Dell Inspiron 9300 or Asus Z70VA

J

JBlade00

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Hey everyone,

I decided to skip the black friday sales and actually get a nice laptop. I have been shopping around for a long time and 2 laptops have caught my eye. Basically what I want is something that will be almost as powerful as my system, and will also allow me to game on it occasionally (not a heavy gamer, but I like my HL2 every now and then). I am also a web designer so I use Photoshop and Illustrator a lot. Weight isn't a huge issure for me but like always the lighter the better. Battery life is fairly important and I won't be able to spend the money on an extra battery right away. I also love things that are aesthetically pleasing. I would LOVE to have a glossy screen, but is not absolutely needed. I have also been spoiled by my 2005FPW so it has to be fairly nice.

I first saw the 9300 when I found the 750 off 2000 coupon floating around. I basically stuffed this thing to the bone and even added the Ge Force 6800 GO 256MB card. After all the coupons it was like $1250 shipped. I was almost set in my ways but I started researching a little more, and found the z70va. I think this thing looks pretty incredible. also the fact that it was light weight and had great battery time was a factor as well. I found a fairly cheap site (not as reputable as say... dell) and configured a very nice setup for $1400 shipped.

I am leaning more towards the z70va but figured I'd see what everyone else thought about the two.

Thanks
~Jon
 
I will sway you to the right side. I just sold a gateway m680 on ebay and my friend, a 9300 owner, followed in my stead by selling his lappy. Why did he sell it? Haha I think I was a catalyst by pointing out all the crappy things about it, although it has its good moments.

1. Huge and bulky. It is definitely not mobile. The thickness and square brick shape and size are a great deterence even if it is a light 17" laptop. However I find a bunch people with 9300s trying to play games on foldup desks that are half its size. I don't think it works out to well. Also, did I mention every other person has one? You want to stand out don't you??
2. Poor battery life. This is because of the 6800go, but it only gets about 90 minutes while being only about 30-35% faster than a x700 on the z70va that can get 4 hours. Thats a big difference.
3. Aesthetics. This is subjective. I think the dell 9300 is but ugly. Silver on white is a no no, especially all that wasted splace on the sides with cheap looking white plastic really is a turn down.
4. If you buy the asus, you can buy it from a reputable online store like istnc, proportable, c9tech,startech, etc. that have guaranteed great customer service and warranties. There is a difference between trying to work out things between a more localized support than that based in India.
5. Keyboard. The dell 9300 doesn't have a bad keyboard but the z70va is much better. The 9300 has a sort of desktop keys that are very deep with little space underneath which means less space. This really makes a difference when you are typing at any normal to good speed. The thin keys are the best to type on and I can even type faster on notebooks than I can on desktop keyboards because of that.

Man I'm just rambling because I'm bored. I can list more things but I'm sleepy haha.
 
I would get an Asus Z70va... I have a V6V and I love the build quality.

The warrenty is also really good... a week turnaround.
 
silverwolf0 said:
I will sway you to the right side. I just sold a gateway m680 on ebay and my friend, a 9300 owner, followed in my stead by selling his lappy. Why did he sell it? Haha I think I was a catalyst by pointing out all the crappy things about it, although it has its good moments.

1. Huge and bulky. It is definitely not mobile. The thickness and square brick shape and size are a great deterence even if it is a light 17" laptop. However I find a bunch people with 9300s trying to play games on foldup desks that are half its size. I don't think it works out to well. Also, did I mention every other person has one? You want to stand out don't you??
2. Poor battery life. This is because of the 6800go, but it only gets about 90 minutes while being only about 30-35% faster than a x700 on the z70va that can get 4 hours. Thats a big difference.
3. Aesthetics. This is subjective. I think the dell 9300 is but ugly. Silver on white is a no no, especially all that wasted splace on the sides with cheap looking white plastic really is a turn down.
4. If you buy the asus, you can buy it from a reputable online store like istnc, proportable, c9tech,startech, etc. that have guaranteed great customer service and warranties. There is a difference between trying to work out things between a more localized support than that based in India.
5. Keyboard. The dell 9300 doesn't have a bad keyboard but the z70va is much better. The 9300 has a sort of desktop keys that are very deep with little space underneath which means less space. This really makes a difference when you are typing at any normal to good speed. The thin keys are the best to type on and I can even type faster on notebooks than I can on desktop keyboards because of that.

