Engineering Student - Help Me!

I am looking at the following two notebooks. I am a computer engineering student and need power and portability. I will be carrying my laptop with me in a logitech kinetic backpack at almost all times.

Which of these is better? How is the build quality/sturdiness of each? How are the screens?

How does each compare to a t61 or macbook?

1. Dell D630 14''
2. dell precision m2300 14''

Lastly - What is the difference between these!?!

 

I need help asap - please

I have to make a decision very soon

 

Alright, the D630 and the M2300 are basically the same thing. Both use the same chassis and have almost identical specs. Screens should be of the same flavors across both lines.

While the D630 has the standard Latitude lid, the M2300 has a fancy Precision lid. The M2300 has only one graphics option and that is the FX360M. You can get the X3100 or the NVS135M on the D630.

You pay a significant premium on the M2300 over the D630 and that is largely for the supposed extra support the Precision line has. If you don't need the slightly better GPU or the fancy certifications, I'd say the D630 is a much better choice over the M2300.

Thinkpads still have higher build quality than these Latitudes, but Dell is closing the gap. Slowly. T61 specs run closer to those of the M2300 in that they offer a somewhat better GPU on the T61 than on the D630. There's also port differences, different battery options, etc. But of course, you're paying a premium on the T61 for the build and all.

Dunno about the Mac, I'm a rabid Windows XP fanboy.

 

T61s have a worse screen though don't they?

I will be watching a lot of ripped tv shows on the go. Also does anyone have any pictures comparing the d630 lid to the m2300 lid?

Also how does the lid stay closed when it is shut? Does the latch hold it completely shut or does it still wobble?

Finally how well does the battery stay in place? Is it tight?

 

Honestly, about the screens, if you aren't LOOKING for flaws you aren't going to find any. I've got the so-called grainy SEC screen in my D830 and it looks normal enough. I'd think that Lenovo and Dell ultimately use the same ODM companies for their screens, or at least with a significant overlap, so the variation shouldn't be great.

http://www.tech2.com/media/images/2007/Nov/img_34563_dell_d630_1_lowres.jpg for the D630 and http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/images/products/1044/Precision-M4300t.jpg for the M2300. The second pic is actually for the M4300, but the M2300 lid looks the same. Just a bit smaller. Can't really find a hi-res picture for these Precision lids, though.

The lid uses a latch. On my D830 it's a bit loose; the wobble is maybe about a millimeter or less. I'd imagine it'd be the same for the D630. Dunno about the battery, since the D830 and D630 use significantly different battery configurations.

 

My D630 with NVS 135M and 6 cell battery constantly gets around 4 hours of battery life while browsing the web over WiFi and with minimum screen brightness.
Yes, the lid is a bit loose while closed, it was like so out of the box. The battery, however, is tight.

 

Is there anything I could do so that the lid is tighter?

It is kinda weird that it only has one latch and not two

 

u shouldn't get lenovo, the graphic card, from what ive heard is only a DDR2 which u might have trouble running .

 

Depending on how you define a latch, there are two. There are two physical contact points between the lid and the base when the screen is closed; however, they are both part of the same piece of steel.

And while it might be a bit loose, it's not an insecure connection and honestly nothing to worry about.

 

The D830 has 2 latch points while the D630 has one.

As for the graphics memory, it is 128MB GDDR3. As for the NVS 135M graphics chip itself, in games, it is about as powerful as a consumer Geforce 8400M G. The FX 360M in the M2400 is probably a little bit more powerful...