Please check out my Scams exposed  page to protect yourself from Ebay scams.

First decide how the laptops will be used and how frequently the laptop will be moved, screens come

in different sizes and the larger the screen is the heavier the laptop is.Ultraportables such as the 700m or 710m are lightweight, great

for the frequent traveller, containing the intel centrino chip, that uses a lot less battery than the original Pentium 4.

Dell laptop screen sizes: 12.1",   14",  15",  15.4",   17"   Some laptops have built in video cards with its own memory, others use

the available system memory, ie: if a laptop has 512MB memory and no built in video card than it could be using between 32MB and

256MB of the system memory slowing down the system.

Dell laptops by usage: Frequent traveller: 700m or 710m  batteries come in 4 or 8 cells, with the 8 cell lasting longer than the 4 cell, also the more memory it has the longer the battery will last ie: a laptop battery will last longer with 1GB installed than with only 256MB ( same model ) Also the  Dell XPS M1210 has a 12.1" screen and a 256MB optional video card wich makes it great for gaming, and the optional Webcam,it is also highly portable, but heavier than the 700m or the 710m

The B120 / B130 /  2200  models are great for someone on the budget, good performance to price ratio, they usually come with an Intel Celeron or Intel Centrino chip ( Centrino is faster )

Multimedia: Inspiron 6000 / 6400 / 9300 / 9400 with optional video cards  15.4" and 17" screens, good for applications and gaming ( when there is a built in video card )

Gaming: Inspiron 6000 with the slow X300 ATI video card and a 15.4" screen great for light gaming, 6400 with the X1300 (128MB) or X1400 (256MB)  ATI video cards and the Nvidia 7300 and 7400 video cards ( Nvidia is faster )

Inspiron 9300 / 9400 with the 17" widescreen from the slow ATI X300 video card to the very fast 7900 GS, dual or single core CPU.

Also the Dell XPS family wich is dedicated for gaming, but heavier and much more expensive than the other models.The Dell XPS M2010 with a 20" screen a real "showstopper" ( watch out for fradulent M2010 auctions, scammers favorite )

Scams: the more expensive the laptop is the more likely it is that the auction could be a scam, ie: highly unlikely that an Inspiron B120 auction is a scam because of its low price, but I see Dell XPS laptop scams every minute because it is much more expensive than the other models.Buy from a reputable seller, fund your purchase with a credit card, never pay with western union to foreign countries, chinese XPS scams going on every minute.Watch out for stolen accounts, ie: a scammer steals someones account than posts an email address on the top of the auction asking to contact him outside ebay via email, obvious scam.

I have decided to update this guide concerning the chinese scammers.Every day many people fall victim to

these scumbags, this is how they do it.

They register 10-15 ebay accounts, than leave positive feedbacks to each others accounts, OR

they "buy" feedbacks from feedback sellers who are disguised as "ebook" sellers for 1 Cent per feedback.

Than they post expensive items at a very low price, for example XPS M2010 laptop that costs up to $5000, for about $300-$800. Once the auction is over they will ask the high bidder to send payment to

china via western union or wire transfer.Once collected the money they will close the accounts and start over.There is a sucker born in every second...

Warning signs: The seller is registered in China,hong Kong or Sweden, Italy,France with the item locations stated as Ireland, or Beijing China.No paypal accepted, western union or wire transfer only.Dont be a victim, educate yourself....