[silversteed]

Originally Posted by iamswift

Unless you go for 64 bit OS, 4GB wont be recognized. 1 GB would be there lying useless.

32-bit OS can handle upto 4GB. For anything more, you need a 64-bit OS.


@Pancham:
If it's a newly launched model, then they would hardly reduce the price. If it's an already available config, then yeah, your tantrums would pay off.

I would say, go for the 500GB HDD. See if you have the 7200rpm option. Provided you can stretch your budget a bit. else go for the 320GB 7200rpm HDD.

A 4GB RAM is now very common, so go for it.

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by khoj

Pancham, Aroy is correct and in any case the Dell exclusive is just a fancy name given to a dealer's outlet that is committed to selling only Dell machines from that particular outlet. Scratch the surface and you will find the same old computer wala ever willing to haggle.

That is indeed good news for me. Actually the attitude of the SP is so bad in the DE shop. The sales guys seem like they are owners of DELL. They are like "you buy it or not, we do not care". Atleast that is how I was welcomed in their shop. Anyways the shop remains empty most of the time as most people buy it from normal reputed multibrand selling shops. But for the sake of peace of mind I am thinking of getting it from them.

Originally Posted by khoj

Aroy, One needs a West Bengal road permit to ship anything into that state. Obtaining the said permit for individual buyers is next to impossible and this could be one of the reasons why Dell may not be delivering. As for parts and all, their after sales is sourced out to a couple of vendors on an all India basis. The vendors would obtain the required WB road permits as for them it is a commercial activity and on a scale that is worth the effort and the expense. I therefore do not foresee any issues with service etc.

You are correct. A lady had called from DELL telling me to go the Sales Tax office and get a FORM 61 of 21(I dont remember) and send it to them . Then after a long process they will send me the lappy. I decided against it as the process was way too complicated.
Lets see them . Wish me luck with the bargaining.

@ Silversteed. I am sorry but the only RPM I understand is the one in the Tachometer .
Can you explain the use of it? 500GB is something I want to get because i will keep it for a very long time. Lets see what I can get.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Pancham

@ Silversteed. I am sorry but the only RPM I understand is the one in the Tachometer .
Can you explain the use of it? 500GB is something I want to get because i will keep it for a very long time. Lets see what I can get.

The HDD has platters, or disks stacked inside, which rotate at a set speed. A read/write head reads/writes data from these platters. If the disks are rotating at a higher rate, the read head can do its business faster. In short, a higher performance for your laptop, as everything you need will be stored in the hard disk. Go to howstuffworks.com for an illustrated explanation.

Think of it as a higher rpm at the same gear translating to a faster ride

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by silversteed

32-bit OS can handle upto 4GB. For anything more, you need a 64-bit OS.


@Pancham:
If it's a newly launched model, then they would hardly reduce the price. If it's an already available config, then yeah, your tantrums would pay off.

I would say, go for the 500GB HDD. See if you have the 7200rpm option. Provided you can stretch your budget a bit. else go for the 320GB 7200rpm HDD.

A 4GB RAM is now very common, so go for it.

32 bit OS can handle 4GB, but that includes the video cache and the OS. So for all practical purpose you have 3GB or less to play with. I have 8GB and on XP-32 I get around 3GB, while on XP-64 the full RAM.

Also note that many applications written long ago can not even cross 1GB per application instance.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

You will have to scout Lam road or buy it online.

Links :

eBay India: ANDROID 2.2 Freescale iMX515 Cortex A8 Flash

This one has the same hardware as iPad n terms of CPU/RAM:

eBay India: Capacitive Android 2.2 Tablet apad 7" Samsung Processor (item 140500555877 end time 13-Feb-2011 00:22:02 IST)

Checked and rechecked, wifey doesn't want a Tablet PC. She specifically needs netbook. Personally, i too would prefer it. Hate the "Touch screen" stuff! So, back to square one. Please assist!

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Aroy

32 bit OS can handle 4GB, but that includes the video cache and the OS. So for all practical purpose you have 3GB or less to play with. I have 8GB and on XP-32 I get around 3GB, while on XP-64 the full RAM.

