Dell entry laptop recommendations?

[aigel]

I have had an Inspiron (RIP) and now a Vostro and they are / were good basic laptops. Time to get another one to take over for the ancient and obsolete desktop we still use in the family.

There are a few more entry models that have come up at Dell - to the point where I am not sure what to choose. Budget is $600 shipped. All we do is internet, word, excel and a little photo editing, so the basics will suffice. Not interested in a mini / netbook, as we like to have a 14"+ screen.

I will give Windows 7 a shot, as it looks like XP is no longer available, even for small business customers. My Office XP (2002) looks to be compatible. Any input here?

Thanks!!!!

George

[Dave L]

my wife bought an inexpensive Dell laptop to use around the house. It is now 2 years old and the battery is completely fried and wont take or hold a charge. When my wife called into complain she was offered a new one for $200 and told that the batteries typically only last a year. I have had a number of laptops, mostly HPs and have never had issues with batteries.

I think it might be a case of the cheaper laptop getting a crappy battery to keep the cost down. The Dell we have will be the last Dell we ever buy.

[rfuerst911sc]

George for a point of reference two weeks ago I purchased a Toshiba Satellite laptop from Office Max. It has 4 gig of memory, 320 gig hard drive, 15.6 inch screen, DVD read/write and MS 7 operating system. It was on sale for $449.00 with no rebates ! I am a fan of Dell laptops as I replaced an older Lattitude that was/is still working fine. I went with a newer one because I wanted a larger/clearer screen and Toshiba has a good reputation for quality. Add to that the out the door price and it was a no brainer for me. Going from XP to 7 is an easy transition. I did however install Firefox as my browser but I did that with XP also. I think the Dell Lattitudes are still good quality but the Inspiron not so much. Good luck with your search.

[Monza_dh]

If you need to buy a Dell do it the last week in January and call someone up. They close the books for fiscal '10 in Jan and you can wheel and deal with a rep on the phone to get a better deal. Call them mid Jan to discuss options etc, get a quote ,then call the same rep back to push for more $$ off. Also look at thier refurb site. big deals there as well.

[red-beard]

Are you expecting to cover the price of Word and Excel in the $600?

[tchanson]

I recently bought this Dell Inspiron 14 for my wife. 3GB memory, upgradeable to 8GB, 250GB HDD, Windows 7 Home Premium. Most importantly to her, it's a handy size, and more useful than a netbook.

Currently on sale at Best Buy for $449.

Add MS Office H/S from Amazon for another $80 and you're well under your target price, or download Open Office for free.




Tim

[bivenator]

plus on the Inspiron from dell. I got the t4300 from best buy for about 500. it came with windows 7 and I am impressed so far.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by tchanson

I recently bought this Dell Inspiron 14 for my wife. 3GB memory, upgradeable to 8GB, 250GB HDD, Windows 7 Home Premium. Most importantly to her, it's a handy size, and more useful than a netbook.

Currently on sale at Best Buy for $449.

Add MS Office H/S from Amazon for another $80 and you're well under your target price, or download Open Office for free.

Tim

Tim,

That looks to be a great deal. I did not know Best Buy sold Dell laptops. I think I'll go ahead and buy that. I have office XP (2002) and it should be compatible with the windows 7.

Thanks!

George

[aigel]

I know about the issues on batteries on these cheap laptops. It is a non issue, as we leave them plugged in most the time anyway. I have had great experience with Dell service both at home as well as at work. There are good deals on Samsung and HP products at Costco, but they will send you straight to the manufacturer for service and I have no experience with that.

I'll keep you guys posted on my order. Your input is greatly appreciated - I know the brain trust here can be tapped for just about anything!

Cheers,

George

[onewhippedpuppy]

If you do order one, go with one of the models from the business site. You can choose to remove the bloatware (McAfee, AOL, etc) and they tend to be a bit nicer. My dad gave me a Dell Studio laptop a while back (using it now) and while it's fine, I don't like it as much as the Vostros I have ordered for family over the last few years. I've probably ordered two desktops and five laptops over the last two years, all still work well.

With that said, you can get more computer for your money elsewhere. I just bought a new Gateway laptop for my wife, it was $200 cheaper than the comparable Dell I built on the site. The other option was a Toshiba, also much cheaper. I like Dell, but do some shopping and you'll get more for your money.

[Dave L]

Originally Posted by aigel

I know about the issues on batteries on these cheap laptops. It is a non issue, as we leave them plugged in most the time anyway.

If thats the case then dont have the battery in the laptop. My wife had hers plugged in 90% of the time and it killed it. With the bad battery in the laptop its extreamly slow and almost unusable. I have ordered a new battery but it will only be in the laptop when its acutally needed. Hopefully we can get another year or year and a half out of it while she finished school.

[aigel]

Hi Guys - writing from the new laptop. I went with the Best Buy Dell Inspiron. It is a very nice machine. Definitely an improvement from the Vostro 1510 that I have had for 1.5 years now.

Thanks again to everyone for responding - much appreciated!

George

[BRPORSCHE]

Hmm this has me very itchy. Must resist.

[m21sniper]

I'm in the market right now too, so this thread is really great for me. Thanks for the recco's guys.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by aigel

Hi Guys - writing from the new laptop. I went with the Best Buy Dell Inspiron. It is a very nice machine. Definitely an improvement from the Vostro 1510 that I have had for 1.5 years now.

Thanks again to everyone for responding - much appreciated!

George

How much was it, and what model?

[MysticLlama]

A couple tips on battery life:

1.) The extended batteries almost always tend to be better quality than the basic ones. So if long life is important (both run time and life time) they are worth the extra bucks and extra weight.

2.) LiIon batteries need to be excersized. So if you're using it at home, plugged in most of the time (how I use mine), be sure to unplug it for a little while now and then. Leaving one always plugged in won't do the battery any favors. My extended life batteries still last 2.5-3+ hours of heavy use even at a year and a half to two years old.

[vash]

next laptop..i'm asking my wife's young student cousins to buy me another apple. you can get one like that for about $800 shipped, so i have been told.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

How much was it, and what model?

$449 which came to $501 including tax, recycling fee (!) and in store pick up. The one Tim linked to earlier in the thread:

Dell - Inspiron Laptop with IntelŪ PentiumŪ Dual-Core Processor - Ice Blue - I1440-2386IBU

Thanks again!

George

[Brian 162]

The main board went on my Dell 10 days out of warranty. Dell said tough s#@t. I took it to a local guy who got it running. It lasted 2 more years. I now have an HP dv9000. It's outlasted my Dell.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Brian 162

The main board went on my Dell 10 days out of warranty. Dell said tough s#@t. I took it to a local guy who got it running. It lasted 2 more years. I now have an HP dv9000. It's outlasted my Dell.

Have had terrible luck with HP, they make parts for a year or so then move on. If you need replacement stuff that is not standard you are out of luck.

Buy anything like this with a credit card that doubles the warranty. My AmEx and plat MC does this for free. Have used it several times when the factory warranty went out and the CC warranty kicks in and covers it.

On my 6th Dell (I travel almost every week) and they are bulletproof but again they are machines. The damm TSA kills most of mine by dropping them while inspecting them.