A few questions about Latitude E5520

Nope. There's no quad-core option, and the i7-2620M is only 6% better than the i5-2520M (based on Turbo clock), so stick with the 2520M.

 

I mean ya ProSupport + NBR Onsite if you can afford. At minimum On-Site to ensure if you are attached to your laptop, a technician will come to your home vs shipping out to Dell's depot for possibly up to 2 weeks.

zoogle is right, I'm still getting used to the placement of the Fn keys, it sometimes does drive me mad as my Z61t is my main work laptop otherwise I'm on my Dell's/normal keyboard.

Honestly, the question to ask yourself about screen resolution, how can you not opt for the FHD screen? Typically those screens have higher color gamut, better viewing angles, contrast, everything. 1368x768 truly is a miserable resolution for a 15.6" laptop.

I would just stick with the 2520M. The i7 is only slightly faster clock speeds, slightly more cache and higher turbo but honestly you aren't going to see the difference, you pay for the i7 name.

 

What is the difference between NBD and NBR? And while I'm asking, what's POW?

 

Don't really know what NBR stands for but NBD = next business day. POW = parts only warranty.

 

Sorry it was a typo, I meant NBD. NBR = Notebook Review = this site silly.

 

I've received a few E5520s already and they have pretty good build quality. I've been purchasing the Latitude D and E series for the past 5 years and have been happy with them overall. The E5520 is a little wider thanks to the numpad. Keyboard has a little give to it, but is not that bad. Haven't noticed any heat issues from the keyboard or palm rest.

I purchase all of ours with the i5-2520M and it is sufficient for everything we need. All of my engineers use it for programming (Virtual Basic, Rockwell software, Siemens software). It is great for virtualization as well. I recommend starting with 1 x 4GB RAM stick installed if you are going 32 bit OS. If you want to upgrade to 64 bit OS once your applications support it, you can by just adding a second 4GB stick.

1080p screen is a must and for the price the quality is good. There are more screws on the bottom to open this laptop up than the previous E5510, which I don't like, but it is still less than the 12 or so required for the D series. As far as color goes, I wish they would have stuck with black, but the grey/pewter color isn't too bad.

Dell has also gone back to the old power supply with these laptops which is more square than the previous flat adapters. I prefer the flat ones myself. The power input and Ethernet port are in a weird place. The corners are slightly rounded and both inputs sit on the rounded edges on the back of the laptop on angles. Make sure you get the 90watt adapter. It is the same cost and also works with docking stations if you ever want one.

 

Wow this is awesome! Thank you everybody for all the valuable feedback!

 

I had another question to those who have owned or used comparable Thinkpad's. How does the E5520 compare to Thinkpad's in terms of build quality, features for same price, support. Basically will I be missing out on something if I don't buy a Thinkpad?