Shiny new Dell laptop!

[Kerosine]

Dell seem to be offering the best value for money at the moment, expecially the XPS systems. I'm looking to spend up to £700 on a laptop that will be used for gaming (Flight Sim X, the odd shoot 'em up) and image processing (photoshop CSIII, large RAW files).

I've priced this one up for £650, core specs include:
17" Widescreen high res screen
Intel C2D 2Gig processor (800Mhz)
3 Gig DDR2 RAM
GeForce 8600GT
Lots of other extras like fingerprint reader, built in webcam, CD/DVD RW, 120gb HDD,

Any opinions? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[Sid Departure]

Kerosine,
I've just purchased this computer and I'm very happy with it.
It seemed to best value for money lap currently on the market. I don't use it for gaming so I'm not sure how it stacks up against other models. I also spent some additional money and had Vista business installed. This doesn't appear to have the problems that Vista personal has experienced.

[kenhughes]

Kerosine

With the combination of FSX and large Camera RAW files, your hdd will fill-up a lot faster than you might hope for. Luckily, this isn't an insurmountable problem, a 500Gb external hdd connected through the USB port will happily act as an overspill.

SWMBO*, who does a lot of digital picture work, has just spent the weekend clearing out her 500Gb internal drive (after only six months), due to not having enough free space.

Just wanted you to be aware. ;)

Ken

* She Who Must Be Obeyed

[Kerosine]

a 500Gb external hdd connected through the USB port will happily act as an overspill.
Funnily enough that's exaclty what I've recently bought! When my music collection reached 80Gb I decided it was time to invest :ok:

I'm trying to negotiate over the phone with Dell for a bargain, not looking good; managed to get only a tenner off the original price:ugh:

[planecrazy.eu]

Nice system spec, some of those XPS laptops have the same specs and higher than a MacBook Pro...

Dell are ok at giving discounts, I got a little off by getting them to do a few free upgrades, like ram for £10 and processer for £30, but that was my lot.

Doubt they are making much more than 5% on lower end systems...

My partner had a dell with AMD and so did my mother, and they have had nothing but issues, but my Intel has been solid and no issues as of yet. Maybe just a coincidence with the AMD's but I prefer Intel.