Dell laptops?

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Thinking about getting dd a laptop for her upcomnig b-day. I’ve been told Dells are reliable and reasonably priced.

We may see what’s in the sale papers this weekend. Recommendations? Want to stay under $700 if possible and HP is not an option.

TIA 👍
 
I really like Dell laptops, my latest one is an Inspiron 1545 I bought from Sam’s. They have an outstanding return policy for which I am grateful for since I bought & exchanged 3 HPs that were junk & went back to Dell. My prior one is a Dell 9300 (I think that’s the number -it’s upstairs) that is about 8 years old & is still working.
 
We switched from Dell to HP. Dell has gone downhill, HP has improved.
 
My sons have HP laptops. They’ve had lots of little trouble - nothing serious - just many small annoyances.
I have Dell and Gateway desktops. I prefer Gateway over Dell for that, so I would look into a Gateway laptop.

Apple is best, though!😉
 
Well – since the OP said that HP is not an option, I won’t bother burdening him with my opinion on them. :cool:

With regard to Dell, my husband POUNDS his laptop every day for 10-12 hours. He is the Senior Platform Administrator for RealCatholicTV.com - and believe me, he spends a TON of hours on his laptop. He is on his second Dell and he can’t say enough about it. I don’t know all the specifics but can get them for you if you want.

~Liza
 
Dell MEANS “brick” in the old language 😉

Gateway, no serious IT person gives Gateway a second glance.

Look at what business use, they use HP and Dell.
 
lizaanne said:
Well – since the OP said that HP is not an option, I won’t bother burdening him with my opinion on them. :cool:

With regard to Dell, my husband POUNDS his laptop every day for 10-12 hours. He is the Senior Platform Administrator for RealCatholicTV.com - and believe me, he spends a TON of hours on his laptop. He is on his second Dell and he can’t say enough about it. I don’t know all the specifics but can get them for you if you want.

~Liza
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OP is a she, though my signature does not make that obvious. :rolleyes: I’ve owned 2 HPs and will not buy another.
 
I’m on my second Dell laptop and LOVE them. The old one still works fine, 8 years later, it was just too old to do what I wanted. I’ve had my current one for 2 1/2 years and it is still going strong and working great.

One thing I really like Dell is when you order online, it is HIGHLY customizable. That way you pay for the things you will use and don’t upgrade the things you won’t. The Inspiron line is a good all around laptop for pretty much anything (except hardcore gaming) and should be perfectly easy to keep within the $700 price limit.

Also, you can try the small business side of Dell. Sometimes you can get better deals over there and they don’t care if you are actually a small business.
 
Does she plan to carry this laptop to school every day? If yes, she needs a thin and light laptop with a 13 or 14 inch screen. Those typically weigh 5 pounds or less.

If on the other hand it’s for use at home, a “desktop replacement” type laptop with a big and nice screen is better. For example there’s a Dell Studio with 17.3 inch screen, it used to cost $750 at Best Buy, you might find it even cheaper with a little luck. It weighs some 7 or 8 pounds, which is too heavy for a girl to carry around in her backpack every day.

How old is she and what kind of software applications is she going to use? If it’s only for surfing the internet and word processing (Microsoft Word), spreadsheets (Excel), and the usual everyday applications, then all the modern processors are good enough. If she is going to use it for something demanding like engineering college (CAD - computer assisted design, 3D modeling), or serious video and photo editing in school of journalism or arts, she will need a better processor and a good graphics card, which means a more expensive laptop.
 
kage_ar said:
Dell MEANS “brick” in the old language 😉

Gateway, no serious IT person gives Gateway a second glance.

Look at what business use, they use HP and Dell.
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Note that HP’s business laptops are completely different from their home laptops. The home laptops from HP are garbage. I cringe whenever my friends buy them because I know that I’ll be wasting time removing all the adware that comes preinstalled on them.

