http://80211n.wifinetnews.com/ That's what I've been following of late, and it suggests that most "draft n" implementations should be upgradeable by firmware to the final standard.
Get Vista in new notebook or wait a while?
- Thread starter bebuslotech
- Start date
bebuslotech
Newcomer
Thanks again for all your suggestions. I got derailed onto another purchase I needed to make---now back to focusing on the laptop quest. I still think I'll get this Dell. Still debating a bit about whether to drop extra money to have 667 MHz CPU & RAM instead of 533 MHz---but will probably go for the faster speed, does this sound smart?
And---assuming I do order the Dell e1705---could you guys offer some suggestions after I get it on how to get rid of bloatware? I wouldn't have much idea how to do that, how to tell what I really need and what I don't.
And---assuming I do order the Dell e1705---could you guys offer some suggestions after I get it on how to get rid of bloatware? I wouldn't have much idea how to do that, how to tell what I really need and what I don't.
Berek
Regular
I'm personally waiting until this summer so I can get a DX10 video part and possible more ram/storage space to make it more worth it. I will be flying to China this summer so I'd like to have something that'll last me a few years without worries. I'm a gamer so that inflates my concerns 
.
I'd wait for DX10 personally if you are going to keep that notebook with you for a few years. The notebooks supporting DX10 should be coming up in a month or two.
Those Dells don't come with too much bloatware, that you can remove anyway. Just be sure that the CPU bus speed and the memory speed you get are identical. 667/667 or 533/533 for instance. Make sure you choose the Intel Core2DUO with 667MHZ FSB, so the memory must match as well. If you're a gamer I would just select the priciest deal right away because that will get you the most components you'll want in one package off the bat, then go in and fine tune from there. Make sure you get at least 2GB of memory, a 7200RPM hard drive, and the 7900GS or better. The ATI version is much slower for the E1705.
For a good system you should come to about $2300.
.I'd wait for DX10 personally if you are going to keep that notebook with you for a few years. The notebooks supporting DX10 should be coming up in a month or two.
Those Dells don't come with too much bloatware, that you can remove anyway. Just be sure that the CPU bus speed and the memory speed you get are identical. 667/667 or 533/533 for instance. Make sure you choose the Intel Core2DUO with 667MHZ FSB, so the memory must match as well. If you're a gamer I would just select the priciest deal right away because that will get you the most components you'll want in one package off the bat, then go in and fine tune from there. Make sure you get at least 2GB of memory, a 7200RPM hard drive, and the 7900GS or better. The ATI version is much slower for the E1705.
For a good system you should come to about $2300.
Berek
Regular
This is the configuration that is most optimal. Purchasing USB thumdrives and all that is also entirely up to you. Simply depends if you want it. A wireless USB mouse and a thumdrive if you don't have it would be good buys.
Pardon the messyness...
My Components
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with 1GB of memory edit
LCD PANEL 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ edit
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz edit
HARD DRIVE 100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability edit
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS edit
SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Audio edit
My Accessories
BATTERY OPTIONS 80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
WIRELESS CARDS Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g edit
My Software
PRODUCTIVITY No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD edit
ANTI-VIRUS & SECURITY Norton Internet Security™ 2007 Edition 15-months edit
PHOTOS, MUSIC & MORE! Trial pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo edit
My Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service edit
Pardon the messyness...
My Components
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with 1GB of memory edit
LCD PANEL 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ edit
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz edit
HARD DRIVE 100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability edit
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS edit
SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Audio edit
My Accessories
BATTERY OPTIONS 80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
WIRELESS CARDS Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g edit
My Software
PRODUCTIVITY No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD edit
ANTI-VIRUS & SECURITY Norton Internet Security™ 2007 Edition 15-months edit
PHOTOS, MUSIC & MORE! Trial pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo edit
My Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service edit
bebuslotech
Newcomer
Hey Berek-Halfhand---
That is pretty much EXACTLY the notebook I ended up ordering. I really couldn't wait a month or two, but did end up getting the same specs you recommend, except that I ordered the Draft N Wireless card (in hopes of better compatibility if 802.11n is the standard) and also chose PC-cillin (which had sadly gone from a 36-mo option to a 15-mo option by the time I bought) over Norton, especially after the salesperson told me it can be very tough to uninstall Norton. I dithered a lot over the extra GB of RAM at 667 MHz because it jacked the price up by $285 over the base price (and I did use the highest base price, that was definitely the cheapest way to go in the end---and I used the 20% off coupon, thank you again, was that DigitalWanderer?, for that tip!) but decided ultimately that I'd be sorry later if I didn't get the 2 GB @ 667 (and yes, I did also get the T7200 CPU @ 667). Total price was a bit under $2200 including tax, delivery was free. OUCH, but, hopefully it will last me a while (and I'm not a gamer although I know my 9-yr-old son will want to play some games---hoping he won't get too hardcore for a while---).
