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Forums » Up and Running » Road Warriors, Notebooks & Distance » Are these upgrades worth it?
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artesian79

join:2001-10-16
West Chester, OH
·Cincinnati Bell

Are these upgrades worth it?

I'm going to be ordering a Dell Vostro 1720 for a friend who is retired. They want to change to a laptop as they move to FL during the cold months in Indiana.

They will not have a secondary monitor and won't be moving the laptop around other than Northern Home to Southern Home - thus the 17" screen.

Is it worth $85 to upgrade from an Intel T6670 to an Intel P7570? I'm not so sure for someone who surfs, emails, and looks at photos. (Do these have card readers?)

Keeping in mind their eye sight isn't what it once was AND they are not looking at DVDs, wouldn't it make sense to upgrade to the Ultrasharp WUXGA display, vs the WXGA+ Anti Glare LED? (+ $167).

For now they are stuck with dial-up but they hope that changes soon. Does anyone have a USB dial model to recommend?

Thanks!


asdfdfdfdfdf

@Level3.net

"Is it worth $85 to upgrade from an Intel T6670 to an Intel P7570? I'm not so sure for someone who surfs, emails, and looks at photos."

Doesn't soound like it.

"(Do these have card readers?)"

yes. »support.dell.com/support/edocs/s···pecs.htm

"wouldn't it make sense to upgrade to the Ultrasharp WUXGA display, vs the WXGA+ Anti Glare LED? (+ $167)"

Higher resolution on a monitor is not necessarily a benefit for old eyes. They would also have to adjust the icon and type size or it is likely they would have even more trouble seeing it. I don't see much benefit to doing that.


MnR
Premium
join:2002-05-27
Iron Mountain, MI


1 edit
reply to artesian79
Hi,

The T6670 would be just fine for them. as far as the Screen, I would go with the Wxga + Anti Glare. And for the Dialup doesn't it come with the modem built in? you would also want to have the NIC also built in.

I would also recommend to order the accidental insurance for $99.00

Is this the one you are looking at with these specs:
Genuine Windows Vista® Business Bonus-Windows XP Professional downgrade
1 Year ProSupport for End Users and 1 Year NBD On-site Service
1 Year CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection
Service
Also Included
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6670 (2.20GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Obsidian Black
No Productivity Software
Norton Internet Security 2009 30-Day Subscription
17.0 inch WXGA+ Anti-Glare LED Display
3GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz, 2 DIMM
8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+/-R write capability, Roxio and Cyberlink PowerDVDâ„¢ DX 8.1
Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with Free Fall Sensor
No security hardware installed
Dell Wirelessâ„¢ 1397 802.11b/g Mini Card
No Integrated Webcam or Microphone
8-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Vostro 1720
Intel Core 2 Duo Label
Windows 7 Upgrade Web Site
Thank you for choosing Dell
No Onsite System Setup
No DataSafe
Purchase is Not Intended for Resale
90W AC Adapter

That one would be 929.00 in the small business division

MnR
--
No one is listening until you make a mistake!


PeteC2
Got Mouse?
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT
clubs:
·AT&T Yahoo

Egg-zellent advice!

As someone with pretty sketchy "reading" vision, I can tell you that I would have little enough benefit from a higher-res monitor...yes, even though you can change your font DPI to help counter the smaller "screen print", it simply is not money well spent on a higher-res screen unless needed. The standard WXGA anti-glare screen is fine.

There is no built-in dial up modem, only an available USB plug in option. Frankly, dial up is dial up, whatever you can get cheapest.

For the stated usage, the T6670 is more than sufficient cpu-power. Outside of the cost, they would never know the difference in real-life use.
--
Deeds, not words


artesian79

join:2001-10-16
West Chester, OH
·Cincinnati Bell

reply to MnR
It looks like one of the numerous configs I had in my wish list. I ended up finding a 799 with free 3-5 day shipping in the Sept cat. on the home site that I went for. It's overkill for need at this point, but that just added a few years of usage as softwares change - and cheaper.


artesian79

join:2001-10-16
West Chester, OH
reply to PeteC2
Thank you. I wanted to make sure that the lower res screen wasn't blurry. I haven't seen one of the LEDs. Having "over 40 vision" myself, I too have to monkey around with fonts and DPIs.


PeteC2
Got Mouse?
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT
clubs:
·AT&T Yahoo

said by artesian79 See Profile :

Thank you. I wanted to make sure that the lower res screen wasn't blurry. I haven't seen one of the LEDs. Having "over 40 vision" myself, I too have to monkey around with fonts and DPIs.
I like the LED screens, those that I have seen!
--
Deeds, not words


MnR
Premium
join:2002-05-27
Iron Mountain, MI

reply to artesian79
Hi,

You had mentioned A USB Modem for that laptop, Well here is the link to one that is HArdware based:
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···25164005

Hardware based Modems are getting hard to find versus the software controlled ones.

MnR
--
No one is listening until you make a mistake!


artesian79

join:2001-10-16
West Chester, OH
·Cincinnati Bell

I just received the laptop and am I ever jealous!

We have a Microcenter in town and I had already purchased a Zoom USB Mini External modem. Now that I have the laptop I see that it has a PCMCIA slot and could have gotten a card modem. Oh well..

Here's a link to what I purchased. It mentions and onboard controller - it that what you mean by a hardware modem? If one of the other Microcenter modem would be best, please let me know. The laptop goes to its owner tomorrow.

»www.microcenter.com/single_produ···=0297910

Thanks everyone!


DownTheShore
Maddie Knows Poopie
Premium
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ
clubs:
reply to artesian79
Sorry that I saw this thread too late. I was going to suggest that you get the lighted keyboard option. With the problems I have with my eyes, I find it very helpful.
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