Dell Inspiron 1520 review

nice review man... but wud hav been better if u wud have added personal touches like wat abt the kbd, touch pad, hw well does da hw score whn any other os is installed.. adn also abt heat issues.. (if any)

Gr8 review keeps me thinking, Me too want one

Gaurav, never come in front of me with this laptop, I might be tempted to kill u to steal this

& I thought HP DV6314tx is the best out there. Can you tell me how u bought this, cas AFAIK this model is not available in india.

akuCRACKER said:

nice review man... but wud hav been better if u wud have added personal touches like wat abt the kbd, touch pad, hw well does da hw score whn any other os is installed.. adn also abt heat issues.. (if any)

Click to expand...

Like i said mini review .

Keyboard is great and so is the touchpad , touchpad has horizontal and vertical scroll bars for direct scrolling. It came installed with Vista Home premium, i removed it and have currently installed XP and Vista Home premium(Dell gave the orignal installation DVD) on it.

The 3dmark 06 scores are from XP(as i use XP for gaming) . I ran the super PI benchmark in vista, both OS were giving same results in this benchmark.

About heat issue, i have not worked on other laptops for a long time like this one , so i cant really compare or comment on that matter.

i'd like to add something. my sis got a 1420 (the 14" cuz of this laptop). the laptop is as quiet as it can be. no heat issues (has a core2duo t7100, 1.8ghz proc, 2gb ram, rest almost same). the touchpad is comfortable to use and so is the keyboard. no issues quite satisfied wid the product

@gaurav
hey dell gives all the (re)installation media (cds/ dvds) etc, but then what is the use of the recovery partition? it seems useless! btw, i remember reading somewhere that it bundles the mcafee suite. but i cudn't find it anywhere. did you? (neways, i installed kaspersky on it... )

gx_saurav said:

Gaurav, never come in front of me with this laptop, I might be tempted to kill u to steal this

& I thought HP DV6314tx is the best out there. Can you tell me how u bought this, cas AFAIK this model is not available in india.

Click to expand...

I called dell on the number provided on the site , talked to the representative , she explained me abt all the upgrades available. I placed my order via the phone and sent a DD worth 53k to their bangaluru address. If you opt cheque as payment option then a dell representative will come and get the chq from your home. The laptop took 15 days to ship from malaysia, the dell guy was on my doorstep the 15th day (at 6 A.M. Wtf ) with the laptop.

If anything happens to the hardware , the warranty is full replace. They wont repair but will replace, and you dont have to send your machine anywhere, they will give you the replacement first and then only take your existing hardware.

infra_red_dude said:

@gaurav
hey dell gives all the (re)installation media (cds/ dvds) etc, but then what is the use of the recovery partition? it seems useless! btw, i remember reading somewhere that it bundles the mcafee suite. but i cudn't find it anywhere. did you? (neways, i installed kaspersky on it... )

Click to expand...

Ditto dude i removed that partition too and made the laptop the way i want. Just i did not install any antivir (i never do).

tarey_g said:

I called dell on the number provided on the site , talked to the representative , she explained me abt all the upgrades available. I placed my order via the phone and sent a DD worth 53k to their bangaluru address. If you opt cheque as payment option then a dell representative will come and get the chq from your home. The laptop took 15 days to ship from malaysia, the dell guy was on my doorstep the 15th day (at 6 A.M. Wtf ) with the laptop.

Click to expand...

Although at 6 am, i m in the nearby stadium...jumping on the trampoline but still....mind PMing me each & every step u took, including the Phone number. This laptop is a sweet deal indeed for just 53K. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 8600GT with Purevideo HD

Yup... its a great budget buy.. btw tarey did u get a vista dvd wit it or only the setup files in a partition..??

@pathiks,

I got the Vista DVD from dell + a cd with Hindi language interface pack for vista. Laptop came with a recovery partition which had image of the main installation (but i deleted it). To my surprise the OS they installed did not have any crapware/adware extra utilities. Still as i neded XP and vista both so i installed it again by the DVD provided by dell.

@GX, just Call Toll-free at 1800-425-4026 to get the details. But chk the dell site before calling, that will give you idea abt other configs too.

Yeah Dell Inspiron 1520 is one of the best selling notebook in the world...
I am too confused whether to buy this or HP DV6516TX...HP has very good promotions like Free iPod+TV tuner and a few more...
The only downside of DV6516TX is that it has 8400 as the gfx card...

Yea even I got yesterday.. Was thinking of posting review but u already posted. I got black color. My laptop was stuck in custom and took 18 working days. And guess what after 2 hrs of using I was abt to partition and got confused with Vista options and donno where I clicked and boom C: went dead. Restart and error came bootmgr missing. Curses. First day and laptop ko bigaad diya. Phir I read online and reinstalled Vista. Hey tarey u got XP na? Dual boot.. so did it affect the speed? Now I don't have recovery partition Hey tarey that wifi button at left side. Till yesterday when I used to move it, it used to detect network and disply a window ki networks found or not. But after reintsall that wifi window not coming.. Any idea what to do?? Also u installed which drivers frm the cd?

Their post sale service is outstanding. They replace the part with a new one if something goes wrong within the warranty period.

Best part is you don't have to take you laptop to any centre.. They send the technician to you home

Chirag said:

Yea even I got yesterday.. Was thinking of posting review but u already posted. I got black color. My laptop was stuck in custom and took 18 working days. And guess what after 2 hrs of using I was abt to partition and got confused with Vista options and donno where I clicked and boom C: went dead. Restart and error came bootmgr missing. Curses. First day and laptop ko bigaad diya. Phir I read online and reinstalled Vista. Hey tarey u got XP na? Dual boot.. so did it affect the speed? Now I don't have recovery partition Hey tarey that wifi button at left side. Till yesterday when I used to move it, it used to detect network and disply a window ki networks found or not. But after reintsall that wifi window not coming.. Any idea what to do?? Also u installed which drivers frm the cd?

Click to expand...

Thats cool , post the benchmark results from your machine . Installing XP wont make your system slow, i have installed both vista & XP in separate partitions. I have no idea abt the wifi button on the side, as i dont have any networks in range so i did not go in depth in that direction.

I downloaded XP drivers from the dell site and Vista ones were given in CD. Just my blutooth is not working in XP for some reason currently.

@amedico , ya thats the reason i went for dell, never bought anything via phone/online before.

@tarey (or Gaurav I suppose as GX called u by that name)

Where did u buy it from ?? Internet ? or from Local Dealer ??

Chirag said:

YHey tarey that wifi button at left side. Till yesterday when I used to move it, it used to detect network and disply a window ki networks found or not. But after reintsall that wifi window not coming.. Any idea what to do?? Also u installed which drivers frm the cd?

Click to expand...

did u change any bios options? that button option can either be set thru the bios or the dell network manager. jus check the settings there.

and drivers, u may install thru windows update.. the latest ones....

For this problem, install Dell Quickset. That will do it along with Dell wireless manager

Congrats! It's a kick-ass laptop at a very good price in India. Could be termed as a poor-man's MacBook Pro. Considering the only thing the Inspiron 1520 lacks out is the faster processor. You won't require all that processing power for normal usage in a laptop anyways.

How is the screen and the viewing angles? Battery life of 3hrs on moderate usage is decent and on par with most other laptops with similar specs. If you tweak the power settings for CPU and 8600M GPU it can only get better. The battery life is very random. If you tweak it right and don't overload the system, it can last up to 4.5-5 hrs with casual browsing.

If possible, post a HDtune benchmark for the hdd. I configured my Inspiron 640m notebook with an 80GB 7200rpm hdd but was quite disappointed with its performance. How good is the 2MP webcam?

Dell's Complete Cover warranty is just great. I've gone in for 3-year standard warranty on my Dell laptop too

the battery life wid a t7100 core2duo (on the 1420) is about 3 hours as claimed. pretty good for my sis who uses it outdoors. so i believe 1520 wid a bigger screen but stock proc which is slower than the above should give about the same results. the viewing angle for this laptop is not too wide. mebbe for privacy reasons.. but sometimes this sucks really! the 2mp cam is quite good for that kind of integration!

Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T5250 @ 1.5 GHz
15.4" Widescreen WXGA Display with Tru life
1GB Dual-channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Genuine Windows VistaTM Home Premium
Nvidia Geforce 8600 M GT 256 MB(dedicated momory not shared)
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive - StrikeZone Shock Absorber
Integrated 2.0 mega pixel web cam
9-cell lithium ion battery
Dell Travel Remote Control
8X max DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double layer write capability
1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
4 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0)
8-in-1 Memory Card Reader
VGA Out; S-Video
RJ-45 Ethernet LAN; RJ-11 Modem; ExpressCard 54mm, Wireless 802.11 a/b/g

Click to expand...

Specs look very good. Any idea how much the cost will increse if I change the CPU to something like 1.73 GHz C2D & RAM to 2 GB? If the cost remains under 1 lakh then this is an even better deal then MacBook Pro. Same hardware at much lower price.

P.S.- And someone said Macbook pro is not over priced

@infra for how much did ur sis get it?? does it also include a 8600m gt??
cos afaik the 1420 only has two options... either the x3100 onboard or a 8400m gs..
@gx making it 2gb ddr2 667 and a t7100 makes the price 65803/-..
*dellstoreroa01.sg.dell.com/public/cart/configurator.jsp?prd_id=41353&sr_no=4

gx_saurav said:

Specs look very good. Any idea how much the cost will increse if I change the CPU to something like 1.73 GHz C2D & RAM to 2 GB? If the cost remains under 1 lakh then this is an even better deal then MacBook Pro. Same hardware at much lower price.

P.S.- And someone said Macbook pro is not over priced

Click to expand...

The price will come out around 65k...T7100 as the processor...

In 1520 you would need to pay 9k extra for 2 gb ram and 23k for 4gb. Yea 23k, not a typo. 47k is the original price, so 47k + 7k(t7100 processor) + 3k(2gb ram) = 58k approx. Not bad..

BTW Dell lowered the price or what?? Coz when I chose mine, if I wanted 2 gb ram I had to pay 9k extra and 57k for 4gb. Yea not a typo. I had checked with bot Dell and HP and for 4gb cost was damn high. But now only 3k extra for 2 gb and 23k extra for 4 gb..

Chirag said:

In 1520 you would need to pay 9k extra for 2 gb ram and 57k for 4gb. Yea 57k, not a typo. 47k is the original price, so 47k + 7k(t7100 processor) + 9k(2gb ram) = 63k. Not bad..

Click to expand...

Nah, all I m looking for is a laptop with 1.6 or 1.73 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 8400GT & 2 GB RAM as minimum. 1520 is more then enough.

Choto Cheeta said:

@tarey (or Gaurav I suppose as GX called u by that name)

Where did u buy it from ?? Internet ? or from Local Dealer ??

Click to expand...

Hi , My name is 'Gaurav Tarey' . I saw the config on internet, called the dell toll free number, they directed me towards sales representative who took care of the ordering thing. I just had to send the DD and the laptop arrived in 15 days.

^^^^ quite easy. Now that we also have dell retail stores, this might be available here too...

Gaurav, u need a new camera. You blue laptop look black

pathiks said:

cos afaik the 1420 only has two options... either the x3100 onboard or a 8400m gs..

Click to expand...

If the only thing you need to do is to run OS & no gaming then X3100 is kick ass at really low power usage.

Sourabh said:

Congrats! It's a kick-ass laptop at a very good price in India. Could be termed as a poor-man's MacBook Pro. Considering the only thing the Inspiron 1520 lacks out is the faster processor. You won't require all that processing power for normal usage in a laptop anyways.

How is the screen and the viewing angles? Battery life of 3hrs on moderate usage is decent and on par with most other laptops with similar specs. If you tweak the power settings for CPU and 8600M GPU it can only get better. The battery life is very random. If you tweak it right and don't overload the system, it can last up to 4.5-5 hrs with casual browsing.

If possible, post a HDtune benchmark for the hdd. I configured my Inspiron 640m notebook with an 80GB 7200rpm hdd but was quite disappointed with its performance. How good is the 2MP webcam?

Dell's Complete Cover warranty is just great. I've gone in for 3-year standard warranty on my Dell laptop too

Click to expand...

Yeah you are right , i was able to run the laptop on battery for 4:20 hrs on normal operation. The webcam is good and the software bundled for it has some cool features. I am dissapointed with the viewing angles of evey LCD screen after i saw the TN panel of my friends 24" dell displays (simply awesome), no laptop comes with TN panels (and they are damn costly ) .

gx_saurav said:

Specs look very good. Any idea how much the cost will increse if I change the CPU to something like 1.73 GHz C2D & RAM to 2 GB? If the cost remains under 1 lakh then this is an even better deal then MacBook Pro. Same hardware at much lower price.

P.S.- And someone said Macbook pro is not over priced

Click to expand...

Procesor upgrade to T7100 will cost you Rs 7261/- extra.

Chirag is right , the memory was previously insanely priced from dell , 57K for 4 GIG . I asked them if it was a typo and they said no (wtf). Anyways its cheaper now , but still i wont recommend buying extra ram from dell, still costly.

Even after making all the specs as the mac book pro the machine will still cost much much lower compared to it.

Edit : WTF!! upgrade to 2GB just is Rs 3112/- now , i am crying (baahhhhhh) , last time i chkd it was 9k . GX you will need 10K extra for that config 53+10= 63k

@gx making it 2gb ddr2 667 and a t7100 makes the price 65803/-..

Gaurav said:

Hi , My name is 'Gaurav Tarey' . I saw the config on internet, called the dell toll free number, they directed me towards sales representative who took care of the ordering thing. I just had to send the DD and the laptop arrived in 15 days.

Click to expand...

I saw that there is a atleast 5k and (a lot more in higher models) price difference in any Dell / Lenovo / HP from their Web Site listing and from a local Retailing shop...

Problem is they are base models... so in the shop they cant tell u for sure, what kind of upgrade are available for the model...

Did u pay the exact price which was shown in the Web Page ?? or rather in ur case too prices were low comapre to the web page price??

@ tarey and chirag and whoever took the 1520..
wich warranty or service option did u take??

Choto Cheeta said:

Did u pay the exact price which was shown in the Web Page ?? or rather in ur case too prices were low comapre to the web page price??

Click to expand...

No the price was not exact , but it was near to what i saw online . 53k was my last price, includes all taxes.

@pathiks - 1 year limited. Wanted to go for 3 years complete cover but had to pay 8k extra.

@ashu - Thnx. I installed quickset and voila the popup window is back and detecting.

BTW gaurav in how many days u got? 15 working days or 15 total days??

Edit : WTF!! upgrade to 2GB just is Rs 3112/- now , i am crying (baahhhhhh) , last time i chkd it was 9k . GX you will need 10K extra for that config 53+10= 63k

Click to expand...

