Appraisal request [and other ramblings]

[Shotter]

Have a Dell Inspiron 8100, that I basically upgraded as far as it would go. Need something thin-n-light though, even if it's slower, so I'm thinking to sell it and make a few hundred bucks towards that. Be honest, just want to know what you think normal people would pay for it. If it doesn't seem worth selling I will keep it and save for longer, since I love it, and it plays games great for a laptop.
Specs:

Intel Pentium III-M 1.2Ghz Tualatin
512 MB 133 Mhz RAM
40GB HDD
ATI Radeon Mobility 9000 64MB
15" IBM SXGA+ LCD (no dead pixels)
16X CDRW
Floppy currently in media bay

Usual 8100 stuff: firewire, infrared, USB ports, built in eth0 + modem, 2pcmcia slots, dual pointing devices etc etc

Thanks for your advice. For the record, what I want to get for everyday use at school has to meet three basic specifications.

5.5lbs or less
4+hr battery life
wireless (a/b at least) built in.

additionally, it would be great if I could have a CD burner, a 14" screen (no bigger). And yes I would kill for an IBM T41 but it's out of my price range []

So I probably should get a Pentium M/Centrino. But which one? I basically don't want to spend more than $1000, which means I might bid for one off eBay. The cheaper I can get it the more I can invest into building my own kick-a.. desktop.
Also (I know this is long and rambling, but bear with me), I want to hear from people who have had a non-"maintstream" laptop like a Sager, Averatec, etc. I am no longer under the brand hype re desktops and would never buy a ready made-one when it's cheap and easy to build as I have done before. Can the same apply to laptops? Basically is it so much more difficult to fix/upgrade that it would make it foolhardy to steer away from the higher price (but included warranty) of a Dell, HP etc? Let me know your thoughts. Because having the three year warranty for my Inspiron has kept it in tip-top condition, so I hesitate to be without one. Thanks for all your help.

Ray


[Cleverly disguised as a Responsible Adult]

[Run1track]

I do not have any answers for you, but I have a question.
Is that ATI Radeon Mobility 9000 shared or dedicated (memory)?
How does it work for playing games?
I am asking because the notebook I am looking at has that chip (shared memory) and I want to know how it fares.

[Shotter]

The video card is a separate modular piece, just like in a desktop. I put it in myself. That's why I got the inspiron, because of it's ability to be upgraded. You can get a pic of it in this auction. I ordered mine from dell and put it in. With my config, it yielded about 6000 3DMarks (2001 version not 2003). I played every game well. Most recently UT2003 and Need For Speed Underground. I doubt it will handle Halo or Doom III-type games though. For that you most likely will need a desktop as even fastest laptop card out (Radeon 9700) will play it, but not at top speed looking pretty.

But will no one give me an opinion on what my laptop's worth?

[Cleverly disguised as a Responsible Adult]

[Andrew]

Ray, the best way to tell how much you'll get for your 8100 is just to see what others are going for on eBay, although I'm afraid to say would probably be a lot less than you bought it for at this point, maybe $300 - $500...but maybe I'm wrong.

I'm still partial to buying a notebook from a highly reputable retailer or manufacturer and making sure it's backed up by a warranty and good customer service. If you buy Averatec, although they've had decent reviews, I don't know much about their customer service and would want to get it from a retailer that maybe offers a good replacement or service plan.

Finding a notebook with a CD burner is simple these days, it's almost standard. I'd look for 802.11 b/g before the a/b...802.11a just isn't that widely used. The best is to get a/b/g of course, but if it saves dough just go with the b/g.

HP, Toshiba and Dell are of course the 3 big names in notebooks that offer good pricing with "name brand". Sony and IBM tend to run cheaper, and Fujitsu somewhere in the middle of the pack in prices (they are of very good quality though). Maybe start by looking at the Compaq nc6000, Toshiba Tecra M2, HP zx5000, Inspiron 600m for notebooks that can be considered thin and light and configured at a reasonable price.