All of the three options that you mentioned are still available on the 5150, as far as I can tell.  Am I missing something?

GrumpyChick,

Consider yourself lucky.
Price isn't everything. 
I fell for the advertising hype...and learned a hard lesson . . . 
_____________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY of 15 FAILURES/REPAIRS in 19 months ( purchased for $4208 ): 
Replaced 1 time:   notebook (Service Tags: for i7500: 2H0440B,
                   for i8100:93DH811) 05/30/2002;
Replaced 3 times:  motherboard: 05/20/2002,06/06/2002,12/16/2002;
Replaced 3 times:  CD/DVD drive: 03/22/2002,03/25/2002,05/21/2002;
Replaced 2 times:  hard disk drive: 03/21/2002,05/22/2002;
Replaced 2 times:  keyboard: 05/22/2002,05/24/2002;
Replaced 1 time:   lid latch: 05/22/2002;
Replaced 2 times:  video card: 1/10/2003,5/9/2003 ,
Missing:           2nd battery missing with 2nd notebook replacement
                   despite two batteries were purchased and returned
                   with 1st notebook;
Malfunction:       repeated video problems and system lock-ups
                   since received May-2002 ; DELL replaced NVIDIA
                   GeForce2Go-16mb with ATI Radeon-7500-M7-64MB
                   video card/driver: 5/9/2003
Malfunction:       LCD has red-tint at start-up (16-Oct-2003)
Malfunction:       LCD back-light failed (22-Oct-2003) 4 days
                   after 3-year-complete-care-warranty
                   expired (18-Oct-2003)
Error:   IDE Disk 0 - Write Test : Fail   (28-Oct-2003)
  Status: Fail  Status Code: DOS DDG-D DISK 030 068
  Device: IDE_Disk_0  Test: Write_Test, 
  Disk: Msg: Block 7022454: Uncorrectable data error.
Error:   Mini PCI 3Com NIC - NIC Interrupt Test : Fail   (28-Oct-2003)
  Status: Fail  Status Code: DOS DDG-D MINI3COM 030 026
  Device: Mini_PCI_3Com_NIC  Test: NIC_Interrupt_Test,
  Mini3Com: Msg: Failed Internal loopback Test
________________________SIG-LINE______________________________________
DELL Inspiron 8100, 1GHz P3, L1 32K Cache, L2 512K Cache, Service TAG:93DH811,
BIOS:   DELL-27d30303 Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version1.10 (A15 , 03/03/2003)
SMBIOS: Version 2.3 , Memory: 512MB SDRAM (2 DIMMs) ,
REPLACED: nVIDIA GeForce 2 MX/Go Dell Mobile 16MB video card and
nVIDIA Video Driver Version: DELL/nVIDIA 6.13.10.2964
WITH:  ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 ASIC:M7-64MB , ATI Video Driver
6.13.10.6094(5/24/2002), ati2mtag.sys 448512 bytes, DELL Package:
v.7.72.8-020528m-4179C,A02 (R50300.EXE: 10/11/2002) , ATI Video BIOS,
v.6.4.2,A02(7/30/2002) (PM7A02.EXE: 10/11/2002)
GRAPHICS BUS: 32-bit AGP 4X cable bus 256-bit hardware-accelerated video ,
LCD:  HITACHI 15" SXGA+ 1400 x 1050 @ 60Hz, LVDS LCD interface V2, Part# 2H749
DISK: HITACHI_DK23DA-30GB fixed hard disk drive (Firmware: 00J1A0G0) ,
CD/DVD: SAMSUNG CD-R/W / DVD SN-308B combo, 3Com 10/100 Mini PCI Ethernet ,
SOUND:  ESS Maestro 3i PCI Audio(WDM) ESS Technology, Inc. ,
BATTERY:  SANYO Battery Model 0002M400 (Serial# 11326 SBDS) ,
USB:  USB Controller: Intel 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442 ,
IDE:  ATA/ATAPI Controller: Intel 82801BA Bus Master IDE Pri/Sec IDE Channel ,
removable(floppy) drive ,
OS:  Windows XP Professional 2002, Windows XP Professional SP1 ,
TEMPS:  Current CPU temp: 51°C=123.8°F , Current HD temp: 64°C=147.2°F
________________________SIG-LINE______________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
WHO GETS THE MOST FEEDBACK ? 
Have  you  ever  wondered  which  companies  receive  the  most feedback from
PlanetFeedback consumers, here's the lowdown for 2003:

