After spending months, I finally talked the woman into buying a laptop. I am a decent power user, use Macs,
Windows and Linux. First computer (Atari 800) had a cassette tape as storage. I've used DOS, Windows 3.1, Win 95, Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7. I build my own desktops, and have since they ran at 266MHz. My first Mac was a 7100/66. Yes, that's 66MHz, lol.
As you can well imagine, it was my azz on the line for anything that did not pan out. I really had to make sure we got her what SHE wanted and not what I wanted.
First, I have to review the online shopping experience. Pretty awful. The HP website is a pure train wreck. I hated the website enough that I could not bring myself to even consider an HP. One major manufacturer down .....
Recently, I ordered Dell Inspiron 1520 with the following main specifications:
Intel Core 2 Dou T7500 2.2-GHz CPU 2x1 GB 667-MHz RAM nVidia 8600GT 256-MB GDDR2 GPU Fujitsu 160-MB SATA 5400-RPM HDD Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premuim OS
Anyway, at the beginning I was really disappointed with the performance; the system was too slow specially during booting, loading, and playing games. Furthermore, when the notebook is on battery, the performance was terrible; I even can't watch movies smoothly or explore the hard drive normally.
So, I entered the BIOS, load the defaults, no improvements!
Then, after too many calls/chats with Dell technical support, someone asked me to update the BIOS, then I update it, but again there were no improvements.
Finally, I got the right man from Dell support, and he suggested to change a BIOS setting, which is the "SATA Operation" and set it to "ATA" rather than "ACHI". Then, I entered the BIOS (which is the new version "A03"), and went to the "SATA Operation" option then I saw the default factory is set to "ATA" where I am sure that it was "ACHI" as a default factory with the previous BIOS version. Anyway, I set it to "ATA" and I had to disable also the "Flash Cache Module" to do so. Then finally, the system performance improved and everything seems to be normal.
Now, my questions are: Did I lost the "SATA" feature/performance of my hard drive (because I set it to "ATA")? If I do lost the "SATA" feature/performance, is there any workaround solution to make the "SATA Operation" as "ACHI" and system remails OK (e.g.: installing new storage/interface drivers to the OS)? Why in the new BIOS, the "SATA Operation" default factory is set to "ATA" not as like the previous version were the default is "ACHI"? Is there anybody faced the same problem as mine? If so, how did he solve it? Is this one of Dell disadvantages/faults?
I recently had my CD/dvdrw drive crash. It plays DVDs but not CDs and I need the CD portion to work.
Unfortunately I think I'm going to order one from dell and its going to take 5 business days (7 days cause of the weekend) and I need to boot up an operating system via CD for work.
My bios says that it can be started from a USB storage device, but my external CD drive doesn't even seem like its powered up when I restart.
In my bios, I have the boot option set to USB storage device and have it set as priority over any other boot option. I just paid for this external drive today, and things are still looking grim.
It really looks like a great deal. Anyone get to see it in store? How is the 1600x900 display? Decent colors and PQ? Going to check it out tomorrow night, but just wondering if anyone has seen this yet.
My brother is in the states and will be there for one week. I don't have the time to purchase a laptop online as it will not arrive in time, before he leaves the country. My question is:
Can you buy extended warranty from Dell on a laptop that you buy in let's say Bestbuy? I need the Dell warranty because I can transfer it to Iceland and the company here will service the computer. Can't buy the Bestbuy warranty, cant transfer that
I'm going to get someone to pick up a laptop for me in the US on a trip from Europe but this means that I'm limited to whatever is in stores with no scope for customisation.
Would anyone be able to answer the following questions about the Studio XPS laptops that Bestbuy sell?
-Screen - as far as I can tell they sell the basic model so I'm assuming this is a CCFL rather than an LED on the 13 and the 16? Anyone have this screen? Is it really that much worse than the WLED version? .....
My girlfriend wants me to pick a laptop for her for school next year and I think I've decided on the Vaio CW series, but I'm a little confused about what I've heard.
I understand that the CW's on Bestbuy.com have a higher resolution screen and the 330 graphics card,
making it much better than the CW on the sonystyle website. Will Sony be updating their CW series soon to match Bestbuy's?
I have a DV9535nr and I want to do a clean install to get rid of crapware. BestBuy furnished me a set of discs (at no cost unlike some I have read about) but will these contain the crap I want to eliminate? When I try to run the recovery disc feature and make my own from my hard drive it tells me a set has been made (yeah, yeah, ok ok MS/HP) so it looks like BestBuy beat me to it.
I ordered a set from HP to be on the safe(r) side but have read in this forum that these might not be such a good idea, either... bugs etc...
