Cheap laptop: Dell D830 or HP 6730b?

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KALSTER
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Cheap laptop: Dell D830 or HP 6730b?

Post by KALSTER »

I am looking for a cheap laptop and have these lined up (feel free to sell me yours!):

Dell D830

It is well looked after (apparently), with working battery, but a slow CPU. I might be able to get a good CPU (T9300) for R200 or so. That would be on top of the laptop price of R1120 shipping included.

HP 6730b

It works, but it's battery is dead. A new one on eBay (9 Cell) costs R300 about, but it will take a month to get here. It comes with a 120GB HDD (D830 only 80GB). It goes for R1100 and I will be picking it up.

So not too sure about this. The Dell also has a bit of an inferior onboard GPU, though it is only supposed to be able to run XP with basic Office work and some basic Corel Draw work.

I am edging towards the HP for the moment.

Advice?
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
Intel i5 2500; AsRock Z77 Extreme 4; Asus GTX580; 4x 2GB DDR3 1333; Intel 520 240GB SSD + 2x WD 3TB + 2TB Samsung; Samsung 22X DVD/RW; 23" LG W2343T-PF; Huntkey 700W
Cataclysm_ZA
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Re: Cheap laptop: Dell D830 or HP 6730b?

Post by Cataclysm_ZA »

I'd go for the HP, mostly because there's a good amount of spares available and Probooks have a lot of compatible accessories like docks and even external batteries. Put Windows 7/8 on there and you're good to go. Also, the 6730b series did include support for built-in 3G, so it would just be a matter of finding the correct PCI-e card, installing the drivers and connecting the antennae.

You can buy new batteries from here. I'd also check out the possibility of the system working with an SSD, although the BIOS may be a minor stumbling block in that regard.
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KALSTER
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Joined: 12 Oct 2008, 02:08

Re: Cheap laptop: Dell D830 or HP 6730b?

Post by KALSTER »

Hi, Thanks man.

I have decided on the HP as it has slightly newer tech. I actually already have a PCI-e 3G card, but it only works in XP (no drivers for Win 7). XP doesn't bother me for Office work though. Maybe it comes with one already installed, which would be great.

Sheesh, those batteries are expensive! Going to go the eBay route. I can get a 9 Cell battery for just over R300 shipping included (probably R35 import duties), with a 3 year warranty. Will have to wait at least a month for it, but it is worth it, as the 9 cell battery will give like 5 hours of charge at a time.

I think it should last me quite some time. :)
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
Intel i5 2500; AsRock Z77 Extreme 4; Asus GTX580; 4x 2GB DDR3 1333; Intel 520 240GB SSD + 2x WD 3TB + 2TB Samsung; Samsung 22X DVD/RW; 23" LG W2343T-PF; Huntkey 700W
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