Man I'm just rambling because I'm bored. I can list more things but I'm sleepy haha.
Click to expand...

1. It is a big laptop, agree’d but I don’t see people playing them on tiny desks…Also every other person has one because it’s a GREAT LAPTOP.
2. With a 9 cell battery, which runs about $80 on ebay, I get about 3:20…get your facts straight…The 6800 go is about TWICE as fast as the x700 when overclocked. Try overclocking the x700, you cant. It has heat issues and the memory is actually underclocked so its stable.
3. I’ll agree with you there. Its not the prettiest thing but its not fugly.
4. Depending on what type of warranty you get, you can get in home service for your Dell laptop instead of shipping your laptop back to someone else.
5. I hate the z70va keyboard. Brightness control is not where it usually is on most laptops, the control buttons is WAY to small and should be in the corner like a normal laptop keyboard, but no its not. The function key is there… Do you know how many times I’ve screwed up my copy and pastes with this tiny little thing?! Its annoying as hell. The control button on the 9300 is much bigger and in the corner like it should be.

I currently own a 9300 and a z70va and I’m trying to decide which one I want to keep. Right now I am leaning towards the 9300 for these reasons…
- Upgradable graphics, x700 is combined with the motherboard.
- z70va can game, but not how I like it. I can run it at 1280x800 w/ no AA/AF and get good performance but try adding AA and it lags in fights. This was with hl2.
- The screen, the 9300 screen spoiled me. I LOVE 1920x1200. I love all the room I have, but I did get asus laptop with the 1280x800 screen, and not the higher res one because I wanted to game at native res. Big mistake on my part…

The asus laptop is well built though, and gets better battery life. Its also much more mobile. The fan is kind of annoying though...
 
silverwolf0 said:
1. Huge and bulky. It is definitely not mobile. The thickness and square brick shape and size are a great deterence even if it is a light 17" laptop. However I find a bunch people with 9300s trying to play games on foldup desks that are half its size. I don't think it works out to well. Also, did I mention every other person has one? You want to stand out don't you??
Click to expand...

Laptops designed for mobility have subpar performance, especially for gaming.

2. Poor battery life. This is because of the 6800go, but it only gets about 90 minutes while being only about 30-35% faster than a x700 on the z70va that can get 4 hours. Thats a big difference.
Click to expand...

90 minutes? Where the heck did you pull that from? I get over 2 hours on my XPS 2 and it has an overclocked 6800 Ultra.

3. Aesthetics. This is subjective. I think the dell 9300 is but ugly. Silver on white is a no no, especially all that wasted splace on the sides with cheap looking white plastic really is a turn down.
Click to expand...

I'll agree that i dont like the white trim very much compared to the black trim on my XPS 2 but i dont think it is ugly.

4. If you buy the asus, you can buy it from a reputable online store like istnc, proportable, c9tech,startech, etc. that have guaranteed great customer service and warranties. There is a difference between trying to work out things between a more localized support than that based in India.
Click to expand...

You wont get much more reputable then Dell. None of those other places you mentioned will offer you the kind of deals and support Dell will. I can have all the replacement parts i need shipped directly to me and i dont ever have to send in my laptop for someone else to work on which is a huge plus IMO cause i'm more then qualified to fix it myself.

5. Keyboard. The dell 9300 doesn't have a bad keyboard but the z70va is much better. The 9300 has a sort of desktop keys that are very deep with little space underneath which means less space. This really makes a difference when you are typing at any normal to good speed. The thin keys are the best to type on and I can even type faster on notebooks than I can on desktop keyboards because of that.
Click to expand...

