new laptop

[Pete]

just an FYI for anyone shopping for a laptop...

Dell currently has the Vostro V13/Latitude 13 for $349

I picked one up to use as a home machine, and it's pretty damn nice.

13.3" 1366x768
Core 2 Duo ULV SU7300
2gb memory
320gb 7200 rpm drive
wireless and bluetooth
webcam

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/vostro-v13/pd?oc=bqcwrmb&model_id=vostro-v13

I added a 2nd year of warranty onto mine for $40

This thing is THIN and light.  Definitely a sweet rig for hauling around, it runs Windows 7 and Fedora Linux just fine with 2gb of memory.  I slapped a 128gb SSD into mine just because I'm a whore.  The 7200 rpm drive vibrated a little bit, no big deal but with the SSD it's dead quiet.  With either drive the machine bottom is almost always room temp, which is important to me because I hate hot, overheated laptops.  The touchpad also supports 2 finger scrolling, which is pretty nice.

Here's a couple shots of it compared to the thickness of my cell phone (HTC Incredible), a D630, and my E4300. The entire V13 is thinner than just the base of the D630

[Heather]

I really do need a new laptop....ol gateway is losing keys now hahah

[Pete]

hah, it's lived a hard life.

[DaBen]

I have kind of a silly question I guess.  I am looking for a laptop for my travels for work or actually lack there of.  I need something that will be able to live life on a motorcycle for a month or so.  It will be in a hard bag but will vibrations kill a laptop.  I can get foam inserts for the bags but just thought I'd ask.  Seems like a good deal.

[Pete]

as long as the machine is turned off and secured tightly in a bag, it will be fine.


one thing to note about this machine, it has NO optical drive.  So if it's important to listen to cd's or watch dvd's, this isn't the machine for you.

[Jeremy]

Nice!  Have you seen how ugly the 20 series latitudes are? 

I picked up a 13" MBP with the i5 with my tax return. 

[busyfixin]

Will this machine work well with Excell?  Or would more ram be needed?

[Pete]

it would work fine

[busyfixin]

I don't see any software options available for purchase from Dell.  I suppose I'll have to buy it separate.  Where can I find the best deal on Excel?

[Pete]

you'd just have to buy the whole office suite through Dell.  Usually it's only a few bucks more than just buying Excel or Word individually

[ELake]

I got the hookup for Office 07 Dizzle