Question about notebooks:

Are they powerful enough to run the MS Office suite?

Thanks

MichaelSF wrote:As the owner of lots of netbooks, notebooks and desktop computers over time, don't get this if your dad wants a notebook for its portability. This is simply too heavy for that.

If he wants something that's easy to move from room to room or to take on his travels, a netbook, or small notebook (defined as under 4 lbs.) would be better.

Note: Some manufacturers state the weight of computers WITHOUT the battery. I don't know when that became acceptable, but some do it. So at 6.4 lbs this notebook may not seem like much, but if the battery is not included in that spec, then add another 1.5 lbs to the total weight.

In regards to power this is a good computer for the price, so that does not matter, but this huge machine is what in the old days we call a "luggable" machine, it's not really a "laptop."

Bonus Tip: don't forget to add in the tote weight the power adapter and notebook case. By the time you are done adding those things into the total weight, these things weigh about 15 lbs. That may not sound like much, but the first time he takes it on a road trip he will be complaining.

Of course, none of this matters if your dad simply wants a laptop instead of getting a desktop computer. If this is a "desktop replacement" machine that won't be moved around much, then toting weight does not really matter.

Racou wrote:Question about notebooks:

Are they powerful enough to run the MS Office suite?

Thanks

Absolutely. I run Office 2007 on my laptop which is not nearly as powerful as this one.

nbirnbaum2 wrote:this is my last experience contacting dell for support on a 2 month laptop, i had amex do a full chargeback


calling dell tech support...


28 mins on hold

bob- hello this is bob how may i assist you today.... very heavy indian accent, could barely understand

bob-how may i help you.

me-yes my laptop batteries wont charge i replaced the battery and ac adapter already.

bob-it sounds like a defective motherboard.

me-can i get an rma for warranty and a call tag

bob- that is not covered under warranty i can quote a repair price

me-ive only had this laptop for 2 months

bob-im sorry sir we dont warranty motherboards with basic warranty

me- ok fine your refusing to fix or honor your warranty ill just call american express and iniate a chargeback for the full amount with your online warranty as evidence.

bob-ok sir

bob-is there anything else i can help with

me- yes can you direct me to the nearest apple store


be wary of dell, please not the 100 million dollars the feds just fined them about lying about 0 apr then holding customers hostage with with 25 percent apr's

LOL! I have had almost exactly the same experience with Dell customer service on several occasions. (I'm pretty sure all their service reps are named Bob.) I have several Dell products and they are OK. But because of the dismal customer service and the unscrupulous marketing ploys, I won't purchase a Dell computer again.

bitethat wrote:Do they even make 17.3' carry cases? I always find them too big or too small. Why can't they ever just have a case to fit perfect and have an extra component that actually HOLDS the cords properly? Huh? Why? Whhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!?

Kenneth Cole sells a 17.3" case at Staples for only $39.99. It is a great quality case, and has plenty of room for all the extra cords and stuff!

bitethat wrote:Do they even make 17.3' carry cases? I always find them too big or too small. Why can't they ever just have a case to fit perfect and have an extra component that actually HOLDS the cords properly? Huh? Why? Whhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!?

I have this one - it's perfect for my 17" laptop and has room for everything else. Of course, it's a big case. I got it at the Lenovo site for about $20 a few months ago.
http://products.lowepro.com/product/Messenger-Factor-L,1960,23.htm

No such thing as too much power. dont ever limit your purchase to what you think you or a parent thinks they want to do with it. They may discover that they like manipulating images or scrap booking. Plus, with all the poorly written OS code and browser plug ins that keep coming out every couple weeks, this will be underpowered before you know it.

misterjohnny wrote:My dad is looking for a laptop. Basic email and tracking his stocks in retirement. Is this too much power for him?

I thought David Hasselhoff had 'Turbo Boost Technology patented?

Oh and there IS a video showing how to carry an 8lb laptop, without 'hurting' yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrDG4sPul8w

adcommandproc wrote:Can the ram be increased to 8 gigs?

System Memory:4GB DDR3 SDRAM memory (expandable up to 8GB)

TheMammoth731 wrote:Beware anyone who wants to do gaming, this computer WILL NOT be a good gaming machine. The Intel HD graphics card is USELESS for games. Intel HD is basically a 3-4 year old graphics card, it will not run a new game over about 10fps even on low settings.

As a work computer or school computer, this thing will be fantastic, but not a gaming computer.

I completely agree with this statement. My laptop won't even run Minecraft at more than 3fps, and I bought it less than a year ago with Intel integrated graphics.

this is my last experience contacting dell for support on a 2 month laptop, i had amex do a full chargeback


calling dell tech support...