I've used alot of desktop keyboards and i like my keyboard on my XPS 2 and on the 9300 just fine.

The 9300 can be modded and upgraded to perform at the same level as the XPS 2 as well. You can replace the Go 6800 with a Go 6800 Ultra or 7800 GTX if you purchase the 9 cell battery and get a 130w AC adapter.

I would suggest the OP check out www.notebookforums.com and see all the hundreds of more then satisfied 9300 owners before making a decision.
 
My freind has a 9300 that I picked out and got a good deal on it. He got his in may for his birthday and just the other day he thanked me out of nowhere, because hes been so happy with it. It did take him a day or two to get used to the size.
 
Man its a hard crowd.. :D I would still not pick the 9300 or the xps2. There are many alternatives if you don't exactly need 6800go performance and considering you aren't a heavy gamer, your choices are much wide open. Since the 9300 laptops are like bunnies and keep multiplying, you should find someone who has it and play around and carry it a bit, don't go googly over the 6800 because you might regret the other aspects of the laptop. The bottom line is to NOT PICK A DELL 9300 OR XPS2. :D :D

BAN 9300 BAN 9300 BAN 9300
XPS2 SUX XPS2 SUX XPS2 SUX
ASUS OWNZ OWNZ OWNZ


Man my English is going downhill. This is what I get from hanging around forums.
 
I personally have a 9300 with an X300/128MB, 2GB ram and an 80gb 7200rpm drive, and I still get over 2:30 battery time. I don't know where 90 minutes comes from.

Yeah, it's big, but it's also powerful.

And you can't beat the 1920x1200 with a stick. Sorry. This is the nicest screen I have ever looked at, and I've looked at a lot of screens.
 
I have owned both a 9300 and an XPS2. The 9300 is the best bang for the buck in the business right now. It can also be modded to accept much higher end video cards than the 6800go. Now I personally have an XPS 2 with a 7800 GTX. I get 2 to 2 1/2 hours of batt life when I dim the LCD a bit. Plus on AC power I am getting 7274 in 3DMark05. Realize this is on a LAPTOP. In real world performance it is evem more. On average if you get a 9300 with a 6800go you are going to get 4200+ oc'd comfortably.

I personally like the keyboard on my laptop, it is sold, the WUXGA screen is very nice, I like the SD Card reader, and the multimedia buttons are a plus. It is also a solidly built laptop with a lot of good things going for it. I would opt for this over the Asus any day.

Pretty nice to own a laptop that you can easily get 2 years out of for GAMING purposes and even more for normal purposes (can you say Windows Vista and 256 MB Video card requirement for full features?). Plus because it is a Dell, there will always be a ton of parts available for the laptop as well as good support online from the end users as well as from Dell themselves. Just my two cents...
 
0$?D8229VCQJCZ <- With this coupon, it will save your $750.00 if your initial build is more than $2000.00.

I just bought a 9300 for $1,375 shipped,

pentium M 1.73
1 gig of DDR2 ram
60gb HDD
9 cell
256mb 6800 go card
2 year warranty, and 2yr in home
and a new wireless router

I think saving $750 might help you forget about the color or may help you with its larger size.


Dell Home has the following new coupons on systems. May not be combinable with Deals of the Week, mail in rebates, dollars off, percentages off, or select other promotions.

