Dell £339 Laptop 15.4" widescreen, wireless, DVDRW (NOW GONE - that's all folks!)

monkeyspanner

Benny24 wrote:

OK hoping a few techies can help me here....

Thinking of buying one of these laptops and obviously with a lappy I want to be able to "go anywhere" in our little two up two down and use the internet, download music, emails etc....so need wireless stuff.

My IP is blueyonder, gone on their website and they have a wireless wizzard run by NETGEAR I selected 54mbphs for the router (presume that wil be ok for coverage in a 2 bed terrace!)
There will be one PC and the laptop running off the system. The wizzard says I should buy from Netgear:

WGR614UK Standard Cable Router £48.41
WG511GE £26.14 Standard Laptop Card £26.14
WG111GE USB Adaptor £32.43

So........(hang in there!!)

I know I need the Router...but do I need the other two items or are they trying to sell me something I don't need, and can I get any of the above (or something better) cheaper elsewhere!

Thank you for reading your thoughts welcome........
signed
Useless teccie!!!

If you select a 1300 with a WIFI card you won't need the laptop card as it will be built in. I think most of the codes at the moment do include WIFI.(if in doubt when you decide what you want post up the code and someone will check it for you).

I assume its saying you need a USB adaptor for the Desktop and this will only be the case if you don't want to hardwire the desktop to the router.

There are a lot of previous threads about best routers etc so you could do a search look especially in the "techie stuff" board

monkeyspanner

peter_the_piper wrote:

If its of any help, I've currently a wireless network setup with an Origo 7210 Wireless/modem/router. The Inspiron 1300 I bought for my daughter, on the last offer, connected automatically to the network once I'd keyed in the encryption key. My only hiccup was setting up my computer so she could use my printer, since sorted.

Hi Peter
I have exactly the same need with our 1300. Could you point me in the right direction re setting up desktop for allowing access to the printer? Thanks

philljp

Benny24 wrote:

These are the questions I need answering!!!

Can someone tell me then exactly what I need and The cheapest place I can get them from!!

I am the techno muppett!!! :rolleyes:

So all I need is the router? That right?!

If you get the Dell 1300 laptop in this current deal it already has the wifi (wireless) card built into it. Therefore, if you want to connect your PC to wireless as well, you will need to buy something like the following:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=63002

This plugs into the USB port on the PC.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52244

This wireless router plugs into your phone socket on the wall. Your laptop and PC will then be able to wirelessly access the internet.

There way be better deals, other than the above, but at least this gives you an idea of what your gonna need to buy.

Benny24

OK thanks everyone who has replied. Think i'm getting there!

Ally

Hi,

It is worth paying £100 extra for the 4 deals in 1 offer? Free HDD upgrade, free double memory, free printer and free delivery?

Edit: Ok, you don't get a free printer as far as I can see. You get 20GB extra HDD, and no memory upgrade, but it has 256mb more than the £339 one, also has free delivery.

Would it be cheaper to but the £339 one and upgrade memory? Not even sure you can upgrade HDD in a laptop, but I am sure it will probably be pricey!

Northtim

monkeyspanner wrote:

Hi Peter
I have exactly the same need with our 1300. Could you point me in the right direction re setting up desktop for allowing access to the printer? Thanks

Don't know Peters set up but have managed to get my printer working ok over wireless network. Printer is attached to desktop (which obviously has to be switched on when you want to print!) and make sure you set the printer up for sharing - should just be a case of going to the printers window, right click the printer and there should be a sharing option in the menu that appears.

You should then be able to find the printer across your network.

I think there are options of setting a printer up to work indepentantly through buying its own wireless point but I went for the cheap and simple option!

Northtim

Ally wrote:

Hi,

It is worth paying £100 extra for the 4 deals in 1 offer? Free HDD upgrade, free double memory, free printer and free delivery?

Edit: Ok, you don't get a free printer as far as I can see. You get 20GB extra HDD, and no memory upgrade, but it has 256mb more than the £339 one, also has free delivery.

Would it be cheaper to but the £339 one and upgrade memory? Not even sure you can upgrade HDD in a laptop, but I am sure it will probably be pricey!

Think just the £339 deal is best, though upgrading the battery seems good value at about £10 extra. Dell are pricy for other upgrades but if you think 40gb HDD is not going to be enough will be less hassle to upgrade it now rather than later. 40gb should be good enough for most users I would have thought? It is not a gaming machine and not much else takes up a lot of disc space, media files can always be simply backed up onto dvd's.

Kilty_2

Anyone called Dell up after recieving their laptop and threaten to send it back, managing to get discounts/free stuff from them?

philljp

Northtim wrote:

Think just the £339 deal is best, though upgrading the battery seems good value at about £10 extra. Dell are pricy for other upgrades but if you think 40gb HDD is not going to be enough will be less hassle to upgrade it now rather than later. 40gb should be good enough for most users I would have thought? It is not a gaming machine and not much else takes up a lot of disc space, media files can always be simply backed up onto dvd's.

Dont forget too, its not the end of the world if you find you need more disk space, external drives are coming down in price:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/Article3919.phtml

BrightonLad

got my laptop yesterday from Dell outlet. really pleased with it.
in the spec it said it had a 40GB hard drive, which it has got, but its also got another 14GB drive which wasnt on the spec? not bad?