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18 Sep 2017, 05:33
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bb
19W
Anyone brought a laptop from B&H photo? I only have experience of buying photography stuff from them. I plan to buy Dell XPS 13 for GMAT Prep, applications as well as B-school. They have listed a brand new touch version laptop with 7th Gen i5, 8gb RAM, 128GB SSD for $869. Similar specs model is listed at dell.com and amazon for over $1000. Seems to good be true. Do dell make specials version of laptops to be sold specifically by B&H? If so, I'm kinda scared if they have compromised some parts to make it cheaper.
I see it for $914 on Amazon now. It may be a rolling price reduction that has made it to some retailers but not others....
Microsoft store has it for $899. I would pick the store that has the most points/rebates/etc options without tax. Not sure if you have an Amex/Chase card that offers bonus points from certain stores. 900 bonus points is $9-18. That's better than nothing. Also B&H offers it "used" for $709
I have purchased photo equipment from them and always had a very positive experience (unlike some other photo stores that have tried to up-sell me or mis-represented what they have advertised). I have also purchased used laptops for family from Blinq and out of 3 laptops, all are still working, 1-2 years later. (They have a pretty generous return policy).
In my experience, I have found Dell decent and always turned to them for laptops but Apple hardware is superior based on what I have found. I have had 3 Dell's and 2 Macs I run windows on my Mac and 3 years later, it is still in great shape and still fast.
P.S. In my view 13" is as BIG as you ever want to go. At home, you can always hook it up to a monitor to get a bigger screen but while traveling and in meetings, 13" is so much nicer and easier to deal with than a 15" laptop.
BB Thanks for replying.
Dell are introducing new version of XPS series with 8th gen processors in the first week of October. Maybe that's why the price decreased in Amazon. B&H had this decreased price on offer even before the new generation release was announced. The new version of Inspiron series with 8th gen processors has been rolled out around a week back.
I am not based in US so I don't have access to those cards. I'm asking someone to get it for me. Few months back I purchased a camera from B&H. They threw in a memory card, two extra batteries, an extra charger, a decent shoulder bag and $32 gift card for free. Plus no tax was levied.
The gift card expires in January 2018 so I am more inclined to purchase the laptop from them. I checked Blinq and found a deal for an i7, 8gb RAM, 256GB SSD variant for $827 but it has 6th gen processor so the model should be around 2 years old. My current laptop is Dell Inspiron which I bought from BestBuy in October 2012. I over used it so it overheats a lot, and is compromising my prep. Apple's Macbook Pro/Air is over my budget so i'm inclined towards Dell. Yup 13 inch is the best for b-school. Very portable and lightweight. My current one is a 17", took it to school a couple of times and I got backache carrying it.
24 Oct 2017, 05:06
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Gnpth
I would suggest you go with any Dell laptops. Since they are durable.
And there are plenty of Dell laptops, which comes with a feature to upgrade your RAM. I believe you don't need much of graphics. So choose any laptop that has at least 1GB graphics card and i5 or i3 processors.
So IMO, below should be ideal for B-schools for 2 years or even for other stuff per se.
1. RAM-4GB(minimum) or 8GB (preferred)
2. i3 or i5 processor. Latest generation ones.
3. 1 GB (minimum) or 2 GB (preferred) graphics.
4. 1TB( sufficient) or 2TB hard drive. I feel 1TB should be sufficient since you can buy portable ones.
5. 14 or 15-inch HD screen
6. HD Webcam
It goes without saying Bluetooth and WiFi inbuilt.
And below list can be good to have.
1. Backlit keyboard.
2. DVD drive (laptops nowadays doesn't have DVD drive by default)
P.S. I feel Dell Inspiron series are really good. They are durable and lightweight. And battery life is good. Solid 5-6 hours of continuous usage in Balanced setting.
And there are plenty of Dell laptops, which comes with a feature to upgrade your RAM. I believe you don't need much of graphics. So choose any laptop that has at least 1GB graphics card and i5 or i3 processors.
So IMO, below should be ideal for B-schools for 2 years or even for other stuff per se.
