could you help me with a laptop purchase please? (wga question)
windows update question
Sunday, May 28, 2006 by werewolf | Discussion: Personal Computing
Oy.
My daughter just graduated high school and I would like to get her a laptop to take to college. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but something around $1k is all I can afford.
Basically this system:
15" tft monitor
60g hdd minimum
512mg ram minimum
8-12 cell battery lithium ion
wifi enabled/lan
fast processor (have no idea what kinds of processor options I was looking at.)
fast graphics (128m vram)? She doesn't do computer games.
probably some other stuff I'm not even thinking about...
and the biggie: RELIABLE TECH SUPPORT/warranties, on site stuff, as I saw on the Gateway site. I'm not going to be down the hall to help her when problems arise.
So after days of looking around on the net and reading forum articles here and CNET and others, looking in Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect, some of the brand name sites, I'm just confused and have a headache. Some of the machines were just what I was looking for, but I've never heard of the manufacturer, some of the places had good prices, but I saw no way of upgrading.
I just need some recommendations/suggestions. I would certainly apprectiate the help.
david
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Reply #22 Sunday, June 4, 2006 10:41 AM
Reply #23 Sunday, June 25, 2006 3:02 PM
I had a Dell 'chat' with Ginocarlo about a couple of things...
Is it really not possible to partition the hard drive? Usually any kind of restore function will reformat the drive first and it would be nice if there could be a partition which would remain intact during the process.
Reply #24 Sunday, June 25, 2006 3:27 PM
werewolf. I've read everyones comments here and I have to say that all of them are true and right, and big time worthy of consideration... about every model of computer, about every service, about every warranty.
I have a Dell Inspiron8600. I've had it for two and a half years. The best thing I ever did was to buy the Complete Care warranty. With a laptop, a college student in a dorm, I wouldn't do it any other way. It replaces the entire computer if it is dropped, had liquids spilled in it, anything! I've called them on a Tuesday, they sent DHL that afternoon to pick it up at my house in Massachusettes, flew it to Texas, fixed it, and had it back at my front door on Thursday.
I am not one to buy extended warranties. I feel a manufaturer should warranty their product without extra payment. But I KNOW that this warranty was well worth the extra $350 I paid for it. A laptop is portable, she will carry it in her arms with other books. She IS GOING TO DROP IT! I would pay a little less for the laptop and make sure I paid the extra for the warranty. I've already also had my entire laptop rebuilt, and because they ran out of the basic screen that came with my model, they had to give me the next higher up. It's gorgeous!!
Buy the Complete Care warranty! You won't be sorry!
Reply #25 Sunday, June 25, 2006 4:06 PM
Reply #26 Sunday, June 25, 2006 5:07 PM
Youre welcome, werewolf. I don't mean to give youmore confusion in making your decision. I appolgize if I have. But it's important to know that "at home" service is a farce. They will not come to your home. For this 2 year warranty, they will talk with you on the phone for over two hours, and most likely you will speak with someone who asks you a question, then you answer it, and then they spend 3-5 minutes reading what to ask you next. Question number 2 and every question thereafter repeats the same process. After the two or even 3 hours they will ask you if you would like them to call you back the next day after they've done some research on your probem. Sometimes they call back. Sometimes they don't.
If they find the problem with you, then yes, they will ship you the part to replace, and like COrky_O writes, its a very easy task. But, the biggest problem for me on my lapatop the last couple of years? The USB connectors come loose from the back of the computer. They cannot send you those USB adapters because they are connected directly to the mother board. I've had three motherboards replaced because of it. They send DHL directly to my door to pick it up. You're definately going to need that original box to ship it back to them in. And this won't be done as a priority to them. Their priorities are the people who have the Complete Care Warranty, and new buyers.
I do understand where you're coming from in regards to the cost. But expensive computers can break down just as fast as cheaper ones. I do agree with Corky_O again when he says that you should get a laptop with easily replacable cards, especially if you don't get this extra CC Warranty.
I wish you the best of luck, werewolf!!!
