12" Laptop Under $700?

[kuruptz]

Hey guys,

Looking for a laptop for the girlfriend, I've basically decided to get her a proper laptop not an eeepc or msi wind.

It will be used for uni, as well as home use as her main computer.

The dell Vostro 1200 can be had for $650 with better specs then both of these laptops mentioned above, and it may even be cheaper then the MSI WIND.

I am wondering if there are any other laptops around $600-$800 that are 12" and compare to the vostro 1200.

Anyone also know how long the 4 cell battery on this thing lasts? and if it protrudes out the back like the 6 cell?

Also Is it worth $150 to upgrade the processor to a core 2 duo over the celeron M? Does the core 2 duo use less power and have any more advantages apart from speed?

Is the celeron M really that bad?

It needs to last atleast 3 hours.

Thanks.

[sanjay]

no, there arent.

3 hour life from the 4 cell battery if you have display set to lowest and wireless off

not worth the extra money because by then you may as well go to the vostro 1310 or the next model up vostro 1200.

if i were getting one, id buy the base model, then get another core 2 mobile CPU from ebay, chuck it in and voila speedstep

[kuruptz]

Apparently the celeron M that comes with it 1.8ghz

Is actually faster then the $150 upgrade which is the core 2 duo 1.4ghz

Unless ofcourse your doing something that requires dual core, but she will only be using word and firefox/MSN.

Maybe some music too.

EDIT: Search ebay and cant seem to find core 2 duo mobile processors by themselves, how much are we looking at anyway for the upgrade? Might not even be worth it for her use?

Unless the core 2 duo uses less battery?

[sanjay]

the whole point of going up to a pentium dual-core, core duo, or core 2 duo is that you get speedstep, so when the system is not working its tits off, the CPU will clock down to about 500mhz or whatever. reduces the multiplier when theres no load on the CPU, significantly saving battery life.

thats why the celeron is a bit skint for battery life. but yes, its a celeron based on the core architecture, so it would likely be fine, just make sure you realise that it wont be as fast as an equivalent core 2 because its got like a quarter of the cache.

upgrading the ram is a must, too. but dont do it through dell, chuck your own 1gb stick in.

[kuruptz]

Yeah i was going to get the 512mb and upgrade my own ram, but you cant if you spec it with 512mb ram you need to buy windows xp.

So i have to upgrade to 1gb of ram for $28 or whatever it is so then i can not purchase an OS.

Kinda sux that you need to buy the OS to spec it at minimum but $28 to upgrade to 1gb is alot better then $150 or whatever it is to buy windows.

Oh ok so the celeron that comes with it doesnt have speedstep?

I know that an equivalent core 2 duo is faster but the $150 upgrade to the 1.4ghz core 2 duo isnt faster so its sort of pointless.

How much battery life are we talking about, that the core 2 duo saves?

[sanjay]

just noticed that, thats pretty retarded.

call them up and ask for that model but with XP home on it.

shouldnt be forced to upgrade ram just in order to get the laptop, after all it says it comes with vista home basic as standard.

[kuruptz]

I thought it came with no OS, as there is no mark in any of the circles and they all cost money :S

Strange.

[sanjay]

on the page where it compares the three vostros at different price levels it says that the $648 one has vista home basic.

their online ordering system appears to be fucked up somewhat chronic, what with the $1080 vostro 1710 and all

[kuruptz]

Oh i see what you mean, I specced the pc and then went view details and there is no operating system listed, so that makes it even more confusing, as the main page lists it but when you go to purchase and view details it isnt listed.

It ends up $642 with 1gb of ram and 5% off, which is awesome just have worries about battery life as cant find any info on it and the info i find says 2.5 hours and doesnt say if thats 6 cell or 4 cell battery.

So i need to find somewhere that sells batteries for this laptop, as she will need more then 2 hours.

[_the_duke_]

Originally Posted by kuruptz

So i need to find somewhere that sells batteries for this laptop, as she will need more then 2 hours.

It would probably be cheaper to upgrade the CPU to the C2D 1.4GHz.

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by sanjay

their online ordering system appears to be fucked up somewhat chronic, what with the $1080 vostro 1710 and all

Yes, something isn't quite right. If you go to the $948.20 Vostro 1200 system, no CPU is selected by default (and the cheapest one is listed as "+ AUD 818.40"). Selecting that reduces the system price to $898.70.

Regarding batteries: I'm not sure if you can get them from anyone other than Dell. Most laptop manufacturers are like that (there aren't generally third-party batteries available).

[kuruptz]

Originally Posted by _the_duke_

It would probably be cheaper to upgrade the CPU to the C2D 1.4GHz.

But i wouldnt get much battery life just from that.

[sanjay]

Originally Posted by kuruptz

But i wouldnt get much battery life just from that.

speedstep is what gives you the battery life.

listen to SLATYE, he knows his stuff.

im getting the impression that these vostro 1200s are a bit of a false economy. i mean only the most unfussy of computer users would be genuinely happy with that base model configuration.

[hdkhang]

Originally Posted by sanjay

just make sure you realise that it wont be as fast as an equivalent core 2 because its got like a quarter of the cache.

Actually it is half the cache of many of the lower end core2duos. Speedwise, that big of a disparity in clock frequency will make up for more than the smaller cache for apps that don't fully utilise more than 1 core.

[connico]

Wait for grays online auction from dell and get a 420 or 430. Much better work horse for uni.