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Laptop buying advice forum: Need Advise as to the Best option

by: imtznu February 23, 2013 1:56 AM PST

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Need Advise as to the Best option

by imtznu - 2/23/13 1:56 AM

I am going to purchase a new laptop. I have been researching my brains out all week now and have possibly narrowed it down. What I would like opinion on is which one below might be the better way to go... better specs and price, refurbished OR less specs same price, new?

#1 OPTION
REFURB W/1YR DIRECT WARR
$813.99 (new appox $1000)

Inspiron 17R Special Edition Palmrest Label
Inspiron 17R Notebook (Inspiron 7720)
Windows 8, 64-bit, English
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM (6MB cache, up to 3.4Ghz)
17.3" Full High Definition (1080p) LED Display with Anti-Glare
8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD + 32GB mSATA SSD w/ Intel Smart Response
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GDDR5 2GB
8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Stealth Black Anodized Aluminum
48 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Battery
Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth
Skullcandy Speakers with WaveMaxx 4.0
Integrated 10/100 Network Card
English Backlit Keyboard with Multi-touch Touchpad
Power cord, 125V, 3.2 Feet, US
Digital Delivery Enablement
Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth
Shipping Material, Direct & Retail
NB & DT w/Webcam
Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials DVD
Wireless Display Application
PocketCloud Companion, Standard, Digital Delivery
No Adobe Reader Selected
Win8 Documentation, English
PCmover Home - Free
Retail Software - All WIN8
A7TRBO1401_019/BTS/C1





#2 OPTION

NEW FROM DELL
$768.00

My Software & Accessories
Microsoft Office Trial
90 days Premium Phone Support + 1 Year In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis
McAfee Security Center, 30 Day Subscription
Also Includes
Inspiron 17R Special Edition Palmrest Label
Inspiron 17R Notebook (Inspiron 7720)
Windows 8, 64-bit, English
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3230M processor (3M Cache, up to 3.2 GHz)
17.3" Full High Definition (1080p) LED Display with Anti-Glare
8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
750GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GDDR5 2GB
8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Stealth Black Anodized Aluminum
48 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Battery
Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth
Skullcandy Speakers with WaveMaxx 4.0
Integrated 10/100 Network Card
English Backlit Keyboard with Multi-touch Touchpad
Power cord, 125V, 3.2 Feet, US
Digital Delivery Enablement
Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth
Shipping Material, Direct & Retail
NB & DT w/Webcam
Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials DVD
Wireless Display Application
PocketCloud Companion, Standard, Digital Delivery
No Adobe Reader Selected
Win8 Documentation, English
PCmover Home - Free
Retail Software - All WIN8
A7TRBO1401_009/BTS/C1

It seems the big difference is between processor and hard drive. It is hard for me to know forsure if the differences are worth going with the refurb??

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated, Hec maybe neither is a very good deal? Thank you!!!


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Answer Best answer as chosen by user imtznu

First. That display.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 2/24/13 2:03 PM

In Reply to: Need Advise as to the Best option by imtznu

All the Inspirons I've seen and used have "acceptable" displays. Nothing really great, not terribly bad but just "acceptable." If we were grading displays, I'd always pass out it a letter "C".

You also have listed the 17 inch models to these are a bit flimsy. That's another grade C as they don't travel well. Are you going to park this on a desk and maybe a cooling pad?
Bob


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RE: buying laptop

by imtznu - 2/24/13 2:53 PM

In Reply to: First. That display. by R. Proffitt Moderator

Thank you very much for the response, as I appreciate your time in doing so. Yes this will be for the most part stationary, very little travel. I guess my question is kind of in two part.

1. I have never purchased anything refurbished before so am a bit concerned with the level of reliability. Logically it would seem* to be an okay thing to do considering it carries the same warranty. But often things are not as they seem so I want to be sure I am not missing something that would actually make buying refurbished a bad idea.

2. Would it make it a better deal to buy the refurbished unit with the:

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM (6MB cache, up to 3.4Ghz)
1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD + 32GB mSATA SSD w/ Intel Smart Response

OR

The New unit with the:

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3230M processor (3M Cache, up to 3.2 GHz)
750GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive

Basically wonder if the performance is enough better to buy the refurbished vs the new, both being about the same $ and both with same warranty supposedly.


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Personally I'd go with the new one

by wpgwpg - 2/24/13 3:02 PM

In Reply to: RE: buying laptop by imtznu

I doubt if you'd see much difference with the I7, so I'd go with the new one.

Good luck.


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Option 1 would

by orlbuckeye - 2/25/13 5:39 AM

In Reply to: RE: buying laptop by imtznu

be faster because of the SSD. Refurbed means something broke and it was repaired & replaced and resold. I have an SSD and I save lots of time booting up. If it were me I would select option 1.


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