So---my notebook is on its way, due here tomorrow.
And now I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations on wireless routers? We have an older Mac as well as my new notebook to hook up, and cable modem. I'll look through the threads, see if there are votes on wireless routers, wireless mice and keyboards---I know there's a thread on all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/fax machines---
any advice welcome though.
That is pretty much EXACTLY the notebook I ended up ordering. I really couldn't wait a month or two, but did end up getting the same specs you recommend, except that I ordered the Draft N Wireless card (in hopes of better compatibility if 802.11n is the standard) and also chose PC-cillin (which had sadly gone from a 36-mo option to a 15-mo option by the time I bought) over Norton, especially after the salesperson told me it can be very tough to uninstall Norton. I dithered a lot over the extra GB of RAM at 667 MHz because it jacked the price up by $285 over the base price (and I did use the highest base price, that was definitely the cheapest way to go in the end---and I used the 20% off coupon, thank you again, was that DigitalWanderer?, for that tip!) but decided ultimately that I'd be sorry later if I didn't get the 2 GB @ 667 (and yes, I did also get the T7200 CPU @ 667). Total price was a bit under $2200 including tax, delivery was free. OUCH, but, hopefully it will last me a while (and I'm not a gamer although I know my 9-yr-old son will want to play some games---hoping he won't get too hardcore for a while---).
So---my notebook is on its way, due here tomorrow.
And now I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations on wireless routers? We have an older Mac as well as my new notebook to hook up, and cable modem. I'll look through the threads, see if there are votes on wireless routers, wireless mice and keyboards---I know there's a thread on all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/fax machines---
any advice welcome though.
Berek
Regular
Congrats! You'll love it I'm sure. As for Wireless routers, as the saying goes... "They just don't make em like they used too"...
I have an older model of a Linksys that is more powerful than newer models. Linksys in general is good I suppose, but if you can get a v2-v3 version of the WRT54G that's a decent one.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Linksys-WRT54G-...6QQihZ016QQcategoryZ71501QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I have an older model of a Linksys that is more powerful than newer models. Linksys in general is good I suppose, but if you can get a v2-v3 version of the WRT54G that's a decent one.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Linksys-WRT54G-...6QQihZ016QQcategoryZ71501QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
bebuslotech
Newcomer
Thanks, Berek-H----
That router on Ebay was gone but I'll try to look it up other ways.
A general networking question---which maybe I ought to ask elsewhere on this forum---
Can you have both a hardwired router AND a wireless router coming off the same cable modem box? Or the wireless router from the ethernet router? We have 2 8-yr-old desktop computers (a Dell and a Mac) that we would prefer to leave hardwired---at the very least we want the older Dell hooked up although we could sacrifice use of the Mac---and then my new Dell laptop which I definitely want wireless. Can we somehow hook all these into our one Comcast cable modem box? Right now we have a D-Link ethernet router.
If they have to all be wireless if the laptop is wireless, are there wireless cards for those old computers that would work, given that my new Dell has a Draft N Wireless card to be compatible w 802.11n technology?
And---just to complicate things---how could I throw a new AIO printer into the mix in a sensible way? Mostly it would be printing off the two Dells.
Thanks, one and all---I know my questions are very basic for this forum---
That router on Ebay was gone but I'll try to look it up other ways.
