Finally buying a laptop, need advice

[freedon]

I wasn't expecting to be able to buy the laptop until mid summer, but now I have this oportunity to buy it now.

Here goes my wish list.

Just want the following conditions
1-. pentium M
2-. DELL
3-. Latitude family from Dell.
4-. decent video card.
5-. do not need a dvd burner, already have one on the desktop.
6-. 3 year warranty (the price will include Complete Care Service and also have International OnSite service.

Latitude D810
*Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73GHz) w/ATI RADEON X600 128MB D817X6
*Windows XP
*Screen 15.4" UltraSharp Wide Screen WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050 )
*Memory 1GB 533MHz DDRII SDRAM, 2 DIMMS - Dual Channel
*Hard Drives: 60GB 5400RPM *CDRW: 24X CDRW/DVD Combo
*Wireless: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 802.11 a/b/g
*Battery: 9-CELL PRIMARY BATTERY
*3 Year On-site Business Mobility Plan


QUESTIONS
-7,2000 rpm hard drives are still too expensive.

-Wireless question, should I go with only b/g wireless card? The price change to a a a/b/g is around $20

-I recently made a question about batteries
link . The answers were straight forward. But regarding spare batteries? Should I buy a spare now? My life doesn't depend on the laptop to fall in the need to have 2 batteries. But if for any strange reason the Latitude 810 is out of production, maybe finding a spare battery in 2 years will be impossible. But what I don't know is if a battery begins losing charge capacity if its not in use for a long period of time (months stored in the box)

-Should I go with a third party for a case or are Dell cases nice and easy?


Appreciate any help

[rock]

1. 7,200 are pricey, but snappy. They also tend to decrease battery life -- it's a trade off.

2. Nobody uses a anymore unless you're in an office that installed early and doesn't want to upgrade. Just get b/g unless you know you need a.

3. You'll always find spare batteries on eBay, so there's no need to worry about 2 years down the line. I like 2 batteries because just 1 won't get me across the country on a plane.

4. Dell cases are pretty small in my experience. They hold the computer and its accessories, but not much else. I now use one of those hip Gap shoulder bags and it works perfectly. (But no padding like some dell bags.) I can carry the computer and everything I need for sales calls and presentations.

[proxops-pete]

1. 5400 RPM would be a good trade off...
2. Go w/ b&g solution.
3. Yeah, if you need more later, buy from eBay or somewher else...
4. My brother has had 2 Dell laptops and their bags have ben... eh.
I'd say go w/ one that you LIKE.

[freedon]

Will take out the a on wireless and will check come bags locally.

BTW I forgot to mention, I've been accepted in a University of Finland for this Fall. What power requierements do I need? Do I need a new cable or can do fine with an adaptor for the AC?

[Brahma]

While I'm not a big THG fan. They did a decent test of HDD speed vs battery drain a while back and the conclusion was: Get the faster drive.
The drain difference is just a few minutes while the speed gain is substantial.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/20031031/index.html

[Sangiovese]

To answer the battery question... yes, an unused battery will experience a degredation in its capacity. The quality of the battery, the state of charge when idled, and the amount of time it is idle all factor into how much capacity you'll lose, and whether or not the reduction in capacity will be permanent.

Of course there are easy ways around that... you can just switch batteries every week or something like that.

Personally, I would get one battery now and see if you run out of battery power. If you're always running out, then you would probably get your money's worth out of a second battery. If you never run out of juice.. well, then you've saved yourself ome coin on something that you don't really need.

[freedon]

Thanks for the suggestions, I won't buy another battery.

Brahma, nice link on the hard drives, but still still 7,200 are quiet expensive.

Should I pay $200 more to get a faster Pentium M? From 1.73Ghz to 2.0Ghz? As mentioned, I do want this laptop to last me a while. I will still have a desktop, so its not a 100% desktop replacement.


I'm more interested in what I need to use my laptop (and any other electronics) in Finland

[a ronin]

As I understand it, mobile processors and desktop processors are not 1:1 in terms of performance. Meaning, a 1.7Ghz Pentium M may be the equivalent of 2.8-3.0Ghz desktop proc. The Pentium M does benefit from a 2MB cache. Correct me if I'm wrong, guys.

I would personally stick to the 1.7Ghz and use the extra funds to upgrade the memory. 1GB is ideal given the forthcoming of Windows Longhorn in 2006.

[proxops-pete]

Here you go freedonX...
Tomorrow's your day!!

[freedon]

Thanks, though its only for Inspiron notebooks I'm buying a Latitude

[kent1146]

I wonder why you're so dead-set on a Latitude. They are essentially the same laptops as Inspirons, but positioned to sell to business users. Otherwise, everything else is about equal. Latitudes are nice, but there is nothing that a Latitude has that you can't find in other laptops.

The Latitude D810 is a nice laptop, but geared more towards business than a true multimedia / gaming laptop. If you want an INSANE multimedia experience, check out the Dell Inspiron 9300. Can be built for $1500-$2000 with:

PCI-E Geforce Go 6800 256MB VRAM
60GB 7200rpm hard drive
17" WUXGA Ultrasharp screen w/Truelife (1920x1200)
1GB RAM

You will not be able to find such features on a Latitude anytime soon (if ever), and you will certainly not find such features on any other laptop made today for $1500-$2000.

[freedon]

Originally posted by kent1146
I wonder why you're so dead-set on a Latitude. They are essentially the same laptops as Inspirons, but positioned to sell to business users. Otherwise, everything else is about equal. Latitudes are nice, but there is nothing that a Latitude has that you can't find in other laptops.

The Latitude D810 is a nice laptop, but geared more towards business than a true multimedia / gaming laptop. If you want an INSANE multimedia experience, check out the Dell Inspiron 9300. Can be built for $1500-$2000 with:

PCI-E Geforce Go 6800 256MB VRAM
60GB 7200rpm hard drive
17" WUXGA Ultrasharp screen w/Truelife (1920x1200)
1GB RAM

You will not be able to find such features on a Latitude anytime soon (if ever), and you will certainly not find such features on any other laptop made today for $1500-$2000.

First, I want to try Dell by my own hand (that includes warranty).
Second, why choose a business model compared to a consumer model? Again I want to try out by myself the difference, not only hear from 3rd parties how X is better than Y.

[coolqf]

Originally posted by freedonX
First, I want to try Dell by my own hand (that includes warranty).
Second, why choose a business model compared to a consumer model? Again I want to try out by myself the difference, not only hear from 3rd parties how X is better than Y.

With Dell i'd only buy from their business segment. Good choice. You'll like the laptop a lot.