   In order (most to least), recipients of the MOST  letters include:   
   (01) Wal-Mart              (02) Cingular Wireless     (03) Sprint PCS        
   (04) McDonald's            (05) AT&T Wireless         (06) Capital One Financial     
   (07) Verizon Wireless      (08) Burger King           (09) Dell Computer Corporation    
   (10) Sears                 (11) Home Depot            (12) America Online 
   (13) Best Buy              (14) Wendy's               (15) and  T-Mobile USA

Somewhat revealing that the only  computer company on the list is DELL ?
DELL Company Report Card:
   Overall Satisfaction Grade:    D
   Industry Average (All other Computer Hardware makers):   C-
 
Feedback breakdown (complaints vs compliments):
Complaints:       91.2%
Compliments:      7.2% 
 
Top Complaints (of 91.2% of feedback):
    Customer Service:  79.8%
    Other: 6.1%
    Performance: 4.4%
    Rrice/Value: 2.6%
    Quality: 2.6%

Top Compliments (of 7.2% of feedback): 
    Customer service 66.7%
    Other 22.2%
    Reliability 11.1%

Summars... thanks for your reply, especially so quickly.  But if you read closer you will see that my concern now is no longer the price but the speed of the machine wich I can no longer get. 

I understand your plight however... the whole "once bitten twice shy" thing,  guess I'm just waiting to be "bitten" so to speak by Dell.  I've had two dell desktop systems over the past 6 or seven years and theyve always been reliable. Mind you my second system is still only about 10 or so months old and Ive never owned a laptop yet by dell.

What I guess I really want to know is do the Dell people ever turn around and offer the same stuff once its been offered before and then taken off the website?

now looking at an Alienware system.... Sweet system... and ONLY $700 or so more then I woulda paid for a dell.... kinda rediculouse... but yet still considering it.

I dont think I'd want an Alienware system just for the fact that when others see it they just KNOW you spent WAY too much for a laptop.  BUt, I cant seem to find a system quite as sweet anywhere else.

Hmmm maybe I need to go look back as the site... but last I checked  they were offering 30 Mg Harddrive 512 Ram in TWO dimms and no hyperthreading on the processor

 

Brb gonna go check

No I just looked... they still dont seem to be offered as far as I can tell? I dunno maybe I'm missing something???

 

also just noticed that the graphics cars is also only 32 MB not 64 wich they previousely offered I think?

I see the problem you are having.  You are looking at one of Dell's recommended solutions.  Instead, click on "Start Shopping Notebooks" at this link:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Then, click on the picture of the 5150.  Then click on "Customize It".  Now you select from any options that you like.  That's the great thing about dell compared to buying a computer at a retail store.  You don't have to stick with preconfigured systems.  You can customize it any way you like.

Also, buy calling Dell, you can also customize the 5150 to contain the exact specs that you want.  Let me know if this works for you!

Interesting.... I guess it really was me that was missing something.   when I clicked on the website the usual "customize" it link it wouldnt give me much to customize... but when I clinked on the webpage you sent's link... it had the options back.

 

Dunno what happened... maybe I'm just slow... Probably... but  THANKS A LOT

The three items that you mentioned:

3.06 Mhz processor with Hyperthreading

60 G harddrive with the 8 MB cache

512 MB ram (1 dim NOT 2)

ARE customizable.  Here is the DIRECT link for you to use:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_5150?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Click on "Customize It" and you can directly choose the 3.06 HT proc.

Grumpy - You say you are not located in the US. Perhaps you were using a site for another country? I think they offer different configurations depending on the country?

Tim

P.S. My family has purchased four Dell notebooks in the last year - 2650, 5150 x 2 and a 600M Each of us likes their machine and they have all been problem free other than normal updates.