28 mins on hold

bob- hello this is bob how may i assist you today.... very heavy indian accent, could barely understand

bob-how may i help you.

me-yes my laptop batteries wont charge i replaced the battery and ac adapter already.

bob-it sounds like a defective motherboard.

me-can i get an rma for warranty and a call tag

bob- that is not covered under warranty i can quote a repair price

me-ive only had this laptop for 2 months

bob-im sorry sir we dont warranty motherboards with basic warranty

me- ok fine your refusing to fix or honor your warranty ill just call american express and iniate a chargeback for the full amount with your online warranty as evidence.

bob-ok sir

bob-is there anything else i can help with

me- yes can you direct me to the nearest apple store


be wary of dell, please not the 100 million dollars the feds just fined them about lying about 0 apr then holding customers hostage with with 25 percent apr's

ttcarter wrote:LOL! I have had almost exactly the same experience with Dell customer service on several occasions. (I'm pretty sure all their service reps are named Bob.) I have several Dell products and they are OK. But because of the dismal customer service and the unscrupulous marketing ploys, I won't purchase a Dell computer again.

Wow, sounds like Dell has really gone down the tubes. My first "modern" computer (600mg processor, top of the line at the time) was a Dell and I was very impressed with their customer service. How can they NOT cover the motherboard? That's like buying a new car and finding out the engine isn't covered. Ah... the good old days.

Mescalero wrote:Wow, sounds like Dell has really gone down the tubes. My first "modern" computer (600mg processor, top of the line at the time) was a Dell and I was very impressed with their customer service. Ah... the good old days.

I've found that Dell's customer service has had its ups and downs. Originally, it was excellent, but it went downhill, there were a lot of complaints, and Dell lost enough market share that they announced they would be improving it (and they did).

I've also spoken to a few of the "Bobs." One strategy that I've found effective (if you are reasonably knowledgeable technically): have someone else make the original call (or disguise your voice), and when the time is right, have him tell the service rep that your "technical support specialist" is right there with you. The service reps are taught to treat everyone as if they're noobs, no matter what they say. "Are you sure it is plugged in, sir?" "First, we will try reinstalling the drivers. I'll guide you through the process." One time a rep tried to get me to reinstall a hard drive when my problem was that the supporting rails were the wrong size!

When your "expert" shows up, the rep will give him (you) more respect, and you may actually fix the problem AND retain your sanity!

NightGhost wrote:I've found that Dell's customer service has had its ups and downs. Originally, it was excellent, but it went downhill, there were a lot of complaints, and Dell lost enough market share that they announced they would be improving it (and they did).

I've also spoken to a few of the "Bobs." One strategy that I've found effective (if you are reasonably knowledgeable technically): have someone else make the original call (or disguise your voice), and when the time is right, have him tell the service rep that your "technical support specialist" is right there with you. The service reps are taught to treat everyone as if they're noobs, no matter what they say. "Are you sure it is plugged in, sir?" "First, we will try reinstalling the drivers. I'll guide you through the process." One time a rep tried to get me to reinstall a hard drive when my problem was that the supporting rails were the wrong size!

When your "expert" shows up, the rep will give him (you) more respect, and you may actually fix the problem AND retain your sanity!

+1

mblock66 wrote:Well this isn't such a good deal. I JUST ordered an i-5 450 Studio Dell Laptop (Thats the new 450 chip not the 430 and the studio series not the insipron) from dell with 6gb ram 500gb HD and a Radon 1GB 5470 Video card with HD screen for $655

So for the $55 more I get an upgraded machine with more ram and its new.

Should be at the house tomorrow! No deal here

Can you please share how you got this deal? I just added the same system at Dell and it was over $900!

DJs take note:
http://help.vestax.co.jp/en/detail.php?id=255&id_page_url=217
the iSeries processors may not play well with your usb midi controllers.

and I quote:

Full-Speed isochronous-out transactions with multi-frame packets may be truncated, in the presence of Full or Low-Speed USB asynchronous transactions.
For this to occur, two devices, one performing Full-Speed isochronous-out
transactions (Audio devices) and one performing asynchronous transactions (mouse, keyboards) must be connected to the same USB controller. (Ports 0-7 and 8-13)
(Intel Corporaion announced.)
Operation failure has been confirmed when using Vestax products with subject CPU computers.

Future support
According to Intel, this errata shall be fixed from there 2010 first-quarter shipped B3 stepping. Although this has not been confirmed.
Further support information will be announced when all tests have been cleared.

