A person wanted to know what laptop to buy for a college student that would last the entire 4 years of college. This was asked in a members only forum I belong to.
Here is my reply:
You mentioned you want it to last for 3 or 4 years. Whenever people tell me that I try to steer them towards a machine that I think will has the power, features and durability to do so.
And to make sure it has the durability – warranty.
You can get a nice Dell Lattitude E5500 with the power and features she needs, with either a 3 or 4 year CompleteCare warranty for about $1300 (3 yr).
{A wise poster on this forum} makes great recommendations; but you might find that if you try to get all of the features you want AND a warranty you will be spending much more – even double – the number he mentioned.
If you buy a laptop for $500 – $600, it’s not going to have a very long warranty. If you are willing to take the chance that it gets dropped or “happens” to die one month after the short warranty period, then that’s Ok, as long as you accept that chance up front.
Parents who want to know that the purchase they make will be a one time shot for the whole 4 years (now just make sure they graduate in 4…) have been very pleased buying a Dell with enough power to be relevant in 3 – 4 years from now, with a CompleteCare warranty to make sure it works that long.
Here are the specs of one I just ordered yesterday (with 3 year CompleteCare):
Qty Part # Description
— ——– ———————————————
1 223-9862 Latitude E5500, Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 2.26GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB
1 311-9241 2.0GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM, 1 DIMM for Latitude E5X00
1 330-1000 Internal English Keyboard Single Pointing, for Latitude Notebooks
1 330-1652 Documentation (English) Latitude E-Family/Mobile Precision
1 320-6894 Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, Latitude E5X00
1 341-6441 160GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive 9.5MM, 7200RPM,Latitude
1 311-8955 Single pointing touchpad for Latitude E5500
1 320-7083 15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ Anti-glare LCD for Latitude E5500
1 467-5799 Windows XP PRO SP3 with Windows Vista Business LicenseEnglish,Dell Latitude
1 330-0879 US – 3-FT, 3-Pin Flat E-FamilyPower Cord for Latitude E-Family
1 330-1970 90W 3-Pin, AC Adapter for Latitude E5400/5500
1 313-6663 8X DVD+/-RW for Latitude E5X00
1 420-9184 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.1,with Media,Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision
1 420-8010 Roxio Creator Dell Edition,9.0Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision
1 430-3362 Intel WiFi Link 5300 (802.11 a/g/n 3X3) 1/2 MiniCard for VPRO Latitude E/Mobile Precision
1 330-1005 Resource DVD with Diagnostics and Drivers for Latitude e5500Notebook
1 312-0743 6-Cell/54-WHr Battery for Latitude E5X00
1 991-5277 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus Onsite Service Initial Year
1 991-5408 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus Onsite Service Extended Year(s)
1 989-8690 Basic Support: Next Business Day Parts and Labor Onsite Response Initial Year
1 989-5982 Basic Support: Next Business Day Parts and Labor Onsite Response 2 Year Extended
1 991-2878 Dell ProSupport Service Offering Declined
1 900-9987 Standard On-Site Installation Declined
1 989-6252 CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection, 3 Year
1 988-7689 Info, Complete Care
1 330-1152 Intel Centrino 2 Core Duo Processor
1 310-9160 Vista Premium Downgrade Relationship Notebook
Notice it has XP.
There is no bluetooth because these people didn’t want it.
They are paying under $1300 using the methods I have promoted on this forum for some time now (and offer on my website as an eBook). Add about $100 for a 4 year CompleteCare warranty. You can also extend it just before it expires.
I consider a $500 computer with a 1 year warranty to be a “throw away” after 1 year. Any time longer than that is a bonus.
Many people on this forum get new computers every year or so anyway, so don’t care about warranty. The people I deal with want more than that – and we often get 5 years from a laptop and 7 from a desktop – but we do pay more up front.
Hope this helps.
Shop Dell Here