The Dell Inspiron laptops are okay, but they tend to be heavy and clunky. The Dell Studio laptops seem to be reasonably well-designed and they are suitable for both home and business use.

The Dell Latitude laptops are even better (they are more sturdy – they have stronger frames, more robust sockets for the internal wiring, etc). When businesses buy a super-sturdy Dell, it is usually a Latitude. Many of the Latitude laptops are not good for playing games (they are designed for businesses) and you need to order them from the Dell small business website.

I’ve used many brands of computers, and I personally won’t buy anything other than a Lenovo Thinkpad T-Series laptop. These are the Chevrolet Suburban of laptops – nearly impossible to break, powerful… and expensive. The Apple Macbook Pro is the only laptop I’ve found that can compete with the Thinkpad. Unfortunately, both the Macbook Pro and the Powerbook are probably out of your price range.

No matter what you get, get at least 2 GB of memory (RAM) – otherwise the computer will be too slow. Also, pay attention to the keyboard size – small screen are nice, but people tend to forget that small laptops have small keyboards, which can be difficult for typing. Be suspicious of anything under 14 inches.
 
Dittoes! I just bought my wife a Dell Latitude laptop on Ebay for Christmas recently. It’s bullet-proof. The Inspirons are the Dell laptops sold to the public and they’re flimsy, cheap, and made with inferior parts. They have weak chassis so if they fall on the ground or get tramatized, over and out. The Latitudes, however, are leased out only to businesses, schools, and corporations. They’re built with great buffering and stability cushioning for falls or accidents and the processing equipment, guts if you will, are supposed to be first-rate. I preferred to buy a refurbished and upgraded Latitude for $250 rather than a new Inspiron for $300 or an HP or some other cheapster. My wife loves that thing. I’ve owned nothing but Dell and have had a lot of awesome experiences, no problems whatsoever, period. With HP and Gateway and even Mac I’ve had horrendous experiences. Go Dell! 👍
ack said:
Note that HP’s business laptops are completely different from their home laptops. The home laptops from HP are garbage. I cringe whenever my friends buy them because I know that I’ll be wasting time removing all the adware that comes preinstalled on them.

The Dell Inspiron laptops are okay, but they tend to be heavy and clunky. The Dell Studio laptops seem to be reasonably well-designed and they are suitable for both home and business use.

The Dell Latitude laptops are even better (they are more sturdy – they have stronger frames, more robust sockets for the internal wiring, etc). When businesses buy a super-sturdy Dell, it is usually a Latitude. Many of the Latitude laptops are not good for playing games (they are designed for businesses) and you need to order them from the Dell small business website.

I’ve used many brands of computers, and I personally won’t buy anything other than a Lenovo Thinkpad T-Series laptop. These are the Chevrolet Suburban of laptops – nearly impossible to break, powerful… and expensive. The Apple Macbook Pro is the only laptop I’ve found that can compete with the Thinkpad. Unfortunately, both the Macbook Pro and the Powerbook are probably out of your price range.

No matter what you get, get at least 2 GB of memory (RAM) – otherwise the computer will be too slow. Also, pay attention to the keyboard size – small screen are nice, but people tend to forget that small laptops have small keyboards, which can be difficult for typing. Be suspicious of anything under 14 inches.
Click to expand...
 
If you are looking for good deals on Dell check out www.gotapex.com I’ve used this site to find deals for purchasing 4 computers over the last five years and have saved roughly $2500 in doing so. A set of deals are posted each day. Follow it a bit and see if anything you like comes up. I think you would have a tough time finding anything better.
 
Both of our laptops are Dell. Actually they are certified refurbish machine. These laptops are the 3rd certificated refurbish that we have bought from Dell’s Outlet.

We have LOVED them all and if we were in the market for another computer we would by another certified refurbish, scratch and dent, or previously order new. All of which can be bought via Dell’s Outlet.

IN regards to Dells Outlet:
Previously Order New means never used systems, canceled orders or returns that were never fully booted. Tested and repackaged by Dell Outlet.

