Geek Note of the Day

I recently was the beneficiary of two different kick-ass coupons for Dell computers... one was for a 700m laptop, and the other was for a Dimension XPS Generation 3.

If you are a gamer and have any doubts about the worthiness of Dell's systems, cast them aside. The XPS is an absolute beast, and you can't beat the price: I scored what was normally about a $3800 machine for $2200... that includes their 20" LCD panel which is essentially mainlined gaming goodness (no dead pixels, no ghosting, great colors, etc.). Could you assemble a machine by yourself for that much? Perhaps... but you sure as hell wouldn't get a 3-year warranty with accident coverage. True, you have to deal with Dell Customer Service, but nobody's perfect.

The 700m laptop is also quite nice, and while you are probably not going to be able to play DOOM 3 on it, I am able to play UT2004 on it with a low resolution if need be... that's impressive work for the integrated Intel Graphics chip. On the more pertinent laptop features, the extended battery is great (the base battery sucks, so upgrade), power consumption/heat/fan noise are all low, and it is really light for its features (4.5 lbs with an optical drive and extended battery). The big winner is the screen... I am constantly getting comments about it, so in addition to the great utility it affords, my geek ego is constantly being massaged. The best part? It was less than a grand.

How was I able to find such good deals? Patience and diligence... if you are in the market, check FatWallet and mfet for Dell deals... the best deals are only up for a few hours so you need to check in a few times a day, but the payoff is worth it.

Here is a pic of the monitor (which really doesn't do it justice, since on the screen is the draft of this post rather than some killer FPS). Note the USB ports on the side... a geek's delight!

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