e6510 vs. e6410 i5 vs. i7 hdd vs dell's ssd vs. after market ssd????

Hey everyone,

I am in the market for a new computer and have been doing a lot of research into my options. First off i found this website to be the best source of information so i figured it was about time to register. I'm just finishing up my Business Degree and then will be doing another two years of education in Crop Science i plan on continuing to work for the Family Business(Agriculture Retail). I currently have a Dell Inspiron 640m Due Core 2GB Ram Windows XP Pro with 9 cell. This has been a great laptop for me and lasted over years now of pretty continual use. It is starting to fall apart though and i'm in the market for a new laptop this spring. Our company has generally ordered from Dell and for the most part results have been pretty good however they sure haven't been perfect.

I take my laptop everywhere i go so i'm hoping my next laptop be a little slimmer then my current model and ideally a little lighter. I'm also wanting my next computer to be better at multitasking and these new intel chips look like they will fit the bill nicely. I always have outlook open and often many chrome or firefox tabs as well as itunes, word, excell ect. I don't do much for PC gaming i have a PS3 for that, however it would be nice to be able to at least have the ability to play some more basic PC games if needed (I'm thinking of going with the discrete video card). I dont watch a lot of movies on my computer but i am considering getting a blueray drive depending on if i can negotiate the $500 price down a bit. I want to have a computer with good battery life i've noticed some of the average 15/16inch futureshop/best buy models only last a couple hours on battery and thats not acceptable to me. At home i currently hook up to a nice hd 23inch dell monitor. I really like the latitudes ability to dock and would likely get one dock for home and one for work.

I would say my leading model of choice would be the e6410 right now. I'm used to the 14 inch screen and it would have the same resolution as what i have now. However the full hd resolution on the e6510 does sound really nice and i'm hoping to try to find a local kiosk store to see one in person. I just don't know if the extra real estate is worth the extra weight size and i assume less battery life. How much of a battery life difference between the 15 and 14 inch models? Even from the older 5100 vs 4100 series anyone compared? The Dell reps claim they are similar but i don't believe it. I'v been watching the Owners Lounge on both models and still waiting for some true weights to be posts as i don't believe Dell's Claimed weights. I also was looking at the Lunova T series and the new MacBook Pro 15inch. The Macs are very nice and i enjoy working with my Parents MacBook Pro 13inch every once and while. The visual performance of their iworks programs are Superior in my opinion however in order to be integrated well into work i need to be able to use Outlook and essentially i feel i would need to use Bootcamp or parallels to run Windows. If i end up using mainly windows i guess it doesn't make much sense to buy a mac. I'm also hoping office 2010 will be an upgrade on 2007.

As far as the new processors at first i figured that it would be nice to get the true quad core i7 processors in the e6510 however after doing some research on the forms i don't think i have any need for a quad core and i believe that i would get more value out of the lower energy consumption of the dual core series. So essentially i think its just a debate between the i5 540 and in the i7 640. I found a link somewhere on here with a test comparing the two and essentially it recommended sticking with the i5 540 because it has very close performance with constantly lower energy consumption. However i'v also read some of the new macbook pro 15 reviews and some of the reviews saw some significant improvements of the i7 vs i5 options. Whats your thoughts anyone have real life experience comparing the two, or more links for me to look at?

I'm heavily considering get an SSD drive on my next laptop i know they are a little pricey but from everything i'v read they are one of the most noticeable speed improvements you can make. I also like the extra reliability of no moving parts. This seems to be a quickly changing field with new options such as "Trim" support. I know this is only available on Windows 7 and i am planning on going with Windows 7 Pro unless someone thinks that Ultimate is worth the extra money. I don't really see any extra features of importance in the ultimate version though. But back to the SSD what is the exact model that Dell uses i'v read that it is a Samsung model but can't seem to find much for reviews on any Dell/Samsung SSD's. If i'm going to spend the money on an SSD it sounds like going with an aftermarket SSD such as the Intel SSD may be the way to go. The 160 Intel looks like a nice option it seems like the Intel has been getting strong reviews from everything that i have read. My question is will this void warranty with dell? I plan on getting the 3 year warranty with pro support and accidental coverage. Also has anyone compared the Dell SSD to an aftermarket one? How hard is it to switch the hard drive with an after market one? Could someone explain the drive size to me i have seen 1.8 and 2.5 as the different sizes. Most SSD's for laptops seem to be 2.5 will this work with the E6410/6510?

On another note anyone from Canada buy a dell from the States. I'm frustrating with the huge price differences right now between the US and Canada pricing. I priced out a fairly loaded up model in each country and their is about a $1000 difference with the Canadian dollar being so strong this is frustrating. If i do go ahead with the Dell i will be bringing this up with our local busn. rep.

I know i'm throwing out a lot of questions thanks for any input and help provided.

 

Just to add a few more things. I'll be going with 4GB or ram unless i can get a smoking deal on 8GB i don't think more then 4GB will be needed. And as far as budget i'm willing to spend some extra money because its my Desktop Replacement and i take it most everywhere i go. I'm more concerned about getting the most value for my money....

 

I won't have personal experience with the E6510 screen for a couple of weeks, so I can't comment on the quality. I had a 14" laptop for a couple of years, and my girlfriend has a 15". As a desktop replacement with occasional travel use, I really appreciate the extra screen real estate of the 15", even if it means an extra half pound or so.

I went with the i5 because the difference in price to get the i7 dual core didn't seem worth it for the small gain in performance.

As far as SSDs go, if you don't need more than 160GB, the Intels get the best reviews for performance and reliability. I spent the money for the new Crucial C300 because I wanted the extra memory, and I didn't want to wait until fall for the 300GB Intel SSD. If you do end up buying a drive online, be sure to sign up for Bing cashback to save a few bucks (Tiger Direct currently has the best cashback percentage).

 

Yeah i'm torn back and forth on this one. I usually haul it around in my backpack which weights anywhere from 10lb to 20lb depending on what i have in it. With that in mind i figure 1lb won't make that much of a difference. I think the difference between the two is about 1lb to 1.5lb. The manual has the states weights at min 4.3lb (E6410) and min 5.75 (E6510).

Yeah i'm interested to see how your laptop runs i will be probably getting something configured very similar to yours.

I think that 160GB would be enough for me currently i only have a 80gb and and i use a 500 external as a back up and extra storage. I think that 160gb would be more then enough for my needs how much did you pay for your 300gb if you don't mind me asking?

 

The C300 is 256GB. I paid $660 and got 10% cashback. Dell wants $900 just to upgrade to a 256GB Samsung drive that is also slower.

Where are you seeing the 5.75lb minimum weight? The Dell website says 5.53 with a 6-cell battery. I think you have to order the 6410 with a 4-cell to get it at 4.3lbs. I plan to order a dummy bay to use when I am traveling.

 

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/late6510/en/index.htm
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/late6510/en/sfits/sfits_en.pdf


According to that manual the minimum weight is 5.75 which to me assumes the 4 cell battery. I do remember reading the 5.53 with the 6 cell battery though. So i'm not sure which is correct. You are correct with the 4.3 6410 being the 4 cell battery. How much does that bay reduce the weight by?

 

delete thhis please

 

Why? Did i say something not allowed? Thank you mfranz for the information i'll keep looking around for good deals on a SSD.