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capt.PropwashKCHS · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:09 pm Post subject: looking for new laptop

yeah yeah yeah, i know... dont get a laptop... get a desktop cause you can get more speed / power out of it.... but im looking for portability but yet at the same time, speed / power.

How do you feel about this Dell Inspirion 13.. http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-13?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~laptop-inspiron-13_anav3~~

Inspiron 13

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Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5850 (2.16GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
Glossy, widescreen 13.3" LCD (1280x800) w/o Camera
8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive)
3GB1 Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
Size: 250GB2 SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card
56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)

1. ) im sure that it will handle FS9 with absolutely no problems.... what about FSX SP1 at least???

2. ) memory size? Hard drive? Processor???

3. ) could the processor be overclocked?

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 863

The graphics is a bottleneck, will probably not be able to run FS9 at full settings.

FSX? Don't think about anywhere near high settings.

EDIT: If you want a Dell laptop geared towards gaming, look at the XPS series.
EDIT2: Oh, and no, you should NOT try to overclock laptop processors.

121a · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:19 am Post subject:

i'm strongly against dell. they are kinda a monoply in the sense that you need to buy all dell parts for your dell system, unlike any other PC manufacuter you can put different parts into it and it will still work just fine.
+1 on what T-fish said.

and look into alienware also, pricey but I heard they are worth it.

rd · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 4:21 am Post subject:

Have to agree on the Dell thing. Almost all their stuff is propriety. Meaning only their stuff can be used on it. Very few outside sources cater to being able to modify or include Dell compatible hardware.

Plus, for the price, there are better ones to be had, with better equipment.

RD

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 836 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

Check out this topic and how I almost fried my entire Dell desktop when trying to install a third-party power supply.

http://forums.surclaro.com/ftopic8076.html&highlight=proprietary

I'm strongly against Dell. My favorite laptop brands are Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Alienware, and Toshiba.

capt.PropwashKCHS · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:21 am Post subject:

well, like the Dumb@$$ that i probably am.... i tried to download WinXP SP3 (again) thinking that MacroCrap (microsoft) would have figured out their little problems with the SP..... Well....

The problems that I am being faced with now, is 1) a faulty harddrive - bios does not recognize the HDD.... 2) something is not posting properly in the Processor, or another system componet is damaged somehow.

Im leaning toward the HDD going out because at boot up i can F12 to get to DIAGNOSTIC scan (i probably need to do a RUN > SCANDISK.... or RUN CHKDISK) ..... but i have to "boot / F12 / Diagnostic" about 4-7 times in a row before the HDD engages and allows the computer to boot up. BUT!!!! as it is booting up, i get a white and grey screen saying that something in the Modular Bay is not inserted correctly, please restart computer to try to fix the problem, or hit ESC to ignore and continue.

Well, the only Modular bays that I have is my 1 Gig memory stick, and i know that would not cause the bios to not find the Harddrive. BOTH the memory, and HDD are inserted fully, and once Windows does start up... everything seems to be just fine. No problems in DEVICE MANAGER; System info is showing everything the way that it should be; EVERYTHING APPEARS TO BE FINE..... that is until i have to reboot the system after updates, or I turn it off.

As far as other parts not fitting "my" dell inspirion 2200 laptop.... I have 2 HDD from a Gateway laptop that will fit my Dell Laptop perfectly. Now, if they did work, if they had Dell codes on them for the DELL laptop (write zeros to the drive, then reformat it for the dell, reinstall windows, and rebuild the software) I am sure that they will work with the dell. -- oh well, if i cant get a whole new computer i might just have to settle for a new HDD at hold me off till Tax Season when i can go get me that Alienware ive had my eye on for a while http://www.alienware.com/products/area-51-m17x-notebook.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51M17X&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

let me know what you think.

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 863

Are you using Symantec?

capt.PropwashKCHS · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 4:33 am Post subject:

as in? antivirus? yeah.... ive never had a problem with it........ is that the problem?? SP3 and "nortons" dont like each other?

groundsquirrel · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:57 am Post subject: dont overlook...

Dont overlook the HDD ribbon cable. I cant count how many times I have been handed a "dead" PC only to find a bad cable.

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 863

I've had all the wrong problems with Symantec.

IME, you are better off replacing Symantec with something slimmer (use less system resources) and cheaper (more bang for buck).

Symantec is a great company, but their software is total crap.

There have been numerous reports of Symantec software conflicting with SP3.
I believe if you Google something about Norton and SP3, you will find that Symantec released a few fixes or something for SP3.

Check before you install SP3, and remember, backup your data.

viche12345 · Joined: 01 Apr 2005 Posts: 836 Location: San Diego, CA, USA

A great, light antivirus program: ESET NOD32. I can barely notice its presence. See for yourself:

http://www.eset.com

121a · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:01 am Post subject:

or there are a bunch of free ones, such as avast antivirus, i use it and it is generally nice. well with 4gbs of ram i'm a little less worried what is running and what is not, :D

I'm also starting to get tired of Micropoop right now. I'm having an updating problem, and cannot get only certain updates. I'm working with a tech agent who seems to be sending me emails only about ever 4-7 days though they say 24hours on the site. :roll:

tropicalfish · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 863

I use avast! here.
If using payware software gives you that extra sense of security, then ESET NOD32 is excellent.

Haun · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:02 pm Post subject:

if you think you have a virus go this:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic17258.html

Not an antivirus software, antivirus KILLER. You do what it tells you and it will purge all, at least thats what it did for me, viruses and virus related crap from your computer.

Im not sure if you should use this on Vista (it might kill the computer :wink: ). And Im not sure how safe it is for use when you dont really have a virus. but i bet some one could tell us.

capt.PropwashKCHS · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:31 pm Post subject:

ok guys.... appearently things are getting a little off topic with the whole "it might be a virus" issue. it is not a virus.. my Nortons AntiVirus / Internet Security 2008 has been ran 20 times and my computer is NOT infected with a virus.

BIOS WILL NOT DETECT THE C:\ HARDDRIVE. ... i have to turn off / on the computer ~15 times and keep hitting F12 to go to Diagnostic mode to get it to recognize the HDD. Once it does recognize (like NOW) then everything works just fine. There is something between the Motherboard and the Harddrive (possibly the drive itself) that is messed up.

the last thing that i did BEFORE any of this started happening, was i downloaded and installed WIN XP SP3. I believe that is where my problem lies. I have checked the REGEDIT to see if there are / were any added entries like there were before and EVERY SINGLE ENTRY in the registry is ok (as far as i can tell). I have tried to uninstall SP3, but a popup window comes up and says that the Service Pack can not be found.

???????? ok, if i can see the SP in Add / Remove Programs, then it should be able to be removed, right??? I have tired in regular computing mode, and in SAFE Mode, and neither way allows me to delete the SP.

Now, before any of you open your keyboards and says anything about "well, why dont you use system restore to just go back to before you installed it...."............. SYSTEM RESTORE DOESNT WORK EITHER. it has not worked since the day i bought the computer 3 years ago.

ergo... the topic of this thread.... LOOKING FOR A NEW LAPTOP