Dual core laptop + 2G RAM - $1200 New!

[csb (Craig)]

Does Registax run on Vista?

Thanks for finding the review, Shaun. I couldn't find one.

I would certainly have liked to have read it before my purchase.

The laptop reviewed also had a different cpu, perhaps newer or more powerful (it has a higher number code).

The Asus will be fine for me I think. I got it only because I need laptop for astrophotography, although I hope to be able to run a flight sim on it, also.

I seem to fit the market they were aiming for. This is my first laptop - so even 1.5 hrs battery seems good. And 2 year warranty got me.

It fell behind the others in a lot of areas but the build, keyboard, screen are a good sign.

So, are you happy with yours?

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

I like playing around with Dell's website, customising various machnes. Thought this may be of interest:

http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/publi...92130363728087

$1038

Dell Inspiron 1501 Notebook
AMD Turion 64X2 Dual Core processor 1.6Ghz 256+256kb L2 cache
Genuine Windows XP centre edition 2005

15.4" widescreen XGA (1280x800) TFt monitor
2GB (2 X 1024MB) 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
120GB SATA Hard Drive (cheaper with an 80Gb hdd)
Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Combination Drive with dual layer write

Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless Mini Card
1 ExpressCard Slot, (DOES NOT SUPPORT PCMCIA CARDS)

ATI Radeon ® Xpress 1150 256MB HyperMemory
Integrated 10/100 Fast Ethernet
Internal 56K Modem

I'd take one of the battery upgrades - basic battery included is a
4-cell 29Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
add $39 to go to 6-cell 53Whr Lithium Ion
or add $88 for a 9 cell 85Whr Lithium Ion

[csb (Craig)]

With XP!! That would have been better.

I have been checking Dell over the past 2 weeks waiting for a promo change. It happened on Fri (I think) but next promo wasn't as good.

That system seems great, except it doesn't have glossy screen.

[Shaun]

Not bad except the video card is onboard, it depnds what you want i wanted somthing i could play games on and a dedicated graphics card will add a few hundred to the price and with a 4 cell battery you would use half the power just booting up.

Here is a good guide on video cards

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=39568

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

Dell's site has options on some, but not all, systems (both desktop and notebook) that allow the choice of Xp versus Vista, sadly but understandably it tends to be the older / slightly less powerful systems that have options for XP.

I'm a bit unclear why you specifically want the glossy screen - from my experience they tend to allow so much more reflection, which inhibits the clear view of actual screen contents that the "unglossy" screen gives. Is there some other reason you want it?

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

For Paul .... includes Firewire (1394) ports and 4 x USB2.0 ... the cheapest config I can find at Dell so far is this one:

Dell Latitude D531
$1516.90 inc GST

Dell(TM) Latitude(TM) D531 (XP)
AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual Core
Genuine Windows(R) XP Home SP2 Edition (English)
(Pro version available add $37.40)

15.4" Wide Aspect XGA (1280x800 resolution) Display
2GB (2x1GB) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
80GB SATA (7200RPM) Hard Drive
(larger capacity 5400rpm drives available, cheaper)

8X DVD+/-RW Drive
9-Cell Li-Ion Primary Battery (1 Year Warranty)
Dell Wireless(TM) 1390 (802.11 g) MiniPCI Card
D531 Integrated Graphics ATI Radeon(TM) Xpress X1270
Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet

http://dellstore04.dell.com.au/publi...92130363728087

The description on that page somehow dropped the Firewirebit from it's listing, but the basic config of any D531 system includes it as shown on this page:
http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/prod...sd1&l=en&s=bsd


Cheers!


PS: A few weeks ago I was knocking up a dream laptop on the Dell site, I was surprised to find when I'd finished that a $3k unit had evolved to be worth $5700.

[csb (Craig)]

The glossy screen just looks so clear, like looking at a glossy magazine and seems to have more depth than the matt screen, you should see the aquarium screensaver on it I just fell for it . So it's just a desire.

When using a laptop for solar imaging is it advisable/required to sit it in a hutch/box to block out the daytime glare?

My brother has a Dell (2Ghz single core) with the same 128mb ati (although his is x300 this is x1100) and 1G RAM.

His can run BF2 at high settings (res 1024xsomething) - no probs.

I see on the review that the screen res on the Asus is not as high as some.

Wish I could have seen this before ordering as I could have made a more informed decision, but this laptop shouldn't be a slouch. Has many features above my brothers Inspiron 6000 and his was my benchmark. So I'm happy.

The Dell site certainly makes it easy/probable to blow a budget.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Damn you Steve go back to work

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

I WAS at work, and working VERY hard Paul when I was trying out the various configurations of laptop specs just for you


.... and kind of for me too I have to admit. I can't afford one at present so I wanted to know how much I might need to save up for a new one. My 90's model Toshiba lappie with 300Mhz Pentium class processor, whopping 64Mb RAM and goliath 3.2Gb hardrive just doesn't cut it any more, especially since the hard drive appears to have suffered a complete and total crash recently.



Like you I'd rather have XP purely for compatibility reasons, but I know that system with XP options are going to be disappearing fast so I had best see what I can do about this asap.

Cheers!

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

So you work sourcing laptops do you

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

Well ... um, no, not exactly but I WAS at work I swear, all night long -
but we have to remain alert and clear headed and ready at all times, and using the net is one way of doing that. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it)


Just don't tell my boss it was a quiet night!