A general networking question---which maybe I ought to ask elsewhere on this forum---
Can you have both a hardwired router AND a wireless router coming off the same cable modem box? Or the wireless router from the ethernet router? We have 2 8-yr-old desktop computers (a Dell and a Mac) that we would prefer to leave hardwired---at the very least we want the older Dell hooked up although we could sacrifice use of the Mac---and then my new Dell laptop which I definitely want wireless. Can we somehow hook all these into our one Comcast cable modem box? Right now we have a D-Link ethernet router.
If they have to all be wireless if the laptop is wireless, are there wireless cards for those old computers that would work, given that my new Dell has a Draft N Wireless card to be compatible w 802.11n technology?
And---just to complicate things---how could I throw a new AIO printer into the mix in a sensible way? Mostly it would be printing off the two Dells.
Thanks, one and all---I know my questions are very basic for this forum---
now this is a thread i'm interested in , just got the classic "mother question",, "what laptop should i buy , and whats this vista?"
.
any advice would be greatfully recieved .
i'm thinking , "dont buy a xxx coz it's hopelessly underpowered"..
whats the thoughts on home -cheapo vs home premium ? ?
.any advice would be greatfully recieved
. i'm thinking , "dont buy a xxx coz it's hopelessly underpowered"..
whats the thoughts on home -cheapo vs home premium ? ?
BTW- I installed Vista Ultimate on my wife's E1705 Dell yesterday and it went like cake. Easy-peasy with no driver hunting or nothing.
bebuslotech
Newcomer
Hi Dave... I AM that mother. Ha! "What's this vista," yup, that's about my speed. If I ever get out the door and get a router and get my new Dell fired up, I'll let you know how it flies in the "what's this vista" set. Trust me, you'll never hear me use the word "overclocking" in a sentence without 5 question marks at the end.
Digital---what's the main diff between vista premium & ultimate?
Digital---what's the main diff between vista premium & ultimate?
No real clue to be honest, I just put the ultimate on for the geek chicness of it and because that's the copy I had laying around.
Trusted Platform Module; IBM's have been coming with it for years. It got mistakenly and unrightfully lumped in with "Draconion DRM OMGWTFBBQ!!11!!!" a few years back if you do some googling.
It's basically a hardware chip for certificate signing, and also has an internal key for generating and validating encryption -- uh -- I've lost the term. Whatever. Not hard to find good data with Google...
bebuslotech
Newcomer
So, now that I'm really researching wireless routers, I'm sorry I got the Draft N wireless card in my new Dell laptop, because apparently all the Draft N wireless routers suck. Can I have that card taken out or will I have to use an adapter if I get a non-Draft N router? How many older routers work with Vista?
My house is a 3-story w very thick walls and my router has to be on the 3rd floor, and I'll often want to use my laptop where there is actual heat in the house, ie, the first 2 floors. And, I still want to be able to hook up my old dinosaur Dell with Windows 98 on it, as a hardwired connection.
Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with:
the Netgear RangeMax 240 (WPNT834)?
the D-Link DGL-4300 GamerLounge Wireless 108G Gaming router?
the Linksys Wireless-G Broadband router with SRX200 WRT54GX2? (Berek, was this the one you said was decent?)
the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54?
the Belkin Wireless Pre-N Router (F5D8230-4) (no longer available new but maybe used?)
Thanks, all feedback welcome.
My house is a 3-story w very thick walls and my router has to be on the 3rd floor, and I'll often want to use my laptop where there is actual heat in the house, ie, the first 2 floors. And, I still want to be able to hook up my old dinosaur Dell with Windows 98 on it, as a hardwired connection.
Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with:
the Netgear RangeMax 240 (WPNT834)?
the D-Link DGL-4300 GamerLounge Wireless 108G Gaming router?
the Linksys Wireless-G Broadband router with SRX200 WRT54GX2? (Berek, was this the one you said was decent?)
the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54?
the Belkin Wireless Pre-N Router (F5D8230-4) (no longer available new but maybe used?)
