Ok, A lot of people have been suggesting to get away from dell and laptops. So I was looking at the sites Skandal(thanks) gave me, and stumbled across some links. They are desktops computers, and pretty much in my price range.

Desktop:
http://www.refurbdepot.com/productdetails2...Product_ID=5209

Computer:
http://www.refurbdepot.com/productdetails2...Product_ID=5257



I think it is a pretty good price, but I am not sure..

Also, one problem is that it comes with Vista basic instead of Premium, But I think I could upgrade that.






http://www.dell.com/content/products/produ...=bundlestab#tn7

All the reviews are 5 stars, I love the colors, but I was wondering, is the 599$ version worth the money? I really like this computer, but my limit is 600$, so just wondering if it is good.

I can get a 600+ version, but after 600$, I would have to use my own money. (parents are paying up to 600$)

What are you planning on doing with it?

Don't plan on playing any current games with that. The hard drive is a little...small

I personally don't like glossy screens, as they cause too much glare, but that is personal preference.

I'd say it's a decent computer, but don't get mad if you can't do too many modern things (games, burning dvds/dual layered CDs, etc.)

Dell is also known for cutting corners

If I were you, I'd search around (like compaq or toshiba, or even acer ) to see if you can get a better deal.

It's decent... Go for a desktop instead much more for same price

School work and maybe a World of Warcraft. I already, upgraded alot of things, and my total price is 731.




If I get a desktop, it would have to be under 500 dollars since my mum says Desktops should be cheaper.

Personally, I wouldn't want to play World of Warcraft on that. I don't think it would handle it, and wouldn't make a particularly pleasurable gaming experience. However, for school work it would perfect.

If you want to play World of Warcraft, I would recommend a mid range PC or high end laptop.

You can look around for a HP/Toshiba/Acer laptop that offer a lot more for the money. Dell does overprice their upgrades a lot.

Graphically, WOW is nothing, it'll easily run on a laptop. (If you take the 8400M or 8600M graphics card)

Those laptops seem pretty decent for the price, may I ask what you've selected so far?

SYSTEM COLOR Spring Green
PROCESSOR AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-55
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
DISPLAY Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
VIDEO CARD ATI RADEON® Xpress1270 HyperMemory™
MEMORY 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE Size: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card
INTEGRATED WEBCAM No Webcam Option edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0


For 731$.

Can someone tell me why Vista has a bad reputation?

You should be able to play WoW on those settings. Looks like a good configuration to me.

vista has a bad rep by crashing and most of it is bugged and there already having to release a sp1 they should need to do that until around 8 months after the public release and many people have downgraded to xp. You need probaly about 2 gigs of memory to prevent lagging. but for schoolwork preety good for typing etc.

If you don't know what you're talking about, then don't.

Vista barely crashes, less than XP I can gaurantee you. Maybe not on a PC built for XP, but on a new OEM PC, that should be no problem at all.

I think it was about start 2007 when Vista was released, and the SP came out in (I think) August, that's 7-8 months, isn't it?

And you don't need two gigabytes of RAM to support Vista. Maybe if you want to do heavy gaming, or run a load of applications at the same time.

i do know what im talking about the public version they stared working on sp1 like 2 months after xp almost never crashes. Also you need like 3-4 gb or ram for it to come close to run smothly.

I i dont want to get in a debate now im not in a good mood.

Someone put this guy out of his misery.

Sorry, Creamers, but I don't get the impression that you do.

ANYWAYS..

Should I update to 2 GB?

Also, it came with Vista basic, I upgraded it to Vista Premium for like 25$ more I think... Was that an OK move?

It's advisable to get 2 GB of RAM when you want Home Premium. And I can tell you, Home Premium has some great features, good move.

Thanks

Let me see how much more 2 GB is..... Oh no. 125$ more That would make it 856$. I am really going overboard . Will the 1 GB affect it that much?

Also, the webcam, 2.0, is + 25, but if I already have a webcam, I should not get it right? Even though it is quite handy?

And how long will a 9 cell battery last unplugged compared to a 6 cell?

No, unless you, like I said, want to run really heavy applications. And you can always upgrade later.


Not if you don't feel a big urge for one.


I'm guessing about 50% longer, but I can't be sure.

Yeah it is 50% more, but I'm not sure how much the 6 cell last. Either the 6 or 9 last 5 hours, I forgot which one though. Ok, and you can upgrade after you have had it? Will I lose anything? and will it still cost 125$?

How long a laptop battery lasts depends on the applications you're running and even the brightness of your screen. So the use you'll get out of your battery (amount of hours it lasts) won't be exactly what it's specified at. I did just read a report that a 12 cell batter lasts for about 10 hours so it would be accurate to say a 6 cell lasts closer to 5 hours.






It looks like your contradiction means you owe Creamers an apology. Everyone of us tech-savy people know that it is advised to have 2GB of ram for vista. We have also heard countless stories of Vista being buggy. Just because you haven't experienced them yourself doesn't mean the majority of the people who have had experience agree with your statements. Because the majority disagree because they have experienced such bugs. I also know people that have downgraded from Vista to XP because of bad performance, even on a brand new PC that was built with Vista preinstalled. Don't put down users just because of their poor grammer skills. Other than this, Creamers posts are accurate in the majority and I don't find it necessary for you to say he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Come on now, if you're not contributing to the topic leave this to PM or whatever.
I've removed the spammy posts.