Reply #27 Sunday, June 25, 2006 11:28 PM
| Is it really not possible to partition the hard drive? |
If Dell is still doing things the way they did on my Inspiron 9300 (now a little over a year old), they will have a small partition with a "FAT32" format which holds their "System Recovery" files. This allows the user to run the recovery from either the BIOS, or from the Windows interface to restore the computer to the factory installation and configuration of software.
The main partition will be in NTFS format and have the OS, pre-installed drivers and software.
You can create your own partions if you wish, but this would probably wreak havoc with the Dell recovery process (even if you leave it intact), as it may only operate with one larger partition and would most certainly overwrite the disc to the original configuration (1 large partition with OS, drivers and software, 1 small partion in FAT32 with the recovery section).
Another possible option, but a bit of work, would be to use a program like "TrueImage 9.0" that allows you to partition a drive and also allows you to create a "recovery partition" that holds the OS, drivers and software in an image and can be accessed via both a bootable CD to run the recovery manager, and via the TrueImage program itself running under Windows.
Note - this program is much slower than Ghost at recovering the system, but does allow you to set-up your own recovery partition on the hard disk.
Reply #28 Monday, June 26, 2006 12:27 AM
here's the link for the notebook on sale a FRY's.
http://shop4.outpost.com/%7BXSW-qZvI1shDMukJ9JO9HA**.node1%7D/product/4880360
you better get it fast if you want it because my friend said there were only a few left when he purchaced his.
Reply #29 Monday, June 26, 2006 12:29 AM
here's the link for the notebook on sale a FRY's.
http://shop4.outpost.com/%7BAaEx5WZquXn0OlwTSjAr8w**.node3%7D/product/4880360
Reply #30 Monday, June 26, 2006 12:30 AM
Reply #31 Monday, June 26, 2006 12:52 AM
Hehe! And you thought you had a headache BEFORE you asked us for help?
I sincerely wish you the best of luck in whatever laptop you choose, werewolf. I have a feeling that someone who's done as much homework as you have, regardless of how confusing it may seem, will ultimately make the right decision for their child.
Reply #32 Tuesday, June 27, 2006 9:35 PM
.I've never purchased a pre-made computer before and it was a bit nerve wracking. It's so limiting LOL.
I'm not going to be around if her machine messes up, but the school has a great IT dept and they said that they help the students with 'issues'
Thank all of you for your advice and opionions. After I've played around with it for a bit, I'll post back and let you know how it was.
Reply #33 Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:41 PM
Reply #34 Thursday, June 29, 2006 5:47 PM
Last year I bought my first laptop. It's a Gateway M520. Nice laptop, good price. It's not perfect, I've had some issues but they've all been resolved.
I bought my laptop at futureshop and got suckered into getting there extended warranty. DO NOT GET THERE EXTENDED WARRANTY. Oiy, I can't stress this enough. If you want an extended warranty get it through your manufacturer. Future shop covers next to nothing. They'll just blame the issue on you (I've had this happen both to me and my friend and I'm not a computer stupid guy, this is how they do it).
Gateways support and warranty service is simply amazing. I just had to e-mail them, tell them my issues and they sent me a box prelabeled and everything to send my laptop away. No hassle nothing, I got my laptop back within a week and everything that I asked to be fixxed was. It was great!
Ah well, just my 2 cents : ) I'm pretty sure any big name like dell, gateway or hp have adaquet service. I just know from my experiance that Gateway rocks.
(I'm actually buying myself a new laptop, this time from HP. The only one is being bought off me by my sister. Only reason why I'm not getting a Gateway is because the processor I want is offered by gateway or at least not that I have found yet)
Reply #35 Thursday, June 29, 2006 8:12 PM
. Has everything I think she will need.Reply #36 Saturday, August 5, 2006 2:13 PM
I have a serious question: The way it looks is that I can only do the Windows Update thing is by installing that stupid WGA app. I've heard horror stories that WGA has reported factory laptop installs of XP are invalid and shut the whole machine down. That's not good. I have turned off auto update on her machine.