Doob mar....

Where are you guys configuring it? I checked dell.com site but there was no option to customise it there. link plz?

I found that you can configure this with a GeForce 8400GT too, well even that is good enough with dedicated RAM & Vista. Might lower the costs further

So my preference would be something like

1. 73 GHz CPU Core 2 Duo
2 GB RAM, if it is costly then I will buy 512 MB RAM & buy 3rd party 2X1 GB RAM sticks.
GeForce 8400GT, X3100 is good for low power usage, but due to shared memory usage, without 2 GB it won't cut it to run Vista.
Rest is normal....15" is good enough.

Link to where u guys are configuring it. plz. The link pathiks gave gives error here due to no cookies.

pathiks said:

@ tarey and chirag and whoever took the 1520..
wich warranty or service option did u take??

Click to expand...

i have taken default 1 yr warranty , although it can be extended and it will be worth coz their cust support is awesome . just got a call from dell, they are sending a representative to chk if the laptop shipped correctly in one piece and if everything is working as it is supposed to be.

gx_saurav said:

Doob mar....

Where are you guys configuring it? I checked dell.com site but there was no option to customise it there. link plz?

Click to expand...

*www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=in&cs=inbsd1&l=en&s=bsd

here ,go on the 1520 and hit the green customize button

Found the link to customize Dell 1520

1 year warrenty is good enough. If it is not laptop hardware problem, then I don't require any technician. Also, local market technicians rock

This thing is even better then MacBook Pro at far lower cost. Somebody should show Salesman this thread . I might end up buying the Pink one, due to my softer side

@tarey - They came to my house yesterday

Lol the prices increased or what??? The config I got for 56k is now for 62k. Tsk tsk.

Chirag said:

BTW gaurav in how many days u got? 15 working days or 15 total days??

Click to expand...

15 working days , 18 total days

Oh lucky you. Mine took 23 days total. Got stuck in custom grrr.

I will ask the toll free number whether I can skip the OS. I already got 1 Vista ultimate license to use, along with Home Preimum too....so why buy an OS from dell.

^^
I don't think you can. I asked them ki could u install XP or no OS?? They said Vista is fixed..

@Gaurav...

its good, the same config u write for 53k incl TAX is Rs. 61k + Extra in their web site... !!!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, anyway They are giving Vista Home basic according to the site. Where is the format button

^^^^^

this without a os option would have been really great, should have saved 6k more

gx_saurav said:

This thing is even better then MacBook Pro at far lower cost. Somebody should show Salesman this thread . I might end up buying the Pink one, due to my softer side

Click to expand...

yaar tu to uske piche hi pad gaya...
btw guys isnt the dell 1521 available in india??? con some1 confirm that??
cos wit the 1521 u can get a almost similar system but with x2 tl-56 1.8ghz and ati x1270 onboard gfx 256mb in just abt 35k..

gx_saurav said:

I will ask the toll free number whether I can skip the OS. I already got 1 Vista ultimate license to use, along with Home Preimum too....so why buy an OS from dell.

Click to expand...

Yeah mee too asked if it can get ubuntu, but they said no . Ubuntu is shipping with High end laptops , not for ppl like me who want to save some money on the OS, btw having Genuine vista is worth. In the end i am happy (except the ram issue , damn 3k extra for 2 gig is awesome )

@Choto - Well I think the prices have increased. I mean I paid the amount that came on the site. We have to pay that much only.

Choto Cheeta said:

@Gaurav...

its good, the same config u write for 53k incl TAX is Rs. 61k + Extra in their web site... !!!!

Click to expand...

WHOA!!!!

hey check out *www.notebookreview.com/reviews/
the 1520 is the most popular laptop there...

Gaurav said:

Yeah mee too asked if it can get ubuntu, but they said no . Ubuntu is shipping with High end laptops , not for ppl like me who want to save some money on the OS, btw having Genuine vista is worth. In the end i am happy (except the ram issue , damn 3k extra for 2 gig is awesome )

Click to expand...

I may be wrong, but every PC builder allow u to ipgrade even after u have made the purchase, call up again to see if u can manage 2 GB

anyway, OS option is good for u, but for me of GX, we dont have any issue with that, as we already own MSDN / TechNet copies !!!

Now if u consider people want to use Linux or people who has option like us, aslo that un-writen rule in India (For software) the number is pretty high !!!

Even there was a net report that one person placed one order on Dell system and then emailed Dell to remove all software including the OS, and dell did !!! i cant digg up that link, but i hope u remember !!

cos wit the 1521 u can get a almost similar system but with x2 tl-56 1.8ghz and ati x1270 onboard gfx 256mb in just abt 35k..

Click to expand...

NICEEEEEEEEEEEE

Here is so far what I have configured. The price is in dollers, any links for indian rupess?. Is there anything I can add/remove? This is the most efficient & balenced things I will need. No need of an integrated webcam, it saves money not to have one integrated. If needed I can order the Microsoft LifeCam NX series from MS compony store.

*img502.imageshack.us/img502/9003/56193361bl4.jpg

*img379.imageshack.us/img379/2852/11451888em6.jpg

*img357.imageshack.us/img357/8363/26392438yt4.jpg

Is it recomended to buy a 3 years warrenty? I don't think there will be any problems coming with it. Other then a bad keyboard etc. I selected one year In home service, eik saal main hi waat laga dunga iski with high usage . Software issues I can solve myself. I m just worried about the hardware issues.

Hey is this availabe in india????
check out the $799 one...
*www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_152x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
i desperately need it..

Choto Cheeta said:

Even there was a net report that one person placed one order on Dell system and then emailed Dell to remove all software including the OS, and dell did !!! i cant digg up that link, but i hope u remember !!

Click to expand...

Its not about removing an OS, it about getting it cheap if the OS is removed.

AFAIK, you can select not to comply by the EULA & License agreement of Windows Vista OEM, in which case you can send the DVD back & can get some money as refund from Dell.

Edit: One thing changed, I upgraded the graphics card to 256 MB 8600GT.

Also, by adding the highest end components, the total cost of the config is still $2035, along with 3 years warrenty

In your face Apple

@GX

yaar, what the hell are u doing in Dell us

Be Indian Buy Indian (evan that costs a hell lot more)

GX said:

AFAIK, you can select not to comply by the EULA & License agreement of Windows Vista OEM, in which case you can send the DVD back & can get some money as refund from Dell.

Click to expand...

hey, here is the link i was talking about *news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6144782.stm

yup @gx ... even i have no problem wit the software issues...
also the 1yr thing is free na???

1 year warrenty is free, but 1 year in home warrenty costs additional $70

@GX

yaar, u missed the .co.in and .com trick

Dell.co.in for Indian stuff,

Check at india site now. Final cost after upgrading to 8600GT is $ 1377. fu**** thats hell low compared for this solid config

Yea in US site you get many offers.. 300$ discout, Free upgrade and all but on Indian site for 1520 no offers.

Umm...can I order from Dell USA site & pay in Rupees. I m ready to pay in dollers too if required, just have to go to nearest SBI Bank for Rupess to doller conversion.

By the way, Dell Charges Rs. 778 for partitioning ur Hard Drive

*img217.imageshack.us/img217/9118/untitledha2.jpg

arey yaar y isnt the 2gb ram and 160gb hdd free in india??

@GX

beware man...

I have seen at time of my cooler

Customs will charge u for any thing u get from US.... any thing u bring, even last night one of my frnds father was returning from Gulf, yaar, they asked him to pay 200% TAX for Spices he was carring

Damn, Dell India site gives so less customisation. Guys, can I order at dell USA site & pay in dollers? Will they charge extra for shipping in India? i will save about 17k if I do this.

The india config is Rs 71,435, with Vista Home Premium. Screw dell....they force us to buy Windows if bought from Dell india website

Its still lower then Macbook pro at 1.5 lakh LD

^^^^

Dell US will not ship... !!! as in the address feiled u will not get option to change country... and when u try u will find indian site waiting for u

and may be u missed, even u carry that will u be ready for a fight with customs, which u will allways lose

Choto Cheeta said:

they asked him to pay 200% TAX for Spices he was carring

Click to expand...

Now this is extortion & stupidity. Why would anyone buy MDH Garam Masala from Gulf when it is available in next door shop . After all, we are the once exporting to gulf countries

gx said:

Why would anyone buy MDH Garam Masala from Gulf when it is available in next door shop . After all, we are the once exporting to gulf countries

Click to expand...

not MDH yaar... some egypsian stuff

anyway he bought to let us test as how different are those from our ones...

and i press on the same point as u, Customs were made to make sure, u cant bring those which a cheaper in abrod to Indian with those insane cheap price () but i dont udnder stand why would one need to pay for an iten which is utla costly in other places than india...

People take out those, rather bring them in...



cant really justify the rules

I forgot to mention. I changed again to GeForce 8400GT, the reason being that the GPU has enough power for running Vista but comes with only 128 MB RAM while 8600GT comes with 256 MB Dedicated RAM. Here is the catch which dell doesn't tell us. There is no need to upgrade to 8600GT from 8400GS if you are not into gaming

In Windows Vista, if you use a graphics card, then Vista also uses some more RAM shared from System RAM as & when needed, over the PCIe/AGP bus . This is why my 128 MB GeForce FX 5900XT shows as it has 384 MB RAM (128 MB +256 MB Shared). Since in my case, I don't need gaming, i can simply use 8400GS for my work, which when & if required will share an additional 256 MB RAM from the system RAM anyway.

Gaurav, if you bought this laptop for non-gaming purpose, & thought 256 MB is better then 128 MB for running Vista only, then chullu bhar pani main doob mar

Choto Cheeta said:

and i press on the same point as u, Customs were made to make sure, u cant bring those which a cheaper in abrod to Indian with those insane cheap price () but i dont udnder stand why would one need to pay for an iten which is utla costly in other places than india...

Click to expand...

Import/ Export commision rules, sorry, quite complex to tell here

GX said:

Import/ Export commision rules, sorry, quite complex to tell here

Click to expand...

make no misstake... when asked the same question to that officer, he said the same and infear may be the stoped person would ask more, he allowed him to carrey out that product

Here is the final config I made from dell.co.in site. Hmm....68K with all taxes paid, not quite bad. Camera etc is integrated & cannot be removed like USA store.

*img398.imageshack.us/img398/2784/58635209vk2.jpg

*img469.imageshack.us/img469/480/45364789zn0.jpg

*img390.imageshack.us/img390/8767/58234233jt4.jpg

VAT - Rs.3246 :shocked:

gx_saurav said:

Gaurav, if you bought this laptop for non-gaming purpose, & thought 256 MB is better then 128 MB for running Vista only, then chullu bhar pani main doob mar

Click to expand...

Abe , i am not a mac book pro owner who will use 8600M gt for running the OS . I have bought that so i can play games(as well as work) on the laptop , infact , just installed halo 2.... Sweet.
You know i am a gamer, besides i am running vista on geforce 6100 onboard on my PC pretty well. 8400GS is more than enough for vista.

Hey did u people get any discount ???

Right now i ordered two 1420s for my sis n bro totalling Rs 1,21,000 bt still they are admant on not giving any discount other than tax exemption !!

I told them that some of my frnds were given it then they are asking me to mail them their quotation number or customer id so that if real then they can take it to higher management n fetch me some bt none without proofs

Can anyone PM me his quotation or cust id who got discount coz 1.21 Lakh is too mch to pay yaar !!

tarey_g said:

Abe , i am not a mac book pro owner who will use 8600M gt for running the OS . I have bought that so i can play games on the laptop , infact , just installed halo 2.... Sweet.

Click to expand...

You forgot, even Macbook Pro owners buy Vista to run in dual boot to play Halo 2. ....ah! the stupidity & big pockets.

Apple should give an option to select GMA X3100 when buying a Macbook Pro. This way those who don't want gaming or Windows on there Mac (aka Salesman) can atleast get it for cheap.

Oh wait, if they do that, they won't be able to extort money. They won't be able to sale a feature which Mac users won't be able to use.

ashu_dps said:

I told them that some of my frnds were given it then they are asking me to mail them their quotation number or customer id so that if real then they can take it to higher management n fetch me some bt none without proofs

Click to expand...

Call them, don't mail.

@gx , dude VAT!!! . I did not have to give vat , they told me no vat or other taxes will be taken. I mentioned them that i am a student , and they have some offers for students ,like free upgradation of the screen to 'tru life' counterpart of the display you choose . And the dell rep mentioned that because i am a student , that price was final. May be just marketing talk, but i got the bill with no VAT mentioned . Here is a scan from my bill

*img165.imageshack.us/img165/1139/clipboard01gm4.jpg

gx_saurav said:

Call them, don't mail.

Click to expand...

Yes i was on call when they asked me with these numbers and told me to mail these or pass it to them on call.

Yes the VAT n other taxes wont be charged bt earlier they used to negotiate on price quite much till abt 2-3K on single system and sometimes even more !

whoa! this thread is growing on the likes of snake and nibbles fame!

gx, i think thats a costly deal! 120gb, t5450, 8400gs and 68k is too costly!

@pathik, yeah my sis got 8400gs. the total cost was abt 63k wid t7100 cpu, cam etc.

tarey_g said:

@gx , dude VAT!!! .

Click to expand...

Abe i m in Lucknow yaar, U.P. has VAT

I did not have to give vat , they told me no vat or other taxes will be taken. I mentioned them that i am a student , and they have some offers for students ,like free upgradation of the screen to 'tru life' counterpart of the display you choose . And the dell rep mentioned that because i am a student , that price was final

Click to expand...

Yippeeeee. Even low cost, I m still a student of Arena Multimedia & univercity then

infra_red_dude said:

gx, i think thats a costly deal! 120gb, t5450, 8400gs and 68k is too costly!

Click to expand...

Thats why I asked. THe high price is due to other components like 9 cell battery & 1 year In home service. What can I remove?

gx_saurav said:

Abe i m in Lucknow yaar, U.P. has VAT

Click to expand...

Abe i am in rajasthan , it too has that stupid VAT .

Btw , talking of importing things (masala) via relatives , my frnd just got 8800ultra and 4gig of corsair hi speed RAM from US thru his relatives, they had to pay no custom duty.

This is the thread he started some time ago, he has got all parts except Mobo, mobo will be here from Mumbai in 5 days (waiting sucks)
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62397

^^ neways i dont think they ll ask u for any student proof...
and gx the diff between a 8400gs and a 8600gt is just 3.x k... worth it if u ask me... just for the future proofness..

gx_saurav said:

Thats why I asked. THe high price is due to other components like 9 cell battery & 1 year In home service. What can I remove?

