College laptop

by nedzz Apr 29, 2009 1:30PM PDT

I was thinking of buying my college laptop now instead of waiting for the fall sales, because I would love to get it ahead of time to use now. I was wondering if the current setup I'm considering (a dell xps 1330) might be cheaper or even an out of date model by the time fall rolls around. Is dell going to have some new version of this out before fall, or am I safe getting it now? The one I am looking at now is on sale for $1499, Intel 2.5ghz T9300, vista 64 bit, 4gb ddr2, 256gb SSD HD, 128MB NVIDIA

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Happy Laptop Hunting

by RonS [WINDOWS-TEAM] Apr 30, 2009 1:38AM PDT

I think you?ve got a good laptop picked out there. Regardless of brand or style, what you really need is a laptop that will do the job you want it to, right?

If you want to compare and see what you can get for your money, you might want to check out this site from Microsoft where you can change the attributes you?re looking for with their slider bars: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-laptop-scout/.

Cheers,
Ron
Windows Outreach Team

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The one new thing I see in laptops is now they are

by orlbuckeye Apr 30, 2009 2:15AM PDT

coming out with quad processors. Most companies are just offering a quad core to the current line of laptops that have the core 2 duo. Another consideration is if you want Windows 7. Rumor is that PC purchased after June or July will come Vista installed but with certificate for free upgrade to Windows 7 when it's released to the public. I'm waiting for that to buy an Acer.

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Good point...

by nedzz Apr 30, 2009 6:19AM PDT

I wonder if Dell's XPS laptops will have quad cores before fall, because even though I'm not sure I'd need the processing power it would probably mean a cheaper dual core, right? Do you think there would be a noticeable difference as far as performance (dual vs. quad core)?

Also, Windows 7 would be nice to get for free, although I thought I read the upgrade might be free even if you bought a Vista system now. In any case, thanks for the insight.

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No you won't be able to see a noticeable difference

by orlbuckeye Apr 30, 2009 11:46AM PDT

with most applications. But the quad core is of a investment for the future especially when apps are released to take advantage of the 4 cores.

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Chances of gettingg Windows 7 free = slim

by RonS [WINDOWS-TEAM] May 12, 2009 1:45AM PDT

You're going to be looking at probably getting Vista and upgrading to Windows 7 at a later date. However, since the RC is out now, you could download and install that. You can actually use that RC until June 2010, which is unprecedented.

Here's the link for the download and more info: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx.

Cheers,
Ron
Windows Outreach Team

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You may also want to check with the collge your going to

by orlbuckeye Apr 30, 2009 2:20AM PDT

because they may offer a discount for certain brands. My girlfriend was offered deals on Gateway laptops through her school. Some school even work out deal with the computer companies where they work out deals with the schools and provide free support and standardize all computers so every student has the same configurations.

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Dell XPS

by Renegade Knight May 1, 2009 7:24AM PDT

In addition to the XPS you may want to consider a MacBook. It's also 13" and has solid specs. In the Mac world it's the best bang for the buck.

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Thanks

by nedzz May 9, 2009 12:43PM PDT

Thanks for the advice everyone! Comments were much appreciated.

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that seems like a lot

by JonTitor May 9, 2009 2:35PM PDT

for $1500 you might want to consider the Studio XPS 13, its kind of the successor to the m1330

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