Is This A Good Laptop For The Price ???

[Ignorant]

Looking for a basic laptop that is reasonably fast, lets me 4 table with no overlap, and that I can use to surf the internet. Im not really one to buy used systems, and Ive bought refurbs in the past, but this time Id like to go brand spankin new. I built this one and put into my wishlist at Dell. Is this good for the price? Let me know your thoughts.

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Inspiron E1705 Single Core Qty 1
Intel® Core™ Solo Processor T1300 (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition Unit Price $1,298.00
Inspiron affiliate offer 30% off $999+ Not including XPS
LIMITED TIME OFFER! Remove Coupon
- $389.40
Catalog Number: 29 E1705S1
Module Description Show Details
Inspiron E1705 Single Core Intel® Core™ Solo Processor T1300 (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
LCD Panel 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 512MB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Video Card Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Hard Drive 60GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Sound Options Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
Future Operating Systems Windows Vista™ Capable
Operating System Re-Installation CD PC Restore recovery system by Symantec
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
TOTAL:$908.60

Which would roughly be $ 960 with tax and the free shipping.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[Ignorant]

Bump.

Any help is appreciated.

[CrashPat]

I saw this earlier and didn't reply, sorry, I was going to get back to it.

I don't think it is a very good deal at all. Last august I got a slightly better deal for the Inspirion 6000 with the WUXGA screen, I paid 920 with shipping. It has the 1.66Ghz/533 processor, and I only got 256MB of ram and a 40GB hard drive, but I would like to think that 11 months would knock the price down some. I will look around for a few minutes and see what I can find that is better.

[CrashPat]

gah. I don't know. I would try to find 1300 to spend and build a $2000 machine and use the 750 off code. Then with the 3% fatwallet cash back you should get an alright deal.

Look for the Core Duo processor, the UXGA screen, the upgraded battery, the bluetooth card, upgrade to the ATI video card, and then spend the extra as you see fit. This one is 1318 + tax, I'd order 2GB of memory from somebody else and save some money. If you are not into that then upgrade the memory and downgrade the warranty or something else. This still doesn't scream good deal, but it doesn't seem that bad. I would check the fatwallet forums as well.

Catalog Number: 29 E1705S2
Module Description Show Details
Inspiron E1705 Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2300E (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
LCD Panel 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 512MB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory
Hard Drive 100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO 3945 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 2Yr Ltd Warranty, 2Yr At-Home Service, and 2Yr HW Warranty Support
Accidental Damage Protection (Except in Florida) SAVE 10 %! Add CompleteCare Accidental Damage Svc to 2Yr Lim Warranty
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
Future Operating Systems Windows Vista™ Capable
Operating System Re-Installation CD Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition re-installation CD
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
TOTAL:$1,318.00

[jsbjoe]

that sounds like a good machine CrashPat, though I might want more memory... Could you provide some help for the uninitiated and tell me how to get the 3% and the $750 off??? Thanks

[jsbjoe]

oh, one other question (not exactly related). Have you seen the new 21 inch Dell portable and if so what do you think of it? I really could use a big portable... how do you get the best deal on it??

[CrashPat]

You would obviously want more memory joe, but I believe the best price you will find on memory is to upgrade it yourself. That is not something that is hard to do, and you can spend the 200 or so that Dell charges on something else.

For the 3% cash back and the coupon, go to fatwallet. Then you sign up for an account and click on their link to Dell. When you do that it tracks your purchase to them, just like a poker site affiliate. They then give you 3% of your purchase back after your return period expires, I think it is 3 or 4 months. I'm not affiliated with them, only a satisfied customer.

http://www.fatwallet.com/

Regarding the 21 inch portable, I don't have any idea.