Click to expand...

i dun see anything that can be removed!!!! but here's the config my sis got:

dell 1420 - core2duo t7100 (1.8ghz), 3945 wifi, 2gb ddr2, 120gb sata, 2mp cam, 14" widescreen, vista home premium (wid vista and all other cd/dvds), creative audigy suite, remote control, 8400m gs wid dedicated memory, 1 year warranty, 9 cell battery, noise cancellation earbuds, dual layer dvd rw, multiple media card reader etc. it cost her oob 63.8k somthing. it was ordered on july 10th and delivered on july 27th.

i seriously see nothing can be removed from ur config. its still very costly. mebbe the price has gone up!

pathiks said:

^^ neways i dont think they ll ask u for any student proof...
and gx the diff between a 8400gs and a 8600gt is just 3.x k... worth it if u ask me... just for the future proofness..

Click to expand...

Yeah specially when you use 3ds max and maya. Speeds up th rendering. 3k is not much, its worth.

They wont ask for any student proof , just tell them you are a student . Thats all

It's really nice to see everyone being so excited about laptops. They are the future of computing

Soura , what happened to your acer lappy?

^^
Wow I ordered on 10th and got on 1st. One thing I don't like abt 9 cell battery is that it remains little out frm back, looks strange.

Almost dead and beyond repair. There was an issue with the battery, I neglected it for a long time. It blew up some circuitry inside the laptop. So, now the laptop restarts every 10 seconds. Not sure what to do with it!

Chirag said:

^^
Wow I ordered on 10th and got on 1st. One thing I don't like abt 9 cell battery is that it remains little out frm back, looks strange.

Click to expand...

thats manageable as long as you get a substaintial increase in backup.

@sourabh
yeah i remember jus abt an year and a half ago.. lappies weren't that popular... and its been 3 years and i've been using the same lappy wid a lot of upgrades. back then i had to figure out everything myself... and that was tuff... not much help and comparison anywhere...

also, most of the ppl here are either students or working pros who are on the move. so it makes sense for them to go in for a fully loaded lappy

Sourabh said:

Almost dead and beyond repair. There was an issue with the battery, I neglected it for a long time. It blew up some circuitry inside the laptop. So, now the laptop restarts every 10 seconds. Not sure what to do with it!

Click to expand...

use the parts instead!! what all parts are working? sell the parts. there will surely be takers for the ram, optical drive, lcd (which will be in demand by the repair buys), the wifi module (if any) etc.

Yes, I am still searching for someone to buy the 15-inch XGA LCD. Besides that, there is nothing else remaining in the laptop. Optical drive doesn't work. Battery has burnt out. Already using the HDD with an enclosure. Both the 512MB RAMs are in my uncle's laptop. No WiFi module either. So, basically, it's an outdated barebone.

infra_red_dude said:

dell 1420

Click to expand...

1420 is obviously cheaper. Its 14", 1520 is 15"

creative audigy suite,

Click to expand...

Not required. Onboard HD Audio is all needed.

1 year warranty,

Click to expand...

I am paying more here. 1 year in Home warrenty

mebbe the price has gone up!

Click to expand...

That price is without any discount or rebate.

and gx the diff between a 8400gs and a 8600gt is just 3.x k... worth it if u ask me... just for the future proofness..

Click to expand...

Yeah specially when you use 3ds max and maya. Speeds up th rendering. 3k is not much, its worth.

Click to expand...

3Ds Max doesn't rely on graphics card for Rendering. It needs a faster CPU . Anyway, i will see how much i money I can get.

So, now the laptop restarts every 10 seconds. Not sure what to do with it!

Click to expand...

Ebay.in

exactly, the 14" and 15" matters but look at the proc. a t5450 vs t7100 and the audigy suite is charged too and yeah that 1 year home warranty was what i meant. that should've nullified the difference but its almost 5k more! jus gave the config for price comparision.

Hmm...I will check in evening. Right now, coaching time for 4 hrs

Does any1 know any way to bring a lappy from the states to india without any extra taxes n stuff??? with the relatives and friends stuff?? how??? non-jhol ways pls..

pathiks said:

Does any1 know any way to bring a lappy from the states to india without any extra taxes n stuff??? with the relatives and friends stuff?? how??? non-jhol ways pls..

Click to expand...

I think a lappy wont be a problem, i suppose you are allowed to carry one with you , they wont put duty on it. One of my frn got lennovo laptop almost 1.5 yr ago via air hostess , some one related . So if you happen to know any air hostess (tell me her number , just goofin) , i mean it will be useful to get things without paying duty.

pathiks said:

Does any1 know any way to bring a lappy from the states to india without any extra taxes n stuff??? with the relatives and friends stuff?? how??? non-jhol ways pls..

Click to expand...

Yup, just the relative to bring it as his personal belonging. Don't bring it packed.

Also tell me the number if U know any air hostess in the age group upto 25

^^ yup sure... i know u people feel lonely on raksha bandhan...

pathiks said:

^^ yup sure... i know u people feel lonely on raksha bandhan...

Click to expand...

abe teri ***@@@#@*$@$*@@$!!@^%$#&*

Sourabh said:

It's really nice to see everyone being so excited about laptops. They are the future of computing

Click to expand...

No they are not, Tablet PCs are the future of computing.

I got mine frm the states without the packing etc declared as one for personal usage and it was in. Bt initially had some problems in claiming the warranty here but it was solved by awesome service support of Dell.

pathiks said:

^^ yup sure... i know u people feel lonely on raksha bandhan...

Click to expand...

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Excellent review man! I was thinking to buy this baby after the cutting of prices in Q3 as announced by intel AFAIR. Very nice review man and yeah I got the previous Dell inspiron 6000 from malayasia too within some 2 weeks time!!

mediator said:

Excellent review man! I was thinking to buy this baby after the cutting of prices in Q3 as announced by intel AFAIR. Very nice review man and yeah I got the previous Dell inspiron 6000 from malayasia too within some 2 weeks time!!

Click to expand...

Thx man,

If you can negotiate with them , i think you can force them to give ubuntu insted of Vista , or not even that . That can save some money , and i know you are not a windows user so in your case money spent on vista is not worth. My frn told me that many ppl convince them to ship with no Os hence saving money, give it a try whenever you get some laptop from DELL next time.

Hehe, thanx for the advice! BTW how much do u think the price will fall if I tell them to get fedora/ubuntu installed on it?

mediator said:

Hehe, thanx for the advice! BTW how much do u think the price will fall if I tell them to get fedora/ubuntu installed on it?

Click to expand...

Ask not to get any OS & you can save 5K for Vista home premium. Just say you already have a license of Windows Vista retail which U want to migrate to this new desktop. So a new OS is not required.

^^^ but will they agree. saving on 5k wud be real good deal on this lappy!

As per the law you can bring one item of its kind without duty from abroad...so you can bring 1 laptop,1 digicam etc without any duty...
Additional items attract duty...
My bro has gone to Singapore for a week and will be returning this weekend...
I had ordered Dell Inspiron 1520 from there but then it takes 2 weeks to ship so he hasnt ordered as not enuf time...
And HP ones are almost same price as here...
BTW you guys have gone gaga over Dell Insprion 1520...HP 6516TX seems a better choice...you get same config(8400gs being the only downside) at 55k only with Dell one costing 58k or something...
HP one scores in looks too...
And as far as customer support is concerned I think both are equal on that front atleast in major cities...

ankurgupta.me said:

BTW you guys have gone gaga over Dell Insprion 1520...HP 6516TX seems a better choice

Click to expand...

HP doesn't come in Pink or White

@ankur - Well I got Dell for 56k with 8600gt..

^^2 GB Ram??

ankurgupta.me said:

^^2 GB Ram??

Click to expand...

2Gb ram is for 3k extra.


@Meditator , i think you can have 3k off on purchase if you somehow get rid of vista. Vista Home premium is around 6k in market , since dell is giving the OEM version so i dont think the price reduction will be whole 6 k.

tarey_g said:

@Meditator , i think you can have 3k off on purchase if you somehow get rid of vista. Vista Home premium is around 6k in market , since dell is giving the OEM version so i dont think the price reduction will be whole 6 k.

Click to expand...

Home premium is 10.5k, Home basic is 6k

Well I was asking chirag whether he got 2GB in 56k or not....
@gx:HP comes in the color I like the most on laptops :Silver!!!

gx_saurav said:

Home premium is 10.5k, Home basic is 6k

Click to expand...

Oh , thx for correcting.

Abhi to Ultimate is 9.7k
Home premium is 5.5k
Home basic is 3.9k
for the oem versions...
*www.deltapage.com/software.htm

@ankur - Nope only 1gb.

^^Thats what I ws saying..With 2 GB RAM,Dell comes out be 4-5k costlier than HP for same config...

gx_saurav said:

Ask not to get any OS & you can save 5K for Vista home premium. Just say you already have a license of Windows Vista retail which U want to migrate to this new desktop. So a new OS is not required.

Click to expand...

Hmm...thanx for that man! And I agree with @IRD : 5K off on this baby wud like awesome! And I agree with ankur.gupta too : silver is de best for laptops....kinda makes u look elite and like a successful business man!!

@Tarey : Even a reduction of 5K wud be superb! But we'll see bt it. A solid state machine like this for anything under 50K wud be real nice!

@ankur - HP giving 9 cell battery?

Well I saw HP 65xx(forgot model) with 2gb ram, 6 cell battery for 61k.

You can save around 2.5k by getting 6 cell battery and upgrade to 2 gb ram.

Make sure you ask for a "Driver CD for Windows Vista". Laptop drivers are usually provided by the vendor, not from the manufacturer.

I configured a Dell 1420, If I shove 1.3" I save about 4k overall.

Dell 1420

Core 2 Duo T5450
8400GS with 128 MB RAM
14.1" WXGA (!400X900)
2X1 GB DDR2 667
120 GB SATA
90W AC Adapter
9-cell 85Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
*www.thinkdigit.com/public/images/trans.gif
Total Amount After Tax Rs 65,674.35*www.thinkdigit.com/public/images/trans.gif

They have provided driver/software cd for the laptop.

Chirag said:

@ankur - HP giving 9 cell battery?

Well I saw HP 65xx(forgot model) with 2gb ram, 6 cell battery for 61k.

You can save around 2.5k by getting 6 cell battery and upgrade to 2 gb ram.

Click to expand...

Well that HP model is DV6516TX and costs 55k..In it there is 6 cell battery...But then if you add 9-cell battery in Dell then it comes out 1300 bucks more costlier...
Well I am emphasizing on HP model due to my budget constraint which cannot be extended above 55k...
Also for students, HP is giving away a free iPod+TV Tuner with remote +bag for a nominal charge of 1000 bucks...

^^
You sure 6516TX is only 55k. Coz at Vadodara Central the price was 64k but they were selling for 61k..

I m a student and chose laptop according to my needs. Going to boarding school so ipod and tv tuner no use for me. Dell gives bag with every laptop.

gx_saurav said:

Make sure you ask for a "Driver CD for Windows Vista". Laptop drivers are usually provided by the vendor, not from the manufacturer.

I configured a Dell 1420, If I shove 1.3" I save about 4k overall.

Dell 1420

Core 2 Duo T5450
8400GS with 128 MB RAM
14.1" WXGA (!400X900)
2X1 GB DDR2 667
120 GB SATA
90W AC Adapter
9-cell 85Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
*www.thinkdigit.com/public/images/trans.gif
Total Amount After Tax Rs 65,674.35*www.thinkdigit.com/public/images/trans.gif

Click to expand...

now i'm sure that prices haf definitely gone up!!!

^^
Yea even I agree. The prices have gone up. The config which I own now and got for 56k now its price is coming 62k.

^^^ 6k jump for the same config is just too much. not justified!!!!

^^^^ Justified?

This is Delllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

, just saw 300

Earlier u were getting 8400gs with 120gb hdd and 1gb ram at 47k. 3k extra for 8600gt. Now you r getting Intel X3100 with 1200gb hdd and 1gb ram at 47k. 3k extra for 8400gs and 7k extra for 8600gt.

this is crap yaar... how can they increase the price???
sala whenevr i consider buyin somethig its price goes up

pathiks said:

sala whenevr i consider buyin somethig its price goes up

Click to expand...

Thats why I say, waiting is bad

^^
And whenever I buy something the price goes down. This time oppsite. But 2 gb ram only 3k extra. lucky.

i can upgrade ram now

^^
Dell gives which company ram?

Check via Everest. it can show the manufacturer of the RAM

arey but u can use any ram in ur lappy na?? there are two ram slots and dell gave 1*1gb na?

yeah u gotta throw the stock ram. coz its in dual channel mode and both the slots are factory-stuffed!

Chirag said:

^^
You sure 6516TX is only 55k. Coz at Vadodara Central the price was 64k but they were selling for 61k..

I m a student and chose laptop according to my needs. Going to boarding school so ipod and tv tuner no use for me. Dell gives bag with every laptop.

Click to expand...

yeah I asked a dealer in Delhi couple of days ago and he quoted a price of 55k for it...1-2k discount mil jayega after bargaining...
So I think 53k is a damn good deal for this lappy considering the fact that it is based on Santa Rosa Platform which are costlier as compared to older laptops..

ankurgupta.me said:

yeah I asked a dealer in Delhi couple of days ago and he quoted a price of 55k for it...1-2k discount mil jayega after bargaining...
So I think 53k is a damn good deal for this lappy considering the fact that it is based on Santa Rosa Platform which are costlier as compared to older laptops..

Click to expand...

Whats the config that u will get in 53k?

If I add 3rd party RAM, then how much the base price will increse.

pathiks said:

arey but u can use any ram in ur lappy na?? there are two ram slots and dell gave 1*1gb na?

Click to expand...

Warranty issues . So no such upgrade till the year ends.

^^ nope.. saurabh told me that in most lappies there is no warranty sticker on the ram... so u can replace it without affecting the warranty...
jusst if u have any prob then replace it with the original ram b4 calling the technician..

gx_saurav said:

Whats the config that u will get in 53k?

If I add 3rd party RAM, then how much the base price will increse.

Click to expand...

The specs are pretty good:

• Intel Core2 Duo Processor T5250 (1.5 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)
• Intel 965PM Express Chipset
• 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 (667 MHz)
• 160 GB Serial ATA
• 15.4” Colour TFT ; BrightView™ WideScreen(1280 x 800 WXGA)
• NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS (128 MB Dedicated Graphics)
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion
• Altec Lansing Stereo Speakers
• HP Mobile ExpressCard Remote Control
• Integrated Web Camera & Microphones
• One HDMI Port
• Fingerprint Reader
• 8X SuperMulti Drive LightScribe, Double Layer (8.5 GB)
• Windows Vista Home Premium

To have a look at full specs visit this link

pathiks said:

^^ nope.. saurabh told me that in most lappies there is no warranty sticker on the ram... so u can replace it without affecting the warranty...
jusst if u have any prob then replace it with the original ram b4 calling the technician..

