A friend of mine is looking to buy a new laptop for general home use to replace an aging laptop (specs pending) and favours Dell due to their warranty service and bundled packages. Personally I have my doubts but he's insistent on that. So, I decided to get him some advice on which model to go for: Studio 17: Core i3-350 or i5-430, Intel HD, 4GB DDR3, 500GB 7200RPM HDD, 17.3" 1600x900 display (his initial choice) Studio 15: Core i3-350 or i5-430, HD 5470, 4GB DDR3, 500GB 7200RPM HDD, 15.6" 1920x1080 display (my initial counter) or Inspiron 13z: SU4100, Nvidia G105M, 4GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, 13" 1366x768 display. For comparison, it is replacing another Dell, specs are: Intel Merom T5500, 2GB DDR2, 160GB HDD, GeForce Go 7400, 12" 1280x800 display. Thanks for you input, Shamrock
Just a quick word of advise - if possible, suggest that he gets a 2 or 3 year warranty. I have a Dell XPS M1530 and it's had to have 3 engineers come out in 1.5 years, replacing everything from the hard-drive to motherboard, HSF and other fans. Their 'tech' support can also be a PITA to deal with. My fiance also has a Studio 17 (from last year; it has a Core2Duo processor not a Corei3) and it's also had 3 engineers out - all within about 6/7 months. Replacing everything from the motherboard to speakers and palm-rest. Quite disappointed to be honest, however as long as you get a good warranty (and learn how to deal with their technical support!) you should be fine. (Just giving this warning; apologies I can't be of help regarding which Dell to buy)
Any chance of prices? The Radeon 5470 is preferable to the GMA HD, but only if the price is right. That second one has a full HD res in a 15.6" screen; I imagine that'd bump the price up, it would also partly nullify the performance increase from the 5470 as it'll have its work cut out pumping out that many pixels... If it's just for home use you may as well discount that 13" model, if it's used on the move it is certainly a viable option however.
I recently bought a dell and its holding up pretty well, for once. Just a tip but, buy from dell outlet i saved myself about £400 as it comes with the standard 1 year warranty, some of which i used to then extend it to 5 years and still had a few quid left for a few good night out. Oh forgot to say, dell outlet are refurbs but its a dell company, mine was supposed to have a Scratch and/or dent but when it arrived the only scratch i found was on the power pack abut 2mm long, and in the event that the you don,t like the computer you have 30 days to send it back.
Update to add prices My friend is in Australia so I'll have to give the prices in AUS$ (also, some of the components are different) Studio 15: $1,269 (£721) Studio 17: $1,275/£725 (Intel HD Graphics) or $1,417/£805 (HD5650 [only option available in UK]. I think the more expensive Studio 17 is overkill for someone who doesn't game (well, only FFXI, and I reckon most netbooks could handle that, and isn't likely to watch Blu-Rays. Thoughts? Shamrock.
I have a pair od Dells a 1720 and a 1520 both superb little laptops however having worked and stripped some of the newer inspiron and studios id say build quality has nosedived to meet price points
I'm surprised at how expensive those laptops are; the laptop I have costs about £440 and is about the spec your friend needs. I'd recommend an Intel version however. It's fairly easy to find an i3 laptop for less than £500 nowadays, I'd try and convince him to get a laptop from somewhere other than Dell.
They both seem very expensive based on those specs id go onto different sites and have a look at some other brands
If your friend is going for a Dell make sure he buys one over the phone rather than on the internet. They'll give you a good deal if you ask for it (upgrade stuff for free etc).
That's a good point. They are also able to give a 5% discount via the phone. I tried asking for a set amount of money off before (amounting to around 6-7% off), and they said they can offer "5% off, as this is the highest the software will allow"
Full HD is pretty pointless on a laptop with that size screen and those graphics. For one, the desktop and text will be pretty small, and for gaming I doubt that graphics could cope with 1080 resolutions. I wouldn't choose the Studio 17, for its Intel graphics. The 13z would be a good little machine, but it depends if he likes a slightly smaller screen. Overall I would choose the 15. I have one myself and it's brilliant. Shame the i5 price has gone up so much. The i3 is a good little CPU, and I'm betting he wants to keep this laptop for a while? So it will be more futureproof. He could save money by choosing the less resolution screen, I personally wouldn't like to see 1080 resolutions on a 15" screen on anything other than gaming. And like I said, I doubt the 5470 would play a lot of games at 1080.
