Trying to get a laptop, need some advice

[wing92]

I'm graduating high school in about a week and heading off to college. I'll be needing a laptop for school. Right now the one that I'm looking at is a Dell Inspiron 1545. I'm building it from their website and here are the stats:

Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400 OR Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 (both have the same stats except for cache. The cache is 1MB on the Pentium and 2MB on the other. The bigger cache one is 75 USD more. Which one should I go with?)

6GB RAM
250GB Hard Drive
Windows 7 Home Premium
9-cell battery
Wifi Card: Dell Wireless 1515 802.11 Wireless-N Mini-Card
Microsoft Office 2007 (it will upgrade for free to Office 2010 once it comes out)

The total price comes out to $933 with the better processor. I was wondering a few things:

Is Dell generally considered a good brand? Or should I go with something else? (not even considering Apple but if there's good reason for any other, please tell me)

If I do go with Dell, would it be better to buy a laptop from their website or going to a store and getting one there? Or isn't there a difference?

Which of the processors would you recommend? I don't do much computer gaming. The laptop would mostly be used for school assignments, timing, and flash games on the Internet. However, I have a very slow computer right now and can't stand it. I want an upgrade.

If any of you have a good laptop that you're looking to get rid of, I would be happy to consider that too.

Before you send me to lmgtfy for reviews, I tried googling and most of the reviews either seemed to be sponsored by Dell or just said 'it was good' without much for comparison or recommendations.

Sorry for the long post but if you read this far, thank you and please help.

 

[riffz]

Lol I have the same laptop, just less RAM. I recommend you upgrade to a better wireless card. Other than that I have no complaints about it and it's been about a year since I got it.

Oh and I highly recommend upgrading to the LED screen. It makes your battery last WAY longer and the viewing angle is really good.

 

[dabmasta]

I've never ever like dell for anything. Just a personal preference though. I've been a PC for most of my days, but then we got a mac. And I can honestly say, that they are really good. Despite their price, they do everything with ease, and would be great for college. And don't say you can't play games on them cause Steam came out for mac.

 

[iasimp1997]

Mac.

 

[EVH]

Macs suck do not get one.

Corrected.

That seems like a good computer, I honestly prefer making my own only because I don't have to worry about it having issues.

Macs are not good, people assume that Macs are better because they don't get viruses as often as PCs. Honestly the only reason a PC gets a virus is from watching pornography(you know it is true). Macs=Expensive for Reasonable Specs. Why get a Mac when you can build a PC that is ten times better.

 

[iasimp1997]

Macs suck do not get one.

Corrected.

That seems like a good computer, I honestly prefer making my own only because I don't have to worry about it having issues.

Windows: Slow, complicated, terrible.

 

[masterofthebass]

That seems like a good computer, I honestly prefer making my own only because I don't have to worry about it having issues.

Macs are not good, people assume that Macs are better because they don't get viruses as often as PCs. Honestly the only reason a PC gets a virus is from watching pornography(you know it is true). Macs=Expensive for Reasonable Specs. Why get a Mac when you can build a PC that is ten times better.

pronography doesn't come with viruses... Also, building a laptop is not the greatest idea, since they are too compact. A mac laptop is far superior in hardware and continuity than any laptop you could put together yourself. Even if you don't want to use OS X, the hardware in a mac is better than most you will get out there anyway.

Also, "I don't have to worry about it having issues." That is a complete lie. I'm in the middle of trying to deal with RMA'ing PC components I bought in Novemeber, because my video card decided to die. I already spent 2 weeks dealing with RMA'ing the motherboard, and have been without my computer since the beginning of may. Building a PC comes with its issues, while with my macbook pro, tons of stuff has gone wrong, but a quick trip to the apple store fixed it all in the same day.

 

[EVH]

Windows: Slow, complicated, terrible.

Macs are bad for two Reasons.

1.Most Macs cannot update their drivers or anything for that matter really.
Expect the Mac to be outdated within a few years.

2.Macs crash just as much as PCs. For PCs they crash usually because of a bad program. Macs crash because of their terrible OS. Why do you think that Macs main Website is run with Linux.

