Dell 15Z ... Best laptop for around $1200-1300?

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dalearyous

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 21, 2008
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I am in my last semester in college as an information systems major and I have made it this far without a laptop (I have always been in the camp that if I have the money, I build a desktop for myself to get the most for my dollar ... well that and an 8 core opteron server i use as well) anyway, i have been looking at reviews and shopping and its really hard to not think dell 15z is a great deal. the look and style is great, the specs are awesome for the money, (i love the 1080p resolution) and it comes with free xbox 360 right now (i could sell for $150 easily).

what am i looking for?
something that is decent in size and weight, powerful, not a mac (too much for sub par hardware), i like large resolution cause i am constantly in more than 1 virtual machine so screen space is valuable

pros of 15z:
a lot of hardware for good price
free xbox 360 (don't need, but sellable)
large resolution
2 year warranty

can anyone else weigh in? did i miss another manuf. or model?
 
Id rather buy an hp envy or an hp pavilion. although maybe you should wait for ultrabooks to come out this year? check out the toshiba portege Z830
 
not bad, it didn't mention video card and it has a small resolution. AND i cannot wait until november, hah i will fail 2 classes before then without one.

(i wasn't as impressed with hp envy)
 
hmm, i just customized 14" C series sony vaio for around $1200 and it has great specs! its got great resolution for 14" screen:

Intel® Core™ i5-2540M processor (2.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.30GHz (Reg. price $180.00)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
14" LED backlit display (1600 x 900)
AMD Radeon™ HD 6630M (1GB VRAM) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
500GB (7200rpm) hard drive (Reg. price $50.00)
6GB (4GBx1 + 2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333 (Reg. price $100.00)
CD/DVD player / burner
Large lithium-ion battery (7950mAh) (Reg. price $70.00)
 
the HP ENVY costs $1000 and has almost the same specs take a look at it. and much prettier :)
 
This is the base $999 model


Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2410M (2.3 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
Graphics card 1GB DDR3 Radeon(TM) HD 6630 switchable Graphics [HDMI, Mini Display Port]
Memory 6GB 1333MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM)
Hard drive 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Office software No Additional Office Software
Primary battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Display 14.5" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Infinity LED Display (1366x768)
Primary optical drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Personalization Skype HD-capable - HP TrueVision HD Webcam
Networking Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
Keyboard Backlit Keyboard
Included Software Bundle Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
 
horrible resolution though :(

although i will agree it is looking more and more appealing :)

$1099 bumps the hp envy to i7, AND i can get xbox 360 free as well which puts this over the 15z now for value
 
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true. look at this 15.6" pavilion for $960 dollars using the coupon NBCR9933



steel gray
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
750GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
No Additional Office Software
No additional security software
6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 5.5 hours of battery life +++
15.6" diagonal Full HD HP Anti-glare LED Display (1920 x 1080)
FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
 
im also looking for a similar laptop under $1000 so show me if u find anything!
 
yeah i dunno, HP envy seems like a great deal as long as i can deal with smaller resolution.

wish i could trade for no media drive and get the better screen :)
 
HP's upgraded screens usually run for 150+ price ...

Good laptop, that one listed is very similar to one I'm using right now. I'm not on the envy but the DV6t, the build quality is above standard, its very clean, the plastic on the top is very flimsy and the touchpad is kind of poopy (technical term) the device isn't ment to be used with a touchpad in mind (I wish all laptops could have the eraser mouse like IBM/Lenovo's...).

I will vouch for both dell and hp on build quality. Haven't had a Sony in a very long time so I can't comment there but I think HP will be your best deal.
 
dude if i were u id get this for $900, no dobut. look:

XPS 15 XPS 15
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Processor 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
Memory 6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
Keyboard Backlit Keyboard - English
LCD 15.6 in HD WLED TL (1366x768) with Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam
Video Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus
Hard Drive 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Color Elemental Silver Aluminum
Integrated Network Adapter Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
Adobe Reader Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
CD ROM/DVD ROM 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Sound JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3
Wireless Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months
Battery 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Service 2 Year In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis
Datasafe Online DataSafe 2.0 Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
 
woah yeah that $100 off is awesome. but i do not like look of xps15 ... i would have to spring for 15z
 
The 8165 was going to be my laptop purchase, but I found out I could get the dv6t for slightly cheaper and with the better/more power efficient 6770M.

If the Sager had the 6770M I would be using it right now.
 
