Dell Warranty...worth it?

[Adcadet]

Hey all - sorry I've been AWOL lately, but I've been trying to finish up my degree and all. Anyway, I need a new laptop, and the Dell 8200 looks great. I was wondering if ya'all think it's worth the price to get a 3 year warranty vs. a 1 year warranty. Also, if you have opinions on the 8200s, I'd love to hear them.
Thanks,
Adcadet

 

[time]

If you fully intend keeping it for three years, definitely get the warranty. Although what you really want is an insurance policy that guards against accidental damage.

There are just so many ways to write off a laptop, but hardly any are covered under warranty.

My own opinion is that you should get a laptop that is light and not too expensive, meaning it is good at what laptops are best at. Swallowing the line that it will be a total desktop replacement leads to tears for most people.

 

[Tea]

Hi Andrew! Welcome back.

Do you know what replacement mainboard costs? Typically US$500 to $1000. And do you know how many compent parts of a typical notebook are integrated into the mainboard, so that if the individual component fails you have to replace the whole main board? All of them.

The t hree answers you need are yes, yes and yes. Every single time. If the notebook you want to buy doesn't offer an extended warranty, buy one that does instead.

 

[Adcadet]

Ah, thanks guys. I thought I knew the answer, but just wanted some confirmation.

And if I spent >$2k on a laptop I sure as hell would keep it for 3 years.

 

[Clocker]

Nobody talk to Andy until he starts producing at least 5 F@H points per day.

Sorry Andy, you have to start pulling your weight around here if you expect any help. We know you have the hardware so put it to use!



C

 

[Pradeep]

If you are clumsy and think you may need it, the Complete Cover warranty from Dell is very good, it covers accidental damage like your laptop falling off the couch etc. Anything that isn't deliberate, or caused by fire or theft. The Dell 15" UXGA screen spare part costs around US$699 to give you an idea of costs.

I have the Dell i8200, it's excellent for the money, I only got it with one year warranty cause I'm cheap. I can buy an additional 2 years warranty within the 1st year for $189. I thought I would see how things go in the first year, if I have a lot of problem I will get the additional. Hopefully within that time the mobile Hammer will be out and I can move to one of those

Definitely get the 15" Ultra Sharp UXGA screen, it is incredible. I have one with a 1.6GHz P4-M, 128MB+256MB from Crucial, 40GB HDD, and 8x Combo, and 32MB GF4 440Go video. I paid about US$1750 for mine, that was when they had a free screen upgrade + free HDD upgrade + free optical upgrade. The P4-M 2.2 has just been released, so prob wait till they start offering that, the rest of the cpu prices should fall. I'd stick with the 1.7GHz, no point spending hundreds more for a few unnnoticeable steps up.

It is big and heavy, as one would expect from a desktop replacement machine. Definitely not something to lug around if you travel to different locations all day long. Using it on an economy airplane tray is OK, but if the passenger in front reclines his seat you will have half the machine on your lap to keep the screen angle right. And get a second battery if you can afford it. If you are getting an airplane/DC adaptor for it, be aware that only the Lind 90W adapter can both charge and run the machine (from car battery only). The Empower sockets on planes can only supply a max of 70W, and therefore you may have to remove the batteries for your machine to work in that manner.

 

[Adcadet]

thanks for the info guys. I decided not to go with the Complete Care 'cause I tend to be rather paranoid about $2000 purchases and the cost of it is a bit high for me. But I did get the 3 year warranty, and the 15" SuperDuper screen (hey, I'm sick of eye strain from CRTs!).

One other question: I don't plan on playing any 3D games on the machine. Is it a waste to go with the GF4Go over the GF2Go?


Thanks all!
Adcadet

 

[Pradeep]

Go with the 32MB GF4 Go, it is much faster than the older GF2 GO. Well worth the $70 or so dollars. Also because everything looks like crap at non-native rez, you need all the grunt possible to run everything smooth at UXGA. It plays a DVD on the video out while I use the LCD for work without any stuttering at all (using the provided winDVD, I find with PowerDVD there is some sluggishness with dual use). The only thing I can fault with the machine is that it does not have a DVI video out.

It sounds like you have already ordered it? Did you go for the 24x combo drive? Give us the specs

 

[time]

Also because everything looks like crap at non-native rez, you need all the grunt possible to run everything smooth at UXGA.

This is why I disagree with Pradeep and really don't like Dell's UXGA screens. Sorry, but I think they're a gimmick.

 

[Pradeep]

Well the only real reason you would run in less than UXGA would be to get decent performance out of games, and if the video card is capable of good performance at UXGA then there is no need surely

I also have a Dell 2000FP 20" UXGA panel, and the blacks on this laptop are far superior to the desktop panel. Obviously the brightness cannot compare, but the 133dpi resolution really is fantastic. Multiple windows on the desktop have plenty of room. Now if you have failing eyesight, then the UXGA is probably not for you. But when I see a standard XGA 14-15" screen now, it makes me want to puke, the pixels are so visible! Just IMO of course.

