I haven't been on for a month because I didn't have any time at all. But I finally got a new computer (laptop that is) on Black Friday.
Here are the specs:
Dell Vostro 1500

$629 before taxes and S&H - that's about $30-$50 off normal price (not the real "regular price" but the price that Dell sells it for normally)

Core 2 Duo T5270 (1.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache) - That's the lowest model and the clock speed is freakin low, but hey at least it's a Core 2 Duo.

Windows Vista Home Premium - They also had Windows XP or Home Basic options, but I opted for this for an extra $29. I've used Vista before and can't say it's that bad, and now that I use it full time, I can say that it has it's fair share of bugs and annoyances, but overall it's a good experience. XP is being phased out in '09, so why not just get the upgrade over with now rather than wait and buy the separate upgrade disk for 70 bucks.

15.4" WXGA glossy - There are plenty of gloss haters, but I for one prefer the better contrast etc. The good thing about Vostros is that they come with plenty of screen options, from XGA all the way up to WSXGA+ I think, but 720p (1280x800) is good enough for me.

2GB RAM at 667Mhz - Came standard on the Black Friday config Saves me the work later.

128MB nVidia GeForce 8400m GS - Normally a $99 upgrade from Intel X3100 but standard on my config. Another plus for Vostros, normally you don't see discrete cards on notebooks less than $800. Runs Halo, NFS, GTA, Tony Hawk's, Prince of Persia fine. My only buyer's remorse on this machine is an even better graphics card ($99 upgrade to 8600m GT) and Bluetooth ($29 installed in a special slot on top of the keyboard rather than mini-PCI)

120GB 5400RPM HDD - That's rather smallish, but the 160GB upgrade was too expensive

8x CD/DVD Burner w/ double-layer - Slow, but good enough

A/V Mode - That's Dell MediaDirect Instant Play, like QuickPlay with HPs

56 WHr 6-cell Li-Ion - The 9-cell is only $29 more, but 6 cells gives plenty of power.

Some extra positives about Vostros: Discreet graphics, XP, 10GB DataSafe online backup, no crapware/trialware


It was hard choosing between this and a Gateway (14", 1.6GHz Turion X2, 2GB, 250GB, X3100, Webcam, lots of gloss, lightweight) and an Acer (15", 1.5GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB, 200GB, X3100, lots of gloss, webcam) The Gateway was $629 at Best Buy and the Acer was $649 at Circuit City. The Gateway sold out when I went there so it made my decision a little easier. I saw the Acer the day after I ordered my Dell, so I was considering cancelling it. The Acer, designed by BMW, was uber sleek (with touch-sensitive media keys and hotkeys, high gloss, lots of blue lighting, 2.1 sound with Dolby Surround sticker, unique diagonals (you'll have to see for yourself)) and the quality was excellant for an Acer. However I already ordered the Dell and the discrete card was also enticing so I was too lazy to call and cancel. The biggest drawback with the Vostro is the tiny HDD and spartan design, but after all it's a small biz machine. Oh yeah and to that point, I was going to say don't be scared off by the small biz name. I'll bet most people who order Vostros are normal consumers who like the lower price (so you know Vostros are cheaper priced Inspirons without the color), more options, no trialware, and simplicity.


Someday, no doubt, I will write a review for my Vostro and post it on my blog. But I'll leave that till when I have more time.

Rate whether you think this was a good buy...

Also a few questions
1-Does buying a laptop cooling pad really prolong the life of the hardware? I've seen the good Antec pads for under $10...
2-What is the best way to play a flight sim? I'm new to flight sims but they look awfully interesting, especially the civilian sim "Microsoft Flight Simulator". I wanted to put Flight Sim X on my laptop but it doesn't look like my 8400 can handle it, so I will have to resort to 2004. So back to the question: keyboard/mouse? gamepad? yoke? rudders? joystick? throttle?
I had more questions but I can't remember...

Seems a great machine for the price! Great value.

As for Flight Sim, when I used to play it, I used a joystick along with the keyboard and mouse. Nothing more complicated.

looks like a very nice laptop , enjoy it very much sir

Flight Sim X looks great, I played it on a friend's computer. But I hear it's a quite demanding game, srtest.com didn't have it either.
I saw a Saitek throttle + joystick combo at CC, would that be a good deal?

I would imagine it should run, the specifications aren't that high. Not sure if you would have to turn the graphic options down though.

As for the throttle/joystick combo, by all means go for it.

Oh I just realized that there's a downloadable demo for FSX, so I'll try it when I'm at a faster internet connection.

Another question
Is it true that you should not hold a laptop upsidedown while it's on?

I'm almost certainly done it, and I still have a working laptop.

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that it's only bad if you hold a desktop upside down when it's on .

But if you think about it, there's no loose parts in it and none of the electrical circuits are disrupted...

Hm...good point.

1 I was surprised to see that Intel is actually selling its Turbo Memory to consumers. I already have 2GB of RAM. Would the $25 mini-PCi card be that important? Or should I just get a fast SD card with ReadyBoost?

2 Bub 5000 on michaelmuggler's Super Keylogger said

I just realized that when I scan with Ad-Aware, there would always be a few "tracking cookies" with TAI rating 3 that show up in the "privacy objects" column. But when I try to delete it, it says that there's an error and will be removed at restart.

3 Dell gave me the option to stick with the standard Broadcom WLAN g card or upgrade to Intel PRO/Wireless g card for an extra $20. If I had gotten the Intel card I would have gotten a Centrino Duo sticker rather than Core 2 Duo. But does Centrino really matter, or is it just a sticker?

4 At my friend's house, I can connect to his WLAN local only, but not the internet. His router is a Linksys WRT54G. Network diagnose tells me that there's problem with DNS or something.

5 In my manual, in the before taking apart your computer section, after all the shut down power off disconnect remove battery nonsense, it says to press the power button to ground the system board. How does that work?