Questions about E6510 outlet lappys

I am coming from a mac book pro which may or may not be worth it to fix now that mac denied warranty coverage only 2 years in (we have a special 4 year warranty because my professonal school made us by these hideously expensive laptops).

1. I assume build quality is pretty solid since these are business laptops?
2. If I install a better hard drive/ram/upgrade to 7 vs vista, this wouldn't affect any warranty coverage correct?
3. I will be getting complete care (thats accidental damage protection right?)
4. Hows the battery coverage, I assume 1 year warranty std? What is their criteria for replacement? Are they going to give me a previously used battery?
5. I started looking at the latitudes because of the better build quality and 25% off sale right now. Biggest downside I see is the meh video card.

 

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. You may need to select and pay for Complete Care (also, if you want, on-site instead of mail-in repair)
4. Dell offer a battery with a 3 year warranty but, unless this is part of the original configuration, then you will get a battery with a one year warranty. Actual battery life is variable. The one in my E6400 was still very healthy after 2 years.

John

 

Jumped on one of these today. Can't wait.

 

A Latitude from Dell Outlet is like an insider's secret of sorts on getting an awesome machine at an outstanding price.

Build quality is practically off the charts ! Very comparable to Thinkpads and whatnot but in some ways better and different too. Latitudes have metal plates on bottom which are better at dissipating heat than the plastic on Tpads. Easier access to parts, better audio, etc.

But overall the build quality is outstanding on a Latitude. I have purchased a few from the outlet over the years and have never been disappointed. Even once when I bought one it seemed like the nvidia gfx card was faulty and I called dell cc and tech support. They overnighted me a brand new machine for an exchange just like that !

I would jump on one while the 25% off coupon is still good. Usually it's only 15% or 20% in the emails they send. And this one is limited to 2000 uses.....

btw don't worry about the 'meh' gfx and i recommend just going with the intel hd gfx, specs are close as to vram and whatnot and the reviews on this cpu/gpu setup of intels are very good. If gfx are that important you might go with a different machine.