Latitude E4300 first impressions

As a disclaimer I am going to start out by saying that I don't own either of these laptops but I am waiting on some price reductions and for some of the kinks to get smoothed out in production (I never buy something at release because there are almost always kinks that need to, and usually do, get ironed out in the production process) and I will be buying either the E4200 or E4300 come January.

That being said you have to keep a few things in mind when reading the forums and analyzing the comments. First of all, unhappy people are more likely to post than happy people. Second of all, people on this thread are likely to be much more demanding and nitpicking of flaws than your average notebook buyer (I would say even more demanding than your average tech literate mid-high end notebook buyer).

Now I'm not saying that someone who's saying that the E4x00 keyboard is a piece of junk should shut up and be satisfied. These are not cheap notebooks and you have every right to return said notebooks and get a thinkpad,etc. if they don't meet your standards. But keep in mind that someone who is comparing everything to the golden standard (ie thinkpad keyboard) will be very upset with a product that is 80% of that, whereas someone who is used to 50% of that standard would be very happy with 80%.

Again, I am not saying that anybody should lower their standards, but to call the E series launch a failure based on reviews and comments from highly critical launch day buyers is a little extreme.

 

I do agree !

 

I agree too. I was one of those very happy purchaser's of the E4300. Now I have had some problems and I am getting a replacement unit. I still think it is a very good machine, but like you said, there are some kinks. Since I don't have time to deal with them, if the replacement has issues, I'll send it back and use my old 10 pound notebook until they iron out the kinks.

You can say many bad things about Dell if you want to, but they do handle warranty issues better than most other computer companies especially if you purchase Pro Support and next business day on site replacement of defective parts.

 

Pitviper I agree with what you have written and in my defense I never meant that the launch has been a failure. I do think that the products were rushed out the door (certainly the E4200 was, perhaps to compete with the x200s). The keyboard on my D430 may not be as good as a T61 but it is still very, very good. These are premium products and cost a lot of money. One should expect them to exude quality from the get go. And though I agree that mostly happy people don't bother posting and that negative comments stick out, it is neverthless a matter of concern.

While Dell's service is excellent, there is no point in having that splendid service when you need it so frequently! And I have a busted M1330 that cost about two grand just eight months ago which can't be repaired because Dell can't figure out how to service it in the Middle East under their new warranty policies (that's right folks no more International service in many countries just because you have a 3 year NBD warranty).

Anyway, I hope more happy owners chime in.

 

Hey guys, I am presently in great debate as to which machine to get. The e4300 seemed absolutely ideal.... until it has arrived and the reports seem to be so uninspiring.

I have d410 which I quite like other than the detail of it slowly dying. I am a bit concerned by bad reports of the screen quality, keyboard and the heat. Also the short battery life with the standard battery seems daft - to make the lifetime of an ultraportable acceptable only with a battery which sticks out seems to be ridiculous and entirely defying the point of a portable machine!

Anyhow, I do not have many choices in the UK because the sony Z series and lenovo alternatives are so expensive. The only alternative I see is the samsung x460 but it is quite a bit bigger... i just wish we had a few more professional reviews about!

Anyhow, the thing that I would most like to see is some nice pictures of a machine in the blue color.... the few snaps i have seen make me imagine it might well be a bit garish and bright but id like to see some proper pictures to be sure - can anyone help?

edit to add: It looks like I can get an xps M1330 with top of the line spec including 128Gb SSD for the same price as an e4300 without that same SSD.... Add the SSD and the E4300 is now 30% expensive than the equivalent XPS spec.... seems a bit of a daft pricing policy to me....

 

How about the Samsung X360?

 

I had decided that the really tiny machines were a needless luxury and required a compromise of performance that I could not accept since I will need to do CAD from time to time. In that same thought I have ruled out E4200, toshiba R600.

The samsung x460 is a possibility though.

 

I've just noticed that the three E4300 I ordered for my office, one black, one blue and one red have just been shipped. I will post some pics of each of them when they arrive

 

I just ordered one inspite of several concerns. The biggest it that the contract managers are all but impossible to contact - I tried half a dozen times and after an intial email response, I have been ignored. Unfortunately I have pretty much no alternative for a 13 inch ultraportable because the UK university's contract wont let you go to lenovo or sony. So I hope it will be ok.

I ordered a black one with dock included.... I was going to go fos an SSD but I was ed if i was going to line Dell's pockets when they would not talk to me! I noticed that the latitude on option had changed somewhat as well.... so you could not include it, have ON reader or some other option which was entirely unclear. Of course I could not find what any of this meant thanks to the service of the account management!

Fingers crossed it is ok and a step up from my old d410 (which wasnt bad, just end of life now).

 

Have had the E4300 for approx 1 month now.. SP9400, Vista Ultimate, 4GB, Fingerprint + Contactless, 250GB HD, DVD (read-only), 6-cell, backlit keyboard, 5300 WiFi, Bluetooth, and AT&T WWAN/GPS.

I have to say, I'm pretty happy with what I have. Screen isn't AMAZING, but it's pretty darn good. Boot time/responsiveness good. Battery lasts almost 5 hours, very portable, and I really think the external veneer is fine (don't have a problem with fingerprints). I'm going to switch out to a 128MB SSD to see if things speed up even more, but I'd definitely buy this again. A solid performer!