Thanks, all feedback welcome.
bebuslotech
Newcomer
Geo, you're right, it is. Thanks for suggesting I look that up. Now just have to decide which router.
must admit..
had to do a bit of "show my friend how to use her new laptop" last night as she was round for a couple of days........ it's an advent laptop... 1.73m centrino m with 1gb.. some sort of intel onboard graphics ( i think ) , bought from currys i guess ??
so not really a pc i'd buy for games
it was running vista home premium....... i have to say i was really impressed... think it was about 500 pounds....... just seemed to "work". . .
then again,, the computer shop left her (my gf's friend) in the lurch , and i had no idea about vista... she's finally got internet working with the modem .. but she's waiting for a router to get her broadband going...... oh and it would seem the wireless was b/c ...... but i can't see that being a problem for her at all !!
had to do a bit of "show my friend how to use her new laptop" last night as she was round for a couple of days........ it's an advent laptop... 1.73m centrino m with 1gb.. some sort of intel onboard graphics ( i think ) , bought from currys i guess ??
so not really a pc i'd buy for games
it was running vista home premium....... i have to say i was really impressed... think it was about 500 pounds....... just seemed to "work". . .
then again,, the computer shop left her (my gf's friend) in the lurch , and i had no idea about vista... she's finally got internet working with the modem .. but she's waiting for a router to get her broadband going...... oh and it would seem the wireless was b/c ...... but i can't see that being a problem for her at all !!
bebuslotech
Newcomer
Hey all,
Finally ready to actually TURN ON my new e1705 laptop, I know, it's been days. My question today:
What do you all recommend getting rid of as bloatware, on a typical Dell? And how do you get rid of it? I feel as if I've seen people say "of course I just reinstalled it (or wiped it?) clean" but I don't really know what that means. Should I reinstall the OS (Vista Home Premium)?
All I really need is the MS Works suite that I got, as a CD, so could install that after doing whatever I should be doing first to clean things out.
If there's another forum you all would recommend, for low-tech questions like mine, feel free to point me there, I know the people on this forum are way beyond my tech abilities. Thanks.
Oh, and I ended up buying a Linksys WRT54GL wireless router, in case I get brave enough to try to install DD-WRT on it one of these days, and also got an HP Photosmart C6180 Q8181A AIO printer, which got good reviews on both newegg and cnet, newegg had it on sale for $229. So those are on the way. Not sure I'll be able to hook up my dinosaur Dell (Win 98) on the new network, and if not, may need to buy a bare-bones desktop PC for my husband, we can use my new laptop for the more-fun stuff.
Finally ready to actually TURN ON my new e1705 laptop, I know, it's been days. My question today:
What do you all recommend getting rid of as bloatware, on a typical Dell? And how do you get rid of it? I feel as if I've seen people say "of course I just reinstalled it (or wiped it?) clean" but I don't really know what that means. Should I reinstall the OS (Vista Home Premium)?
All I really need is the MS Works suite that I got, as a CD, so could install that after doing whatever I should be doing first to clean things out.
If there's another forum you all would recommend, for low-tech questions like mine, feel free to point me there, I know the people on this forum are way beyond my tech abilities. Thanks.
Oh, and I ended up buying a Linksys WRT54GL wireless router, in case I get brave enough to try to install DD-WRT on it one of these days, and also got an HP Photosmart C6180 Q8181A AIO printer, which got good reviews on both newegg and cnet, newegg had it on sale for $229. So those are on the way. Not sure I'll be able to hook up my dinosaur Dell (Win 98) on the new network, and if not, may need to buy a bare-bones desktop PC for my husband, we can use my new laptop for the more-fun stuff.
If you reinstall Vista from their CDs I think you'll end up with exactly what you started with, I'm pretty sure their backup stuff includes the backup bloat.
My advice to you would be to turn it on and see what you think. Make note of what you like/don't like in the way of start up programs and things that are residing in your taskbar when you first boot.
THEN ask again, we'll be able to help a bit better.
(BTW- When I say I "wiped it and re-installed XP" on our laptop when we got it meant that I reformatted and repartitioned the hard drive and then installed a copy of XP pro from an old disk, NOT from the disks Dell sent.)
My advice to you would be to turn it on and see what you think. Make note of what you like/don't like in the way of start up programs and things that are residing in your taskbar when you first boot.
THEN ask again, we'll be able to help a bit better.
(BTW- When I say I "wiped it and re-installed XP" on our laptop when we got it meant that I reformatted and repartitioned the hard drive and then installed a copy of XP pro from an old disk, NOT from the disks Dell sent.)
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