I was wondering if there are people in the UK who have bought their Dell notebooks either from dell.com and posted to the UK OR delivered to US Address and then brought to the UK
After giving up with the 1280 resolution on the 13" sony I had for about 2 years, I bought a M4400 2nd hand from a reputable chain of stores in the UK.
It was actually as good as new - all the plastics coverings were still present and untouched both under the laptop and on the palm rest etc. Box was present with all the books/cds sealed They get a decent supply of Dell and other brands in from resellers/suppliers etc and having worked there in the past, I have no issues with it BUT...
The service tag does NOT validate on the Dell support site. If I type it in another country, it knows that it does not belong to that country. When I do type it in, it basically says AMERICAS and nothing else.
No warranty information is found, when I hit contact, it basically throws back an error to say the tag was not found.
Have i got anything to worry about?
On another note, while the laptop IS brand new, there are no stickers under the laptop - is this normal on a M4400? The Vista licence sticker is present but under the battery
If It was peeled off, you would know even if it was a slight bit of residue and given that the plastic laminate is still stuck on properly without any signs of it being removed...I am 99.9% sure it never had any stickers on it.
Other than that, I love the laptop - gets a bit warm in the front but it's great otherwise!
I'm probably going to re order once I get through all the bs I have been going through with Dell (read here: The continued adventures about a boy and his laptop... .
I just ordered my M6400. the beast will arrive next week. here's the spec :
CPU : QX9300 (2.53ghz Quad Core). RAM: 4GB (2 Dimms , I may add 2 more soon). Video : Quadro FX 3700M 1GB Discrete. Screen : 17 inch UltraSharp WUXGA (1920x1200) LCD Display HD: 320GB 7200rpm Integrated 2.0 MP webcam with dual digital array microphone
I've heard many horror stories about the girth of the power brick. is there a smaller/lighter power brick I can get
I bought a 7900 for my dell e1705. When i installed it, there was no screen, but the monitor turned on. I pu tthe 7800 back in and it worked. I dont know what I did wrong, please tell me asap.
I just ordered SXPS 1645...my dream laptop. I was just wondering how many in India have ordered this computer? How was thier overall shipping experience? How many delays and everything.
Also how is the laptop...any issues with the new one?
this was truly an impulse buy using the 20% off coupon Dell Outlet sent me earlier in the week. This is a Scratch & Dent model that I'll likely give to my kids. After coupon, free shipping, and tax, it was $397.
What do you think? Inspiron 1525 Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home PremiumMemory: 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz (2 DIMMs)Hard Disk Drive: 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)Video: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100Modem: 56K DataFax ModemWeb Camera: Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Web CameraNetwork Interface Card: Dell 1395 802.11G Wireless Mini Card6 Cell Primary BatteryLaptop Screen: 15.4 WXGA Laptop Screen Display with TrueLifeMedia Bay: 8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capabilitySystem ColorJet Black
Just wanted to say i really like the community for all its info that i have been able to find before buying my new XPS 1640 its still in the BOXING stage but i am very excited about its shipping.
This i my 1st dell , but my wife has a 1720 which is nice. I got the following specs:
XPS 1640 Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3M L2 Cache) 4GB DDR3 RAM 16.0 inch Wide Screen 16:9 1080p FullHD RGBLED LCD W/2.0 MP ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 - 512MB 320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 Home Premium Edition 64-bit Intel 5100 Wireless-N Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth .....
I am having trouble using the Wireless 365 BlueTooth card. I bought it from Ebay. I installed it fine.
I downloaded the driver R226746 from Dell and that installed fine as well. But I cannot open the bluetooth settings and when I try to add any devices to computer, it just stays searching and does not find any of my devices
Bought a Inspiron 1720 (w/ HD), where is my 2nd HD caddy?.. So bad Dell doesn't send with the 2nd HD ready to use, bahh.... does anybody want to sell me one?
I recently processed my custom studio 15 from the Dell US site the other day and since Dell USA does not ship outside of the US I decided to have it delivered to my sister in California...
from there I'll have it brought here in the Philippines when someone goes home.
My concern is: During the processing of my order I did not tick the option " I WILL EXPORT THIS OUTSIDE of the US".
Is there any difference if I did? I mean, will my order come with a permit to export or something if I did choose that option? Apparently I cannot reverse that. I'm not really familiar with US Customs or if they would allow new and boxed laptop to be exported out from the country.
so today I took the plunge of buying a 9 cell battery for my m1530 in ebay it was a 7200mah/85mWH. I was wondering if anyone bought this battery here before and if its any good?
i looked at genuine dell batteries and its out of my budget...and my 6 cell can only hold an hour of charge after 1 and a Half year of use.
