512MB RAM then, tell em to reduce the price as much as they can, get new 1GB sticks, costs 2200 for 667Mhz

 

[VimJ]

@deepak yeah even i think first i ll ask them for 1 x 1gb ...if he doesn oblige then mayb ask him to reduce a bit and get 512 mb.......

@leomax and @basha
i couldn find acer gemstone anywhere and i think config wise the only difference is 2ghz processor which i can add and all within 67k but same acer i guess will be 69k so is there a point....and i don know but everyone seems to be a fan of dell service.....actually i study in pilani ....6 hrs from delhi or jaipur......one of my frndz with dell 6400 had a prob with dvd drive and tht too he jus said theres some burning smell.....the dell guy came over didn check much even but jus replaced it!!! ......one of my frndz also has an acer....he had a similar prob dvd writer not working...but it takes time to replace the same or service the same....

 

[Deepak]

With Dell, their after sales service is a bi advantage, Acer, Compaq and all don't provide onsite warranty, HP nx series has onsite though.

Also, I don't think theres a manufacturer in India which can compete with Dell's complete cover warranty.

 

[VimJ]

this is where i cud get some info abt dell.....uhh not info but viewpoints
Lowyat.NET -> G1s vs Gemstone vs Inspiron 1520

here is a shootout of dell 1520 vs hp dv6500t

Dell Inspiron 1520 and HP dv6500t Comparison - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion

 

[VimJ]

k guys jus came across this thread in another forum....for all those planning to buy a dell 1520 do have a look
Any 1520 + 8600 gt game results yet? - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion
and do check out the problems on installing another os along wid vista [ u might hav to delete dell media direct to do this ]

 

[VimJ]

so now i am worrying if i would be able to install linux on this laptop .....i seriously want to do that ...had they not forced upon us windows vista os by default i wudn have even thought of it......

 

[pcstore]

well .. i dont know much about Indian market. Only one point I would like to warn you is that RAM. take as small you can buy from DELL. then get 2 pcs of 1GB same brand .same batch .. same chipset.

Tell me why .. if they dont match exactly then your idea of Dual channel gets disturbed .. you will notice RAM getting hot.. i have experienced before. I sold mine 1GB came with the notebook and got 2GB Kingston. Make sure you get the ram DDR2 800 .. as this proc will support that.

 

[Deepak]

Tell me why .. if they dont match exactly then your idea of Dual channel gets disturbed .. you will notice RAM getting hot

What has non dual channel operaton got to do with RAM getting hot? Please do tell....

@atg, latest versions of any linux distro would be just fine, don't worry.

 

[virtuoso015]

@pcstore, as far as i know, only 3 options are provided for the 1520 and all of them have 2 modules of ddr2 667mhz ram. Also, santarosa does not support 800mhz DDR2.

@atg, dont worry, there will be some way in which linux can be installed on the 1520 along with vista, xp, and even dell media direct

 

[i_max2k2]

the complete care is definately a worthy investment , however i would suggest not to go for the sound blaster software,its just software over cheap hardware and u can get it installed later too,its worth $25 here so i guess u'll take off a thousand there,

i think the 800 mhz ram should be compatible with it,coz if its not compatible with santa rosa then wat supports it? :S

if u want some good performance with the hdd go for a 7200rpm drive,

it would be better to go with 512mb of ram but that might mean u might not get vista (coz here for vista u need to have atlest a gig of ram,so ur call)

see for installing linux with vista u would need to reformat ur hdd,but that would not delete mediadirect coz thats on a seperate partion,though u might have to delete the recovery partion,nyway also once u reinstall another os u have to make a bootpath for media direct and u can do that by using a utility ,just google for it and u'll get it

this should help for media direct.
one of the problems for installing multiple os is that there are already too many partiotions so getting a 160gig might help here! i mean i think having a higher capacity drive might allow for more partiotions,coz i had installed vista over my xp initially then reformatted and installed xp again coz it wont let me create nother partion for a dual boot option coz their were already too many partions! so bottom line is u have to reduce partions to install multiple os's

i hope this helps!

 

[VimJ]

Just a step closer to ordering dell 1520......pls check the config....

Processor: Intel C2D T7100
Nvidia 8600M Gt graphics card
1 Gb ram
15.4 wxga with truelife(1440 x 900)
160Gb HD
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio Software
Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Combination Drive with dual layer write capabilities
Mindnight Blue Color with Microsatin Finish and camera
Targus Pulse II Backpack
3 Year CompleteCover

Total :72,800
The guy is agreeing to bring it down to 70k but no further.....Is the price fine....Personally i feel i am spending too much on a laptop...u know i started with a target of 60k then moved to 65k and now 70k .....
And also he refuses to provide 1 * 1gb stick (and also 1*512 mb and reducing the price)so i m buyin 2*512mb (no other option am not insane to spend 9k on upgrading to 2gb though the dell guy s continuously persuading me to go for 2gb and he even said he would get me a good deal...what crap...He can noway getme a 1gb stick for 2300 Rs......

And another place where i am not so sure is i have got 3yr complete cover....dunno if its worth it....1yr --->3yr difference a whopping 7k....

And as for acer gemstone it s not yet here in India and design wise also its k not all tht gr8 (yes i ve read cnet review ) .......
And yes i had seen another Sony santa rosa lappy in a mall the other day.....some model FZ19 check out the specs TrustedReviews - Sony Unveils Full Santa Rosa Line Up

It retails for 69k but the diff is graphics card this has 8400 whereas dell i ll get 8600 for same price and 3yrs complete cover also......

So what do u recommend guys reply fast i ve to make the decision soon by today or 2moro

 

[logistopath]

1. Price looks right.. spending that much depends on your choice and decision.. :
2. 3 years complete cover is totally worth it.. especially if you are a careless / rough handler.. Else you can settle for 1 yr cover, but if you can, then go for the 3 yr cover.
3. (Personal opinion) Acer Gemstone looks very good. I'm waiting for that..

 

[i_max2k2]

whom are u getting it from,ask him to get u 1*512mb he should do that,see getting complete care for 1year is same as not havin it coz u wont probably use it ,my advice if u want a price cut,leave complete care,get a 120gb hdd and a 1280x800 display good for most things! that should bring down the price without cutting much functionality!