You clearly havn't bought any laptops from dell in his price range recently...
Need A Laptop For College....build Or Buy? Help W/ Both Please...
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You clearly havn't bought any laptops from dell in his price range recently...
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dude_56013
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ha ha thanks celegorm! agreed!!! So i had a revelation...not really just a thought...Alienware is a decent brand, is it not? I could check what I can get for a grand there.....
So Celegorm, how have the barebones worked for you? Good, Decent, Crap? and what was the price that they came out to be about?
So Celegorm, how have the barebones worked for you? Good, Decent, Crap? and what was the price that they came out to be about?
computerbuyer01
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yeah if you customize it it can come 2 a grand.
Eh Alienware is decent. Quality has gone down a bit, and CS alot since Dell bought them out.
The barebones have worked out quite nice actually. We started doing them here at the end of June, and we have yet to see one come back for service. Considering the volume we have sold (atleast 200) that is some-what suprising.
{Edit} As for the price, I don't know what the barebone itself is, but we sell a few for like $900ish that has a 120GB HDD and i think 2GB of RAM, so it isn't bad.
The barebones have worked out quite nice actually. We started doing them here at the end of June, and we have yet to see one come back for service. Considering the volume we have sold (atleast 200) that is some-what suprising.
{Edit} As for the price, I don't know what the barebone itself is, but we sell a few for like $900ish that has a 120GB HDD and i think 2GB of RAM, so it isn't bad.
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dude_56013
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Celegorm....I'm really interested in barebones since I know that most of the work will be done by myself with the main components...cpu, hd, cd/dvd, etc... which makes me feel a bit better since I know that I'll have done it myself instead of trusting some (not being racist, just saying) Indian or Chinese laborers in an outsource factory working a 2 dollars an hour putting my laptop together if you know what i mean?
About how much did the barebones come out to after final build? What normally was used to start off with (chassis,lcd,mobo, etc) Asus, MSI, etc?
About how much did the barebones come out to after final build? What normally was used to start off with (chassis,lcd,mobo, etc) Asus, MSI, etc?
esa193
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heres a really nice amd one got an nvidia 8400 in it to 2g ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115410
900$
or heres one with dual hard drives but a 7100 gpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147532R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115410
900$
or heres one with dual hard drives but a 7100 gpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147532R
The barebones we usually get are from a company called Compel. We do have an Asus one that costs $800ish I belive. After hard drive and stuff on one of the compel's (don't ask where to buy it, I can't find a sales site for it. A low end Asus would work) We can sell it for 900.
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dude_56013
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thanks for all of your help thusfar everyone..... still don't know whether to go barebone or retail...but thats still slightly beside the point....I still need help on components for the laptop so chip in your 2 cents about what you think is the best to go with for:
CPU (needs to be dual core!)
RAM (idk anything about laptop RAM--speeds and such) needs to be 2 GB though
GPU (no idea if GeForce or ATI have better laptop GPU's) or just go with integrated
Mobo (most seem that you cant choose so im guessing im screwed here)
Screen size (I dont' want it to adversely affect my bat life too much)....
Speaking of bat life...needs to be more than 2.5 hours for sure would like 3+
HD (i can figure out a size but idk much about notebook caches and speeds so you'll have to tell me here too)
Not worried at all about OS...vista is pretty crappy and every comp. guy like me always has his Corp version of xp laying around
Cue me in on all this and anything else i forgot..thanks
CPU (needs to be dual core!)
RAM (idk anything about laptop RAM--speeds and such) needs to be 2 GB though
GPU (no idea if GeForce or ATI have better laptop GPU's) or just go with integrated
Mobo (most seem that you cant choose so im guessing im screwed here)
Screen size (I dont' want it to adversely affect my bat life too much)....
Speaking of bat life...needs to be more than 2.5 hours for sure would like 3+
HD (i can figure out a size but idk much about notebook caches and speeds so you'll have to tell me here too)
Not worried at all about OS...vista is pretty crappy and every comp. guy like me always has his Corp version of xp laying around
Cue me in on all this and anything else i forgot..thanks
I would say get a Core 2 Duo for the CPU.
RAM, odds are you'll be getting PC2-5300, I have yet to see a laptop in your range support faster speeds.
Screen, 15.1" would be fine. Anything bigger will require more power and thus drain your battery faster.
Video... eh... If your not gamming onboard should be fine, but if there is only like a $50 difference between on board and an Nvidia or ATI video, go for it.
If you want good batterylife, get a Core 2, on a Centrino chipset. Those have great battery life. Only downside is you are stuck with onboard video.
If you can find one, get one with 7200 RPM. If not any other compatable hard drive (ATA or SATA) will work.
Why don't you like vista? Works great for me.
Also, what about an optical drive? most barebones do not come with them. what capabilities do you want?
RAM, odds are you'll be getting PC2-5300, I have yet to see a laptop in your range support faster speeds.
Screen, 15.1" would be fine. Anything bigger will require more power and thus drain your battery faster.
Video... eh... If your not gamming onboard should be fine, but if there is only like a $50 difference between on board and an Nvidia or ATI video, go for it.
If you want good batterylife, get a Core 2, on a Centrino chipset. Those have great battery life. Only downside is you are stuck with onboard video.
If you can find one, get one with 7200 RPM. If not any other compatable hard drive (ATA or SATA) will work.
Why don't you like vista? Works great for me.
Also, what about an optical drive? most barebones do not come with them. what capabilities do you want?
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dude_56013
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Vista as an OPERATING system work great....but Microsoft didn't need all the excess junk...i sat up for like 3 days straight disabling useless junk..other than that its fine...i think microsoft should have upgraded not rethought the whole OS...anyways...just my opinion......
Um yeah i was thinking 15 inch since the bat life would drain if any bigger...really like SATA HDs..much faster
Any drive that burns cds and dvds will work..don't care about their speed...
I've been researching the entire day today..still not sure if i go barebone or retail, but still pretty much beside the point....
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So core 2 duo was my thought as well.....any specifics I would want to look for for the best performance?....not familiar with centrinos such as series, ghz, etc..
Um yeah i was thinking 15 inch since the bat life would drain if any bigger...really like SATA HDs..much faster
Any drive that burns cds and dvds will work..don't care about their speed...
I've been researching the entire day today..still not sure if i go barebone or retail, but still pretty much beside the point....
____
So core 2 duo was my thought as well.....any specifics I would want to look for for the best performance?....not familiar with centrinos such as series, ghz, etc..
