From: William R. Walsh on
Hi!

> I came across the BestBuy one first, for $550, and wanted to
> see what Dell offered something similar for, because I'd
> much rather deal with Dell.
> But what started at $600, by the time I added color
> (black won't due I'm afraid)

Who is paying for this? You might be surprised what *will* do. ;-)

> more RAM, large HD, went up to $864.

I saw a couple of things that make me wonder if it's really the same
as what Best Buy is selling. They're pointed out below.

> 1) Is the Dell 15.6" HD 720P the same resolution as the
> BBuy 1600x1900?

It would be less, because the BB screen has enough pixel density to
resolve 1080i/p resolution.

> Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Is Best Buy selling a system with a 64-bit OS?

> Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6600 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)

Is this the same processor that Best Buy is selling?

> 15.6” High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera

Are you sure you want a TrueLife display? (TrueLife = mirror
reflective!)

> Speed: 500GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor

7200 RPM and Free Fall Sensor? Scratch those, I highly doubt Best
Buy's offering has either one. (And that's an expensive BTO option
anyway...!)

> Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini-Card

You really want Intel Wireless hardware...

> Ruby Red

Does Dell charge for that? (I know they charge for some colors on some
systems...)

> McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Day Trial

Probably doesn't cost anything, but why not skip this trialware
altogether and get your own AV program.

> Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year

Probably not free, and do you really want/need it?

> 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection

This isn't likely to be free (or cheap, for that matter!) so you might
look at removing it--unless of course it is needed.

Dell is, however, right about the warranty. Best Buy does not warrant
the machine at all unless you buy one of their service plans. You will
be dealing with Dell either way you go.

(Whether or not buying a Best Buy service plan is a good idea depends
upon some things--how much you feel like working on the machine if
something simple breaks, how much you trust them and how well the
competition stacks up. If you need an extended service plan, Dell may
have a better offering that costs less.)

Also consider shopping the Dell small business store for this system,
as you will qualify for better tech support and less hassle.

William
From: Boris on
"William R. Walsh" <wm_walsh(a)hotmail.com> wrote in news:dd747eb8-2cb5-4e4d-
b5ba-24e828c76748(a)p8g2000yqb.googlegroups.com:

> Hi!
>
>> I came across the BestBuy one first, for $550, and wanted to
>> see what Dell offered something similar for, because I'd
>> much rather deal with Dell.
>> But what started at $600, by the time I added color
>> (black won't due I'm afraid)
>
> Who is paying for this? You might be surprised what *will* do. ;-)
YEP!

>
>> more RAM, large HD, went up to $864.
>
> I saw a couple of things that make me wonder if it's really the same
> as what Best Buy is selling. They're pointed out below.
>
>> 1) Is the Dell 15.6" HD 720P the same resolution as the
>> BBuy 1600x1900?
>
> It would be less, because the BB screen has enough pixel density to
> resolve 1080i/p resolution.
OK. Then the BBuy may be smaller than she would like.
>
>> Genuine Windows� 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
>
> Is Best Buy selling a system with a 64-bit OS?
Yes, this is a copy/paste from their site.
>
>> Intel� Core� 2 Duo T6600 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
>
> Is this the same processor that Best Buy is selling?
Yes, this is the BestBuy description.
>
>> 15.6� High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife� and Camera
>
> Are you sure you want a TrueLife display? (TrueLife = mirror
> reflective!)
Her choice.
>
>> Speed: 500GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor
>
> 7200 RPM and Free Fall Sensor? Scratch those, I highly doubt Best
> Buy's offering has either one. (And that's an expensive BTO option
> anyway...!)
This is the BestBuy copy.
>
>> Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini-Card
>
> You really want Intel Wireless hardware...
Agreed.
>> Ruby Red
>
> Does Dell charge for that? (I know they charge for some colors on some
> systems...)
Yes, $40.
>
>> McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Day Trial
>
> Probably doesn't cost anything, but why not skip this trialware
> altogether and get your own AV program.
Don't want. Can't remove, but this is the BBuy machine.
>
>> Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
>
> Probably not free, and do you really want/need it?
Don't want. Can't remove, but this is the BBuy machine.
>
>> 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection
>
> This isn't likely to be free (or cheap, for that matter!) so you might
> look at removing it--unless of course it is needed.
Don't want. Can't remove, but this is the BBuy machine.
>
> Dell is, however, right about the warranty. Best Buy does not warrant
> the machine at all unless you buy one of their service plans. You will
> be dealing with Dell either way you go.
Dell handles the first year. Extended has to be with BBuy.

From Dell:
"Q: Are extended warranties available?
A: Yes. Best Buy offers the opportunity to purchase additional customer
support at the time of purchase. All additional years will be covered by
Best Buy technical support. Please speak to a Best Buy sales representative
for more information.


>
> (Whether or not buying a Best Buy service plan is a good idea depends
> upon some things--how much you feel like working on the machine if
> something simple breaks, how much you trust them and how well the
> competition stacks up. If you need an extended service plan, Dell may
> have a better offering that costs less.)
I wouldn't let them fix my coffee cup. But I'd buy from them if good
price, and could service myself.
>
> Also consider shopping the Dell small business store for this system,
> as you will qualify for better tech support and less hassle.