(Linux is the hardest to infect btw.)

Masterofthebass:
BTW I was didn't say build a laptop. I meant don't buy a Mac when you can build a better PC for the same price.

What kind of video card was it?


EDIT: This picture says it all.

 

[dillonbladez]

Windows: Slow, complicated, terrible.

Macs are bad for two Reasons.

1.Most Macs cannot update their drivers or anything for that matter really.
Expect the Mac to be outdated within a few years.

2.Macs crash just as much as PCs. For PCs they crash usually because of a bad program. Macs crash because of their terrible OS. Why do you think that Macs main Website is run with Linux.

(Linux is the hardest to infect btw.)

Masterofthebass:
BTW I was didn't say build a laptop. I meant don't buy a Mac when you can build a better PC for the same price.

What kind of video card was it?


EDIT: This picture says it all.

pic

it sounds just about right (the pic) But, macs are also capable of running windows and linux aswell.. i think.

 

[EVH]

Windows: Slow, complicated, terrible.

Macs are bad for two Reasons.

1.Most Macs cannot update their drivers or anything for that matter really.
Expect the Mac to be outdated within a few years.

2.Macs crash just as much as PCs. For PCs they crash usually because of a bad program. Macs crash because of their terrible OS. Why do you think that Macs main Website is run with Linux.

(Linux is the hardest to infect btw.)

Masterofthebass:
BTW I was didn't say build a laptop. I meant don't buy a Mac when you can build a better PC for the same price.

What kind of video card was it?


EDIT: This picture says it all.

pic

it sounds just about right (the pic) But, macs are also capable of running windows and linux aswell.. i think.

Windows can run the Mac OS and Linux if you have the right one. Linux>PC>Chrome OS>OS X

 

[goatseforever]

HOLY **** I CAN RUN STARCRAFT AT 20 FPS THIS AWESOME MAN I LOVE STEVE JOBS I WOULD KISS HIS ASS ALL NIGHT WHAT NOW PC USERS WE GOT GAMES WE GOT STEAM WE GOT 7 YEAR OLD GAMES B****

 

[Escher]

If you can afford a mac, buy a mac. They are very nice to use, and you don't sound like you are going to be doing anything they can't 'handle'. Plus cool people think you're cooler if you own a mac.

If you can't afford a mac, get a laptop with lots of RAM (3-4Gb). CPU speed, cache size, video card specs etc aren't particularly important for what you're doing

 

[sequencius]

laptops are for noobs.

build a gaming desktop.

 

[Chapuunka]

laptops are for noobs.

build a gaming desktop.

Did you miss the whole fact that he's going to college?

 

[blah]

Buy anything. Linux would go with it.

 

[Samania]

as long as it has Windows 7..

But buy a mac if you want a mac and a pc if you want a pc. After all.. it is your laptop

 

[AvidCuber]

If you can afford a Mac, get one. They're better in my opinion; they don't crash as much and they come with better programs installed (iMovie, Garage Band, Photobooth, etc), and they're a lot cleaner than Windows in my experience (less clutter).

But if else, get an HP.

 

[DavidWoner]

So am I the only one who read the first post?

not even considering Apple

Oh yup, guess I am.

anyway, I got my Dell almost two years ago for the same purpose as you, and it's worked out great for me so far. I only wish that it had more RAM and a larger internal HD (2gb RAM and 80gb HD atm) although you seem to have covered that. I also wish I had gotten the 9cell battery so you are good there as well lol.

I order from the Dell website and didn't have any problems. It came in about a week (I think). I don't have any experience buying from stores though, so I can't really compare the two for you. But yeah. What you have there seems like a pretty good choice to me.

 

[dillonbladez]

maybe you could reinstall whatever OS you're using. Your current laptop can't be that slow.

besides, it's school. unless its like computer science or something, i don't think you'll need a super-special-awesome-uber computer.

but, i actually don't know a thing about this stuff. i'm only in grade 7

 

[DavidWoner]

Your current laptop can't be that slow.

I don't know about that. In my experience, things that don't exist never seem to function quite the way I would like.