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Hi guys. My sister is going off to college soon and she wants to get a laptop for school. She is looking to spend 1500$ @ the most. It needs to be a Dell or a Gateway because my Dad has a hookup and can get it for cheaper. But I'm pretty sure most of you guys will definitely say Dell over Gateway. She orig. wants to get an Apple (my dad has hookup w/ them too) but I'm trying to convince her not to. She wants a DVD burner too. Which laptop would be good for her? She wants the laptop for photo work, video editing, apps, web-surfing, and the rest of that general stuff.

Thanks for the help.

Hey. I'm looking at these Dell notebooks 'cuz I pretty much decided against the Gateway for her. Here's what I'm looking at:

1) I'm kinda leaning towards the Inspiron 8600. It looks to suit her needs very well, and at a decent price.

2) But then again, the Inspiron 5150 and Inspiron 9100 are in the corner of my eye. Not sure about them.

Can anyone give me some advice and info on these laptops?

And one more thing, is a refurb. laptop a good or bad idea?

fixationdarknes wrote:And one more thing, is a refurb. laptop a good or bad idea?

I asked that in a thread a few days ago...nobody had anything to say about it..so dunno..


I'll tell you in a week or two hopefully

I highly prefer Dell over Gateway.

Don't forget the whole package...antivirus is an absolute MUST, and windows updates and an absolute MUST. She'll also need an MS Office suite, which she can get a $ break on student packages, possibly as the school itself to purchase it. I'd also include a router, to isolate her dorm room from the rest of the LAN. Better protection from kids who just want to poke around other peoples computers, and also from the worms that spread across networks.

Refurbs? What I mentioned to Bala...makes sure it's a factory refurb, not some "local mom and pop" done refurb. Try to get one a year or so old, so as some of the 3 year warranty might be left.

I prefer Anything over Dell....My daughter has a Gateway bought used and never had one problem with it....she uses it in college and it takes some abuse....and she watches dvds on it....i believe it has a bigger screen then dells as well.

Dell .any of those models are good...just make sure you get the 3 year warranty..because laptops ten to break a lot faster

HP Laptop
I bought this laptop roughly 4 months ago, and to tell you the truth I couldnt be any happier with it. Its fit-finish are impeccable. I opted for some upgrades, like Cpu,Mem,HD,XP Pro,GPU. All in all I wasnt sure I could truly purchase an HP when I first started looking, but at the time Dell, Gateway, Alienware, or any others couldn't beat the price for the options I needed.. Dell gave me a quote on a similiar version that was $500 higher. It all comes down to who gives you the most for your money! Oh and dont forget that 17" monitor! It kicks butt! Little weighty but hell I can deal with that if it looks as good as it does!

|D|Kin6slay3r wrote:HP Laptop Oh and dont forget that 17" monitor! It kicks butt! Little weighty but hell I can deal with that if it looks as good as it does!

Yah, that 17 incher is insane eh?

Also as GH said...the 3 year warranty. Must have with laptops.

Home user laptops will usually come with only a 1 year warranty, but when you get business grade laptops...you'll usually get a 3 year warranty. One of the reasons I like their Latitude and Precision series over the Inspiron.

YeOldeStonecat wrote:Yah, that 17 incher is insane eh?

Its awesome, I could nearly say it rivals my 19" LCD.

YeOldeStonecat wrote:Yah, that 17 incher is insane eh?

Also as GH said...the 3 year warranty. Must have with laptops.

Home user laptops will usually come with only a 1 year warranty, but when you get business grade laptops...you'll usually get a 3 year warranty. One of the reasons I like their Latitude and Precision series over the Inspiron.

yep and just as a note there is an option somewhere when you order the dell laptop to upgrade to the 3 year warranty when you doing the home version...but it costs extra like $100-200 not really sure.

Thanks for all the responses. Hokay. That HP thing looks pretty shway. But a couple problems. I'm pretty sure she wants a Dell, because my Dad has a hookup and can get it for cheaper. And also, shes doesn't want a heavy laptop. So what do you guys think about the Inspiron 8600, 9100 or 5150? She wants a good laptop: not too heavy, good speed, good imaging and video, good audio, good battery life, good size. What do you guys think about those 3 laptops? And thanks for pointing out the 3-year warranty. Didn't know it would be needed. Thanks.

And also: What is the difference between the 15.4-inch UltraSharp Widescreen XGA and the 15.4-inch UltraSharp Widescreen SXGA+ ? It says on the Dell website that the SXGA+ is recommended. For what reasons? And how much ram do you think she needs? And what video card?

Bump?

YeOldeStonecat wrote:Home user laptops will usually come with only a 1 year warranty, but when you get business grade laptops...you'll usually get a 3 year warranty. One of the reasons I like their Latitude and Precision series over the Inspiron.

I just got my Inspiron 8600 last week (friggin' AWESOME btw).. When I was on the phone with the Dell sales rep, I was adamant about wanting a Precision M60 or equivalent.. Since I didn't have a tax ID to use and I didn't feel like bothering accounting to help me out, they wouldn't sell me the business class laptop even though I had the extra flow to spend. Fortunately, I kicked and pouted enough and got a "residential" version of the 3-year (on-site included) for no extra charge.. I made them match the Precision that I wanted spec for spec including warranty or else I was taking my money elsewhere.. Its amazing the lengths they will go to keep a sale on a $3000+ laptop. My order came out about $85 cheaper than it would have online.

I highly recommend the centrino 700 series CPU's (Inspiron 8600).. Disregard the lower GHz rating.. 2MB L2 cache.. nuff said. They run cooler and use less juice than the typical 2.8/3.0GHz mobile P4's.

edited: oops.. it was the 8600, not the 8500.

for a student, the 85/8600 series is a little bulky for me. it is fantastic for DVDs, and games, but carrying it is a pain. my battery lasts about 3-4 hours int eh classroom, probably more for the 8600 centrino series. it just isn't as suitable for school as others are. also with that much carrying around, you need a solid warranty. mine is just one year, so i'm praying it'll be fine.

the 600m would be my choice, or D600 if you go for the higher quality latitude series. more compact, radeon 9000, new dothan processor option. also note that 9600 users with the 8600 notebook have been having a great time preventing overheats. also eye-candy gaming is best left for desktops if you're concerned about that.

the new 8600s may not have parallel or serial ports should that matter to you. i haven't kept up though. the 5150 and 9100 are out of the question; they are bricks best left on desks permanently or periodically moved from place to place.

-Jeremy