1. RAM-4GB(minimum) or 8GB (preferred)
2. i3 or i5 processor. Latest generation ones.
3. 1 GB (minimum) or 2 GB (preferred) graphics.
4. 1TB( sufficient) or 2TB hard drive. I feel 1TB should be sufficient since you can buy portable ones.
5. 14 or 15-inch HD screen
6. HD Webcam
It goes without saying Bluetooth and WiFi inbuilt.
And below list can be good to have.
1. Backlit keyboard.
2. DVD drive (laptops nowadays doesn't have DVD drive by default)
P.S. I feel Dell Inspiron series are really good. They are durable and lightweight. And battery life is good. Solid 5-6 hours of continuous usage in Balanced setting.
I'm going to disagree on a few things here. I can't imagine anybody needing a dedicated graphics card, let alone a 1gb + for business school. Most integrated graphics can play back 1080p and handle most applications smoothly. We aren't running games, its mostly cpu based tasks like excel and statistics work. Don't spend money looking for a strong gpu, it adds bulk, cost and heat to the pc even though you'll barely ever use it.
1 Tb is overkill, use cloud storage and save money by getting a 256 ssd. You can probably even be fine with 128, but that's not the case for everyone. I don't think I've ever used more than 80gb on a hard drive, but I'm in the minority there.
I recently purchased an i7 xps 13 and love it, other than its webcam. Solid video quality, but awful location. Due to the thin bezel, Dell decided to place it under the screen, so all you see is the bottom of your chin. I've used my crappy work Lenovo for my video questions on applications, and will probably need to purchase a dedicated cam for once I go to school. Outside of that though, it is great. Lightweight, all day battery, and well built.
24 Feb 2018, 11:04
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Please do not buy a Dell computer. I purchased the XPS 13 6 months ago and it has crashed 3 times already. Each time I had to
reinstall the operating system, thereby deleting everything stored on my laptop - files, pictures -everything. I would have lost
it all if I did not have cloud storage. Technicians could not help me retrive backup files from the hard drive.
To make matters worse, they asked me to pay more money above the basic warranty which I had already paid for to "fix" the issue, which
they could not do successfully. The first time it happened I was told it was a one-off event. That was a blatant falsehood. This is
the third time this has happened. I spent countless hours on the phone over several days, wasting so much time trying an
inordinate number of steps to no avail. Dell refused to give me a refund, replacement or exchange despite my "premium"
warranty. To add insult to injury, they claimed they would send someone over to fix it in 2-3 days! Being
that technicians don't work on the weekend and they have no emergency response. For a business school student, one cannot afford
to have no laptop for 3 days. Please do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for a laptop.
Buying a Dell laptop is like throwing your money away or gouging out your eyes for no good reason. Complete torture. The warranties they offer
are pointless and do not protect customers. You will regret buying a Dell laptop. If you value your sanity, health and well-being, just
don't do it. Their consumer laptops do not work as advertised, fail unexpectedly and customer service is extremely unhelpful.
reinstall the operating system, thereby deleting everything stored on my laptop - files, pictures -everything. I would have lost
it all if I did not have cloud storage. Technicians could not help me retrive backup files from the hard drive.
To make matters worse, they asked me to pay more money above the basic warranty which I had already paid for to "fix" the issue, which
they could not do successfully. The first time it happened I was told it was a one-off event. That was a blatant falsehood. This is
the third time this has happened. I spent countless hours on the phone over several days, wasting so much time trying an
inordinate number of steps to no avail. Dell refused to give me a refund, replacement or exchange despite my "premium"
warranty. To add insult to injury, they claimed they would send someone over to fix it in 2-3 days! Being
that technicians don't work on the weekend and they have no emergency response. For a business school student, one cannot afford
to have no laptop for 3 days. Please do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for a laptop.
Buying a Dell laptop is like throwing your money away or gouging out your eyes for no good reason. Complete torture. The warranties they offer
are pointless and do not protect customers. You will regret buying a Dell laptop. If you value your sanity, health and well-being, just
don't do it. Their consumer laptops do not work as advertised, fail unexpectedly and customer service is extremely unhelpful.
