# Need a new laptop



## bigstick120 (Mar 8, 2005)

Im looking at getting a new laptop, it will be a dell. Any opinions on the XPS m1530, from what I have read so far reviews are pretty good.

If you pull my arm I may be willing to change brands, but no MAC


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## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

Can't help you on that specific model but I can say my last 2 computer purchases have been Dell and I would never buy anything else but a Dell. I've had plenty others to compare to.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I love my Dell PC. Stick with the Dell brand and you'll be happy.

That being said I'm leaning towards a MAC on my next purchase. It ticks me off that Microsoft won't sell XP on new machines anymore and they haven't fixed all of the Vista bugs yet.


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

I have a older HP pavilion zv5000 and i love this thing. if i had to get a new one i would probably get the dell you where looking at.

BUT i would not get anything that wasnt running XP infact like AaronT i would rather have a mac atleast they only push a stable system, Vista is a joke and the fact that Microsoft is cramming it down our throats makes me madder then *&^%. Last i herd they are going to cut support for XP to business users to make them switch to Vista. they kept support running for windows98 for how long????? 

O.K. im getting to mad.:banplease love these smilies lol


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## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

> I have a older HP pavilion zv5000 and i love this thing. if i had to get a new one i would probably get the dell you where looking at.


weird wont let me edit: ment to say if i had to get a new one i would chose between a dell or HP but probably get a nice dell. HP cost to much most of the time and can get more for the price with a Dell IMHO


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## Afyounie (Aug 10, 2007)

If you are going towards an XPS, then maybe look at the alienware laptops. My friend has one, and he loves it alot. The alienwares are "gaming" pcs, but they are great for everything. If you can, get a copy of xp to install on it. Xp is far better than vista. As far as dells go though, I've used a lot of dells, and really I don't like em much. I like my HP pavillion zv6000, but its really heavy. I wish you could buy the skeleton of a laptop and build your own. I hate being confined to what people sell.


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## tkos (Oct 30, 2006)

XPS are great laptops. We bought a Inspiron 1521 late last year and it has been bullet proof. Dell also ships a recovery CD with the system, whereas HP and other make you burn your own. If you get Vista on it, aim for at least Premium and a min of 2 gb of RAM. same for any system though (other than maybe linux). More ram is better and it is pretty cheap. We have Vista and it works perfectly fine, since the machine was designed for it.


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## CraigThor (Aug 5, 2007)

I like my E1505 running Intel Core 2 7200 2.0 Ghz, 2 gig ram, 100 gig HD, Vista Ultimate.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I just bought a new laptop a week ago. I got an HP Pavilion with an AMD 64X2 mobile technology processor, dual core. 2.10 ghz, 64 bit operating system, 4 GB memory, Windows VISTA home premieum.

I haven't found any problems with VISTA itself, but some of my older software will not load onto it. You can still get XP on new laptops in the business class machines, but these computers have far less memory on them. I chose this one because I wanted to get the fastest computer with the most memory and largest hard drive I could get for no more than a thousand dollars, and this fit the bill. The only problem I have is the UPS software will not work with 64 bit. Every other VISTA program or XP programs I have works fine, so I don't know what UPS's problem is.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Anyone seen this one?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Acer...07714/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Looks pretty good! Are you familiar with Acer though? They are a Taiwan company. Been around a long time... I don't mind clones, but I stay away from chinese or Korean clones. I stick with American or Japanese.

I forgot to mention, mine is a 17" widescreen. It has a WEBcam too which I will never use. I watched one of the Matrix movies on it the other night! Cool.


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## inareverie85 (May 5, 2008)

My only issue with XPS/Alienware is that they are VERY overpriced. If you're looking to play games (since this is why most people buy XPS/Alienware machines), a custom-built desktop is really the way to go, as laptops are always going to be a little behind in the hardware department. Custom-built machines always end up being a better value for your money as well - you get to research and select your own brands and components, and the prices aren't jacked up. Building it yourself is easier than you think. You can do it with a simple online guide, and a general rule of thumb is: If it fits there, it goes there. ^_^

As far as hardware goes, it depends on what you want to be doing. Most new PCs come loaded with Vista (which sucks), and Vista is rather power-hungry. If you plan on watching a lot of movies, doing some intense photoshopping, or playing video games, I'd recommend 3-4 GB of RAM in a Vista machine, as Vista will eat up more RAM than an XP machine would. Also, for gaming do keep an eye on your video card. Look over some quick customer reviews for the newer versions of NVidia and ATI cards to make sure you're getting the one you need. The processor speed is also rather important, but most machines nowadays are a decent speed dual core or quad core, so again it all depends on what you want to do on your machine. Some quick research on hardware and how it works can help give you a better idea of what you need and what you should be paying. 

I'm all about research, as I had a Dell XPS two years ago that completely fried on me 6 months after the purchase. After some digging, I found out that Dell at that time primarily used generic parts - whatever they could get that was cheapest for higher profit margins. I have been told that Dell very recently stopped doing this and is using more reliable hardware now, so maybe they are worth looking into if you're really against a custom desktop. However, ever since my hard-earned $3000 machine went up in smoke, I have been all for the custom PCs. I was an ignorant shopper back then, and I have since put a great deal of time into being a smarter computer geek. 

If you must get a laptop though, I suppose there really isn't a totally wrong route to take, as it's my opinion that no laptop operates all that well anyway. My old college laptop is an HP, and it runs well enough for what I need it to do: Word processing and internet browsing. I guess I'm just spoiled with the desktops


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

We just got that one for my MIL, she can use the webcam to keep in touch with overseas family members. My hubby's had one or two notebooks by Acer and likes them.


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