Help me choose between these two laptops!?

Question

I am saving some money, what ever is left from my bills, to buy a laptop before i leave for college next january. I found these two that i like, can you tell me which one is better? I am familiar with laptops, but not brands for speakers, sound, performance. I am an amature gamer, so something that won't blow up will be great... I haven't played WoW yet, and dont plan on it. Thanks
HP dv6000t- Core2Duo T5600 (1.83GHz/2MB),
1GB memory, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400, 80GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive,

Dell Inspiron E1705- CoreDuo T2350 (1.83 GHz/2MB), 2 GB memory, 120 GB Hard Drive, 256 MB NVIDIA Ge Force Go 7900 GS, Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD

The Dell will cost me $1,368 and the HP $1,211... I understand the cost should be balanced with performance but honestly, I'm not sure what to look for. Thanks for your help. Sorry if I sound alittle lost.

Also, Is it worth getting the 3 years, accidental damage coverage? I've heard htat it ultimately screws you over and offers no aide.

Answer 1

Quite honestly I have never liked HP's. Nothing really against them it just seems that I see/hear more about them crashing.

If you are going to put MS Vista as your Operating System which I'm assuming you are. You will definitely need all the RAM you can get. Also, a faster hard drive means a faster computer. Switching from a 5400RPM HDD to the 7200 can shave 10-20 seconds off your startup time and shave seconds off program start times.

Email me if you have ANY other questions. Also...if you have anyone in your family that are in the military... they can potentially get a $200 discount on the dell.

I just bought my Dell 1705, as you have listed, with the 2.0 Core2, 2gig of ram, the 80GB 7200RPM drive, dvd burner, and the 256 ATI card for $1288....so... if you don't you can email me and we can see what you wanna do.

Click this to email me > http://answers.yahoo.com/my/message_do?kid=AA10493789

Answer 2

I'd go for the Dell. I bought myself one of their laptops in college and it was great. Still is in fact. And I did go for the 3 years accidental damage thing because I was always carrying it around places at school and I didn't want to worry about it if something minor happened. They came out to me to repair things really fast the 2 times I had a problem and there was no charge. Also, it depends on the college you're going to, but mine had student discounts when you bought a dell computer. I don't know how it works at other schools, but there was a link through the student store at mine to get the education discount. It was a rather significant one if you can get it.

Answer 3

17 inches is a big computer to lug around campus. I would go with the HP. They have a new version called the HP 6500 that gives you the option of a NV 8400 vid. card. Still in the same price range. No I think the added guarantees to the one year basic are expensive and a waste.

HP
Model: HP Pavilion dv6560us (Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Vista Home Premium)
Screen Size: 15.4 inches
Weight: 6 lbs
Processor Options: Core 2 Duo
Graphics Options: nVidia Go 8400m (Dedicated)
Description: The HP dv6500t is a 15.4" screen laptop with Centrino Duo technology, optional web camera and Nvidia graphics or integrated
Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (1.8 GHz) , 1 GB DDR II SDRAM

Check my link it gives user reviews and has a great forum.

Answer 4

If you are going to be taking the laptop to classes you will appreciate the lighter weight of the Dell 1505 or 1405, they can be similarly equipped for about the same price as the 1705. I'm always travelling with my laptop and even the 1405 gets to be too heavy at the end of the day.

I wouldn't recommend going with the extended warranty. If anything goes wrong with the laptop it's very likely it will be in the first year or even first few months of ownership. I've done reliability testing on components, so I know this.

Answer 5

I personally would go with the Dell because of the more memory and I wouldn't get the 3 year accidental coverage.

Answer 6

I think you have to go with the Dell, double the ram and a larger hard drive make for a strong case in its favor. I think the dell has a better video card, but I doubt you would see any noticeably performance difference.

Answer 7

Dell and the accidental coverage I am not sure of 3 years is a long time for a computer usually they are obsolete after 2.

Answer 8

i'm a big advocate of HP computers. i swear by them. HP and Compaq computers are what i have had for years now, and never had a problem. I find that dell's, especially their laptops, have good components, but feel poorly constructed. i've been happy with HP's customer service too; had to replace a laptop batter, and they had it back to me in 1 business day! (and i'm not even close, had to ship from CA to their place in KY)

i wouldn't go for the extra protection, unless you're clumsy and going to spill your coffee on it or drop it.

if you really want that extra edge, you COULD go with the dell. if you're just using it for documents/internet/etc, the HP will be fine.

Answer 9

You can always replace the Ram. Speakers you can buy very cheap in a Dollar store (depends if you need a fancy one). Gateway is a very good and reliable brand. I personally bought a couple of refurbished products and they still work fine. Intel core processor is a good one but AMD is just a generic one and it's good too. Widescreen is a big plus. In office depot they have good deals on computers I just purchased Toshiba Satelite and it has AMD processor. Check if you can extend memory drive and the Ram ( far a faster one) you can just replace it and get a faster computer. Good luck with the purchase.

Answer 10

Go with the dell and sell out some more Dollars for Complete Cover.

You can have 3 years onsite service for 200$ or so.