New Laptop

Remove all ads!

Well, as many of you know, my laptop of 5 years just got fried. I've been planning on building my own gamming desktop for a while now, but that was under the assumption that the laptop would still be in good working condition...so my priorities have changed a bit.

After convincing my wife, I got to the green light to get a new laptop. So the first thing I did was look at the top ranked laptops at PC Magazine and PC World.

I've basically narrowed it down to 2 - a HP dv9500t and a Dell Inspiron 1720.

• They both have an Intel Core 2 Duo T7700.
• The Dell has a 256MB nVidia GeForce 8600M GT while the HP has the 8600M GS.
• The Dell has 3GB of RAM, while the HP has 2GB.
• The HP has 2 120GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array for 240GB...The Dell has a single 160GB HDD.
• The HP has a built in 1.3MP webcam and fingerprint reader. The Dell has neither...
• Both come with Vista Home Premium.

While there are obviously tradeoffs, there are a few things I can't decide on.
As you can see from this chart, the dell obviously has better scores on games.

• On 3DMark06 (1,024 x 768 (no AA/AF)) the Dell scored a 3969, while the HP got 2668...a 1301 difference.
• The SYSMARK 2007 Overall score for the HP was 114 while the Dell got a 97.

To be honest, those numbers make no sense to me. It seems like the two laptops have a similar videocard, and yet the difference between the 3DMark scores is over 1000!
Those scores aren't what I will be getting anyway, since I upgraded the CPU, RAM, HDD, along with some other stuff.

I'm guessing that the Dell would out perform the HP since it has the better videocard along with the extra 1GB of RAM...but at this point, I'm leaning towards the HP.

Any comments or suggestions?

[ October 30, 2007, 18:46: Message edited by: Kitrax ]

 

I'd go for the one with the longer battery life.

 

That's not really an issue for me. My laptop is plugged in 99% of the time anyway...and for those times when it can't be plugged in, I always have a spare (high capacity) battery on hand so I can quickly switch them out.

Also...after reading a few different reviews for both laptops, it looks like they both boast a 3.3 hour battery life. Not great, but ok for their class. The Dell has a 85 Whr battery, while the HP has a 7385 Whr battery. Dell's lower battery life/capacity ratio is probably due to the more powerful videocard.

If I get the HP the way I've configured it, I'll probably get 3 solid hours of life from the battery.

 

Well...I've already ran in to some idiot customer service from HP.

HP, among others, is notorious for preloading their computers with amounts of "crap-ware" waaaaay above other manufacturers. So I emailed HP, asking them to tell me *exactly* what ships with the laptop (so I know if the Vista CD comes with it). Instead of giving me what I asked for, they gave me the system specs...
So I sent them a second email telling them my intention was to reformat as soon as I get the laptop, and that I need to know if the OEM Vista disk ships with the system. Here's their exact reply:

Do these people actually speak English?!?! Neither of those sentences make any sense to me!

Idiots!

[ October 27, 2007, 13:22: Message edited by: Kitrax ]

 

Actually, I sent them a second email and their replay confirmed that they don't ship a Vista disk. But for only $20 you can get a recovery disk.

I think it's retarded that they charge $20 for a disk that you can make yourself.

I was talking with a guy at school who has a Dell, and he told me that Dell sent him a Vista disk when he started having problems with his computer. Maybe I'll pretend I'm having the same problem to get a disk that's rightfully mine!

 

Can i just point out one little thing?

Is it just me, or does 2668 = 2668, and not 2668 = 2668 + 1301??

 

A hardwaresite in the Netherlands has tested a toshiba tecra a9. They ran a car over it and it still works whit only a cracked display

http://www.hardware.info/en-US/video/wmaTZcQ/HardwareInfo_TV_Notebook_Abuse__Drop_spill_and_crash_a_Toshiba_Tecra_A9/

 

Heh...I didn't notice that...

The Dell scored a 3969 while the HP scored a 2668. Does that make a little more sense?

@Merlanni - That was a pretty cool video...even though the music was lame.

As an update, I went in to Circuit City today and asked some questions. The confirmed that not a single computer they sell comes with an OEM OS installation disk. I asked what happens if you need to replace the HDD for any reason. His reply was:

"Just hope that doesn't happen...but if it does, HP will send you a disk for like $60."

I'm going to call a HP sales rep in a few minutes to confirm that price. $60 for a disk that *should* come with the computer seems a little steep.

 

They also pull that trick on desktops. My sister had to buy a pc via work. A fujitsu siemens because they had a contract with them. No disk what so ever. Is it in the license or something?

 

It appears that you are going with the HP, and I guess that what little I have to add may further solidify that decision. The computer I had before the one I have now was a DELL and the recovery disk had a lot of their crapware on the disk, so a reinstall would not solve the crapware problem. Never had an HP, but I know from those who have they do have a LOT of pre-loaded crud on there.

 

Well...due to monetary constraints (Read: I'm poor at the moment), I was forced to buy a replacement motherboard for my 5 year old laptop before buying the new one. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to be getting a new laptop a.s.a.p. but the old one is going to have to hold me over just a little longer.

I ended up buying a used motherboard off of eBay for just over $200. It came Friday afternoon, and after about an hour, I had everything put back together and it was up and running. The seller sent a little more than I was expecting, so now I have a spare chassis, along with a free internal WiFi card.

 

Well, I finally called HP today. I told them that I was going to upgrade both hard drives with two SSDs. They told me that since M$ doesn't provide them with the Vista disks, the only way to transfer my data over would be to install one SSD and basically clone it over to the new one, and then install the second SSD.

That said...I read an articla on a snazzy little tool called the PC Decrapifier. Some dude was so irate over the amount of pre-installed crap on his computer that he made a tool to get rid of most...if not all of it. The article showed that by removing the preinstalled crap the overall performance rose from 5% to 8.2%.

Once I get my new laptop, I will be using this program to evaluate it, and I will update 'Kitrax's guide to cleaning up your hard drive" to include this tool.

 

Good question...I must have forgotten to mention that I lied to them as to avoid a sales pitch for upgrading to one of their higher capacity HDDs. I simply told them I was upgrading to a technology that they didn't offer. When you want a specific answer from a company, be prepared to make a little white lie to get it.

The SSD route was simple and effective. If I were to tell them my plans, they would tell me to either use the Vista recovery disks...which still have all the preloaded junk on them...or they would try to feed me some other sales tactic BS.

 

Finally an update.
Even though I kind of had my heart set on the HP...so to speak...I've decided to get the Dell.

Why?

One simple acronym: EPP. (Employee purchase plan) I can get the ugly Dell with a more powerful video card, an additional 1GB of RAM, and a 3 year warranty with the accidental damage protection for $250 *less* than the HP. I just need to finish acquiring the funds for it...I'm 80% there.

 

Gee- score and a half!, what are the final system specs then?

 

Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 (2.4GHz)
17.0" HD widescreen display (1920 x 1200)
256MB NVIDIA 8600GT
3GB DDR2 667
160GB SATA HDD with room for a second HDD
Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM)

That should last me another 5+ years.