Insight sought: Latitude D830, Inspiron e1505

I'm on a steady quest to finally purchase my first laptop. It's been far too long and grueling to mention without embarrassing myself. Fortunately, the need has not been so imminent as to make a purchase previously and therefore have been able to put it off this long. Now with graduate school coming right around the corner (two months) I need to get down to business and actually purchase something. I'm bound to have limited time for entertainment/gaming purposes, thus I have given up on the idea of a more expensive (and more tempting) GPU such as the 7600/X1600/8600 series.

Here is where I'm at: I more or less had my sights set on the e1505 for all of which it has to offer in customizability, affordability, as well as some otherwise insignificant factors that are quite important to me. Of course the 1520 series is coming soon but there are too many negatives that do not add up to the pros of the e1505. DX10 is a hard thing to give up, but with no idea on price, it may not be worth waiting for. The new layout of the keyboard and ports, the increased thickness, and lack of any other substantial additions to the design still makes the e1505 more appealing. Plus, I can get a fully equipped e1505 (T7200, 120GB HDD, WXGA+, X1400, Wireless N/Bluetooth, DVD+RW, and self bought/installed 2GB RAM) for around $900-1000. No other laptop on the market comes close to this.

But now that the Latitude line is offering dedicated GPUs, I was hoping some people could give me some insight. Unless there are some coupons for the D830 that I have overlooked, it appears I could equip one with all the same specs as the e1505, albeit with the DX10 compatible NVS 140M, for around $1300 (give or take $50?). Is the potentially $300-400 difference worth it? I have never seen a Latitude notebook in person and am not sure where I could test one out. I understand that the build quality is higher than on an e1505, it weighs less, has a better keyboard, and comes with a 3 year standard warranty (if I make a mistake, please point it out). Just because I can afford the difference doesn't make it worth it.

The new 1420 might be nice, but there may be too many "ifs" (namely price).

Please, any help on this would be so greatly appreciated. I want to get in on the e1505 deal before it expires tomorrow (unless someone knows that the $49 off of X1400 and $500 coupon will be extended).

 

I wouldn't worry about coupons...Dell always has a "best deal ever limited time only!" coupon or promotion for its Inspirons at any day of the year You'd lose more money by rushing into a purchase before you're ready.

The x1400 is not much of a GPU; but then, neither is the NVS 140M. Neither system will let you play the best new games out there very well. I'm not going to make any comparison between the two, since others more qualified than I will and already have done so.

However, the difference in quality between the Inspiron and Latitude is...well...indescribable.

The support for business laptops is better as well in terms of quality, not just quantity.

To me, the quality of the Latitude is definitely worth it.

 

If you intend to actually move your laptop frequently, then definitely go with the Latitude since it will hold up much better over time.

 

there is a 30% coupon expiring today for dell small business (which you can use with the d630/830!)
It's exclusive, so try to find one on ebay or something.

 

I'm not so interested in the new most graphically intense games; actually I haven't played any games in quite some time. I am more interested in catching up on some games when time permits: Age of Empires 3, Armed Assault, Medal of Honor: Airborne Assault when it comes out....

I have been thinking that battery life is more important and therefore the reason for opting out of notebooks with anything more powerful than the X1400, 8400, NVS 140M lines. But I probably won't be traveling around much with the laptop, so it might be plugged in most of the time. Hard to say at this point, but anything else with a better card (8600M) that's out on the market doesn't offer the 9 cell batteries Dell does. It's a big toss-up!

On another note, I'm very careful with my things and therefore am not so much worried about the less durability of the E1505. But the higher overall quality of the Latitudes might be nice. 30% off? Well if I could get one, that would be awesome, cause the D830 I've customized is coming closer to $1500.

Thanks for the input so far.

 

I just got off the phone with Dell Small Business - the CSR had no idea about the 30% off coupons, even asked other people in the department. How often are these coupons made available, and any other place to find them "officially", rather than buying them on Ebay?

 

Well no, the Compal IFL90 with the 8600M GT offers a 9-cell battery.

I've no clue how many cells the MBP (8600M GT) battery has..but it's surely up there.

Asus V1, VX2 and Thinkpad T61 (NVS 140M), and T61p (FX 570M) will all have a multi-bay option, so you can stick an extra battery inside.

The most recent line of Latitudes however have quite extreme battery lives though--I don't think any other laptop this refresh has quite beaten their records this time around.

