Dell laptop advice please

smashed

As posted in quick grabbit..

I was going to buy a dell 1300 for my parents, but they have been told by all their motorhoming fraternity that it isnt good enough as it doesnt have centrino, isnt 60gb, and that they need a DVD writer, and it has to be under 2.5kgs..
So how much slower is a celeron M compared to a pentium m?
Surely a 3kg laptop isnt going to get in the way vs a 2.5 when they are spending most of the time in a motorhome?
What would be the real advantages of paying another £200 for a centrino laptop please? And do centrio laptops ever crop up at really good prices?

The offer ends at midnight, so quick advice would be really appreciated

italiastar

It really depends on what they want to do with it. If they just want it to write a few letters and surf the net, I'd say that anything will doAsk yourself - what do they need a DVD writer for and will they use it - yes it can back -up 4.7 gb of data, but it can't copy DVD films. Also what will they use a 60 gb harddrive for - do they store lots of large photos?

I wouldn't worry about the offer running out - theres always a better one on the horizon if you can wait. It's far better getting the right machine than a bargain.

smashed

Cheers.
I said they could wait till they get home for the DVD writing, but apparently they all swap various things on their laptops, which is why they now want a DVD writer.
I told her myself that she has no need whatsoever for 60gb hard drive...
Do you know if centrino (Pentium M) is really going to make much difference compared to celeron M ?

italiastar

If they will use a dvd writer then get one - I must admit I don't know much about the diffrence in the chips - the celeron is always a "cut-down" chip and the centrino / pentium would be better - but would they notice - if they're doing basic things and watching films I wouldn't think so - see if anyone else advises on that. Good luck.

CrazyChemist_2

I've got an Insipron 6000 with Centrino (1.6Ghz) and it really isn't that fast compared to my desktop at home which is a PIII 800Mhz. I was expecting to be blown away by the speed of this "Centrino" but in hindsight for the type of stuff I do, should have got an AMD 64

By the way, Celeron M is the general old kind of processor and Pentium M is the newer more powerful processor which is built into a laptop along with some kind of special chipset to give the name Centrino. You'd be surprised how many people don't understand the difference!

Of course it does depend what they are using it for - I use my laptop for graphics and video editing so I need the Pentium M power. Are you sure you need Dell? For advice, I'd go elsewhere as their service isn't that great. Try PC World for advice as they have some pretty good sales advisors. Beware Dell products as they have the tendency to wear out faster than other products. My keypad is already looking shiny on some keys and I've only had it 2 months! :mad: But their poor manufacturing standards apparently aren't covered by their Warranty. :rolleyes:

smashed

Thanks for the good advice. I did read up on what centrino actually meant.
But all my work PC's are Dells, and they all seem to have withstood the test of time (impressive considering the battering they take over a few years)

CrazyChemist_2

Well if you're confident then go for it. I personally am not impressed with my laptop for the reasons above, and the fact they use 0870 numbers and make money while you listen to music.

Good Luck :beer:

smashed

I havent picked 1 yet dont worry. But I am not put off by Dell from my own experience.
Better the devil you know than the devil you dont.... as they say

ollyshaw

Celeron will be fine.

I think that the average user can get away with a very low spec machine, just make sure you have 512mb of ram.

Olly

rogerramjet

Celeron M and pentium M basically mean it is a mobile processor (hence the M) which is designed to lower its processor setting to conserve power (if not under heavy use it will step down to a slower speed)

A celeron is as mentioned before a cut down processor..however, this does not mean it should be written off as crap as a lot of people will make you think (especially toy town computer buffs and PC world sales reps)

As already mentioned in a few posts it will depend what they want to do with it, I've an oldish Toshiba 4200 laptop (600mhz celeron processor) which after having a ram upgrade (now 196mb) runs windows xp pro ok and does all the basics with no issues. I also have a dell inspiron 2200 laptop which has a mobile 1.6 pentium, 60gb HDD, DVD writer, 1.2gb ram running Win XP. for basic computing (wordprocessing, internet surfing) there is little difference between them. CD burners have been in laptops for years, DVD writers slightly more recent. All that occurs with a lower processor or ram is it may/will take a bit longer.....Most new "basic spec" laptops are more than capable of doing what a "hi spec" laptop can do, its just the sales peeps take advantage of those with little or no knowledge of computers to buy computers with specifications far higher than they will ever need.

Centrino basicically means it has built in wireless as well, ideal for wireless hotspots (need to pay for access) but then again most laptops come with a wireless card built in these days..and if not a PCMCIA wireless card or USB wireless adaptor is cheap enough to purchase to make the laptop wireless.

smashed

Cheers
See, I was sure that a celeron M would be ok, and to just get the cheaper 1300 as on grabbit again now for £339.
But they all insisted to her that it had to be under 2.5kgs, dvd writer, 60gb, and centrino etc..
Surely the 60gb is redundant with a DVD writer anyway
And a celeron M with the wireless card will do the same job anyway wont it??