... What did that leave me with? Dell.
I quickly narrowed my options down to Inspiron, and spent several days (!!) pricing all my different options. Nope, it was no good - I couldn't get the laptop I wanted in my budget. A Ha! Dell Outlet!! Refurbished laptops!
And so I have my Inspiron ... Read review
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engineered and tested for your laptop. At Dell we focus on quality parts and rigorous testing so that your computer can tackle the challenges faced by high-end
engineered and tested for your laptop. At Dell we focus on quality parts and rigorous testing so that your computer can tackle the challenges faced by high-end
(+) Clear easy instuctions, Looks very smart, Light and easy to transport, very durable (-) Screen could be slightly bigger, battery doesn't last very long
A review by Gemma_and_max on Dell Inspiron 5160 March 4th, 2005
Author's product rating:
Speed
Fast
Look & Feel
Good
Comfort & Portability
Satisfactory
Robustness & Durability
Good
Value For Money
Good
Advantages:
Power; price
Disadvantages:
size
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
A few years back I built my own PC, and bought and fixed up an old laptop (I work in IT), but recently I have fancied trading them both in for an all-singing, all-dancing laptop. On a budget, of course!
My search took me straight to the internet. Dabs offer good postage but were rather pricey, while places like EuroPC had great prices but wanted £80 to deliver to me in Guernsey. What did that leave me with? Dell.
I quickly narrowed my options down to Inspiron, and spent several days (!!) pricing all my different options. Nope, it was no good - I couldn't get the laptop I wanted in my budget. A Ha! Dell Outlet!! Refurbished laptops!
And so I have my Inspiron 5160. Pentium 4 2.8ghz (533Mhz FSB), 512mb DDR Ram, 60gb 5400rpm hard drive, 32mb XGI Graphics, 15" XGA screen, 8x DVD+/- and Windows XP Pro SP2 and Works 7. Everything I need for my video editing, and it even had a case thrown in! The price? £470, delivered (ex-vat; we dont pay it in Guernsey!). All with a 1 year Dell warranty (upgradeable at a price).
So its refurbished.... the only way you know with my PC is that there is a small crack on the top - maybe 3mm, and not deep. A tad dissapointing, but not bad for the saving! Which, by the way (hang on, I'll just price up my laptop new..); New price £598 delivered ex-vat - my saving £130 ish.
So whats it like as a laptop? The screen is good. It has all the power I need for editing holiday snaps and video, although with all the filming I did recently I may have to add an external harddrive for extra storage. Battery is fairly long lasting - I haven't timed it but I think I get 2.5 to 3 hours, and it seems to charge very, very fast. Also it doesn't get too hot with use, which is handy. Size wise it is pretty big and pretty heavy, as is the charger. Its certainly on the suitcase side of portable. Plus it doesn't come with the disks to reinstall windows, should you need to. I think that covers the pluses and minuses.
Buying from Dell Outlet; my tips. Go to www.dell.co.uk, select Home. At the top there is a drop down menu from "notebooks"; select Refurbished notebooks. Search by what you want or just click on the column "price" to see the cheapest. Dell has a strange and unknown pricing system - the price varies drastically for the same spec laptop. Most laptops sell in 15 minutes, good offers in less. Disadvantage is that you MUST buy the minute you see the right laptop at the right price. Advantage is that if there is nothing much you fancy, come back in 15 minutes and there will be a whole new set of laptops! Happy shopping!
If you want technical spec / sizes etc of the laptop I recommend going to Dell.co.uk I could paste it all in, but it would just bore a majority of people!
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I purchased Dell 5160 in Dubai and, although the spec isn't exactly as outlined here, this seems to be the closest US spec model available. The European upside is that we get a DVD+RW drive as standard, the downside is that the price is a couple of hundred dollars more. But the price is still head and shoulders above all major competitors available on the high street. The product is first rate and exactly what I needed (although it would be too heavy ... ...regular mailing I receive from Dell (and I thought these were just junk mail). When I called Dell customer service, the polite and efficient Indian rep I spoke to quickly checked with his supervisor and immediately gave me a complimentary upgrade on the RAM (even though this involved shipping a 1024MB module to me and calling back another day to collect the two 256MB modules I had taken out). They even offered to have a technician call by and perform ...
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