Thank you so very much.

I was lucky enough to experience no trouble with Windows Vista Home Premium on a laptop with 512MB of RAM.

That configuration looks fine, but the graphics card won't do well at all. If you can afford to, get a better one with it. Posts other graphics card options there are in the configuration.

Bacon, tell your mum that she can believe whatever she wants to, but that doesn't change the fact that you could get a desktop computer that's a lot better for the same price as that laptop. I don't intend to offend you, I'm just saying that it's beneficial.

thank you Agent F for once i a good thing see.

Also with the gfx card you need about a mid ranged one for vista even a little higher end.

True, but the Radeon X1250 should handle Vista pretty nicely.

You could play most games on that, possibly a little laggy, but ram upgrades are available. If you really need mobility, that's a good option, but if your just fine at a station, there are slightly better desktops for roughly the same price.

You know Bacon, unless you're really into Dell and nothing else, I'd advise you to go for another brand. I swear on my wallet that HP and Acer offer so much more for the price - my laptop was $899 Canadian in August and it still came with

-2GB DDR2
-160GB HDD
-2.0GHz Intel Core Duo (Not Core 2 Duo, but will suffice)

Granted, it does not have a discrete graphics card, but it came with a 12-cell battery that lasts for 5 hours.

If you want to come close to that, you'd probably have to spend at leas $1100 for the Dell.

I strongly urge you to reconsider, especially with your budget - Athlon X2 TK-55 is not a laptop-specific processor so it will emit more heat and consume more power than Turion X2 which is made specifically for laptops. That's why the Athlon is serving its duty in the lower-end market.

Get a desktop instead, you won't regret it. A $500 will perform much better than a $600 laptop and if you are willing to spend $700 I can get you specs that will run WoW on full bling at a decent resolution. No sweat.

If you're bent on a laptop, the best in your price range is the Toshiba Satellite S4747. Toshiba might not be in anyones Favourite Brands book but I can tell you one thing their products are of good quality and last long, same goes for Fujitsu but they're a little out of your range. I think this particular laptop has won many awards and at $625 there is no beating its price/performance ratio. It is way ahead in terms of performance when compared to that Dell you suggested not to mention 200GB HD>80GB HD , it's even better than the $849 version. It doesnt have the best looks but it's not that ugly either.

What you want to do if you get this laptop is to upgrade the RAM ASAP to 2GB it shouldn't cost too much. Around $50 at most. Why? Because with only 1GB ram it will lag quite a bit with the Vista Home Premium that comes installed. The RAM speed is already decent though. It should be able to run WoW with some graphics toned down but I'm not entirely sure by how much. I'll look around for you though.


Some links so you can have a look for youself:
http://compreviews.about.com/od/budgetnote...ibA215S4747.htm
http://about.pricegrabber.com/rating_getpr...d_type=masterid
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/toshiba-s....html?tag=specs

EDIT: Some sites might list it as A215 instead of S4747

eh imo id say just dont get a dell -- not the best computers

About vista-

OEM build is pretty stable, and not too buggy.
You need to make a list of your favorite/needed programs and check for vista compatibility

About Ram-
You won't regret upgrading to 2gig of RAM, vista is a pretty heavy operating system and would run smoother. Of course if your pushed for money, it still runs under 1gig fairly adequately.

About Dells-
Reliable laptops, low battery life . Just a heads up .

Ok, A lot of people have been suggesting to get away from dell and laptops. So I was looking at the sites Skandal(thanks) gave me, and stumbled across some links. They are desktops computers, and pretty much in my price range.

Desktop:
http://www.refurbdepot.com/productdetails2...Product_ID=5209

Computer:
http://www.refurbdepot.com/productdetails2...Product_ID=5257



I think it is a pretty good price, but I am not sure..

Also, one problem is that it comes with Vista basic instead of Premium, But I think I could upgrade that.

The "desktop" you gave a link to is only the monitor . I like the monitor, but it is a 5ms response time and you could probably get a smaller one with a lower response time. I only use a 15 in. and it's big enough for me.

For the computer...does it even tell the graphics card? I couldn't find it. It also only have 512mb of RAM and since you're going to be running vista, you're gonna want to upgrade to at least 1gb. I don't know if you can choose to upgrade there, but ram is fairly cheap and you can buy 1gb for fairly cheap (I'd say 50-70 USD).

Also, what I aim for is a computer that will last a long time and that won't need constant upgrading. So always plan ahead. WOW isn't going to be around forever

PCI-Express® (PCI-E x16) slot available for upgrade

2 DDR2 Slots (Total), 1 DDR2 Slot (Available)
Glancing over some of the specs, its pretty outdated even for that price. You'll need to either put another stick of RAM in their or replace the existing ones.

Just a note, for vista premium you'll need at least 1gig of memory.

Are you allowed to do a custom build? because that computer is pretty ughh.. if you ask me..

You will get much more of your moneys worth with a custom build.