Click to expand...

yet to open my sis' dell but all the hp and compaq lappies (including mine) haf warranty stickers on ram.

Nah, no warranty sticker on my Dell.

^^^ then thats good news

prices have increased and as a result HP DV6516TX is a better buy than this 1

Edit:

Specs of DV6516TX

Intel C2D T5250 (1.5GHz)
intel 965 PM chipset
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 RAM
160GB SATA HDD @ 5400rpm
8x lightscribe double layer DVDRW
15.4" Widescreen Brightview TFT
nVidia GeForce 8400M GS Gfx card
Altec Lansing Speakers, 5 in 1 card reader
High speed56K modem, 3 USB ports
Integrated Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g
Integrated HP bluetooth module
6 cell Li ion battery, IEEE 1394
Touch pad, S Video out
Windows Vista Home Premium
Webcam (VGA)
Finger print reader

Click to expand...

Hmm..on paper looks nice, will check in HP shop

^^ i got it ... its amazing ... vista is re-born ... vista on 2gb and 8400 is simply mind blowing ...

but i did not get my vista original dvd ... bloody these mvps get fukat ka maal and the 1s who pay get mundu

hey i think hp has a software for creating recovery dvds. jus get some blank dvds and burn them.

iMav said:

^^ i got it ... its amazing ... vista is re-born ... vista on 2gb and 8400 is simply mind blowing ...

Click to expand...

Congrets on the new Laptop. Now Nokia 6600 + your laptop = Pics

laptop + Vista + softwar = benchmark

but i did not get my vista original dvd

Click to expand...

Ask the HP dealer or call there tech support, u got an original Key. Why do u care for an original DVD.

all that after setting it up ... mail settings ka lafda chalu hai ... i hav dbx files of outlook express and im trying to figure out how to move em

congrats on ur new lappy..

thank you ... hp rules ... theres a remote control and touch sensitive quick access to multimedia features ... it rox .... wait for a review ... gonna take a day or 2 ...

iMav said:

all that after setting it up ... mail settings ka lafda chalu hai ... i hav dbx files of outlook express and im trying to figure out how to move em

Click to expand...

Go to outlook Export option in file menu, you can export from there.

After that u can simply import them in Outlook 2007 if u like. Just look for the folder saving all the files in Documents & settings

ya actually the dbx files are of another account from another pc so now i have replaced the dbx files in my xp outlook express with the 1s i wanted now i am exporting them ... salla bahut dimag lagana padda

comgrats imav. post the review soon. Use the magic jellybean keyfinder to get your vista key(Thats all what matters ) . The vista sticker on your laptop has a key which is not the OS key , the vista installed on your system has other key use it.

^^^ the sticker key will work fine. or jus got the system properties to find the oem key.

par woh mvp log ko fukat mein ulti ka cd milta hai aur mujhe thenga

iMav said:

par woh mvp log ko fukat mein ulti ka cd milta hai aur mujhe thenga

Click to expand...

1st, we are MVP

2nd, we didn't get any DVD. What we got was a MSDN edition DVD of Vista, not the real thing u get in market.

I myself downloaded my ISO for Vista from technet.

fukat hai na

btw did i tell u guys that the hp has a finger print scanner security feature

iMav said:

btw did i tell u guys that the hp has a finger print scanner security feature

Click to expand...

Did Apple missed that ...damn, u r lieing, Apple came with a finger based security feature before, well...in some sort.

ah! forget that mattam wali white aunty this is a slick black and silver with designs

iMav said:

ah! forget that mattam wali white aunty this is a slick black and silver with designs

Click to expand...

Pics...dude, pics...

Hey, this sleek black thing has buttons & stickers. Ahh...they look so ugly, its not like u can remove them

the keyboard has stickers it sux but hp has been like this for a long time

Water/Colin + Finger nail = No stickers

gx_saurav said:

Water/Colin + Finger nail = No stickers

Click to expand...

ya but they dont wear off unless u want them to

PC gives more options. We can chose to keep the Logos or remove them....

Apple doesn't.

I've of late been checking the prices for this config for more than a month or so :

Ruby Red Inspiron 1520
Core 2 Duo T5250 1.5 Ghz 667 Mhz FSB
2 GB RAM
Geforce 8600M GT 256 MB
Vista Home Premium
Dual Layer DVD/RW
15" WXGA+ 1440 x 900 Display with TrueLife
160 GB 5400 RPM HDD

First the price was around Rs. 65000 in July first two weeks... Then afterwards it got lowered to around Rs.58500.... Again now it has rose to Rs. 65000 damn

I was actually thinking of upgrading to the T7100 if the prices become even lower

^^Actually Dell was giving discount on its various model which got over recently which is why Dell Notebooks have become costlier...
I am sure they will come out with discounts soon...

ankurgupta.me said:

^^Actually Dell was giving discount on its various model which got over recently which is why Dell Notebooks have become costlier...
I am sure they will come out with discounts soon...

Click to expand...

Yep they were first giving the free upgrade to 120 GB Harddrive and the one to 8400M GS 128 MB graphics card... These two totally summed up to around 6000 bucks and that is the increase in the price now

Hi,
I am planning to buy a laptop within next 1 month. My budget is max. 50,000 but can be extended but it is really worth it.

I am intel fan. I will use this laptop as my desktop replacement. I know nothing about laptops.

What I want from my laptop is :

1.It should be able to run Vista Ultimate with all graphic effects like aero etc.

2.It should be able to run all the latest Linux distros, I mean it should be able to display their graphics like beryl effects,compiz etc.

3. It should be rugged , durable and futureproof for atleast next 2-3 years.

4.As I am a software engineer, It should be able to run all programming languages with their development environments like Java, VB, .NET, Maya, Abobe softwares, etc. and should support multitasking.

5.As I am an audiophile,It Should have good audio system.

6.I am not a hardcore gamer but like to play games occassionally , so laptop should allow that also.

7. I will use this laptop for continous long hours say 6-8 hours but I will mostly use at my home or at my workplace..not much on the move.

8.It should have wireless card, bluetooth and decent camera, also slots/ports for all latest cards/devices.

9.It may not have any windows pre-installed because I can install/use linux or windows myself.

My preferred brand is Dell as I have heard that dell is good but you may suggest other brands also. what in my mind is to have atleast intel core 2 duo 1.5 GHz and 2 GB RAM will be good.

Please suggest the best I can get in this budget....
As it is 1520 thread , please tell me out of 1520 and 1420 , which will suit me better? Also tell me which things should I customize from default configuration?
And Should I wait for some time for the prices may come down ?? please tell if u think prices may fall down soon....

Also tell me where to buy laptop, I mean will get it cheaper online or from vendors ?
Waiting for your reply.....

Waiting and waiting the prices will come down and at the same time a new or better technology would be out there.... So you would actually be losing something.... So better buy it soon..... I doubt the DELL prices will come down even more than it is this month....

Well, I have decided to wait till diwali. Is there any possibility that prices may go up that time ??? Because I am thinking that prices will go down but if went high I will be screwed up.
I have decided following config:
Intel C2D T7250 2.0 GHz
Vista Home premium
3 Year Complete Cover
15.4" widescreen WXGA 1280*800 display with truelife
2 GB RAM
Integrated sound blaster audigy advanced HD audio software
Nvidia 8600 GT 256 MB
160 GB SATA HDD
8x DVD writer
Ruby Red color
9 cell battery

I am getting this config in 67 K , is it a fair deal ??
is my config good enough ??
Also , I am bit confused about battery, 9 cell does not fit in completely and look bad but gives extra backup. So which one should I go for ??? Also , what is the battery back up time of 6 cell and 9 cell ???

Now , about color I am confused between Ruby Red , Jet Black and midnight blue. I dont know how they will look in real coz u dont get complete idea from pics in advetisements. Any suggestions ???

^^^^^^^^^^^
you can get better than that.

Dell Inspiron(TM) 1720 Notebook

what is the advantage of 1720 except screen size , that will too make lappy bulkier???also , I will not be able to get all other specs in 1720 in this price that I want in 1520 , or can I ??? I could not check the prices of 1720 customised because site is under maintenance when we try to go to customisation page.

^^^^^^^^^^^
customize page is opening here.

yeah , now it opened . the same config in 1720 will be 8000 costlier.

Hi all,

Very soon am going to be a proud owner of Dell Inspiron 1520 Notebook. Just placed an order today.

Following is my customized configuration:

Intel(R) Core(TM)2Duo Processor T7300 (2.0 GHz, 2MB Cache, 800 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows(R) XP Professional
Dell Care:Telephone Technical Support, Complete Cover Accidental Damage Protection, Limited Warranty, HelpDesk all for 1 year.
15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800) Display with TrueLife
1GB (2 X 512MB) 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
Integrated Stereo Sound
NVIDIA(R) GeForce(TM) 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR2 dedicated graphic memory
Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Combination Drive with dual layer write capabilities
9-cell 85Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery

I'm getting this for 60K, is this a fair deal??

Seems a decent deal...How much discount did you get on the online price that you got after customisation?

Ankur Gupta said:

Seems a decent deal...How much discount did you get on the online price that you got after customisation?

Click to expand...

Discount was around 3.9K

@alwynrozario, u said proccy is t7300 but then it should have 4 MB cache , please check if u have placed order of T7250 or T7300, later is 4000 costly.

^^Good observation Phenom...
Also I would say go for T7100 and get 2 GB RAM instead if you don't need that much processing power....

^^Thanx ankur, I am also planning to buy a 1520 within next 10 days. I am going for T7250 which is 6700 rupees costlier than T5250. Please tell me if there is any noticeable difference between the speeds of two of them ?? What applications will require higher processing power than T5250 ?? I mean is it a wise decision to spend 6700 more for that speed difference ??

I am going for 3 year complete cover , will it also include battery replacements ?? and what is the average life of dell 1520 battery ??

Audio/Video Encoding stuff is the one which requires most processing power..
I don't know whether PS or Max3D require such huge processing power...GX can help you on that arena..
For games I think T5250 is also enough but can't say if its future proof...
I don't know if battery warranty is also for 3 years...ask Sourabh about it...

^^^ In my opinion...

More Ram with bit slower proccy is ALWAYS better than less RAM that bit faster proccy...

processor requirements are not so hard and fast, even less when we jump to laptops and even lesser when we are talking about two very similar processors with same instruction set and same FSB... cahe diference wont be noticeable for most apps and games, 2mb cache is by no means less....

perhaps i think a 2gb Dual channel ram with t5250 will be more future proof than t7XXX with 1 GB ram...

decoding, encoding stuff wont see much difference when the processors have same instruction sets and same FSB


and as far as gaming is concerned, gfx card matters most and lesser RAM like 1 gb will be a serious bottleneck for new games and the games yet to be released...

FYI i run ALL latest games on a config like below
celeron d 2.4 ghz with 256 KB cache
1 gb ddr 400 single channel
geforce 6800 extreme

i play mostly @ 1024 x 768....


But in the end choice is yours.... i just think 2 gb ram is better...

thanx for replies. i am already going for 2 GB ram , so should I go for T5250 or T7250 , provided that I want my system future proof for next 3 years.

^^^ sorry for the mistake... the t5xxx core 2 duos run @ 667 mhz FSB
and t7xxx run @ 800.... i guess im right...


but all t7xxx have the same FSb and all core 2 duos have same instruction set, hence no difference in multimedia department as such...

Benchmarks do show differences but these are not related to real life usage

u can expect at maximum ~10 % performance difference between t7300 n t7100 in REAL WORLD performance.....

Benchmarks are mostly exclusive to hardware you are testing but real world performance takes all into consideration and THEREFORE IMO, u wont feel the difference........

get t7100 and 2 gb ram...

^^thanx again. well there is no option for T7100. Options are T5250, T5450, T7250, T7300, T7500.

~Phenom~ said:

@alwynrozario, u said proccy is t7300 but then it should have 4 MB cache , please check if u have placed order of T7250 or T7300, later is 4000 costly.

Click to expand...

Oop's my mistake, its T7250 & not T7300. Thanks for pointing that out.

I also plan to upgrade my ram to 2-3 GB in next 3-4 months.

Besides, please somebody tell me if this is a fair deal @ 60K???

^^yes, u r getting a fair deal as of now.

I want to buy one. The problem is can I partition th hard disk with out void warranty?

^^i think yes u can.

~Phenom~ said:

^^i think yes u can.

Click to expand...

They are asking for arround Rs. 600 for partition into C & D. I want to partition the hdd into 5 or 6 drives, so that I can run Vista, XP and a linux distro. If I do it myself, will it void warranty? If any user has bought this and done similarlly, then they can help me from their experience.

Duh... 1520 now come with default 2GB RAM.

Hi, just checked their dell website . my customised 1520 which was earlier showing Rs. 74,655 is now Rs. 69,786. Wow.
Now. officially they are saying the prices will be revised on 2 nov . So , should I wait till 2 nov (hoping further decrease in price) or shall I place the order today only( becoz the current price decrease may be becoz its end of month, and prices may go up on 2nd nov )prices ??? Please Please Please help...

I have decided following config:
Intel C2D T7250 2.0 GHz
Vista Home premium
3 Year Complete Cover
15.4" widescreen WXGA 1280*800 display with truelife
2 GB RAM
Integrated sound blaster audigy advanced HD audio software
Nvidia 8600 GT 256 MB
160 GB SATA HDD
8x DVD writer
Midnight Blue color
9 cell battery

Link on dell site : *www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=in&cs=inbsd1&l=en&s=bsd
Please reply...

I wd say get it now.. Cos b4 also there was a reduction in price followed by a increase.. Cant be sure tho

hi , thanx for reply. Just called dell to place order. But sad news for me . they are saying that as the price on the website has decreased , they will not offer the discounts they were offering to me earlier. so the price remains the same for me i.e. 67 k. donno what to do ????

wat discounts were they offering u earlier???

EDIT:
I have just placed the order of same config . thank u all for all ur help.

Yes, the price for 1520 has gone down.. not only that.. you're getting 2GB RAM with this revised rate.

Only if I had waited for a week.. i too could have benefited from it... anyways...

Guys I know a guy from Dell, his name is Tamal, he gave me good amount of discount. You can get in touch with him at the following number - 9886449768 (tell him your are reference from Alwyn). Let me also admit I'm not earning any commission on this, just want to help you guys by referring to a good Sales person, who gave me good discount. Enjoy!!!

@~Phenom~: I got the same config. as yours. Only difference is, I opted for Win XP Professional, 1 year full cover & standard 1 GB RAM. I got all this for 60K. Now I'm wondering who got the best deal?? Any comments??

Well I got the my above mentioned config at 65 K. So, I think I got the best deal.
and one more difference , u got stereo sound and I got HD audigy.

