Re: E1505/I6400 Comments Please

yes they are the same, but when you use coupons, dell jacks up the price and you work off list price before you can use the coupon, the final net cost should be the same.
the only true test is for each of you to state what prices you are working with.
the 6400 is on sale right now in his config for about $750.
$864 with a 100gb drive.
and that includes 1gb ram

so exactly what did you pay journey? and what options did you get.
with a few upgrades, the 6400 could be gotten for a good price too.
i always tell people to work it up each way to the same config and then compare. i remember reading you got ripped off too until you complained you were gonna send it back and they gave you some givebacks.

you will often find them the same, or one will have a clear advantage that day, then dell changes prices and it shifts to the other. no one division or sale is always the cheapest! and it changes each day.

i would pay the extra $100 and take the upgrade in cpu one notch to 1.86

my only other comment is that upgrading the battery for $100 seems like a rip. when you can just buy a spare battery for about the same price and have 2. i would never pay that. sometimes i see the bigger battery on sale! wait for what you want.

Jay



journey wrote:
Hi Clark,

Maybe you can help me understand this -- why go with a 6400 when the
E1505 is basically the same laptop, and it has frequent $750 off
coupons?

See you below under your quoted text ...

On Sat, 29 Apr 2006 09:45:16 -0400, "Clark Martin" <hpcm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Journey, I know you have an E1505. Are you still happy with it? Any regrets
or things you'd do differently if you started over?

I love it. I wouldn't do anything differently. It is speedy,
responsive, and the battery life is acceptable. I recommend that you
check out the following, especially the user reviews on the CNET link:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2827

http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Inspiron_E1505/4505-3121_7-31757188.html

(46 user reviews)

I am irritated at CNET. Their review page says "We're eagerly
awaiting a model of our own in CNET Labs, so stay tuned for a full
review". Hello, where is your review?

My uses: - internet/email, word processing, photo editing using Paint Shop
Pro. I may watch an occasional movie on DVD and listen to music CDs. I
have a good-sounding set of external Altec Lansing speakers currently
attached to my old computer - I plan to plug these into the new I6400. I
have no interest in a TV Tuner just now but may decide to add one later. I
want to be sure the configuration I've chosen won't prevent me from this
addition.

The E1505 should easily be able to do handle your intended uses. For
that matter, even a Pentium M should. So you'll be very happy IMO
with response time.

Here's the configuration I've selected:
- Intel Core Duo T2300 processor

What speed is this at. Are you paying a premium for one small notch?
This is an area where you can save if $ is a factor.

- Windows XP Home Edition

See below under your MCE question.

- XGA display with Truelife

Why not SXGA. Does anyone know if SXGA vs XGA results in a better
picture when playing DVDs?

XGA might be the right choice for you if you need reading glasses. I
am just at that point but am holding out :-) I like SXGA because I
can get so much more on the screen, and the Truebrite screen is great.

- Memory - 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHZ 1 DIMM

See below.

- Video Card - Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

You mentioned Paint Shop Pro above. Why go with integrated when you
can have dedicated / hypermemory? I still get good battery live with
dedicated.

- Hard Drive - 100GB 5400rpm SATA

That's what I have and it's find. I would have considered a lower
capacit at 7200, but I was afraid that it would impact battery life. I
am glad that I got 5400 because the system is very responsive --
waiting is _never_ an issue. Maybe if you're dealing with a huge file
in Photoshop.

- CD/DVD Burner - 8X (DVD+/-RW) with double layer DVD+R write capability

It's niced that DVD RW double layer is pretty much standard these
days. I wonder when the DL media will be affordable -- probably by
the time the next technology is coming out! I got 50 for $100 on a
special coupon deal so I have enough probably for the lifetime of that
technololgy.

- Sound Card - Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy Advanced HD Audio

See below.

- Wireless - Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)

I always go with the most expensive wireless card upgrade. The only
logic is that if it's more expensive it might be better. I also get
bluetooth because I have several Palm pilots (2 for sale, a TX and
Zire 72, priced to sell, end of advertisement). With ActiveSync 4.2,
the Pocket PC's can once again sync using bluetooth (Axim X51v loaded
plus accessories for sale too -- jrny_of_life@xxxxxxxxxxx ).

- Battery - 80WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

See below.

Some questions:
- Would an upgrade to Win XP MCE be an advantage to me? What does it get me
over the Home edition?

It allows you to receive Remote Desktop sessions (someone correct me
if I am wrong). Tom can answer more how MCE is similar to XP Pro. I
thought it was similar to Home but I think Tom said it's similar to XP
Pro, so maybe MCE allows IIS web serving, blah blah blah.

Other than remote desktop, it enables you to take advantage of the
Media Center functionality, such as recording a TV series, etc. I
think Tom can help here too -- I use MCE on my desktop, but I wonder
if it's not much better than a good USB 2 Tuner with Beyond TV?

- I selected 1 Dimm memory since it will allow me to upgrade to 1GB later if
needed - is this correct?

Yes, this is good logic. Does anyone know if having two memory DIMMs
of different capacity slows the computer down more than two DIMMs with
the same capacity?

- Would upgrading the video card to the 128MB ATI Mobility at $100 be
worthwhile?

I think so -- definitely, esp, if you will be doing things with
photos.

- I've chosen the Sound Blaster sound card - a $30 upgrade. Is it much of
an improvement over the Integrated Audio?

Is this an internal card or does it fit into the express slot?
Soundblaster Live gives you much more control over the audio if it's
the same as on the desktop. I don't know if there are any battery
life implications. I use my desktop mostly for sound so I go with
integrated on my laptops.

- Is the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 card adequate?

As stated above, I go with the most expensive since it's not that much
more expensive anyway and I go with bluetooth. I want to run a
dual-boot with Linux and I think the Intel cards have better Linux
drivers (for some reason Broadcom doesn't). I will probably crash my
machine installing Linux on it because I don't know what I'm doing ...

- I've chosen the 9-cell battery over the 6-cell battery. How many hours of
use does each provide?

I wouldn't be happy with the 6 cell. The 9 cell is just right for me
-- maybe 4-6 hours, depending on what I do with it but I am pretty
aggressive with my settings to conserve battery.

Instead of spending $99 for a 9 cell battery upgrade, I recommend
getting the 6 cell and paying $129 for the additional 9 cell. (prices
may vary, that's what they were when I was buying). That way you get
the extra 6-cell you can use in a pinch if you need it.

Also, maybe someone can help me understand this -- I have a 9 cell and
a 6 cell -- if I am not going to be using my laptop portably, should I
keep my 6 cell in it? -- i.e. does having the battery in even while
only on AC all the time wear it down? If so, maybe I should keep the
6 cell in it until I plan to go portable, so I would be running down
the less important battery.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Clark Martin

I don't think you can go wrong with the E1505. I'd consider the
screen resolution, and I'd go with dedicated / hypermemory video. I'd
also get MCE. I wouldn't pay a premium for the highest CPU speed. I'd
get both batteries, get the best wirless card / bluetooth, and if it's
your only PC then I'd definitely consider Soundblaster Live if that's
important to you, but I don't know the effect of that on battery life.

One other thing to consider -- if you are going XGA video resolution,
maybe look at the 14" XPS 140 / 630m after they are upgraded to Core
Duo (should be coming up sometime soon but I know how hard it is to
wait). You would get much better battery life and the laptop would be
more portable.

However, there is a good laptop bag I am going to post about that
distributes the weight very well so either should be OK.

Journey
.

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