Ok ... here is the Dell deal for a i5-450m (not 430) ... the other differences are ...
- it has 1GB ATI Mobility Graphics. you need to add Tax as well.
- it reads Blu-Ray !

Inspiron 17R- N7010
Date & Time: 8/26/2010 7:58:16 PM
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Inspiron 17R- N7010 Qty 1
Inspiron 17R Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium Unit Price $829.00
20% Off on all 17" Laptops at Dell Outlet with this coupon!
Limited time offer!
- $165.80

Inspiron 17R GGDJ5
Keyboard 0PK5Y
Mars Black 28GRH
Resource DVD 2ND8Y
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) 32KKG
Certified Refurbished 3E476
Shipping Material 6FT15
Service Software 80RR0
Single Drive: Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD) CK86H
Operating System DVD CP1VF
Bluetooth Wireless Card 365 CV2KW
Processor: Intel Core i5-450M Processor (3M cache, 2.40 GHz) CWNP3
Operating System DVD D9KVP
1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 F92X7
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs) G040H
Documentation H6CKP
Dell 1501 Wireless-N HWMJF
Software J019D
Service Software J1X7P
Dell Support 2.0 Software J206C
64BIT Operating System DVD J6XND
Power DVD Software M018R
Software M239M
125V Power Cord M412C
No Media Selected MX962
McAfee Security Center, 30 Day N533M
Microsoft Works 9.0 T013C
Software T22TT
6 Cell Primary Battery, 48W TM8N5
17.3 inch Full HD WLED V5HH8
90W AC Adapter VKC3D
Labels VN014
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium VR08H
Label W006J
Integrated 1.3MP Web Camera and Digital Microphone W2Y0V
Label W3HMK
Windows Live W871N
Roxio Software CD WDF4C
Image Restore Software XM544
Dell Support Center 64 Bit 2.0 Y720M
Insp 17R: 1 Yr Limited Hardware Warranty, Mail-in Service (Included In Price) Qty 1
Unit Price $0.00
TOTAL: $663.20

Racou wrote:Question about notebooks:

Are they powerful enough to run the MS Office suite?

Thanks

Mine are.

NightGhost wrote:I've found that Dell's customer service has had its ups and downs. Originally, it was excellent, but it went downhill, there were a lot of complaints, and Dell lost enough market share that they announced they would be improving it (and they did).

Good to know they have made improvements, NightGhost. My last contact with them was over a year ago.

riocobra wrote: If it had Blu-Ray and a better graphics chip, it would be a no-brainer.

A tiny Blu-Ray USB adaptor costs peanuts

I saw that Mr. Woot-off... Tryin to be all sneaky...

anyone else see a flying woot monkey from the wootoff?

Um... did anyone else just see the screaming monkey?

Did what I just think happened just happen?

Anybody else just see a sold out Woot-off monkey?

bruisedquasar wrote:A tiny Blu-Ray USB adaptor costs peanuts

Blu-ray <> Bluetooth

Did anyone just have a screaming monkey pop up with the woot off lights?

I got really excited

Monkeys? o_o

ahwitz wrote:Um... did anyone else just see the screaming monkey?

I did! I did see the screaming monkey!

Is it just my imagination, or did I just see a screaming monkey for sale on woot?

Saw a woot off on Twitter. And says that it's a screaming monkey... What gives?

monkey!!

Did any one else just see a screeming monkey with woot cape come up with the woot off lights?

Wha? My eyes deceive me, there was a monkey there!

I got all excited over nothing? Not even sure why I was checking Woot again today. I alredy knew they had a computer I wasn't going to buy. But a Screaming Monkey? I woulda bought that!

Cycospaz2 wrote:I got really excited

Quality Post right there.

Yup, I got the twitter update of a Screaming Monkey with Woot Cape for $1.99. Went to Woot.com and the sold out one from the woot off last week was on the main page with the whole discussion and everything.

I just got psyched out and thought that there was another Woot Off! But alas it appears to have been a run by Monkeying. . .

According to woot's twitter, there was a wootoff. for like 1 minute.

It was the legendary Screaming Monkey ghost. There's a story behind it involving a tractor trailer crashing in the dead of night. The monkey lay by the roadside, screaming for hours.

Now its ghost is destined to haunt the interweb forever.

Hey... did anyone else just have the screaming monkey come on with the woot off lights going??? We want a woot off! we want a woot off! we want a woot off!!!! (I know we just had one... but they are just so much fun)

Guess I type really slow... by the time i got this posted a million others had the same thing up. Now the woot off just went off again. Oh man... come on Woot... give us a woot off!!!