About Lauren Bennett Expertise I am a computer science major and my dad is an Electric Engineering, so my life has revolved around computers. For as long as I can remember, I have been buying and selling computers. I tend to travel a lot, so I have always had a laptop. I have bought 5 of them for myself, and bought around 30-40 for friends and family. I have dealt with the good and the bad of various version and brand names. If you are in need of buying a laptop, feel free to contact me and I'm sure I will be able to guide you into purchasing the laptop that will be the best fit for you. I will custom build you computers for you to choose from so you can get an exact idea of what to go and buy when you do it yourself and so that you have an exact price. However, I am in the USA and am only knowledgeable about computers here in the US. I do not know about foreign currency or the quality of computer brand names outside the US.
Experience B.S. in Computer Science. Buying and selling for years. Assisting friends/family.
Question Hi Lauren...This will be my first laptop...I was wondering what your thoughts were on the Dell 1520 versus the 1420...I have had a Dell desktop that has served me well for many years...so I have a bit of brand loyalty to them...I am a pretty basic user...I surf the internet, burn a cd occasionally...and use microsoft word for composing speeches, that I have to give occasionally...Why are the prices basically the same for the 1520 and the 1420 when the 1520 has a bigger screen?...is there much of a difference in the portability factor between the two units?...knowing what I will use the laptop for, are there any addons, that you think I will need, If I order through Dell?...will 1GB of memory suffice?...I know toooo many questions...thanks for your trouble, looking forward to your response.
Dan
Answer They are virtually the same and you probably won't notice too much of a difference. If size worries you, go with the 14". However, I know most guys like the bigger 15" because most guys are bigger. Being a female, I prefer the smaller laptops (I have a 12", but also have a desktop).
The reason the 14" costs more is because it is smaller, but barely smaller. The smaller a laptop is, the harder it is to fit all those fancy components into the computer while keeping it running efficiently and coolly. The two factors basically even out the 1420 and 1520. The 17" is just so huge that it costs even more.
Yes, 1 GB of memory will be fine, but I would consider upgrading yourself to 2GB because it is much cheaper. I did the same thing to my laptop. I paid $65 to buy two 1GB sticks of RAM. I then sold my two 512MB sticks that it came with for $25 on eBay. I upgraded from 1GB to 2GB for $40 where Dell and everyone else charges $125!
Just make sure to get a 128MB graphics card in there and a decent speed core 2 duo processor.
