Inspiron 11z under £450 - good deal?

[jim]

Just saw this on the web earlier - it's got a Pentium ULV SU4100 (1.3GHz), 4GB RAM, 6-Cell battery, Windows 7.

They've knocked £375 off at the moment - so my question is why? I need to buy a laptop by mid-September, and this fits the bill perfectly. Powerful enough for my needs (i.e. not an Atom) and sufficiently light.

Should I wait, or is this quite a good deal? I'm always suspicious of these types of "deals", but the spec list is pretty impressive for the price. Question is, are we likely to see an influx of i3 processor-based machines in the next 6-8 weeks that will fit the bill?

[matty-hodgson]

I considered this before I got my Macbook Pro, seems like a very good deal, gets decent reviews too .

[Domestic_Ginger]

Play have the celeron for £300 with 2GB ram and 1/2 the HDD size. that would apeal more to me.

EDIT: it comes with Vista!

[jim]

Is that the Celeron 743 though? As far as I can gather that's a pile of junk?

[oolon]

SU4100 (or even the update SU7300) is rather an old processor you would be better advised to wait for the new core i3/i5 ones coming out like the Acer 1830T. However of course if Dell have a fire sale and you can get one for 200 quid I would not complain! However at list price (£449) it would be better to wait as you can get more with your money soon. They may claim it worth £823 however its not, don't think that spec of machine ever was. I notice it does not even say what the screen resolution is "11.6" WLED HD TFT Display with TrueLife™" means very little to me. Dell only sell on line so as far as I am concerned the price in there shop is the list price, and any "discount" is just marketing rubbish.

[jim]

SU4100 is rather an old processor you would be better advised to wait for the new core i3/i5 ones coming out like the Acer 1830T. However of course if Dell have a fire sale and you can get one for 200 quid I would not complain! However at list price it would be better to wait as you can get more with your money soon.

Do you reckon some of the i3/i5 models will come in under £450 then?

[Domestic_Ginger]

Is that the Celeron 743 though? As far as I can gather that's a pile of junk?

You're quite right. Didn't check Notebookcheck. Its only a single core; was positive it would be a dual! Better than an atom though.

[jim]

Better than an atom though.

That's a bit like telling someone that a sandwich tastes nicer than a turd

[oolon]

Do you reckon some of the i3/i5 models will come in under £450 then?

I think they will come in a bit more at around 500-550 quid, the manufacturers have decided the new atoms are a bit naff, so entry level is getting CULV based intels. There are alot to choise from the I think the market with be ferocious. With the Acer 1830T (gateway EC17) Asus N82J, Lenovo U160 and MSI are doing one. So don't buy the first model that comes out. You want the i5-520UM one then i3 Is single core I believe.

The problem with the SU4100 is it does not have virtualisation commands in the processor this is going to be of increasing importance as time progress, the SU7300 does so might have been worth a shot given a good price < 300 quid.

[Domestic_Ginger]

That's a bit like telling someone that a sandwich tastes nicer than a turd

Even a turd sandwich?

[jim]

So there'll be a new generation of CULV processors coming out then? I want to spend as little as possible you see, will only be using it for word-processing and very light web browsing.

Won't they take a while to filter through to market, maybe even 2011?

[jim]

Even a turd sandwich?

At least you've got some bread to take your mind off the turd.

[oolon]

So there'll be a new generation of CULV processors coming out then? I want to spend as little as possible you see, will only be using it for word-processing and very light web browsing.

Won't they take a while to filter through to market, maybe even 2011?

The larger timelineX machines 1820T are already listed with configurations on the acer web site and being pushed to e-retailers in uk so I am sure it will be this soon. I am banking on it too as I want one before september too. The Dell will price drop when these come out so either way wait.

[matty-hodgson]

That's a bit like telling someone that a sandwich tastes nicer than a turd

Even a turd sandwich?

At least you've got some bread to take your mind off the turd.

Are you saying that it's ok to eat turd?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Pentium SU4100 is a dual core:

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43568

[jim]

Are you saying that it's ok to eat turd?

I wouldn't recommend it.