 

[time]

There are times when you really don't want to use font scaling. Unless you want to give yourself eyestrain, 133dpi makes it compulsory. It's a problem with applications that don't scale at all, and ones with complex forms such as database applications.

As for visible pixels, I thought sub-pixel rendering was supposed to take care of all that?

 

[Pradeep]

Yes I agree that with font scaling, poorly written applications don't look good at all. I'm running at 120% scaling, The only apps I notice are fuxored is PS 6 (some of the menu bars), and ironically, Windows Update download windows which are quite a challenge to use.

There was also a problem using the Rules Wizard in Outlook 2000, strangely enough the font size was corrected after applying the latest cumulative IE patch.

As for ClearType, on my previous Athlon4 laptop with XGA 14" screen, it made things very blurry and pretty much unusable. You could still see the pixels. With the UXGA screen even with ClearType off, an individual pixel is very difficult to see. With ClearType on, the screen looks like a magazine.

 

[Cliptin]

With ClearType on, the screen looks like a magazine.

:drl:

 

[Adcadet]

It sounds like you have already ordered it? Did you go for the 24x combo drive? Give us the specs

Yeah, I ordered it tonight. Although after reading what was said about the GF4 vs. GF2 I think I may change my order (I assume Dell has no problem changing my order so quickly if they can charge me more money).

Some background on how I'll be using this computer. I live in a Suburb of St. Paul MN, and go to school and work in Minneapolis, a good 25 minutes away. I hate driving through traffic, and it's common for me to leave my house at 8 AM and return after 10 PM. Thus the ability to bring my computer between work, school, home, and wherever I happen to be studying is very nice. At work I *need* to be able to run Word and Excel (and some sort of email and browser) so I can exchange data and papers with my coworkers. For my master's thesis I need to collect data and am going to be writing an Access DB for that. The ability to actually bring the machine up with me to the clinic is also necessary. I will need to analyze the data, but I'll prolly export the data and run it on one of our Sun SAS app servers in the Dept. of Biostats. And of course, I'll need to write up my field experience and my master's thesis, so I'll be doing some heavy Word-ing. I also am addicted to comptuers (as you can probably see), so power never hurts. I'm getting married in less than a year, and will hopefully be going to medical school next year. Thus this laptop will need to serve me though at least most of medical school (med school here is 4 years) - which is why I went a bit high-end. On the other hand, the money I spend on this machine is money I don't have to spend on my fiance...so this is by far the hardest buying decision I've ever made. If I were single it'd be a no-brainer.

OK, OK, enough chitter-chatter. The specs:
15" Dell UltraSharp UXGA (1600x1200)
P4M 2.0GHz
256 MB PC2100 (single DIMM) - will get a second stick from Crucial to go up to 512 if I feel I need it
GF2 Go 32MB DDR (thinking about GF4 though...thoughts?)
integrated NIC and modem
40 GB 5400 RPM HD (just couldn't tolerate another 4400 RPM laptop HD)
No floppy
8X DVD
(will buy a second battery and/or 24xCD-RW later if I need it...I have a 4X USB burner...the CDRW/DVD was just too expensive for me now)
WinXP Home (I feel no need for the pro version on my laptop....until it goes dual CPU)
3 year limited warranty and 3 year mail-in service


Total Price: $2272+shipping ($55 I think for 3-5 day).


All comments welcome.

Thanks all!
Adcadet

 

[Adcadet]

oops. Minor corrections:
I DID include a floppy (have to have a quick low-tech method of swapping files)

And the total price (after $100 rebate) is $2167 (that's before I add in the $81 for 256MB of Crucial memory)

 

[Pradeep]

Looks like you will be doing purely 2D work, in which case the GF2 GO is adequate. BTW, it is possible to upgrade the video yourself, people have already gone from GF2 GO to GF4 Go successfully, you can buy the part from Dell itself. So hopefully in a year or two, you can move up to GF5 Go or whatever is out then

 

[Adcadet]

Looks like you will be doing purely 2D work, in which case the GF2 GO is adequate. BTW, it is possible to upgrade the video yourself, people have already gone from GF2 GO to GF4 Go successfully, you can buy the part from Dell itself. So hopefully in a year or two, you can move up to GF5 Go or whatever is out then

Yep, for now 2D is what I need. 3D will only be a distraction as I'm writing my thesis. But it's very nice to know that I can go to a GF4Go (or whatever is next) later on if I so desire.

Thanks Pradeep!

 

[Pradeep]

Here's a link that may come in handy:

Inspiron FAQ:

http://www.geocities.com/thebithead/I8200FAQ.htm

 

[Adcadet]

thanks Pradeep!