New Old Guy with Questions

R

RS2

New Member
Hello. I'm new here, and apparently about 3 times the average age of most of the people who know what they're talking about here. I am about to place an order for what will be my first notebook. I'm most likely going to get the Dell XPS M140 with the Pentium M 760 2GHz, 1GB memory, 100 GB hard drive, Intel PRO 2915 Internal Wireless, 9 cell battery

I have read about the limitations of the integrated video card, however I don't do any gaming at all and I'm really not likely ever to start doing any. What I will be using a notebook for will be primarily for travel in order to do word processing, photography (i.e., tranferring images from CF cards and doing photoshop on the road), and internet use.

My first question (and please be kind in light of my advanced age) is what do you think of the M140 for my intended uses?

Secondly, having never used a notebook for wireless internet, what else would I need in order to be able to get the most use out of this?

At home I have SBC DSL with a 2Wire 1800HG wireless router. Will the wireless card in the M140 as described above be able to pick up the signal from the 2Wire or will I need anything else?

Sorry for what are probably pretty elementary questions - did I mention I was old?

I do appreciate your advice and opinions
 
yeah, that computer will be fine. Word processing can be done on almost any computer, and photoshop should work fine, but you may want to think about upgrading your video card if you want to see your pictures at their best quality. For your wireless network, if it's set up, Winodws should automaticly detect that you have a home network, and ask you if you want to connect to it. (I think)

That compter should be fine for your needs.
 
1. The laptop will be fine for what you are doing.

2. Look into the E1505 or E1705 series, you can get Core Duo processors which will greatly increase the speed when using photoshop.
 
timothyb89 said:
yeah, that computer will be fine. Word processing can be done on almost any computer, and photoshop should work fine, but you may want to think about upgrading your video card if you want to see your pictures at their best quality. For your wireless network, if it's set up, Winodws should automaticly detect that you have a home network, and ask you if you want to connect to it. (I think)

That compter should be fine for your needs.
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i do not think that for your purposes upgrading the graphics card would be a benefit. that is a nice system a PM 2.0ghz is great, and you have got a nice hard drive. by the way do you know how big the screen is. i think it is small but if it is over 14.1" i would not get it if you are going to travel. but as you say for what you want it is perfect
 
Thanks for the feedback. The only downside to the M140 that I have seen is the graphics issue, which doesn't really concern me. I like the smaller size for travel purposes, so I did spec out the E1505 and found it to be quite a bit more expenses with a similar configuration.

So, I have gone ahead and ordered the XPS M140 with the following specs:
-Pentium M 760 2GHz
-True Life LCD
-1 GB SDRAM
-100 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
-8x CD/DVD burner
-Intel PRO 2915 wireless
-9-cell battery + a spare 9-cell

I still don't quite understand how the wireless works or if I will have to do anything to pick up the signal from my 2wire 1800HG router. I'll let you know when it arrives, and I'll probably have even more questions once it's in my lap.

Thanks again,

Ron
 
According to Dell's website, my M140 shipped out of Tennessee this morning and is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, March 31.
 
RS2 said:
...The only downside to the M140 that I have seen is the graphics issue, which doesn't really concern me. I like the smaller size for travel purposes....
Click to expand...
Well with a more basic graphics card, it'll lead to longer battery life and less heat. Which is great for anyone who's not concerned about gaming and more interested in mobile computing. Many people need something just for word processing and internet access only, which the computer you chose will be perfect for something like that.
 
LaptopExtreme said:
Many people need something just for word processing and internet access only, which the computer you chose will be perfect for something like that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouraging words. It's good to know I made a decent choice.
 
My M140 arrived at my officeyesterday, March 31, and I have been having a ball trying to get accustomed to it; fortunately I wasn't too busy yesterday. As I had mentioned, this is my first notebook, and there are so many things different to get used to. I printed out the 180 page Owner's Manual, and that will help. I got a Microsoft wireless mouse, which is great, and a Lexar 1g Lightening flash drive to transfer data.

The first thing I did when I got home was to get online through my 2Wire 1800HG router. After screwing around for a bit, I finally figured out how to configure the connection, and it works great. I will be taking it with me when we go to Florida for spring break with the kids, and I'm looking forward to having a week with nothing else to do but play with my new toy.

I haven't done much on it yet other than to load Photoshop Elements 3, which is what I use on my desktop (2.4 GHz Dimensions 2400), but I'm going to load some images later to see how well it works. Everything else seems to be working well, and nothing has broken or fallen off yet.

I'm pretty likely to have questions, so I probably be back soon.
 
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