Another "help me choose!" thread

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dragon-emperor

New Member
Alright! as title states, I am coming to this forum hoping to have all my questions answered while doing nothing at all!

Just kidding! I know a little about plain ol desktop computers and what not so Im not a complete computer-illiterate bastard FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT="

I am a student whome wants a laptop basically for MSword and.. games. I play World of Warcraft primarily and might play some HL2 later, but really mainly World of Warcraft (3d capabilities NEEDED!). Also the fact that I am a student so NOT looking for the XPS Gen2 because that is imposability for my wallet! To give an idea of budget, I am CANADIAN and looking for no more than $2000 and preferably even less. and of course I want this to use wireless internet on campus for msn/games.

What I've narrowed down in my mind is that I want atleast 128mb of dedicated video card memory (no integrated shit), 512mb of ram (will I need more?) and likely the 17" viewable screen. Thats whats needed I think.

my current "ideas" from looking around on the net, and scrounging the weekly flyers has had me come up with the listed below.

HP Intel Pentium 4 630HT 3.0GHz Laptop (ZD8210)-
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...angid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10063236&catid=22496


Toshiba Satellite P30-RV2 Intel Pentium 4 532 HT 3.06GHz Laptop (P30-RV2)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...angid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10062584&catid=22496

And ofcourse the Dell Inspiron 9300, it seems to be just below $2000 canadian but only with an ATI x300 3d card..

MSI MS-1029 (not sure on where I can get it in canada but damn i hear good things about it!)

Asus Z71V (www.canadasys.com is where I was directed for it. though looks very unoffical..)


Please! Evaluate what I am considering and feel welcome to share new suggestions!
THANK YOU!

-Keep in Mind I am a canadian resident with canadian funds, looking to save money but also want a kick ass laptop!-
 
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dragon-emperor

New Member
Ah I too saw that thread and an inspiron 9300 with the 6800 go would be great! But.. Those prices are in american, right? and Those coupons only work for american residents.. right?
 
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alanuofm

VIP Member
dragon-emperor said:
Ah I too saw that thread and an inspiron 9300 with the 6800 go would be great! But.. Those prices are in american, right? and Those coupons only work for american residents.. right?
Click to expand...
dell does ship to canada and i wouldnt see why the codes wont work for canadian residents.
 
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alanuofm

VIP Member
flame1117 said:
I would get a gig of DDR400ram. it will be worth your money, trust me.
Click to expand...

you can always upgrade later for a lot cheaper. 1 gig of ocz ram is less than 100$ off zipzoomfly.
 
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dragon-emperor

New Member
Hmm on dell.ca the codes dont seem to work. They say not eligable and if you go to the details button, it brings up a blank window. I may have to have this shipped to a relative in the US i beleive.

Also, you mention the ram is much cheaper on zipzoomfly? so would it be a good idea to order the lowest ram choice possible on the dell 9300 qnd then just go buy a 1024 chip of zipzoomfly?
 
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alanuofm

VIP Member
dragon-emperor said:
Hmm on dell.ca the codes dont seem to work. They say not eligable and if you go to the details button, it brings up a blank window. I may have to have this shipped to a relative in the US i beleive.

Also, you mention the ram is much cheaper on zipzoomfly? so would it be a good idea to order the lowest ram choice possible on the dell 9300 qnd then just go buy a 1024 chip of zipzoomfly?
Click to expand...

ram is cheaper at a lot of places. you can go to any retailer or any computer hardware seller and get laptop ram and its very easy to upgrade.

i'll see if canada has any deals or extra percentages off a little later on. im on the can right now and i also have some stuff to do afterwards (yes i took my laptop with me to the bathroom)
 
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dragon-emperor

New Member
ALRIGHT! after a little research I find that I CAN have my dell shipped to a relative in the US (therefore taking advantage of the US 35% off!)
Questions on the Dell 9300 though..

1) IS a 5400rpm harddrive like it has alright for gaming?

2) Dells ram seems very expensive and I hear I could buy 1gb of ram from Zipzoomfly.com for like $100. Is this true? What kind of ram would dell 9300 laptop accept? and would adding different ram to it screw with the dell warranty?

3) Is the warranty worth it? the $23 1 year one seems like a good idea because 1 year should reveal any flaws if it has any, right?

