That bloody Dell laptop now £292 (as low as £279!!)-EDITED FIRST POST

eribar

bomberman wrote:

Hi posting my first message on this forum from my newly aquired Dell laptop.
Very happy with it but need a little bit of help, i want to go wireless and havent got a clue what i need.....also i could do with a reasonably priced wireless mouse.
Any help would be well apreciated.
Thanks

Hi, not sure if you have been sorted yet, but just a bit of extra advice re going wireless
1) The equipment you need depends on if you have cable or BT phone
2) If you have BT phone you will need a modem and a router. You will find all sorts of different descriptions for the equipment available so be careful.
3) The most straight forward thing to buy is an ADSL wireless modem/router which does everything in one box. One of the best offers at present is from PC World who have a LinksysWGKPC354G (which includes the card needed for a laptop to go wireless) at £50 in-store or £45 on the internet.

Good Luck

u01ncw

I am on the verge of buying this laptop with the 15.4" widescreen, DVD RW, and 6 cell battery for £339. BUT... how likely is the 'new' offer that comes out tomorrow likely to be a better deal?! Obviously nobody can be sure, but what are the chances?

Can anyone that has already received one of these laptops comment on whether they look smart ... or do they very much look like a cheap basic laptop?

Chuffy

Phone, ask for an email quote which is valid for 7 days, then you've got both covered.

Derek_Duval

foxyloxy wrote:

There is a Start menu item under "Dell Accessories" titled "Dell Restore CD" - and in theory (and I know folks have had problems with the burn failing half way through) you insert a cd-r and it will burn a Windows XP install disk - this worked perfectly for me.

I then deleted the original c: partition and installed XP onto it using this cd - there was no need for drivers for the wireless card to work and allow internet connection.

Curiously there was no need to enter the Windows code to complete this install - not sure how that worked but very neat.

This isn't a full XP install disc, just the dell restore disc. Doesn't this come on a cd as standard anyway?

foxyloxy

Derek_Duval wrote:

This isn't a full XP install disc, just the dell restore disc. Doesn't this come on a cd as standard anyway?

Instructions are here

Click [Start] | All Programs | Dell Accessories | Dell OS Recovery CD

and you end up with a Standard Windows XP Operating System CD (bootable)

Once you've done this once the menu option to create the CD disappears.

Marcus_Tandy

hello eribar,

further your reply above - would you recommend the ADSL modem offered on site:

Belkin F5D7632 ADSL Modem/Wireless Router (802.11g) [£69.33 or £1/month1]

I have a BT line.

Thanks

mcclim

marcus, PC World are doing a wireless router and card for £65 if you don't need the wireless card you could sell it on ebay.

Kilty_2

Ebuyer have a 3com router with PCMCIA card for £46.99, with USB dongle for £48.99.

3com are solid.

u01ncw

Chuffy wrote:

Phone, ask for an email quote which is valid for 7 days, then you've got both covered.

Nice idea, but when I phoned the price they came up with was £397! Grrrrr.

keithcparry

:j
Many thanks for the updated info
I've just placed an order - buying the basic spec for £292 - but remembered to go via Quidco and then key in the e-code supplied - so another £13 off this via Quidco.
Really appreciate the tip.

All the best

KP