Also note that many applications written long ago can not even cross 1GB per application instance.

I doubt if anyone (the real "end user") would use eons old applications now. Well, I'm going OT...

I tried the bargaining trick last year, when I bought my XPS. It was a new launch, fully loaded. The Sales Rep asked me pin-pointed questions about the models that i had in comparison, I had no other choice to relent. However, for a friend of mine, I did some research and made him talk, he got a good 4k discount

[hvishwanathan]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Friends I think I will settle for the option 2. The Dell shop is quoting Rs. 41600 for this configuration and not for the option 1. How much do you think I should bargain down to, I mean what should be my starting price?

Dear Pancham,

See if this below config fits your requirement :

Processor & Cache
Intel® Core™ i5 -640M
Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-BIT)
Chipsets
Intel® GMA HD
System Memory
DDR3 1066, 4GB(2_2GB) Max: 8GB
LCD Display
14” HD 1366×768
Graphics & Video Module
NVIDIA® GeForce GT 325M , VRAM DDR3 1GB
Audio
2 High Quality Speakers
HDD
2.5" 500GB SATA
Optical Drive
DVD Super-Multi
Webcam
HD Webcam
Card Reader
4-in1 Card Reader (SD/SDHC/MMC)
Communication Port
Built-in 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN
Built-in 802.11b/g/n WLAN Card
Bluetooth - V2.1+EDR
I/O Port
D-Sub- (VGA)—1 no
HDMI- 1 no
USB 2.0 port - 3 nos
USB 3.0 port - N/A
E-sata—01 no
e-SATA/USB Combo—N/A
Mic-in/Headphone-out- 1 no
Express Card- N/A
Modem port -1 Nos
Line-in- N/A
AC Adaptor
65W
Battery Pack & Life
6 cells
Keybord
103 Keys
Dimension & Weight
350(L)x234(W)x29.7~33.5~39.5(H)
2.2KG

If yes you can PM me

[Pancham]

One more question I would like to ask. I require a 1GB graphics card with the laptop. The ones they provide(1 GB) from the shop are not NVIDIA(I think so). So will the NFS (latest) games which require NVIDIA cards be compatible with the cards provided with the laptop??? What i mean is are graphic cards of some other make be compatible with the games if its not NVIDIA??

[devarshi84]

If it is not Nvidia, it will be ATI (AMD). Both will play the latest games easily losing/gaining a Frame here and there.

PS: You cannot add a GPU to the laptop. The MXM technology sadly didn't take off.

[anku94]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Buy an Android Tablet for 15k and get done with it...

Originally Posted by amtak

Checked and rechecked, wifey doesn't want a Tablet PC. She specifically needs netbook. Personally, i too would prefer it. Hate the "Touch screen" stuff! So, back to square one. Please assist!

If it just has to be a 'gift' then a tablet would do fine. But keep in mind that a tablet is more of a 'lifestyle' device than a 'productivity' device. You can watch movies and stuff and surf the net, and maybe install some apps. But it's not a substitute for a computer...even a netbook.

Do keep this in mind before choosing a tablet or a netbook.

Performance-wise : Dell mini ~ HP Mini > Acer Aspire One (For HCL, I didn't know which config to pick)

This is primarily based on the processor. First two have N55, while the Acer has N450. The N455 supports DDR3 RAM, and both HP and Dell come with it.

After sales service of Dell is said to be the best, while quality of both Dell or HP is more or less equal.

Some people have posted bad experiences with Acer laptop batteries in this thread, so I'd suggest not going for it.

HCL after-sales support is uncharted territory, and the online prices of the ME laptops were 23000 + (HCL Store). If you could post details of the model that you are getting for 17k, we could help you choose.

I'd pick the Dell if it were me, but take a look at all of them, keep the performance aspects in mind, and then pick one you like the most.

Originally Posted by Pancham

One more question I would like to ask. I require a 1GB graphics card with the laptop. The ones they provide(1 GB) from the shop are not NVIDIA(I think so). So will the NFS (latest) games which require NVIDIA cards be compatible with the cards provided with the laptop??? What i mean is are graphic cards of some other make be compatible with the games if its not NVIDIA??