4) There are 2 options for the display.
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen XGA+ Display
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ (+$100)
Dell says the Truelife one looks so much better etc etc. Is it worth the extra $100US?

5) It gives me the option of getting a soundcard, and the audigy2 ZS dosn't look half bad but is it worth it? I'll just be playing games really and also, will this thing be sticking out of the side of my laptop? or will it slide right in nicely/not have to be removed neach time i put it in my bag?

6) As for clock speed.. It ranges from 1.6Ghz to 2Ghz. Would I notice much difference performance wise between the 1.6 and the 2ghz per se? I am not sure how Pentium M clock speeds compare to pentium4 after all.


So given the situation 1.6ghz is fine, and that I can choose the lowest ram the 9300 has to offer and buy some cheap stuff from zipzoomfly, and that the truelife screen is useless/not noticable.. I can have myself a very good laptop for very cheap!
What do you guys think?




and LOL, oh my.. one thing to lookforward to if I get a laptop! Sorry if all my questions seem repetative, but Im asking a lot of people and really just want to be sure =D
You've already aswered the question about the screen so no need to answer that I guess =D
 
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alanuofm

VIP Member
ALRIGHT! after a little research I find that I CAN have my dell shipped to a relative in the US (therefore taking advantage of the US 35% off!)
Questions on the Dell 9300 though..

1) IS a 5400rpm harddrive like it has alright for gaming?
Click to expand...

it will be plenty for gaming. the performance delta is very small between the 5400 and 7200 is small. (in lower single digit percentages)

2) Dells ram seems very expensive and I hear I could buy 1gb of ram from Zipzoomfly.com for like $100. Is this true? What kind of ram would dell 9300 laptop accept? and would adding different ram to it screw with the dell warranty?
Click to expand...

yes this is true. they have had me open up the back covers to trouble shoot before so i assume opening it wont void anything. plus the manual teaches you how to open up your computer so i cant see how that could do anything to your warranty. about using a different company ram, if they say anything just deny it. :)

3) Is the warranty worth it? the $23 1 year one seems like a good idea because 1 year should reveal any flaws if it has any, right?
Click to expand...

yes it is a good idea. if anything goes wrong it should in the first year. however u never know when the hard drive might fail, or when your ram might die. however all that can be purchased at various websites and pretty cheap. not worth the extra hundreds for the 2 and 3 year warranty. just dont drop it.

4) There are 2 options for the display.
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen XGA+ Display
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ (+$100)
Dell says the Truelife one looks so much better etc etc. Is it worth the extra $100US?
Click to expand...

answered

5) It gives me the option of getting a soundcard, and the audigy2 ZS dosn't look half bad but is it worth it? I'll just be playing games really and also, will this thing be sticking out of the side of my laptop? or will it slide right in nicely/not have to be removed neach time i put it in my bag?
Click to expand...

i dont think it will make any big difference. lets keep in mind you have laptop speakers.

6) As for clock speed.. It ranges from 1.6Ghz to 2Ghz. Would I notice much difference performance wise between the 1.6 and the 2ghz per se? I am not sure how Pentium M clock speeds compare to pentium4 after all.
Click to expand...

a big difference in benchmarks. not too noticeable. i play cs 1.6 on a 1.6 ghz pentium M with a radeon 9000 video card perfectly. pentium M outperforms almost all processor clock for clock. look for benchmarks on google. the overclocked pentium 770 to 2.46ghz beats the fx-57.


So given the situation 1.6ghz is fine, and that I can choose the lowest ram the 9300 has to offer and buy some cheap stuff from zipzoomfly, and that the truelife screen is useless/not noticable.. I can have myself a very good laptop for very cheap!
What do you guys think?




and LOL, oh my.. one thing to lookforward to if I get a laptop! Sorry if all my questions seem repetative, but Im asking a lot of people and really just want to be sure =D
You've already aswered the question about the screen so no need to answer that I guess =D

the coupon does expire tomorrow. but i wouldnt order right away. they always have big percentages off between 35-40%.
Click to expand...

?M1T$NG7GWRK2D $750 off purchase of Inspiron $1899+ (expires 8/24/2005 7:00:00 AM)
28WR3BP9QMLT0F $600 off purchase of Inspiron $1499+ (expires 8/24/2005 7:00:00 AM)
NKN5W3H8BS?RVB 35% off purchase of Inspiron $999+ (expires 8/24/2005 7:00:00 AM)

coupon codes are only effective in certain price ranges. thats why i chose the components. they do expire tom. but more codes should be released afterwards hopefully.
 