On the other hand, some of those updates are probably needed (she is going to be in a fairly secure environment, nat enabled routers, software firewalls, AV software, etc) but there are some updates which improve the OS if I remember correctly.
Anyhooo, has anyone with a Dell laptop, or I guess any new name-brand laptop, had any problems with the WGA. If so, were they easily fixed?
What's the general consensus of WGA around here. There should be lots of folks who have been exposed to it I would think.
Thanks
Reply #37 Monday, September 4, 2006 9:26 PM
What I always heard was to avoid Dell because the important stuff to upgrade is proprietary so you pay through the nose to add memory or upgrade HW. Yet most peeps here are recommending Dell. Did the situation change or is Dell better with laptops than with desktops?
Around 5 years ago, I had a Sony VIAO that I liked alot. Any comments on the VIAO?
I'm not sold on a particular brand, but was surprised by the results of this thread...
Reply #38 Monday, September 4, 2006 9:45 PM
| What's the general consensus of WGA around here. |
don't have a lap top, but I've installed whatever authentication they say is required for whatever I decide to download. I've had no issues with it that I know of.
I thought if the WGA thing said your install was invalid it gave options to validate or purchase.
Reply #39 Monday, September 4, 2006 10:14 PM
| What I always heard was to avoid Dell because the important stuff to upgrade is proprietary so you pay through the nose to add memory or upgrade HW. |
I have the Inspiron 9300, which was built in March 2005.
I have replaced the stock Pentium M 1.6 Ghz processor with a Pentium M 2.0 Ghz processor with no issues.
I have also replaced the hard drive (originally a 40 GB Hitachi 5400 RPM) with a Seagate 80 GB 7200 RPM, and replaced (2) 256 MB sticks of RAM with (2) 1 GB sticks of RAM (Kingston). I also replaced the stock Toshiba DVD-ROM drive with a Sony DVD/RW drive.
All replacement parts were purchased through NewEgg.com except the RAM which I got through Amazon.com. The only issue was with the Sony optical drive which is not quite flush with the side of the case - otherwise all parts work flawlessly.
Therefore to answer your question; the Inspiron series - at least - has a proprietary motherboard, case, keyboard, touchpad, and monitor.
The hard drive, optical drive, memory, and processor can be upgraded within the motherboard restrictions/specifications. All of these can be purchased from an online vendor if you wish (the cost is much lower).
As for the graphics card, Dell offered upgrades (at that time) to either a Radeon X300 (128 MB) mobility PCI express card, or a nVidia GForce 6800 (256 MB) AGP card. I opted for the PCI express card due to my knowledge of the lower heat build up of this architecture. Due to the lack of availability of the newer mobile video cards through online vendors, it is better to purchase the unit with the video option you plan to use for a few years.
If you purchase a Dell, make sure to note the higher end options specific to the unit you are purchasing for future reference. This will allow you to upgrade with confidence, as Dell is not eager to offer the deeper technical knowledge of their equipment - at least in my experience.
It should also be noted that Dell offers a "Build Your Own" feature in their XPS 700 series where you can purchase the basic parts for a machine and actually build your own by purchasing a basic foundation (case, power supply, Dell BTX MoBo, Processor, and heat-sink/fan). The heat-sink fan that comes with the newer Core2 Duo processors in a heat-pipe style with multiple fins and two aluminum fans - really nice, IMO. The cost is about 30% more than you could purchase and build one with similar components for, but Dell will apparently assemble the basic foundation listed above, which ships with "Free-DOS" only.
The new owner can then install memory, video card(s), hard drive(s), optical drive(s), and purchase their own custom monitor and input devices. A nice option for someone who feels confident with the easier hardware assembly and wants to build a custom rig.
Note - you can also select all needed hardware parts so that you can build the complete PC tower with no operating system installed if you wish.
For all the bad press and fall in profit margins, they are providing some nice options on purchases.
Reply #40 Tuesday, September 5, 2006 4:56 PM
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Reply #21 Thursday, June 1, 2006 2:14 PM
I highly recommend Dell.