Which one of these Dells is the best?

Dreaded_Cheese · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:08

Dell Studio 15:
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.1 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 3 MB L2 Cache,)
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3450
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Primary 9-cell 85 WHr Lithium Ion battery

£579.00

Dell Studio 17:
17 Widescreen WXGA+ CCFL (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife™
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5750 (2.0 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 Cache)
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3650
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Primary 9-cell 87 WHr Lithium Ion battery

£598.87

The CPU and the GPU are the most important imo...
Also, it would be spending 90% of the time in my house (with maybe a bit of traveling) so size is of no importance. I included the 9-cell batteries as I am unsure what the battery life is- every review I read seems to have the fully upgraded version, so I don't know what to expect.

Looking around the 3650 seems 2x more powerful than the 3450... is this correct- would I see a large difference in games?

Is the T8100 a lot better than the T5750- I cannot seem to find any direct comparisons?

Although, if anybody can advise an alternative for less than £630 I would be grateful.

Caged · 2 Sep 2008 at 13:00

Get the 17" because you have a chance of actually getting it before the end of the year

Dreaded_Cheese · 2 Sep 2008 at 13:32

Caged said:
Get the 17" because you have a chance of actually getting it before the end of the year

What do you mean? is the shortage that bad?

georges · 2 Sep 2008 at 13:51

Not sure how bad, but I ordered the 26th and have an ETA of the 17th.
FrostedNipple apparently got his delayed though :/

Basically because of all the uni students *whistles*

georges · 2 Sep 2008 at 13:55

Had a look and I could have got a much faster computer if I went 17"..

Ah well

Just want it now!

Dreaded_Cheese · 2 Sep 2008 at 13:58

I am getting paid on the 10th, so I will be ordering then, however the deals they have on end then too. Will Dell put on some new deals immediatley?

MTA99 · 2 Sep 2008 at 17:46

Dreaded_Cheese said:
Also, it would be spending 90% of the time in my house (with maybe a bit of travelling) so size is of no importance. I included the 9-cell batteries as I am unsure what the battery life is- every review I read seems to have the fully upgraded version, so I don't know what to expect.

If you're going to be in the house 90% of the time does that mean you'll be on mains 90% of the time? 6cell should give you 2-3hours, 9cell 3-4hours.

Dreaded_Cheese said:
Looking around the 3650 seems 2x more powerful than the 3450... is this correct- would I see a large difference in games?

Broadly speaking:

HD3650 = 8600m GT
HD3450 = 8400m GS/GT

The difference between the 3650 and 3450 is significant. There's lots of info on the difference between the 8600m and 8400m.

Dreaded_Cheese said:
Is the T8100 a lot better than the T5750- I cannot seem to find any direct comparisons?

The T8100 uses a smaller die - the T8100 is faster in every spec but how much faster than the T5750 I don't know.

Caged · 2 Sep 2008 at 18:08

I don't think the T5750 supports VT, but the T8xxx series do. Also 2MB vs 3MB cache, slightly faster clock, and a faster FSB.

Dreaded_Cheese · 2 Sep 2008 at 19:51

If I bought the studio 17 with the standard 6-cell I could afford:
17 Widescreen WXGA+ CCFL (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife™
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.1 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 3 MB L2 Cache,)
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3650
3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048+1x1024]
250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery

However, how much would it cost me to buy a 9-cell battery at a later date if I change my mind?
Also, would there be a large increase in speed by having 3GB over 2GB?

If I order over the phone would I get a bigger discount than those on the website?

WolfR1der · 2 Sep 2008 at 20:14

There are a lot of 17" laptops on Dell outlet. There is a much wider range than 15.4" models, so it should be easier to pick up a deal as Outlet can be a bit of a scrum

Dreaded_Cheese · 2 Sep 2008 at 20:59

I take it that all the dell's in the outlet are the ones that were ordered and then cancelled before delivery...

FrostedNipple · 3 Sep 2008 at 14:04

how long do outlet laptops take? Is it just a case of them delivering them?

tigerstyle · 3 Sep 2008 at 14:39

FrostedNipple said:
how long do outlet laptops take? Is it just a case of them delivering them?

adding to this, does anyone know know whats included with each laptop? hardware/software wise?

MTA99 · 3 Sep 2008 at 15:45

FrostedNipple said:
how long do outlet laptops take? Is it just a case of them delivering them?

Ordered mine late (~11pm) on Thursday 21th Aug, arrived Friday 29th Aug (note Monday 25th was a bank holiday).

thepedster said:
adding to this, does anyone know know whats included with each laptop? hardware/software wise?

Hardware: laptop + charger
Software: Vista 32bit DVD :mad:

Roxio DVD, Dell bloatware DVD

Dreaded_Cheese · 3 Sep 2008 at 17:18

MTA99 said:
Software: Vista 32bit DVD

If you order 4GB (not from the outlet), can you ask for the 64bit vista instead of 32bit?

MTA99 · 3 Sep 2008 at 17:30

Dreaded_Cheese said:
If you order 4GB (not from the outlet), can you ask for the 64bit vista instead of 32bit?

If you order 4gb you get the 64bit version. The :mad:

face was because Dell seem very reluctant to give 32bit users a 64bit OEM disc (which they are licensed to use). MS won't send you one because the onus is on large OEMs like Dell to deal with these requests.

Senture · 3 Sep 2008 at 18:08

Dell wouldn't even give me one because they've yet to produce a 64 bit driver for the 8800m GTX :\

Smudge · 4 Sep 2008 at 09:14

MTA99 said:
Ordered mine late (~11pm) on Thursday 21th Aug, arrived Friday 29th Aug (note Monday 25th was a bank holiday).

Hi, sorry to hijack but what corrispondence did you get back from Dell through the ordering process? I ask because I ordered a studio 17 from the outlet on 27th August, got an order placement confirmation on the 29th and yesterday got an email about order tracking, that's asking me to put in a 4 digit code that I have not yet been sent?

Cheers,
Matt.

MTA99 · 4 Sep 2008 at 09:44

Smudge said:
Hi, sorry to hijack but what corrispondence did you get back from Dell through the ordering process? I ask because I ordered a studio 17 from the outlet on 27th August, got an order placement confirmation on the 29th and yesterday got an email about order tracking, that's asking me to put in a 4 digit code that I have not yet been sent?

Cheers,
Matt.

I got exactly the same..... next thing is the laptop arriving!

At no point did I get that 4 digit pin :confused:

Smudge · 4 Sep 2008 at 19:55

MTA99 said:
I got exactly the same..... next thing is the laptop arriving! At no point did I get that 4 digit pin

I spoke to soon

Mine turned up at my UK address today, woohoo! need to get it shipped over to Denmark now lol! (live in DK, need a brit spec laptop!) So, not to bad, order placed on the 27th and arrived on 4th.