If it's 1GB, and it's not nVidia, then it's AMD (erstwhile ATI, as @Devarshi84 said. It was bought by AMD long back but the ATI name was retained, and now the last vestiges of the ATI branding have been removed). ATI/AMD does in GPUs what AMD does in CPUs, which is to provide solid performance at a budget. ATI/AMD is a perfectly good choice.

Do note that while there are no compatibility issues with any games with any of the two cards, GPU performance is dependent on a lot of factors, and GPU memory is just one of them. Number of CUDA cores/Shader processors and stuff like that are far more important. 1GB doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to play all games at good settings.

Crudely speaking, for nvidia, if model no. is between 300-350, or 400-450, then it's low end, 460M is upper middle end, and 470M, 480M and 485M are high end.

For AMD/ATI, 5000-5500 and 6000-6500 are low-end, 5500-5700/6500-6700 are middle end and higher numbers are high end.

The first digit (for both AMD and nvidia) represents the generation and not the performance. So a 435M might be two generations newer than 280M, but it will perform far poorly.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by anku94

Performance-wise : Dell mini ~ HP Mini > Acer Aspire One (For HCL, I didn't know which config to pick)


I'd pick the Dell if it were me, but take a look at all of them, keep the performance aspects in mind, and then pick one you like the most.

Hi Anku,

Thank you for valuable inputs. I have totally ruled out "TABS" as I am personally not in favour of touch screen devices. I think Dell mini is the best one at the moment. I have Dell mini 1018 in mind. Not too sure of the configuration at the moment as I would be checking it out over the weekend in Thane.

PS: I currently have a Dell Ispirion series laptop so pretty happy with it as of now. Also, I think HP series was at 17K when I had last checked.

Please advise. Lastly, how do I install office in it for the occassional needs?

[NetfreakBombay]

Dell Mini has Atom processor. Its fine for net surfing etc. But if you plan to work with office etc, it might not work that well. Specially after you install anti-virus etc.

Do check out this physically. I think is available on display at Croma Malad.

[amtak]

@Netfreak,

Thanks a lot buddy. I may not be able to check at Malad Croma but will try at dahisar/Bhayandar Cromas. I have moved from my Malad office to office in Panvel and have visited malad only once in the last 2 years! Besides that, we rarely use "Office" in home (apart from updating the CV's - Once in a very blue moon). But as they say, it is always better to have it. Or the other option that I have is to download Openoffice. Say what?

Also, would it support gaming? I am thinking of isntalling some games

[anku94]

Originally Posted by amtak

PS: I currently have a Dell Ispirion series laptop so pretty happy with it as of now. Also, I think HP series was at 17K when I had last checked.

Please advise. Lastly, how do I install office in it for the occassional needs?

The Dell has mostly positive reviews on the net. Just don't expect anything better than notebook performance.

Office can be installed the regular way. Doesn't have an optical drive, but you can use a pen drive or portable HDD to install.

Gaming performance is poor. Under 12 frames/second for even average games. 30 fps is considered good. It won't game. Expect the performance of early 2000s integrated graphics for desktops.

Sources :

Dell Mini 1018 - Netbook Reviews
Review: Dell Inspiron Mini 1018 Netbook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

[amtak]

Originally Posted by anku94

The Dell has mostly positive reviews on the net. Just don't expect anything better than notebook performance.

Office can be installed the regular way. Doesn't have an optical drive, but you can use a pen drive or portable HDD to install.

So, basically, except gaming it can do all of the "online work". Luckily, my office system is citrix based so no such problems too use office when needed. As mentioned earlier, will try and visit Croma tomorrow evening and get a feel of the Netbook.

Let's see. Keeping my fingers crossed. I hope my wifey doesnt like HP because of the colors that Lakme would be happy to see. Besides that, I think it would be easier to migrate from Dell to Mini Dell

W.r.t. Gaming, so I think, it is best to stick to Desktops rather than Netbooks/Laptops?