Dell XPS 16

[Kitah]

Hey guys, I was recently asking about computers and am still having heaps of troubles deciding. I think I've decided to steer clear of Mac due to the need to buy new programs if I did (photoshop CS4, illustrator CS4, microsoft office 2008 etc). I've been into stores looking and seen some toshibas that were cheap but didn't quite meet all my needs (e.g. screen resolution, I'm after a slot DVD drive, and I was not at all happy with the quality of the touchpads; went home and researched Toshiba touchpads and it looked like there were often having problems).

Anyway I think I'm having issues deciding because I'm going from a top XPS thats built fairly well (aluminium and stronger plastics) to lower end notebooks in stores. So I've decided to consider the dell XPS 16, as below

- Dell XPS 16
- Intel core 2 duo P8700 (2.53ghz, 1066FSB, 3MB cache)
- vista home premium 64bit
- 4gb 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
- 500gb 7200RPM SATA HD
- 15.6" WUXGA (1920x1080), WLED full HD display with 2mp camera
- 1GB ATI mobility Radeon HD 4670
- slot load DVD drive
- Intel WiFi Link 5300 (802.11a/g/n) Half mini card
- Upgrading to 3yrs XPS premier service

Total cost: About $1850.

Again, does anyone have any complaints etc. about modern Dell notebooks? good/bad experiences? I KNOW they have good service when you have a problem, which is the main reason why I'm going back to them even though my current notebook has been problematic. I would rather a technician come out the day/day after I contact dell, fix it and me have it working, vs. 1 or 2wks without a computer at all if its sent away.

 

[missllama]

I have heard that dell are crap and dont touch them with a 40 foot poll, i only found that out because i was going to buy a dell from dse the other day and the guys told me not too im going to get a hp this time, my last 2 were acers, and they were shocking.

 

[fine_jungles]

go with Asus ,good value , i wouldn't get anything else.

 

[discomat]

a dell with 2.5ghz processor, 4gb ram, and 500gb storage is pretty good. IMO these are the three most important specks to look at when buying a computer. It should run pretty fast and smoothly for your dvd's etc. Just make sure it has a good graphics card if you wanna play games or for certain applications. Im not that familiar with prices nowadays but apart from that 1850 seems ok but try talk em down or get a bigger monitor out of it lol.

 

[Kitah]

See this is the thing, I've done heaps of research and, as you would expect, theres problems with virtually every brand. I tried searching "Most reliable notebook brand" and read through hundreds (maybe thousands) of posts and articles on notebooks, and Mac always came out top followed by Dell. Heaps of people were negative about both HP and Toshiba. This is whats so frustrating! lol...

Discomat, it has 1gb dedicated graphics so all good, and I'm also pretty sure this notebook can be upgraded to 8gb ram at least (when the price of ram drops I'll probably upgrade if needed). I've also spoken to a dell guy and tried to drop the price but no go unfortunately. I can get about $300 off with a discount that mum gets, and to claim back the money for GST.

This notebook also currently has $150 off it on the dell website.