For that price, honestly a macbook is the best bang for your buck in regards to solidity, beautiful screen, and battery life. You're idea that thus price is too much for the hardware. Compare it to some of the other laptops that will last and have that kind of battery life and you really can't beat it. I think once you tried one you wouldn't look back to any other notebooks.
 
i have, i used to use 13" macbook pro for work and while i did like it, i would never spend my own money on one ... well i wouldn't say never, but money is tight right now. and the specs on the 13" for gaming (not my primary use, but will be doing at times) is pretty bad and the 15" is out of my price range.

sager seems nice but i have no idea on build quality or the feel of the laptop
 
dalearyous said:
i have, i used to use 13" macbook pro for work and while i did like it, i would never spend my own money on one ... well i wouldn't say never, but money is tight right now. and the specs on the 13" for gaming (not my primary use, but will be doing at times) is pretty bad and the 15" is out of my price range.

sager seems nice but i have no idea on build quality or the feel of the laptop
Click to expand...

You ever look at the refurbished section? The 15's for a good price are MORE than capable for some gaming.
 
went will dell 15z. after some haggling on the phone will dell about the xbox 360 no longer being available online even though you can still click on it and not being able to use my coupon i got them down to $900 on base model WITH 1080p screen. good enough for me.

so tax, and 2 day shipping ran it just under a grand.
 
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laptop arrives thursday, for what it is worth i will post a quick review write up
 
my unofficial review:

first impressions: pictures do not do this justice, it really is a great looking laptop. its thinner in person. i don't know what engadget was talking about, build quality seems far superior to laptops in this range.

review: before i begin i just want to point out that many of the reviews online are misleading. many people compare this to 15" macbook pro and i just do not think this is fair. sure, if they were both sitting in front of me i would pick the macbook pro hands down. but its DOUBLE the price. so...

most of the negative things i read online simply just do not pertain to me. (1) many complained about the keyboard and honestly i think it feels great. i can type extremely fast no problems and i never have problems blindly finding the keys i need. (2) some complained about the speakers, but who buys laptop to even use speakers? honestly, most have headphones or a pair of portable speakers. i think they are more than fine for everyday laptop use. (3) many complained about the heat and noise. disclaimer: i have the i5 not the i7 which apparently runs quite a bit cooler. i have owned macbook pro 13" in the past and to be honest both of these laptops get just as hot under load (gaming mostly). sure the sound of the fan in the xps 15 is a little louder but nothing that many people would hear. i sit in quiet classrooms and i never hear my fan kick up in normal use. just to make a point, i fired up a game and when the fan went full blast, yes i could hear it, but the guy next to me couldn't so who cares.

pros: (1) great, great price! (2) i love the 1080p screen. i can fit a lot of remote sessions on one screen! colors are vibrant although i will say they are slightly off (i will be calibrating soon). but keep in mind i am used to a $1200 24" desktop lcd. (3) keyboard feels great and is extremely quiet. (4) the ports! usb 3.0 is awesome to have and the hdmi out and the mini display out are awesome to have all on 1 unit. (5) trackpad surprisingly works almost as good as a macbook pro one. i can do 2 finger drag, i have it set for a 3 finger flick to change tabs and all this is can be set as you wish. (6) backlit keyboard is a great perk. (7) build quality is excellent. sure like it says in the engadget review if you push down somewhere it gives a little but i disagree with them in saying i can do the exact same thing to any macbook pro so not sure what engadget was trying to get at. (7) games surprisingly well! sc2 and deus ex is all i have played on it so far. i know the requirements for deus ex aren't that extreme but it runs great at 1920x1080. sc2 does too, not on ultra but close.

cons: (1) laptop came with windows 7 home and i needed professional. i wouldn't list this as a con because thats just normal except after reinstalling windows 7 pro, getting all drivers installed required a bit more labor than i expected. (2) the original wireless driver has issues with certain access points when running on battery. this is all documented on dell's driver page and a quick driver update fixed it right up. (3) if you ever need to upgrade, the laptop will require a bit more care and time disassembling (i plan for SSD soon) (4) grasping at things here ... i wish it had magnet release charger like macbooks

summary: i get quite a few double takes in classrooms with this thing (i have yet to see another 15z out in public). i may have to virtualize mac OSX and really confuse people. overall i am extremely happy with my purchase and i am a very, very picky person when it comes to anything hardware/tech related. it can handle everything i need it to. i am trying to think of some type of person that would not like it and i really can't. maybe die hard mac fanboy or someone looking for a lot more mobility (in which case i would highly recommend amd fusion).

my 2 cents
 
I have been flip flopping from a sagar to the dell 15z, a big question is, is the internal SATA port on the dell a 3 or 6gbs spec. I would want to upgrade to a SSD and the speed difference is nearly double from one to the other.
 
i am going to go back and say, the speakers are pretty damn good for a laptop. i am impressed, clarity and volume is better than any of the other 6 laptops in the room at the moment (various brands)
 
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