Laptop question (Dell Inspiron 9300)

[raublekick]

Ok guys, I've been looking for a laptop for a while, and finally got an offer that I'm not sure I can refuse...

$1400 for a Dell Inspiron 9300, here are the specs:
17" Widescreen WUXGA+ 1920x1200 with XBrite display
1.66ghz Pentium-M 667mhz FSB 2MB L2 Cache CPU
GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB Dedicated GDDR3 PCIe graphics card
1GB of DDR2 PC4300 Dual-Channel RAM
80GB SATA Hard Drive
54G b/g wireless
Bluetooth 3mbps (BluCore 4) integrated
DVD/CD-RW
USB 2.0 ports out the *******
DVI out, dual monitor support
TV out
6 cell battery
and 9 cell battery


The only issue is that I fear it will be too big. I was really looking for a 15.4" or 14.1" screen. But my friend is in need of money and this is a friggin' awesome price, and exactly what I want besides the screen. Is 17" too big? Does it get annoying trying to make room for such a beast wherever you go?

Also, any experiences with Ubuntu on this guy? I'd imagine it would install pretty smooth.

[Brunellus]

this looks like it's going to be a beast to haul around. A 17" laptop, folded up, is bigger than a letter-size 3-ring binder (or, for you metric paper guys, an A4 lever arch file).

Consider weight as well. I'm guessing that this rig will weigh something on the order of 3 to 3.5 kilos--doesn't sound like much when you're sitting on your ***, but considering the atrocious battery life, you'll probably have to carry the powerbrick if you take it with you to do any extended work. Tell me: how do you feel about carrying another 5 kg or so of stuff in your bag all day?

I used a 3 kilo laptop in grad school, and it became a transportable desktop: too much to have to carry in addition to my other books, notes, groceries, beer, whatever.

[poofyhairguy]

Nice, an Nvidia card. Seems worth it, if only to resell on ebay for more money.

[raublekick]

Brunellus, you've exactly nailed my concerns.

poofy, you've exactly nailed what i might end up doing with it! The Nvidia card is what is really drawing me to it. Nvidia is really tough to find in laptops I guess. The only vendor that I have found with similar specs is Alienware, but it would cost me $1500+ for a 15.4" and only 128MB videocard.

[fuscia]

snap it up. carrying the extra weight will be good for you.

[mstlyevil]

I pesonally would love to have it as a second desktop that is Linux/Unix only. What fun I would have installing Arch, Gentoo, Debian and BSD. It would be my ultimate toy. Now if I only wasn't so damn broke! :rolleyes:

[briancurtin]

i have an HP laptop with a 17" widescreen

i dont think it has ever touched my lap, and i can count the number of times ive lugged it out of my room in the last two school years on one hand.

[raublekick]

I just got this laptop tonight and boy am I pleased. I popped in the Ubuntu live CD and everything seems to be working! I can't wait to try the Nvidia drivers on here. Earlier I was playing FEAR at 1920x1200 with 40fps.

Now I just need to figure out how to make a Windows restore CD from Dell's hidden partition, and reformat/partition my drive so I can dual boot.

[Leo_01]

raublekick pls pls post a nice guide on how to do a restore cd from the hidden partition and kill the really stupid partition...
^_^
i got some problems with the batt management in ubuntu on my dell laptop...(mine is using a nidiva go card too)
a nidiva card really sucks power up!(unless you are a hardcore gamer go for a lighter one)

[raublekick]

raublekick pls pls post a nice guide on how to do a restore cd from the hidden partition and kill the really stupid partition...
^_^
i got some problems with the batt management in ubuntu on my dell laptop...(mine is using a nidiva go card too)
a nidiva card really sucks power up!(unless you are a hardcore gamer go for a lighter one)

Well, doing a little research revealed that not all Dell's are equiped with the ability to create a CD from the restore partition. The Dell website says that only computers shipped in the first half of 2005 are able to.

However, I found a site that gives some steps to get the image through some other means. I'll have to find that later.

I think for me, I'm just gonna try to buy a small hardrive and get a caddy and stuff, and when I wanna switch OSes I'll switch hard drives.

[vayu]

Well, doing a little research revealed that not all Dell's are equiped with the ability to create a CD from the restore partition. The Dell website says that only computers shipped in the first half of 2005 are able to.

For the machines that have the capability to make the CD there is a menu option in the Dell administration menu. For those that don't have it, Dell offered it for a $8-10 purchase with the machine (it was one of those radio button options on the configure it now page). You can still purchase it by calling them and giving your service tag. It's worth it IMHO, if you plan to run windows at all. It's a clean XP disk and reformating all the pre-installed bloatware is high priority for me.

[K.Mandla]

Is 17" too big?
I used to think 17" was overwhelming, but I can't give it up now. I love it. Anything else seems puny.

[raublekick]

For the machines that have the capability to make the CD there is a menu option in the Dell administration menu. For those that don't have it, Dell offered it for a $8-10 purchase with the machine (it was one of those radio button options on the configure it now page). You can still purchase it by calling them and giving your service tag. It's worth it IMHO, if you plan to run windows at all. It's a clean XP disk and reformating all the pre-installed bloatware is high priority for me.


Good to know. Thanks. I purchased this from a friend so I'll have to find all of that info I guess.

[David Corrales]

I also have a 9300 and I LOVE the 1920x1600... so much sharper than anything else :mrgreen: