About to buy first Windows based laptop in the next 30 minutes

[CharlieDontSurf]

So I've decided based on the advice here to go with the Dell Laptop. This will be my first dell/windows computer in like 5 years so have some questions before I click confirm and spend the $1000+.

1. Is the Dellcare thing a joke? Should i just go with the 1 year warranty? With Apple I used to get the applecare cuz it was like for 3 or 4 years and wasnt to expensive...but am i wasting money with this dellcare crap?


How does this look?
I went with 2.0 over 2.2 cuz I figure that .2 doesn't make a huge difference with what I'll be using it for...the extra $100/$150 was used to upgrade the screen to 1900x1200

SYSTEM COLOR Jet Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Edition edit
DISPLAY High Resolution, glossy widescreen 17.0 inch display (1920 x 1200) edit
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT edit
MEMORY FREE! 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz edit
HARD DRIVE FREE! 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) edit
OPTICAL DRIVE CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive) edit
WIRELESS NETWORKING Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card edit
BLUETOOTH OPTIONS Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR) edit
INTEGRATED WEBCAM No Webcam Option edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell) edit
SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™HD Software Edition edit
My Software & Accessories
ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE No Security Subscription (30-day trial)
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Free 3 GB Online Backup for 1
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP requested

Look Good?

Its going to be $1309 with the coupon for $300 off.

Thanks
CDS

[CharlieDontSurf]

i bought it. U can delete or lock this thread Sam.
hope i didnt screw anything up

[kerowo]

It looks fine CDS. If you are new to Vista I would suggest picking up one of those really thick books on it. It is just different enough from XP that it can be frustrating.

When you start puting poker stuff on it make sure you get the latest beta of PAHUD.

If you are going to be carying it around you might want to think of getting it insured.

[whale_hunter]

I have a new Dell Laptop and I love it. The main upgrade I made was to the 17" screen.
So far so good.

I would agree with the above poster that it's a good idea to go with the Vista book.
I bought one and have used it a few times already.

Let us know how you like it.

[CharlieDontSurf]

Keep going back between building a desktop or buying another laptop after the first one from Dell didn't work and was a bit to huge i think--17 inchs and like $1400.
Was leaning toward desktop but then I realized..football season is coming up so on Sundays I'm probably going to be on the couch/bed all day...so went back to laptop, and may just upgrade my old built desktop with a new 204b screen and some extra memory.

Good Deal for $1000? We're basically looking at PaHud/PT/and 2-4 tables at a time.

Inspiron 1520 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7100 (1.8GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic Edition [420-7024][420-7244][463-2282]
System Color Jet Black
Memory FREE! 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
LCD Panel High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1680x1050)
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
Hard Drive FREE! 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08
Combo or DVD+RW Drive CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive) Sound Card Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™HD Software
Wireless Networking Cards Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
Camera No Webcam Option
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft Works 8.
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription (30-day trial)
Battery Options 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
Dell On Call No Dell On Call
Dial-Up Internet Access No ISP requested
Miscellaneous Inspiron 1520
Processor Branding Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
Labels Windows Vista™ Basic
DataSafe Online Backup Free 3 GB Online Backup for 1Yr

[goldtoes]

good deal for the price

[kcheel]

CDS: I just got basically the exact laptop from Dell on Monday. I really like mine so far. 17" screen seems huge after using my old laptop for past year.

Stars/PT/PAHUD all worked fine after a few adjustments.