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dragon-emperor

New Member
Well! I've called the US Dell number to see if they'd ship to Canada and of course they said I had to use the Canadian Dell site. So I went there and I called Dell to ask why I cant use the online coupons on the canadian site "this is canada, we do not use their promotions" fair enough, I ask if they have similar promotions "I cannot say if there are coupons available. You can see what discounte we have on the website" this went on for a while and I explained to them the system I wanted and they said $1919 CAD, wheras the same system on the US site (after converting to canadian dolloars) with the coupon is $1388. I explained to the Canaidian Dell staff how thsi worked and they declared it impossible to get any lower than $1919.After a half an hour of me saying "thanks wnayways ill look somewhere else) they lowered the price 3 times, down to 1700 with 1 year complete coverage warranty if I bought it NOW, so I said I'd think about it and goodbye - she stopped me and gave me her contact number so I could get the deal anytime later (I had to buy it that second? sure).

So ya... Canadian Dell does not take the coupons, and through some googling I was not able to find Canadian Equivelant coupons. Any ideas on what to do? The Canadian Dell is obviously not up for giving deals.

The system I put together: (I can buy 1GB of kingston ram for $150 from local comp store)


Inspiron 9300 Qty 1
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 730 (1.60 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Unit Price $1,782.00
Dell Home Customers: 35% off select Inspirons over $999! - $623.70
LIMITED TIME OFFER! Remove Coupon

Catalog Number: 29
Module Description Show Details
Inspiron 9300 Intel® Pentium® M Processor 730 (1.60 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Display 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 256MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 1 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 6800
Hard Drive 40GB Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD/DVD Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Wireless Networking Card Intel® PRO 2915 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
Office Productivity Software No productivity suite - Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Security Software No Security Subscription
Digital Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic
Primary Battery 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (53 WHr)
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options No Extended Service, Support or Ltd Warranty
Internet Access: Dial-Up 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Digital Imaging Photo Album™ SE Basic
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service & Support
Financial Software No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial



Dell 720 Color Printer Qty 1
Free Dell Color Printer 720 Unit Price $0.00
Catalog Number: 29
Module Description Show Details
Dell Color Printer 720 Free Dell Color Printer 720
Hardware Support Services 1Yr Ltd. Warranty- Advance Exchange

TOTAL:$1,158.30 US ---> $1,388.82 CAD (MUCH better than $1919 CAD!)



That is on the US site using the 35% off code ( I know the promotion ends tomorrow morning, another set of codes should come out soon though I hear)
 
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dragon-emperor

New Member
Ah! I did some reading and those asus notebooks look pretty sweet. As far as their graphics goes its...

Z70v ATI x700 128mb - nearly as good as 6800
Z70va (refresh?) ATI x700 128mb - nearly as good as 6800

Z71v nVidia GO Geforce 6600 128mb - not as good as x700

Right? I'm not wsure but I think that Z70av "refresh" one is the best right? and the x700 is better than the geforce 6600? Either way I look at it though, the Asus comps seem to add up to $1600-$1900CAD, which means the Dell which is a faster laptop is stronger for less money right?


Ahh.. Im so confused lol...
 
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alanuofm

VIP Member
dragon-emperor said:
Ah! I did some reading and those asus notebooks look pretty sweet. As far as their graphics goes its...

Z70v ATI x700 128mb - nearly as good as 6800
Z70va (refresh?) ATI x700 128mb - nearly as good as 6800

Z71v nVidia GO Geforce 6600 128mb - not as good as x700

Right? I'm not wsure but I think that Z70av "refresh" one is the best right? and the x700 is better than the geforce 6600? Either way I look at it though, the Asus comps seem to add up to $1600-$1900CAD, which means the Dell which is a faster laptop is stronger for less money right?


Ahh.. Im so confused lol...
Click to expand...

the x700 has 8 pipelines with 110M transistors while the geforce go 6800 has 12 pipelines with 190M transistors which is an extremely high transistor count for a video card. al the 6800 supports shader model 3.0. so its quite a large difference. the geforce go 6600 was released to combat the x700. on paper the specs look very similar so i would imagine a fairly similar performance between them.
 
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