~Phenom~ said:

Well I got the my above mentioned config at 65 K. So, I think I got the best deal.
and one more difference , u got stereo sound and I got HD audigy.

Click to expand...

Good!!!

I wanted to go for HD audigy, but then it was not compatible with Win XP.

debiprasad_sahoo said:

They are asking for arround Rs. 600 for partition into C & D. I want to partition the hdd into 5 or 6 drives, so that I can run Vista, XP and a linux distro. If I do it myself, will it void warranty? If any user has bought this and done similarlly, then they can help me from their experience.

Click to expand...

u may ask pathiks or tarey_g or ASH FZ or saurabh or gx_saurav or chirag about it.

They are asking for arround Rs. 600 for partition into C & D. I want to partition the hdd into 5 or 6 drives, so that I can run Vista, XP and a linux distro. If I do it myself, will it void warranty? If any user has bought this and done similarlly, then they can help me from their experience.

Click to expand...

No, it won't...

Hi,
I have placed an Order for the following configuration. Dell Inspiron 1520
T7300 2 GHZ
2 GB
Nvidia 8600 256

The internet price was 68312.. when i checked and i got discounts and the price was 61419.

Well after a week, the prices are revised and it is showing at 62K plus?

how long will it take to deliver? Do they maintain the expected date? What is the need of installation guy to install a laptop?

hey guys, need some help.....

I just ordered a Dell 1520 with the core 2 duo T7250 with 2 gb ram and 128 mb graphics on 31st oct.

The very next day the prices were slashed and my cheque hadnt even reached. i called up dell and they said they will cover up the price difference by upgrading either my processor to the T7300 with 4 mb cache or the graphics to the 256 mb card for free.

Which would be a better option?

Thanx a lot in advance.

Of course, the T7300 processor. But you should've gone in for the Nvidia 8600M GT GPU in the first place. 8400M GS is just not good enough for the new games.

I second Sourabh. Another 128mb on the measly 8400M won't make much of a difference. Get the proc. upgrade instead.

thanx. but is it possible to change the gpu at a later stage?

^^^ Nope.

Guys! Dell has gone better - latest released prices for Inspiron 1540 show a phenomenal decrease!! Good that I waited

How long does the delivery take at Delhi?? Just cannot wait for 15 days post order as some have reported!

how to get discount on dell laptops in India ?
I think we dont have any discount coupons here.

juggler said:

how to get discount on dell laptops in India ?
I think we dont have any discount coupons here.

Click to expand...

mentiion E-value code while ordering.

ravi_9793 said:

mentiion E-value code while ordering.

Click to expand...

r u sure??
because in most forum it is stated that it does not work in India

gunzz said:

Guys! Dell has gone better - latest released prices for Inspiron 1540 show a phenomenal decrease!! Good that I waited

How long does the delivery take at Delhi?? Just cannot wait for 15 days post order as some have reported!

Click to expand...

I placed an order on 24-Oct & my delivery date was 13-Nov. But, I got it deliverd on 6-Nov . It still comes to 13 days.

alwynrozario said:

I placed an order on 24-Oct & my delivery date was 13-Nov. But, I got it deliverd on 6-Oct . It still comes to 13 days.

Click to expand...

Awesome! Your laptop was delivered before you placed your order!! Talk about efficiency! hehe...

Btw, I guess the waiting time has increased. Its been 24 dayz and my fren is still waiting for his 1520.

juggler said:

r u sure??
because in most forum it is stated that it does not work in India

Click to expand...

yes it work.I called dell toll free number..and they gave me latest offer which was mentioned in the news paper.

This offer is valid till 16th NOV., I think this is deepawali offer.

Best go with dell 1520 current offer.Also dont forget to upgrade to Vista Home premium, because, Aero theme is available only in premium edition of windows Vista...and need only Rs. 1500/- extra.

Also, If possible upgrade the graphics card.

infra_red_dude said:

Awesome! Your laptop was delivered before you placed your order!! Talk about efficiency! hehe...

Btw, I guess the waiting time has increased. Its been 24 dayz and my fren is still waiting for his 1520.

Click to expand...

Thanks for correcting dude...

while talking about efficiency, my laptop got shipped with the wrong processor............am fighting with dell now.....

ravi_9793 said:

yes it work.I called dell toll free number..and they gave me latest offer which was mentioned in the news paper.

This offer is valid till 16th NOV., I think this is deepawali offer.

Best go with dell 1520 current offer.Also dont forget to upgrade to Vista Home premium, because, Aero theme is available only in premium edition of windows Vista...and need only Rs. 1500/- extra.

Also, If possible upgrade the graphics card.

Click to expand...

what is the offer they r giving??
I couldn't find time to read the news paper

^^check it on www.dell.co.in , that offer is for all till 16 dec.

Confusion:

at dell.co.in there are 2 variants of Inspiron 1520 which can be customised
one with Intel(R) Core(TM)2Duo Processor T5250 as default processor
other with Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T7250 as default processor

when i am customising both of them to the same config ie
T7250 processor
160GB hdd
2 Gb ram
8600GT graphics card
9 cell battery

etc etc

the final price is coming different
There is a difference of about Rs.4000 or so
Hows this possible???
am i missing something??

^^obviously . different processors have different prices.

~Phenom~ said:

^^obviously . different processors have different prices.

Click to expand...

that not the point
the thing is that both vesion when configured to same hardware ie same processor ram etc they had different prices

oh sorry , strange. But I can only only see one 1520 link there , the other one is 1420, r u looking 1420 as the other one ??

~Phenom~ said:

oh sorry , strange. But I can only only see one 1520 link there , the other one is 1420, r u looking 1420 as the other one ??

Click to expand...

chk this link

*dellstoreroa02.sg.dell.com/public/catalog.jsp?c=IN&sid=62215957&uvst=04007819407158041

and the screenshot

^^hmm got it. Dell always has such kinda problems. You can configure your same system from different links and different ways and can get as many as 10 different prices. LOL. Exploit it to your benefit .

has anyone gone in for the taurus trademark backpack. how good is it practically.

^^me too want to know as I am planning to order one targus trademark backpack. someone please reply...

has anybody had any experience with their lappy being shipped with the wrong cpu. For me, they sent the t7250 instead of the t7300. now they say that i have to wait for the laptop to be delivered and then ask for a replacement. so, its gonna take me 1-1 1/2 months to finally get it.

any other options left for me? please lemme know......

scarecrow1981 said:

has anybody had any experience with their lappy being shipped with the wrong cpu. For me, they sent the t7250 instead of the t7300. now they say that i have to wait for the laptop to be delivered and then ask for a replacement. so, its gonna take me 1-1 1/2 months to finally get it.

any other options left for me? please lemme know......

Click to expand...

Yes, you will have to wait. I was told that when they have the right laptop ready with them, they will ship it to you. And only then, you have to pack the old laptop and send it over to them at their office. That ensures you don't have any downtimes. Plus the shipping charges are borne by them entirely. Contact the Dell representatives for the confirmation. But, yeah you would surely have to wait that long. Are you happy with T7250? You could always ask for refund (on the price difference). See what they have to say about it, considering they have to go through a lot of pains, they may throw a good deal at you.

Sourabh said:

Yes, you will have to wait. I was told that when they have the right laptop ready with them, they will ship it to you. And only then, you have to pack the old laptop and send it over to them at their office. That ensures you don't have any downtimes. Plus the shipping charges are borne by them entirely. Contact the Dell representatives for the confirmation. But, yeah you would surely have to wait that long. Are you happy with T7250? You could always ask for refund (on the price difference). See what they have to say about it, considering they have to go through a lot of pains, they may throw a good deal at you.

Click to expand...

Thanx.

They arent ready for a refund. They say that they will give me freebees, namely software and stuff. But I already have legal copies of office/antivirus. So they said that the only thing thay can do is replace it. The lappy hasnt even crossed customs. im trying to tell them to send it back at this stage itself. but they dont listen.

The reason why they show different prices is because you can configure your laptop from different base configuration and you cannot downgrade any of them....

So I think it is better ppl try out the configuration from both the links and choose the best priced one.... My 66k 1520 config was priced at 70k when I choose the another link with a lower base config...

Re: Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop review

*img237.imageshack.us/img237/84/untitledur4.jpg

is this right??

my cousin's 2.2ghz laptop with everything better than this gives a windows rating of 4

Hi,
I have cancelled the order of my 1520 for Rs.65000 today which I placed on 7th nov. reason is I m getting the same config at 60K now. Will be placing the new order soon.

^^^^^^^^
congrats..you have saved RS. 5K

yeah , But had to wait another 25-30 days to get my lappy.
Also, will have to have to wait 20 days to get my money back. So, It feels both sad and good for same thing.

Hi guys... I need little clarification. I had ordered for 160 GB HDD. My C drive capacity is 40 GB but my D drive shows only 106GB. I'm wondering what happed to rest 14 GB. Does system files require 14GB??

**picfront.org/d/JZoWe2Sv/CDrive.jpg


*picfront.org/d/wBgaSuC2ZS/DDrive.jpg

Please clarify... Thanks!!!

^^^^^^^^^
that is not a issue.It is alright.

Edited.

this laptop is damn cool

i wish i buy this soon as my PC is real old
192 MB RAM , PIII 1 Ghz PC
And Yes My PC Has A CD ROM !!!
no dvd rom or cd rw

Update: I placed the new order of Dell 1520 today at 60,000. I think I will get my lappy and money of previous order back at around at same time.

~Phenom~ said:

Update: I placed the new order of Dell 1520 today at 60,000. I think I will get my lappy and money of previous order back at around at same time.

Click to expand...

I pray you get ur dream lappy soon.You have taken enough time to make final decision...n posted so many times about ur dream lappy.

Hi Phenom,
so wuts is the final Inspiron 1520 config you went for...
Can you please post it?

@ravi_9793, yeah I know I have posted 986987884750 number of times on this forum for my queries about Dell 1520. hehe. But thats because I have never worked on any lappy before and was not knowing anything about them. And I waited so long because I was not in immediate need of it, hence waited to get reduced prices. and it has paid well. My config when i began hunting for it , was costing 74000 on dell website but now i got the same in 60000 but had to wait 2 months but i think it was worth it.
My config is :
Intel T7250
Vista home premium
Nvidia 256 MB
2 GB RAM
Midnight blue
3 year complete cover
9 cell battery

I apologize to all I have bothered while taking my decision to buy this lappy.

@Phenom - I don't think my configuration will come for 54K???

Ru sure abt it?

^^You can get ur config in 54 K now. But I think its been more than 30 days since u ordered ur laptop , so there is no point in thinking now. just enjoy ur lappy.

Though my replacement time is lapsed.. I still tried to Dig into this.. I placed an order for the same config. & the quotation was 61K. Not of a much difference.

^^thats because prices have again rised after 23rd nov.

I also got myself a 1520. Added components were - nvidia gforce fx 8600gt and a 160gb 7200 rpm hdd.Delivery time was 3 weeks.

After going through review....
Me planning to break my 6400 and claim Complete cover....


if i give little extra money will they give 1520??

^^lol.
I received my 1520 yesterday but dell says their engineer will come on saturday to open it. Damn , I am going crazy.

^^
Hi phenom....
How about exchanging our laptops....???

^^haha , not even in dreams.

^^
Until the DELL representative comes n open it....
It would be terrible!! having laptop in hand and could not open....

^^yeah, they say they have only one installation engineer to cover North India region and he is currently in Shimla and will be back on saturday.
wtf???? only one in entire north india ?????

I also noted that they have only 5-6 people in customer care because whenever I call them ,the call lands to same 2-3 persons and that too after waiting 5 minutes listening to the message that all their representatives are busy.

~Phenom~ said:

^^lol.
I received my 1520 yesterday but dell says their engineer will come on saturday to open it. Damn , I am going crazy.

Click to expand...

It happend with me too... I'd to wait like 3 days for the Engg. to come & open the laptop.. And the day when the Engg. was supposed to come I rang them up & confirmed what time he's comming...

^^hmm, this is just too bad on part of Dell.

~Phenom~ said:

^^lol.
I received my 1520 yesterday but dell says their engineer will come on saturday to open it. Damn , I am going crazy.

Click to expand...

Bah. Whoz gonna wait for their engineer to come and open it! I opened it myself.My friend in the hostel had also ordered dell. The engineer came after 7 days!

Yea open it urself na.. I did the same. How can u guys jst wait??

I orderd without basic system install and saved 1000Rs. + avoided going crazy

But now it seems it is not optional.. we must opt!

^^finally the day came , and dell guy formally opened and checked everything and now I m typing this from my lapyy.Yippie.

~Phenom~ said:

^^finally the day came , and dell guy formally opened and checked everything and now I m typing this from my lapyy.Yippie.

Click to expand...

congrats mate

^^Thanx

Guys.. yesterday Dell was offering 1520 for just 39,900 (standard config).

alwynrozario said:

Guys.. yesterday Dell was offering 1520 for just 39,900 (standard config).

Click to expand...

this price is valid from 9th DEC to 21st DEC 2007

come dec 14th and we will have some new machines to talk about.

Dell Inspiron 1525

Awesome Thread Guys

Read all stuff in 1 hour

Keep Rocking

Arre 1520 with all basic things like Windows Vista basic/ Intel X3100 and some other basic things comes for 39k. If u customize it urself and add 8600gt and vista premium it would shoot upto 50k.

All I dont like about Dell Is Why Force people for Vista ??

They can even give Lappy without any OS or Linux.. Let people choose & purchase OS.

^^I think that option will be included in the upcoming Dell 1525/1526

Dell is clever , even if they remove that option and give u DOS , still it wont affect their prices just like Vostro with DOS is costlier that inspiron with vista with rest same config. LOL. So better to take Vista just like I did.

^^^
Phenom, How come its possible??
Wen i bought my lappy, i have to pay 3K extra for my Vista Basic edition!

I think vostro has Higher performance configuration than inspiron!

before buying , I configued both vostro with DOS and 1520 with Vista for similar config and Vostro was slightly costlier . Even Dell sales guy agreed to it.

^^

Vostro is santa rosa based .... Have u taken that into account!!
If u, had taken that u must be correct!

Ankur Gupta said:

^^I think that option will be included in the upcoming Dell 1525/1526

Click to expand...

Not In INDiA

Ganeshkumar said:

^^

Vostro is santa rosa based .... Have u taken that into account!!
If u, had taken that u must be correct!

Click to expand...

i suppose ,by santarosa , u mean intel c2d . yes , i selectecd same intel c2d processor in both of them.

^^No Santa Rosa is the latest platform for notebooks that has many new improvements over its predecessor like faster FSB and stuff....
@Akshay
You mean to say we won't have the option to chose Linux/Windows OS in India or Dell won't release 1525/1526 in India and the reason?