Inspiron notebooks coupons, exp 12/1 5:59am CDT, limit 4000 uses

$250 off $999+ on select Inspiron notebooks w/ coupon code: S6LN0NMKR46W9C
$500 off $1499+ on select Inspiron notebooks w/ coupon code: DH9NR1LG506BVB
$750 off $1999+ on select Inspiron notebooks w/ coupon code: 0$?D8229VCQJCZ

Some sample configs, price may change! High-end Inspiron 9300 notebook w/ P-M 2GHz 533MHz, TV Tuner w/ Remote Control, 17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA, 512MB, 100GB 5400rpm HD, 8x DVD+/-RW w/ double-layer, 128MB ATIs Radeon X300, 56k/NIC/802.11b/g Wireless, XP Media Center 2005, 1yr warranty for $2021 - $750 off coupon + $24 shipping = $1295 shipped. Free Dell Color Printer 720.
Click to expand...
 
ha ha every one has the 9300s? There like bunnies? You may read about people buying 9300s but its not like everyone is walking down the street carrying one around.LOL Dont over due it dude in that case every one drives hondas dont buy that car.PLEASE give me a break

9300 solid i dont think its ugly never thought a laptop could be pretty or ugly what are you a F ing girl!

Bottom line its cheaper in money then most laptops in its range and it will do the same thing maybe even better.When you grow up and have a few kids a 5 thousand dollar mortgage and a few new cars then its all about saveing CASH, then you wont be so picky .LOL
 
Really pleased with my Asus. It's fun when people at coffee shops, etc. ask, "Um.... what kind of laptop is that?" "It's an Asus." "Uh... what?" :D

I don't think there's any way I could do a notebook with a 17" screen. Sometimes carrying this one around it feels big. But I get over it when I can watch DVDs on a widescreen and run two browser windows side by side. (running at 1680x1050) Not that you Dell guys can't do that too, just this one is plenty for my purposes. I also think it would be impractical if it was any heavier. Some of you may be a lot buffer than me, but a laptop, a couple textbooks, some notebooks, and other random stuff in my shoulder bag is about all that could be comfortable. I don't need 2 more pounds.

I don't think how the laptop looks is an illegitimate concern. I definitely like the looks of mine better than the 9300. For lack of a better word, it just looks so "Dell". :p

I just have the x600, and it's been fine for my gaming so far. I don't expect to play the newest games, but I played the Quake 4 demo last night, and it was playable and decent looking.

My main use of this right now is audio processing, though. I have to use an external audio interface, of course, but it performs beautifully.

In short, I think the whole thing comes down to what you're going to use this for. For pure gaming (video card), go with the 9300. For just about everything else (IMO), including the stuff laptops are meant for, like portability, build quality, battery life, etc., the Asus takes the cake.
 
RedShred said:
0$?D8229VCQJCZ <- With this coupon, it will save your $750.00 if your initial build is more than $2000.00.

I just bought a 9300 for $1,375 shipped,

pentium M 1.73
1 gig of DDR2 ram
60gb HDD
9 cell
256mb 6800 go card
2 year warranty, and 2yr in home
and a new wireless router

I think saving $750 might help you forget about the color or may help you with its larger size.
Click to expand...

I ordered one last week through EPP for $1239 shipped.

Pentium M 1.73
17" widescreen UXGA display
512MB DDR2
100GB 5400rpm
9 cell battery
256MB 6800 Go
8x DVD+-RW
3 year at home warranty

I also got a free 924 AIO printer with the order.

If your wanting portability then you should probably look for something smaller then a 17" notebook. If you want computing power though your not going to find anything better then the 9300 for the price range. The XPS 2/M170 is the top for gaming notebooks though their advantage over the 9300 is pretty slim other then looks. I think thats why i opted to order a 9300 last week to replace my XPS 2. I'll be adding 2 gigs of RAM and pin modding a 1.6 or 1.7 400MHz Dothan once it arrives. I think the 6800 Go will be enough for me right now and i can always upgrade it down the road if i have to. I'll probably have another new laptop early next year when the new stuff comes out anyways lol.
 
Hey all,

Just as an update to this thread I finally purchased a Z70VA earlier today. I was extremely close to dropping the $1300 on the 9300 earlier in Dec. but I pulled away last second. I had been admiring the z70va for months and finally took the plunge for about $1500. So far I have no regrets making the purchase, seems like everyone else loves theirs. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens after I get it :)

Thanks again,
~Jon
 
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