Certified Refurbished means fully refurbished systems, retested and repackaged to meet original factory specifications.

Scratch & Dent means systems with cosmetic blemishes that do NOT impact performance.

We have found our money (AT TIMES) goes further when buying from Dell’s Outlet. This is especially true when buying laptops. Both of our laptops cost us $500 each via Dell’s Outlet. If we bought them “NEW” they both would have been $900-$1,000 machines.

In order to get the most bang for your buck via the outlet you have to know what you want, what it cost NEW, what you want to spend (be firm), and patient. Items move quickly via the outlet. So if you are going to seriously buy be sure you have all your info ready and complete the sale as soon as it’s in your check out basket. If you didn’t get the item you want try again later or even the next day. There is always new things there.
 
We bought a DELL laptop ‘‘studio’’ a year ago, and after only a few months, we were having trouble booting up…and now it won’t boot up without the recovery disk inserted each and every time. :rolleyes: I have heard that DELL has had this problem with other models…I wouldn’t buy a DELL again, just my two cents. We have a DELL PC and that has been great, although it crashed last year (causing us to buy the laptop) but then we had it fixed…and it works better than the laptop which is much newer. 🤷
 
I’ve had two Dell laptops. First one was an Inspiron I got in 2004 and lasted me until last year and it still works, just very slow and has a lot of stuff on it. Now we have a Dell studio with Windows Vista and I love love love it. Best laptop I’ve had. It was six hundred something.
 
Mommyof02green said:
Both of our laptops are Dell. Actually they are certified refurbish machine. These laptops are the 3rd certificated refurbish that we have bought from Dell’s Outlet.

We have LOVED them all and if we were in the market for another computer we would by another certified refurbish, scratch and dent, or previously order new. All of which can be bought via Dell’s Outlet.

IN regards to Dells Outlet:
Previously Order New means never used systems, canceled orders or returns that were never fully booted. Tested and repackaged by Dell Outlet.

Certified Refurbished means fully refurbished systems, retested and repackaged to meet original factory specifications.

Scratch & Dent means systems with cosmetic blemishes that do NOT impact performance.

We have found our money (AT TIMES) goes further when buying from Dell’s Outlet. This is especially true when buying laptops. Both of our laptops cost us $500 each via Dell’s Outlet. If we bought them “NEW” they both would have been $900-$1,000 machines.

In order to get the most bang for your buck via the outlet you have to know what you want, what it cost NEW, what you want to spend (be firm), and patient. Items move quickly via the outlet. So if you are going to seriously buy be sure you have all your info ready and complete the sale as soon as it’s in your check out basket. If you didn’t get the item you want try again later or even the next day. There is always new things there.
Click to expand...
I never knew about the Dell home outlet before. Definitely a good service, however, it can be deceiving. Sure you are saving money over the list price, but compared to using a coupon code or a reference from a deal site you are actually paying MORE for a refurbished machine with lesser specs than a new machine with a better configuration.

For example I went on there today and searched for the Inspiron 15 line.

The cheapest (Assuming the same processor as below) is $599

The deal site I have bought 4 Dell computers through has the same line with a better overall config for: $399
*
If you’re looking for a laptop at a great price, their Inspiron is hot at just $399! It features a 2.2GHz Intel Dual Core processor, 3GB of DDR2 SDRAM memory, 250GB SATA hard drive, dual layer DVD+/-RW drive, 802.11, and even Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit! Where you’re saving the dollars is the battery as it comes with a 4 cell instead of a 6 cell. Should you want, you can upgrade to the 6 cell for just $35, or get some GO time power with a 9 cell for just $75. You can also grab the same Inspiron 15 model with more memory and a bigger hard drive for $499 so don’t upgrading too much, *

It is very difficult to find a better deal than Dell. There are just too many promotions out there…if you know what you want and have a little time all you need to do if check in on them each day and buy the laptop you want when the promotion is the most ideal for you.
 
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