^^If santa rosa is Centrino Duo , yes my 1520(I have Centrino duo sticker on it)was cheaper than vostro( donno whether centrino or not).

let the release happen any day man .. that's not the prob

but we at dell.co.in won't get to choose ubunutu ... i am pretty sure about it ! dell just will of course bully us as in business money comes first !

~Phenom~ said:

^^If santa rosa is Centrino Duo , yes my 1520(I have Centrino duo sticker on it)was cheaper than vostro( donno whether centrino or not).

Click to expand...

No its not the same.... They r Centrino Duo Pro!

They have higher FSB speed, Higher Wireless performance, like that....

FROM WIKI:
Santa Rosa platform (2007)
Santa Rosa Centrino Duo logo
Santa Rosa Centrino Pro logo


The code-name Santa Rosa refers to the fourth-generation Centrino platform, which was released on Wednesday 9 May 2007.

The Santa Rosa platform consists of:
Processors - Socket P
an Intel Core 2 Duo (code-named Merom) second generation processor with 800 MT/s FSB, or
an Intel Core 2 Duo (code-named Penryn) 45nm processor scheduled for release in January 2008 [1] for Santa Rosa Refresh platform.
an Intel Mobile 965 Express chipset (code-named Crestline): GM965 with Intel's GMA X3100 graphics technology or PM965 with discrete graphics, and ICH8M southbridge, 800 MT/s front side bus with Dynamic Front Side Bus Switching to save power during low utilization, and
Intel Dynamic Acceleration (IDA), better Windows Vista Aero support. [2]
RAM supported for DDR2-533 and DDR2-667 SO-DIMM.
EFI-compliant firmware, a successor to BIOS.
optional NAND flash-memory caching branded as Intel Turbo Memory (code-named Robson)
the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (a/b/g/draft-n) mini-PCIe Wi-Fi adapter (code-named Kedron).
Wireless-N technology boasts a 5X speed increase, along with a 2X greater coverage area, and supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal bands, with enough bandwidth for high definition audio and video streams. [1]

The Santa Rosa platform comes with dynamic acceleration technology. It allows single threaded applications to execute faster. When a single threaded application is running the CPU can turn off one of the CPU cores and overclock the active core. In this way the CPU maintains the same Thermal Profile as it would when both cores are active. Many expect Santa Rosa to perform well as a mobile gaming platform due to its ability to switch between single threaded and multithreaded tasks.[3]. Other power savings come from an Enhanced Sleep state where both the CPU cores and the chipset will power down.

The wireless chipset update was originally intended to include WWAN Internet access via HSDPA (3.5G), (code-named Windigo) co-developed with Nokia [4][5]. After announcing a working partnership, both later retracted the deal citing the lack of a clear business case for the technology. [6].

Support for WiMAX (802.16) was originally scheduled for inclusion in Santa Rosa but appears to have been delayed until Montevina in 2008 [7].

The Santa Rosa platform is branded as "Centrino Pro" when combined with the enhanced security technologies Intel introduced with vPro and will be called "Centrino Duo" when they are not used.[8]

^^Ok . My Bad.*gigasmilies.googlepages.com/actions1.gif

I am also planning to buy one. The Configurations i want are

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 5450
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic 32 Bit (English)
15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280*800) Display with True Life
2 GB 667 MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio Software
160 GB SATA Hard Drive
Internal 8X DVD+/- RW Combination drive with dual layer write capabilities
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Dual Band 802.11 a/g 54Mbps Wireless Mini Card
Jet Black Color
6 Cell 53Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Dell Large Nylon Case
1 Year Limited Warranty

Dell says the price will be 41,118 Rs (Price inclusive of delivery but exclusive of tax). What will be the actual price including the taxes?

Also should i buy these additional accesories or not

TV-out cable w/ SPDIF [+Rs 141.00]
Composite SPDIF Cable [+Rs 187.00]
TV-out Cable [+Rs 48.00]
A/V Cable Kit [+Rs 468.00]
Belkin Easy Transfer Cable for Windows Vista [+Rs 1714.00]
Targus USB2.0 Mini 4-Port USB Hub - White [+Rs 637.00]

I want to connect the PC to my server as well as my HDTV.

^^^ consider paying Rs 1500 more for Genuine Vista Home premium

for the rest of the part, u better buy these from local TV Marker or Computer market & not dell, u will get at lower price.

gx_saurav said:

^^^ consider paying Rs 1500 more for Genuine Vista Home premium

for the rest of the part, u better buy these from local TV Marker or Computer market & not dell, u will get at lower price.

Click to expand...

But they don't give it in the market, they only offer it online. Where can i buy it in market and what price?

Cerebral Assasin said:

But they don't give it in the market, they only offer it online. Where can i buy it in market and what price?

Click to expand...

It's just a normal TV out cable, you can buy anywhere in the local computer market.

gx_saurav said:

It's just a normal TV out cable, you can buy anywhere in the local computer market.

Click to expand...

hahaha i thought i can get Dell Laptop in market, yes dude i can get the cables from the market but not the laptop.

what abt gfx card ?
go for 8600GT so that it can easily handle the HDTV

i may prefer HP rather than this
sorry for hurting you

Cerebral Assasin said:

hahaha i thought i can get Dell Laptop in market, yes dude i can get the cables from the market but not the laptop.

Click to expand...

Dell now has retail outlets in India too, check in your city.

gx_saurav said:

Dell now has retail outlets in India too, check in your city.

Click to expand...

that's great news .. but dell bangalore google search did not give that good results .. hv to look deeper is it ?

Guys buy the way Dell XPS M1530 Notebook is very cool

for 58k you get 8600GT and 2GB RAM , 7250 and rest all is same

plus addons of XPS series !
super cool check out at dell site

but the inspiron with same specs is at 52k

gx_saurav said:

Dell now has retail outlets in India too, check in your city.

Click to expand...

where did u get this news from??
any outlet in mumbai??

gx_saurav said:

Dell now has retail outlets in India too, check in your city.

Click to expand...

Do U have any idea abt Delhi.

Nice specification. really a must buy gadget.

Btw, just a tip. Update your geforce drivers. That really helps.
*www.laptopvideo2go.com/

Well here's my review on the Dell Inspiron 1520:

Laptop Specifications:

• Processor: Intel Core2Duo T5250 @ 1.5 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache
  
  Main memory: 2x1GB DDR2 667 MHz Dual Channel mode
  
  HDD: Fujitsu MHW2160BH 160GB SATA
  
  DVD-RW: TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-L632H 8X
  
  Sound Card: Intel HDA ICH8(82801)
  
  Graphics Card: nvidia 8600m GT with 256MB RAM
  
  NIC: BroadCom BCM4401 100
  
  WiFi: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
  
  Bluetooth: BroadCom BCM2045
  
  System Chipset: Intel GM965
  
  Expansion & Misc ports: 4xUSB, 1xIEEE1394, 1xRJ-45, 1xRJ-11, 1xVGA Out, 2xExpressCard 54, 1xHeadphone out, 1xMicrophone In, 1xMedia Card reader(SD/MMC/MS Pro).

Packaging:

The packaging was really good, the laptop came in a Knee-length box with protective thermocol covering above and below the laptop. The box size really surprised me, and others too! People kept asking me if it's a desktop, and were unwilling to believe that it's a laptop! The box comes with Windows XP SP2Re-install CD, a Drivers and Utilities DVD, Dell MediaDirect Re-installation CD, Roxio Creator and MyDVD 9.0 DE CD, Dell Webcam Manager Installation CD.

The box also contains a Quick Setup Reference Guide, Dell MediaDirect installation manual, CompleteCover agreement booklet, and a rather thick 220 page Owner's Manual. In addition, a pair of Creative's Noise Isolation earphones(ie, in-ear canal ones), Dell MediaDirect remote, S-Video out cable(I'd ordered this) and of course, AC adapter.

Looks & Weight:

The Dell Inspiron really good, the RubyRed colour had a smooth satin finish. The insides was a matte-silver finish, which looks great but can be dirty real quick, especially at the touchpad and buttons area. The Inspiron isn't light though, weighs in about 2 and a half kilos, maybe slightly more. The indication LEDs for NumLock, CapsLock, HDD access, power, WiFi and Bluetooth and the MediaDirect keys all are Blue in colour and they look awesome at dark. The keyboard isn't illuminated though and may cause a bit of problems if you work or play late night and your room-mate does like to sleep with lights on(my case) But overall the looks are fantastic!

Hardware Detection:

Under Windows all the hardware worked great. On the left side there's a switch, initially I thought I could use it to switch off WiFi and Bluetooth. However on sliding the switch Dell Network Catcher pops up, and allows you to choose any available networks (atleast that's what I believe, I couldn't check it). Sadly though, WiFi and Bluetooth can be switched off only through software.

Under Linux(I used openSUSE 10.3), All the components were detected and are working flawlessly out-of-the-box, including WiFi(though I've to admit, WiFi's based on Intel 3945 chipset, and they are available of SourceForge, but the firmware drivers for this was provided on the openSUSE DVD). The Broadcom NIC, Bluetooth module, the inbuilt soundcard, nvidia's 8600m GT were all detected. Even better is that the array of buttons near the laptop edge which control volume control, Forward/Next, Mute work, although only Volume Control and Mute work, that's good enough for me as I've configure global shortcuts in Amarok for playback control. There's a separate process running “dell-keys” which control the Volume Control and Mute keys. I was again surprised to see this, even under Windows only the Volume control and Mute keys work, that too some times they have a mind of their own, working sometimes, at times not responding at all. The rest of the keys are I guess for media direct. The integrated webcam also works great! The touchpad can be oversensitive at times, under both Linux and Windows, causing a bit of aggravation. Under Windows it's recommended to Disable the “Tap to click” option, else you'll have a lot of accidental clicks being registered.

Performance & Battery Life:

The initial performance wasn't good. Although games would run smoothly, playing movies and even mp3s would result in stutters in between. The first boot was manageable, the second and subsequent boots were pathetically slow, taking over 2 minutes! Upon investigation choices in BIOS, I found that the SATA mode was set to ATA, instead of AHCI mode. Switching over to AHCI mode resulted in a tremendous boost in performance. The bootups were much faster and the stuttering problems vanished. I can't understand as to why Dell have set the SATA mode. Me being technically inclined, I checked out the BIOS options and was able to figure it out. What would an ordinary user do? The person would definitely be flabbergasted with the slow bootup! I seriously hope that this was an isolated event. Otherwise the Inspiron is a fast performer.

I tried out Oblivion at my Laptop's native resolution of 1280x800, and the nVidia 8600m GT performs great, giving about 50 fps indoors with all details set to Max, 4xAF and HDR Enabled, and about 25 fps Outdoors. I also tried out Carbon(for lack of any other games), Carbon didnt support any resolution above 1024x768, so I tried it with all details set to max, 4xAA, 4xAF and again everything was really smooth, no hiccups anywhere. I'll update the status once I get my hands on ProStreet.

The LCD has a native resolution of 1280x800, the viewing angles are pretty good, as long as colour is being displayed. For scenes containing lot of dark images, the viewing angle can cause a bit of problem.

Sound Quality from the inbuilt speakers is top-notch, it's a bit loght on bass but mids and highs performed really well, and is really loud, with no distortion even at max volume. The bundled Earphones are also very good, except for the really annoying hissing sound when nothing is being played. Otherwise it's just great.

Battery wise, I'd opted for a 9-cell battery, and both under Windows as well as Linux, battery easily lasts for about 3 hours 15 minutes, for normal Wordprocessing, Web browsing and media playback, though under Linux batteries tend to last for about 15-20 minutes more, under the same set of tasks. Switching off nVidia's PowerMizer and running games resulted in battery backup of about 2 and half hours.

Final Thoughts:

The Inspiron is a great VFM laptop. It looks great, performs excellently Although it's bulky, it's an ideal desktop replacement, especially if you dont have space for a desktop.

Pros:

Great sound quality, excellent screen, fantastic looks, good performance

Cons:

Oversensitive touchpad, a bit bulky, S-Video out cable length is shorter than your palm, SATA mode set to ATA instead of AHCI resulting in extremely long boot up time

Price: Rs. 50,300 all inclusive(including CompleteCover, 9-cell battery)

Some screenshots(please pardon the poor quality of images, VGA Cam )

*img143.imageshack.us/img143/4537/dsc00093ah6.th.jpg *img338.imageshack.us/img338/7506/dsc00094np4.th.jpg
*img147.imageshack.us/img147/3915/dsc00095jf0.th.jpg *img159.imageshack.us/img159/7779/dsc00096cs0.th.jpg

^^
You got Xp-Sp2 cd?? No vista??

^^ I'd opted for XP SP2, hence I got that CD

super cool entry into digit forum by coolpcguy !!
nice review .. its gives us more insight into that lappy !!

can you upload pics of back of laptop ?? i heard that 9 cell batter will look insane at the back.. is it ??

@Akshay thanks for the kind words And yup that 9-cell battery sticks out like a sore thumb. Will post a pic soon

My laptop was originally set to AHCI mode. When I formatted and tried to install Windows XP, everytime I would get an error that no harddisk was detected. To work around this I had to use ata mode.
Havent noticed any problems as far as performance is concerned though. Initially games would run slow or crash but thats due to the old geforce drivers provided by dell on their website - but new drivers from nvidia fixed that.

Did they allow you to opt some other OS, other than XP or Vista?

Dell M1530 : A better VFM laptop than inspiron ??

Review of the new laptop here:
*www.notebookreview.com/default.asp...+Core+2+Duo+T5250+1.5GHz,+120GB+HDD,+2GB+RAM)

Its only costs a few thousand more than Inspiron but has better components like 8600 GT grphics card with DDR3 memory

Plz give ur view on this laptop

@Gautham
At their website you can opt for XP only for Vostro models. But I requested my Account manager to give me XP instead of Vista and she agreed

@Akshay Here's a pic of the back of the Laptop
*img165.imageshack.us/img165/5977/dsc00100yd5.th.jpg

A fully configured Dell 1520 for me costs 46K with tax while M1530 costs 60K....although there are differences in hardware too like GMA X3100 in previous case while geforce 8600GS in 2nd case

other then hardware, what's the difference between Dell 1520 & XPS M1530?

Which one is better AHCI or ATA?

XPS is Dell's premium line of Laptops. XPS comes with better looks, WLED Screens, slot-loading drives(DVD or BD), SolidState drives in lieu of HDDs. They're also lighter than Inspirons

@Cerebral Assassin: AHCI is better

Can anyone tell me when 1525/1526 is coming in India ?

Any specs ??

PraKs said:

Can anyone tell me when 1525/1526 is coming in India ?

Any specs ??

Click to expand...

Any particular reason why you are waiting for the Inspiron 1525? There's nothing interesting about it. Just a bit slimmer, has HDMI port, no option for discrete graphics, no option for Blu-ray drive.