I will. Thanks.
>
> William
>

William, I'm wondering if you perhaps thought the above description was for
the Dell. It's the BestBuy machine. Thanks for the reply.
From: William R. Walsh on
Hi!

> OK. Then the BBuy may be smaller than she would like.

I'd definitely try to see the screen in action. Since it's an LCD, the
picture will be fuzzy (it might be good, but it will still have some
fuzziness to it) if run at a lower resolution to compensate.

(Back when I bought my Latitude D800 I opted for the base display
option, a 1280x800 panel. It's still fine, but every now and then I
wish I'd gone for a higher resolution one.)

> Dell handles the first year.  Extended has to be with BBuy.

Aha! Hadn't known that. I'm surprised Dell would skip the opportunity
to sell you one later in the machine's life. (They haven't skipped
that chance with any of the Dell systems I have, but...who knows? I
passed on it, I'll do the repairs myself. Not that any of them have
needed a lot...)

> I wouldn't let them fix my coffee cup.

I don't trust their in-store help. Geek Squad, Geek Schmaud. (Geek
Fraud? I've seen that, so it's only halfway funny.) The regional
service center (believe it's located in Kentucky) for this area seems
to be pretty good at what they do, and fast.

> William, I'm wondering if you perhaps thought the above description
> was for the Dell.  It's the BestBuy machine.  Thanks for the reply.

Well, somehow I got the idea that you'd posted *both* a Best Buy
sourced-system and one from Dell. So I went through the one that
appeared to be *for* the Dell system.

William
From: Ben Myers on
William R. Walsh wrote:
> Hi!
>
>> I came across the BestBuy one first, for $550, and wanted to
>> see what Dell offered something similar for, because I'd
>> much rather deal with Dell.
>> But what started at $600, by the time I added color
>> (black won't due I'm afraid)
>
> Who is paying for this? You might be surprised what *will* do. ;-)
>
>> more RAM, large HD, went up to $864.
>
> I saw a couple of things that make me wonder if it's really the same
> as what Best Buy is selling. They're pointed out below.
>
>> 1) Is the Dell 15.6" HD 720P the same resolution as the
>> BBuy 1600x1900?
>
> It would be less, because the BB screen has enough pixel density to
> resolve 1080i/p resolution.
>
>> Genuine Windows� 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
>
> Is Best Buy selling a system with a 64-bit OS?
>
>> Intel� Core� 2 Duo T6600 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
>
> Is this the same processor that Best Buy is selling?
>
>> 15.6� High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife� and Camera
>
> Are you sure you want a TrueLife display? (TrueLife = mirror
> reflective!)
>
>> Speed: 500GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor
>
> 7200 RPM and Free Fall Sensor? Scratch those, I highly doubt Best
> Buy's offering has either one. (And that's an expensive BTO option
> anyway...!)
>
>> Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini-Card
>
> You really want Intel Wireless hardware...
>
>> Ruby Red
>
> Does Dell charge for that? (I know they charge for some colors on some
> systems...)
>
>> McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Day Trial
>
> Probably doesn't cost anything, but why not skip this trialware
> altogether and get your own AV program.
>
>> Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
>
> Probably not free, and do you really want/need it?
>
>> 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection
>
> This isn't likely to be free (or cheap, for that matter!) so you might
> look at removing it--unless of course it is needed.
>
> Dell is, however, right about the warranty. Best Buy does not warrant
> the machine at all unless you buy one of their service plans. You will
> be dealing with Dell either way you go.
>
> (Whether or not buying a Best Buy service plan is a good idea depends
> upon some things--how much you feel like working on the machine if
> something simple breaks, how much you trust them and how well the
> competition stacks up. If you need an extended service plan, Dell may
> have a better offering that costs less.)
>
> Also consider shopping the Dell small business store for this system,
> as you will qualify for better tech support and less hassle.
>
> William

Good points. Dell would appear to be following the same strategy
followed by HPaq, Acer-eGateMachines and all the rest in selling through
big box stores. If you go to the HPaq and search for specific models,
the info that often turns up indicates a special model produced for
Walmart, very special because it is stripped down or bare bones,
depending on how you look at it... Ben Myers
From: Ben Myers on
William R. Walsh wrote:
><SNIP!>
>> McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Day Trial
>
> Probably doesn't cost anything, but why not skip this trialware
> altogether and get your own AV program.
<SNIP!>
>
> William

Somebody (Federal Trade Commission?) needs to go after McAfee, Symantec
and all the rest for their sharp practice of installing 30-day free
trials. This lulls people into a false sense of security, literally,
because they think they have anti-virus software. Serviced a computer
this week with one the many scam AntiVirus Pro 2010 or similar malware.
Removed it with Malwarebytes, luckily. The owner treated her laptop
like an appliance, which is not a bad way to think. The appliance had
Windows, Word, a browser, and a 30-day McAfee, which expired. At least
if there is no AV software installed at all, Windows will nag you about
it, and maybe you'll go to the store and buy Trend or anything but
McAfee or Symantec... Ben Myers