Word is, Inspiron 1525 will be available on the Indian website from Monday.

whatever notebook you buy guys... buy a surge protector for it ASAP..i learned a lesson the hard way...
and no, those cheap spike busters wont do..

hey coolpcguy thanks for the pic
you must be coollaptopguy instead

1525 has HDMI port

Can be connected directly to LCD TV for watching movie

Well, time to resurrect the thread. I m taking admission for my masters this year & need a laptop, Dell 1520 is choice 1 then Dell XPS M1530. I will be buying by april (After budget)

So, those with Dell 1520 & a quality camera, plz take lots of snaps from different angles & post here.,

^^
Which school, GX?

Want pics of my lappy?

gx_saurav said:

Well, time to resurrect the thread. I m taking admission for my masters this year & need a laptop, Dell 1520 is choice 1 then Dell XPS M1530. I will be buying by april (After budget)

So, those with Dell 1520 & a quality camera, plz take lots of snaps from different angles & post here.,

Click to expand...

Dont buy Dell 1520..
Instead prefer Dell 1525, It is available in India now........ Price Rs. 39990/- (excluding taxes and others)

@Ravi For gamers 1525 is a bad choice ATM, you have only IGP, no dedicated graphics supprt.

@GX Need more pics than the one I've posted? Any specific angles?

coolpcguy said:

@Ravi For gamers 1525 is a bad choice ATM, you have only IGP, no dedicated graphics supprt.

Click to expand...

I think GX wants lappy for his new school.....

If the Dell 1525 has Intel GMA X3100 graphics, then I don't mind as I will be running Vista ony & hardly any games.

Anyway, have to go out right now....will chck the pics in evening,

I think 1525 is a bad move by Dell. 1520 was more customizable. So now there is no decently priced dell laptop with a dedicated gfx card in the 15" category.

Hello to all,
I am visiting thinkdigit forum after quite a long time...

Anyway I am planning to buy a laptop for myself and I zeroed in Inspiron 1520 and XPS1530...

But the problem is as of now I couldn't find any link to customize 1520...
And customizing XPS1530 with 250 gigs of HDD and 8600GT and Audigy etc. it comes to near about 60 grand including tax and all.

Now would you recommend to go for a 1520 with similar config (if possible!) as that might cost less?

My preference is gaming!

drgrudge said:

^^
Which school, GX?

Click to expand...

SCIT Pune, got interview & GD call, going to Pune in Feb, prey that I get admission.

Want pics of my lappy?

Click to expand...

Nah...I like many fruits not only Apple. *gigasmilies.googlepages.com/10.gif

I just customised 2 laptops on dell india website, XPS M1530 & Dell 1525. Now the only problem with Dell 1525 is the onboard graphics & in XPS they are giving GeForce 8400GS ( which come in my budget). GMA X3100 is enough to run Vista. The price difference between then is 10k so I m inclining towards Dell 1525 more then XPS M1530...but ooooooooooo the XPS...*gigasmilies.googlepages.com/38.gif TOOO SEXY in looks *gigasmilies.googlepages.com/10.gif

Here is the config of Dell 1525 I selected.

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T5450
Windows Vista(R) Home Premium
15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display with TrueLife(TM)
2GB (2 X 1024MB) 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio Software
Intel(R) Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
160GB SATA Hard Drive
Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Combination Drive with dual layer write capabilities
Jet Black Color with Matte Finish
6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Total cost = Rs 43,331.40

Let's see, since I m broke right now if dad agrees to pay for XPS M1530, I will jump for it. GeForce 8400GS of XPS M1530 won't give much of a difference compared to GMA X3100 & like I said, there won't be any gaming on this. Just MS Office, browsing, chatting, VoIP & well...usual work

gx_saurav said:

SCIT Pune, got interview & GD call, going to Pune in Feb, prey that I get admission.

Click to expand...

Good. Hope you get into SCIT/Institute of your choice. All the best.

gx_saurav said:

Nah...I like many fruits not only Apple.

Click to expand...

I meant my Dell Inspiron 6400 not Apple MacBook Pro.

gx_saurav said:

I just customised 2 laptops on dell india website, XPS M1530 & Dell 1525. Now the only problem with Dell 1525 is the onboard graphics & in XPS they are giving GeForce 8400GS ( which come in my budget). GMA X3100 is enough to run Vista. The price difference between then is 10k so I m inclining towards Dell 1525 more then XPS M1530

Click to expand...

IMO, if XPS is under your budget, you should think about it. XPS gives you better performances. With a dedicated GFx card; HD movies, Photoshop, Maya, Vista runs better. With X3100, they might run but believe me there's a sea of difference in the performances.

Don't think abt the 10k. If XPS fits your budget, then go for it.

Krishanu.De said:

Hello to all,
I am visiting thinkdigit forum after quite a long time...

Anyway I am planning to buy a laptop for myself and I zeroed in Inspiron 1520 and XPS1530...

But the problem is as of now I couldn't find any link to customize 1520...
And customizing XPS1530 with 250 gigs of HDD and 8600GT and Audigy etc. it comes to near about 60 grand including tax and all.

Now would you recommend to go for a 1520 with similar config (if possible!) as that might cost less?

My preference is gaming!

Click to expand...

Did anybody even see this message? :O

I didn't want to open a separate thread for this!

XPS>>1520. Go for the XPS if you can!

Ok..will talk to the finance minister

Guys I m unable to find the pics in this thread, can someone post them again from all angles such as top, Side...front closed & open etc.

THe only difference in XPS M5130 & Inspiron 1525 is the looks & GeForce 8400GS. Performance wise both GMA X3100 & GeForce 8400GS aren't much different but GMA X3100 uses shared memroy which I won't mind as I will be going for 2 or 3 GB RAM.

So the only thing is Looks department, I saw pics of XPS M5130 online but need to see some real life Pics of Inspiron 1520.

Apple is out of question. It starts at 58k

gx_saurav said:

So the only thing is Looks department, I saw pics of XPS M5130 online but need to see some real life Pics of Inspiron 1520.

Click to expand...

1520 looks exactly like 1420. I guess you can find many pics of that. For 1525 however, you may wanna wait sometime for real life pics.

gx_saurav said:

Apple is out of question. It starts at 58k

Click to expand...

Lolz.. now whoever thot that its a possibility is the greatest fool on TD forums!

infra_red_dude said:

1520 looks exactly like 1420. I guess you can find many pics of that. For 1525 however, you may wanna wait sometime for real life pics.

Click to expand...

Ok...will check on google or flickr

I dont think taking it after the budget ll make any difference. And go for the xps with a 8600gt.

I dont think taking it after the budget ll make any difference. And go for the xps with a 8600gt.

Nah, if I go for XPS M1530 then it will be with GeForce 8400GS only. I would have selected GMA X3100 if that was available as GMA X3100 is all I will need.

gx_saurav said:

Nah, if I go for XPS M1530 then it will be with GeForce 8400GS only. I would have selected GMA X3100 if that was available as GMA X3100 is all I will need.

Click to expand...

Performance wise there is difference yaar. My Dell had X3100 and my Mac has 8400gt. There's a sea of difference in the performances.

But your school might start in May/June, so no harm in waiting another 3-4 months.

gx_saurav said:

Apple is out of question. It starts at 58k

Click to expand...

Even if you can afford XPS, you're thinking about that 10k (but you're not thinking abt productivity/performance) how will you go for an Apple. None suggested you a Mac. Also for your need, you want to run an inferior OS.

drgrudge said:

Performance wise there is difference yaar. My Dell had X3100 and my Mac has 8400gt. There's a sea of difference in the performances.

Click to expand...

Performance of what grudge, that's the question. If you are asking for performance to run the OS then the texal & processing power of GMA X3100 is maximum 20% less then GeForce

Even if you can afford XPS, you're thinking about that 10k (but you're not thinking abt productivity/performance) how will you go for an Apple. None suggested you a Mac. Also for your need, you want to run an inferior OS.

Click to expand...

Don't get me started again Grudge, this is a hardware thread not for the Software. I could have bought a Macbook & install Vista on it removing Mac OS X, but the cost is very high & it's not a value for money which I m looking for.

^^
You might see difference while playing HD movies. My Dell didn't have issues with 720p, but not sure about 1080p as I've played it. When you try to 'seek' a place or try to use the seekbar often, you'll see what I'm talking about.

You might want to run Maya, Photoshop and stuffs. Do the tasks with X3100 and 8400gt, you'll know what I' talking about. X3100 is no match for 8400gt even with 2 GB RAM.

I had a lappy with onboard and dedicated graphics, from my expeirence, I'm telling. But then your money, your wish.

None brought Apple in here, but yourself and now you're talking?

drgrudge said:

^^
You might see difference while playing HD movies. My Dell didn't have issues with 720p, but not sure about 1080p as I've played it. When you try to 'seek' a place or try to use the seekbar often, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Click to expand...

Ok first, I m not into HD movies anyway, so this is irrelevent. If I have to download HD Rips then they will be maximum 720p anyway.

2nd, have a look at the GMA X3100 white papers. It has inbuilt hardware decoding of H.264 & VC-1 codecs just like GeForce 8400GS, so playing 720p HD movies won't be a problem.

You might want to run Maya, Photoshop and stuffs. Do the tasks with X3100 and 8400gt, you'll know what I' talking about. X3100 is no match for 8400gt even with 2 GB RAM.

Click to expand...

Nah, I won't be doing any 3Ds Max on it. On Windows Vista, GMA X3100 support hardware acceleration of the UI which Photoshop CS3 will be able to make use of, again...like I said this laptop will be used mostly for

1) Chatting & VoIP with family & friends.
2) Browsing
3) MS Office
4) Downloading contents
5) Music & Movies but not much.

For all these tasks I don't need the power of 8400GS & X3100 would suffice, X3100 is made for Windows Vista, other then gaming it is enough for everything else even with shared RAM.

I had a lappy with onboard and dedicated graphics, from my expeirence, I'm telling. But then your money, your wish.

Click to expand...

Which Onboard graphics???Onboard graphics have improved a lot with GMA X3100

^^
Running your things and getting the best out of your system is completely a different thing. If you're going to use for basic needs, then get 1520/1525. You said XPS is under your budget, so suggested you.

You're going to get the lappy after some time only naa. Things would be a lot different then.

drgrudge said:

^^
Running your things and getting the best out of your system is completely a different thing. If you're going to use for basic needs, then get 1520/1525. You said XPS is under your budget, so suggested you.

Click to expand...

Dell 1520 or 1525 should be good enough for my needs. But since XPS looks sexy, depending on the permission of my father I might go for that instead. Does dell provides laptops on EMI????

You're going to get the lappy after some time only naa. Things would be a lot different then.

Click to expand...

That's why I m not worried, GMA X3500 in Intel G35 chipset is about to arrive on laptops with Shader Model 4.0 (DirectX 10 features), a better schedular & OpenGL 2.0 support.

@gx, If u dont want a gpu, then just get a 1420 with 2gb ram +t5450. Powerful enuf 4 ur needs. u ll get it in about 39k.

Pathik said:

@gx, If u dont want a gpu, then just get a 1420 with 2gb ram +t5450. Powerful enuf 4 ur needs. u ll get it in about 39k.

Click to expand...

Nah, 1420 has 14" screen only, 15" is least required.

Even x4500 is about to launch soon.. The lappy versions may be due in q3 2k8

Pathik said:

Even x4500 is about to launch soon.. The lappy versions may be due in q3 2k8

Click to expand...

Q3 2008 will be too late, the maximum I can wait is june as that is when the session will start.

Anyway, let's just see, let me give the GD & PI first....haven't got the admission yet.

If I go back to job in bangalore then Dell XPS M1530 with 8600GT is fixed, cos I will be running 3ds Max a lot on it

gx_saurav said:

Ok first, I m not into HD movies anyway, so this is irrelevent. If I have to download HD Rips then they will be maximum 720p anyway.

2nd, have a look at the GMA X3100 white papers. It has inbuilt hardware decoding of H.264 & VC-1 codecs just like GeForce 8400GS, so playing 720p HD movies won't be a problem.

Click to expand...

Dude, there won't be any issue with HDTV rips. Your 18 month old PC can also play. But when it's Blu Ray/HD DVD rip, the bitrate is going to be a lot higher. Full 1080p rips have around 10mpbs audio bitrate. I'm sure it'll struggle in X3100.

A Blu Ray 720p rip with a higher resolution than HDTV rips takes 3-4 seconds to start playing in my Mac which is a Santa Rosa Intel Proccy, 3 GB Ram with 8400gt.

1080p might struggle. Even the higher bitrate 720p might struggle in X3100.

drgrudge said:

Dude, there won't be any issue with HDTV rips. Your 18 month old PC can also play. But when it's Blu Ray/HD DVD rip, the bitrate is going to be a lot higher. Full 1080p rips have around 10mpbs audio bitrate. I'm sure it'll struggle in X3100.

Click to expand...

This doesn't apply to me, m not into 1080p HD videos anyway grudge.

Dell Inspiron 1520 is no longer available in India it is replaced by Dell Inspiron 1525. So you can't get Dell Inspiron 1520 in India now

Actually it is not fully out. If u call Dell execs u can still get some old stock left.

Emergency boys.....Education emergency. I m leaving Lucknow on 10th February, GD & PI date is on 14 February (there goes my valentines ,,but hey I m single this year ).

How many days does it usually take for dell to ship a laptop? Will XPS M1530 be available at EMI?

Minimum 2 Weeks for delivery; No EMI scheme.

Yo, where r u since so many days? Come on yahoo...I need to talk..

so if no EMI, do I need to pay 55k in cash when the laptop is delievered to my home or can I pay using Credit card/ Debit card

Thesee are the payment options available. Let me just paste the information you need from the email they sent me when I purchased my laptop.

1. Electronic Fund Transfer:- The online fund transfer details will be sent later if you want to go ahead with this option.

2. Credit Card:- The credit card details will be taken manually from you, i.e. over the phone once your order confirmation is received, so that we can swipe your card virtually here in DELL Bangalore Headquarters. This is a highly secured process.

3. For Demand Draft:- Make a DD in favor of “Dell India Pvt. Ltd.” Payable at Bangalore and courier it to them.

4. For Cheque:- Make an AT-PAR Cheque in favor of “Dell India Pvt Ltd” and courier it to us.

Click to expand...

So, credit cards and online bank transfers both are fine. I'd prefer online bank transfer any day of the week.

1. Electronic Fund Transfer:- The online fund transfer details will be sent later if you want to go ahead with this option.

Click to expand...

Ok, this sounds nice. I am assuming that once I order my laptop on Phone & select this option, then once I get the laptop at my home, I will need to transfer money from my account to there account. Right?

Credit card is another good option.

Soura.....is that config I selected good? Or should I opt for something else...& y r u not on yahoo??? Exciling from T.V life kya?

Where would it be better to place the order from? My Hometown of Lucknow or the city whereever I go? Dell provides service everywhere so service should not be a problem.

I guess I can tell the representative that I don't need an OS with my Laptop which will further reduce the cost. This is the hardware config which I have in mind right now. The cost excludes any tax, 47k. Is this ok or M i selecting something wrong & paying more money.?

*img201.imageshack.us/img201/101/snag0000cy4.jpg

*img177.imageshack.us/img177/3945/snag0001qq8.jpg

Nope AFAIK You need to pay when you book a lappy. Before Delivery.

Yes, you need to pay the money before. They won't budge regarding the OS, you have to get the Windows Vista Home Premium too.

The excise duty, VAT and octroi are all heavy taxes. It comes down to nearly 6-7k as taxes on a 40k or so rig. If the new place you go to doesn't have Octroi charges, they you can save a couple of grands. There's no work around for excise duty and VAT.

The final price of XPS M1530 would shoot up to 53-54k. I would suggest get the normal Inspiron 1420. Base price is 31-32k. The WXGA+ (1440 x 900) screen is just 1k additional. You can opt for GeForce 8400M GS 128MB GDDR3 graphics card in that too for Rs. 3.5k more. The remaining specs are just the same. XPS M1530 and Inspiron 1525 just have the looks. Inpsiron 1420 with above customizations will near 40k, that's good VFM if you ask me

Sourabh said:

Yes, you need to pay the money before.

Click to expand...

Ok.

They won't budge regarding the OS, you have to get the Windows Vista Home Premium too.

Click to expand...

Damn those Dell People, I guess informing them that I m a student in some college might be able to get me some discount, right? I will order the laptop after getting admission only so that I can show them admission slip etc if required to avail the discount if available.

Anyway, OS is not a big deal. Dell supplies OEM installation DVD right? I guess I will be able to format the complete harddisk, install from that OEM DVD & activate using the OEM serial.

The excise duty, VAT and octroi are all heavy taxes. It comes down to nearly 6-7k as taxes on a 40k or so rig. If the new place you go to doesn't have Octroi charges, they you can save a couple of grands. There's no work around for excise duty and VAT.

Click to expand...

Pune & bangalore, 2 places where I m most likely to go have all 3 of these. Damn..can't save money.

The final price of XPS M1530 would shoot up to 53-54k. I would suggest get the normal Inspiron 1420. Base price is 31-32k. The WXGA+ (1440 x 900) screen is just 1k additional. You can opt for GeForce 8400M GS 128MB GDDR3 graphics card in that too for Rs. 3.5k more. The remaining specs are just the same. XPS M1530 and Inspiron 1525 just have the looks. Inpsiron 1420 with above customizations will near 40k, that's good VFM if you ask me

Click to expand...

Yup it is, but u know me...I m more of a "look" person . Like I said before GMA X3100 is good enough for me & maybe by the time I place my order GMA X3500/4500 will be out too. 14" isn't for me, 15" atleast that too with TruLife is prefered. So it's either XPS M1530 or a black Dell 1525.

hey whats the major diff between dell 1520 n 1525 and also whats the diff bet. truelife n normal wxga...???

gx_saurav said:

Ok.


Damn those Dell People, I guess informing them that I m a student in some college might be able to get me some discount, right? I will order the laptop after getting admission only so that I can show them admission slip etc if required to avail the discount if available.

Click to expand...

Sadly no
No "student" discount !!

I think its a bad idea to go for Dx9.0c or Dx 10 dedicated gfx card right now. Since the Dx 10.1 is going to be adopted soon. Also if you wont be gaming or watching HD content you may want to try the NViDIA 7000m or 7050M. It has better performance comapred to the Intel GMA X3100. Acer 4520 (amd) is dirt cheap at 29K with the NViDIA GPU. ITs the best VLM lappy i think.
I myslef am going for the acer one most likely since work involves Flight Simulator +home use (web,music,movies)

Edit : Just went and saw the acer lappy. Screen looked small and build was a slightly flimsy. Also no clear demarcation for the touchpad..Now checking the compaq F733AU

whats the diff bet. truelife n normal wxga lcd screen...???

seems u r very desperete to know the answer, avoid double posts!
Well, i dont know very much, but i did some research b4 buying my lappy

(WXGA) is a set of non standard resolutions derived from the XGA display standard by widening it to a wide screen aspect ratio. WXGA is generally understood to refer to a resolution of 1366×768, with an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Dell offers 1280X800. WXGA is normally used by LCD screens.

True life is the term used by dell to offer high gloss and sharp contrast finish screen.Its advisable if you intend to watch videos and play games.

Is reflective screen which I think is annoying the only quality of Truelife? Or does it add anything worthwhile to the display?

From Dell website - "TrueLife displays feature a smooth, glossy screen. A TrueLife display offers a viewing experience that is more crisp and more vivid than lower resolution displays that have anti-glare coatings and lower contrast ratios."

From what I understand, Truelife is just an extra glass cover that reflects everything behind. But, if it is antiglare coating, then what is 'glossy' and reflective? Am I missing something about Truelife?
*forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=48572

Click to expand...

also check *www.screentekinc.com/dell-truelife-lcd-screens.shtml

and dear frnd, always remember to use power of google.

I m back to home now & about to order my laptop. I have finalized the hardware configuration & I plan to use this laptop for atleast the next 4 years. My current desktop is already 4 years old & rocking...

This is the final config, I selected 2 GHz CPU instead of 1.66 Ghz cos 1.66 GHz will not cut it for 4 years. Also buying an 8600GT as If I don't get admission then I m going back to animation job & for that atleast a 256 MB GFX card is needed.

*img212.imageshack.us/img212/8104/snag0000ir3.jpg

*img128.imageshack.us/img128/4042/snag0001bw1.jpg

Total price after everything is 62k. Now how should I proceed further???? Can someone tell me step by step methods....if possible or guide me there

Oi Gx, get the 9 cell battery if u can..
And just fill up that form with your contact details and their sales people ll contact you.. Bargain a bit and ask for some freebies..
And yea try to pay online only.. Many people i know hav had probs with the DD thingy.

Ok....doing that abhi.

@gx: try to get the conroe processor instead of the allendale if you want it to last for 4 years.
And try bargaining over phone. If you quote previously made deals where good offers were given to you, you can get further discounts. The RAM, CPU and OS can easily be bargained with. So try to get a free Vista Ultimate upgrade.
You might want to ditch that Microsoft Works 8.5, and try doing it over phone. If I remember right, you have the OEM version of Office 2008. So use it instead.
Try to get a free external battery pack for extra power. It will be useful in the long run(pun intended)

MetalheadGautham said:

@gx: try to get the conroe processor instead of the allendale if you want it to last for 4 years.

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Conroe?????? CONROE... that was in 2004

The CPU I M getting is the latest one available from Dell right now.

And try bargaining over phone. If you quote previously made deals where good offers were given to you, you can get further discounts. The RAM, CPU and OS can easily be bargained with. So try to get a free Vista Ultimate upgrade.

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They won't buzz on the OS, but still I will try.

You might want to ditch that Microsoft Works 8.5

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I will tell them that I don't need any Value added softare of any kind. Either a blank HD or just Windows.

[/quote]and try doing it over phone. If I remember right, you have the OEM version of Office 2008. So use it instead.[/QUOTE]

I got Office 2007 Standard edition from Technet.

Try to get a free external battery pack for extra power. It will be useful in the long run(pun intended)

Click to expand...

oK

Remove the Sound Blaster Advanced HD crap and invest the same in 9cell battery. The former is just software.

And No carry case??!!

Arey infra tu idhar kya kar raha hai??? Btw congrats..

gx_saurav said:

Conroe?????? CONROE... that was in 2004

The CPU I M getting is the latest one available from Dell right now.



They won't buzz on the OS, but still I will try.



I will tell them that I don't need any Value added softare of any kind. Either a blank HD or just Windows.

Click to expand...

and try doing it over phone. If I remember right, you have the OEM version of Office 2008. So use it instead.[/quote]

I got Office 2007 Standard edition from Technet.



oK[/quote]
conroe is the Intel E6xxx series. It has 4 mb l2 cache, and is succeeded only recently by wolfdale E8xxx. You are talking about buying Allendale, which is older than both the mentioned cores.

I have to go to a marriage ceremony right now, so can't ask much.

infra_red_dude said:

Remove the Sound Blaster Advanced HD crap and invest the same in 9cell battery. The former is just software.

Click to expand...

Hmm...will inquire about this later

And No carry case??!!

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I will buy it after market, not from Dell.

@ gautam. Conroe was first Core 2 Duo architecture released in 2006.

gx_saurav said:

@ gautam. Conroe was first Core 2 Duo architecture released in 2006.

Click to expand...

yes, but it gained popularity among VFM hunters in mid 2007.
and its better than Allendale.
It gives double the L2 cache, and it makes all the difference while multitasking.

You forgot, conroe is for desktop. Mobile version is Merom.

They all force us to take Vista ..
Can't argue with dell on that. Plus new hardware has no support for XP

Well, atleast I don't mind Vista.

INS-ANI said:

seems u r very desperete to know the answer, avoid double posts!
Well, i dont know very much, but i did some research b4 buying my lappy

(WXGA) is a set of non standard resolutions derived from the XGA display standard by widening it to a wide screen aspect ratio. WXGA is generally understood to refer to a resolution of 1366×768, with an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Dell offers 1280X800. WXGA is normally used by LCD screens.

True life is the term used by dell to offer high gloss and sharp contrast finish screen.Its advisable if you intend to watch videos and play games.


also check *www.screentekinc.com/dell-truelife-lcd-screens.shtml

and dear frnd, always remember to use power of google.

Click to expand...

hey thanx alot buddy for ur support n i certainly forgotten abt google.....

gx_saurav said:

You forgot, conroe is for desktop. Mobile version is Merom.

Click to expand...

woops. sorry. forgot.

Maverick340 said:

They all force us to take Vista ..
Can't argue with dell on that. Plus new hardware has no support for XP

Click to expand...

atleast we can try getting refund on licence...

gx_saurav said:

Well, atleast I don't mind Vista.

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but you must be insane to not mind paying for what you already have paid for.

MetalheadGautham said:

atleast we can try getting refund on licence...

Click to expand...

Not at all possible.

MetalheadGautham said:

but you must be insane to not mind paying for what you already have paid for.

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Naah.. its free for him.

infra_red_dude said:

Naah.. its free for him.

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how ?

infra_red_dude said:

Not at all possible.

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then go to court

MetalheadGautham said:

how ?

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he s a MVP, remember??

infra_red_dude said:

Not at all possible.


Naah.. its free for him.

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STILL! Why would he want to pay for something he already has?!

kalpik said:

STILL! Why would he want to pay for something he already has?!

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B'coz he is GX!!

I remember him posting somewhere he wouldn't mind paying for another vista license.

kalpik said:

STILL! Why would he want to pay for something he already has?!

Click to expand...

Possibly cos he doesn't hav an option?

infra_red_dude said:

B'coz he is GX!!
I remember him posting somewhere he wouldn't mind paying for another vista license.

Click to expand...

kalpik said:

STILL! Why would he want to pay for something he already has?!

Click to expand...

Pathik said:

he s a MVP, remember??

Click to expand...

Pathik said:

Possibly cos he doesn't hav an option?

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Just remembered now. Saurav is the most hardcore of all Windows Fanboys and is also an MVP. He thinks its a great service to god by paying more to microsoft. And just for thinking this, M$ gives him free copies.

But even if ^^ is true, Dell still asks for money for the OS. M$ can't refund what dell resold to GX.

So back to square one.

STOP WAITING AND ANSWER THE QUESTION Sir Dr. Prof. MVP. Saurav the GX

kalpik said:

STILL! Why would he want to pay for something he already has?!

Click to expand...

This just in, using our MVP ID we can indeed tell them not to include any Microsoft software . The representative I talked to on phone told me that they have special discounts for students & MVPs etc. Need to talk to him in detail

M$ can't refund what dell resold to GX.

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Get the Laptop, let the representative come for basic installaion - > Refuse the License Agreement & return it.

gx_saurav said:

This just in, using our MVP ID we can indeed tell them not to include any Microsoft software . The representative I talked to on phone told me that they have special discounts for students & MVPs etc. Need to talk to him in detail

Get the Laptop, let the representative come for basic installaion - > Refuse the License Agreement & return it.

Click to expand...

lucky devil. I knew all along that you had something up your sleeve to cut costs

MetalheadGautham said:

lucky devil. I knew all along that you had something up your sleeve to cut costs

Click to expand...

Lolz...since it is home premium, I will get $50 back....means Rs 2,000. Hmm....good enough for 3 dinner Dates

gx_saurav said:

Lolz...since it is home premium, I will get $50 back....means Rs 2,000. Hmm....good enough for 3 dinner Dates

Click to expand...

and good enough for 200 plates of bhelpuri

MetalheadGautham said:

and good enough for 200 plates of bhelpuri

Click to expand...

Well said

gx_saurav said:

Get the Laptop, let the representative come for basic installaion - > Refuse the License Agreement & return it.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry to spill the beans but this has NEVER worked and will NEVER work in this country!!!

+1. Many people have tried it and hasn't worked yet. coolpcguy knows more about it. he also tried it perhaps.

For those unaware, Dell also offers N-series products (some laptop models are available on the Indian website). They have DOS on it with no pre-installed junk. A while back this option was available on the Inspiron laptops too (you need to find the catalog from the product page, not seen on the promotions page). Check it out here:

*www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/...ostronb_1400?c=in&cs=inbsd1&l=en&s=bsd&~ck=mn (Click customize)

Also note the prices of Vostro products as seen on website are inclusive of excise duty (just VAT and octroi additional). Which can also be saved.

My existing Inspiron 640m is also N-series.If you don't want Windows Vista, you have option of DOS on all Vostro series laptops (from catalog). Go for that, there is no real price difference. But many won't because the looks are poor for a consumer laptop. Also you don't get free goodies like Travel Remote, Noise Isolation earbuds (EP-630), etc..

N-series option was removed from Inspirons because of piracy concerns (got this from a sales rep a few weeks back while ordering Inspiron 1525).

Dell is the best company when it comes to offering choices of Windows/Ubuntu/DOS on thier systems.

Hi Guys,
I recently bought Nokia 6233 which supports micro SD card. I need to know that can the 8 in 1 card reader of 1520 read these micro SD cards ???

With a msd to sd adapter yes.

ok , will that mSD to SD adapter come bundled with 1 GB/ 2 GB mSD or will I have to buy it separately ???

and what will be the cost of 1 gb and 2 gb mSD card ???

It comes bundled with Kingston cards.

^^Thanx