 

Whether it's worth it or not depends a lot on your usage. The advantages of D830 are:

- Better build, with magnesium alloy chassis instead of all plastic.
- Thinner and slightly lighter
- More durable
- Looks nicer, in my opinion
- Better battery life
- Available business-class options such as docking station, fingerprint reader, WWAN, and media bay battery options
- Different screen options, which may be either better or worse for you
- The metal buttons on the Latitude's touchpad are a nice touch. There's also a pointing stick if you like that.
- Accepts up to 4 GB of RAM
- Optional faster processors
- 3 year warranty standard

Advantages of e1505:
- Less expensive (with coupons)
- Built-in speakers are probably better (though you could hook it up to external speakers in either case)
- May have more multimedia ports like S-Video and/or SD-card reader, but check specs to be sure
- Different screen options, which may be better or worse for you
- Multimedia buttons on the front

I hope this helps you decide.

 

I got it in an e-mail about 2 days ago, and used it today.
I dunno how often they run these coupons, but the small business ones are less frequent than the inspiron

 

Are you on a special email list or anything of the sort? I mentioned that they were also sent out in emails but he had no idea about this either. This could be very disappointing if I can't get in on the 30%, even in the near future.

Thanks swarmer. Those are definitely things I'm taking into consideration.

And to taelrak: I haven't found a place that sells the Compal IFL90, or maybe I didn't look too hard. Maybe I'm mistaken but wasn't it only offered with a WXGA screen? Nevertheless, I've given up on Asus or any of the other less known brands as the prices don't compare and down the road warranty or customer support may be more difficult to obtain. I would have like to have gone with the T61 or T61P but there's no official word really on the 15.4" release. And I'm sure for a similarly spec'd machine it would be closer to $2000.

 

The Compal IFL90 is being sold in the U.S. at xoticpc.com and powernotebooks.com. It comes with both WXGA and WSXGA screens to choose from.

The warranty you get with the Compal will be 3-years, directly from either xoticpc or powernotebooks. Most likely, if you customize an Asus beyond the RAM and HDD, you would end up getting the warranty from the retailer as well.

I can't give any personal experiences with warranties for these small retailers, but every single review and testimonial for these smaller retailers have been exceedingly positive. You can find many such posts here in this forum, and many outside at independent websites (resellerratings.com for example).

I can, however, attest to the outstanding customer support of these Asus and Compal retailers. For example, in all my communications with Justin of Xoticpc, he has responded promptly with courtesy and taken time to answer any and all questions I may have...even if it was a general question that didn't relate to any particular product. Similarly, if you talk with any of the retailers who post here either here, or in email, or over the phone, you can customize your system far more than the configurator allows--or even get further discounts. The turnaround is also incredibly fast.

In contrast, Lenovo shipping dates for order placed from the beginning of May are still estimated for August 31--they had to apologize and make excuses multiple times.

 

Yeah, I've been watching the ThinkPad T61 thread and it's related delays. Thus another reason I'm not going to wait for the 15.4" T61 (and I don't like some of the things they did with the 14" version).

I checked out the Compal IFL90 and now I remember my hesitation with it. First off, I can't spend $1600 on a laptop. And since I'm likely to compare it with what others are offering, I won't settle for the WXGA screen/6 cell option. WSXGA+ and 9 cell is +$175. This is what brings it close to or over $1600. Yes I have heard good things about dealing with these 3rd party resellers and is why I almost went with them on some Asus models some time back. This new Compal isn't out yet correct? So no reviews on the unit. And how is warranty affected if I move to Canada after I buy it (which is what I'm doing in Sept)?

These are of course nit-picky details, but I rather like the current Inspirons and Latitudes because of 1) the layout of the keyboard which is only found on ThinkPads as well and 2) the 9 cell batteries don't stick out on the 15.4" ones. We have no word on the battery life of the new 8600 GT equipped laptops on 9 cell batteries. I never trust the claims resellers or manufacturers make when they say "3-4 hrs battery life".

But again, price is a big consideration. Ideally, under $1300, maybe doable at $1400 all inclusive (with taxes if applicable).

 

Latitude is a world of difference when it comes to overall build quality.

 

In good or bad sense ?

 

In a good sense.

The latitudes feel much more solid and their looks overall are much better imo.

 

Well, I'd definitely like to go for the Latitude D830, especially after all the great response I received on this thread. Question is, how to obtain one of those 30% off coupons, or now if they truly are expired, when will more become available?

So thanks again for everyone's input.

 

I have never heard of that 30% discount. Not to call your bluff, but does it really exist?

 

Well, I only came to know of it from some of the other forum members here (namely, stoopkid), and I did find two on ebay. Unfortunately, they were asking $7-8 for them and they expired sometime during the day yesterday. It's unfortunate that these supposed coupons are so hush hush because the CSR's don't know about them. If they did perhaps there would be a way of talking them into honoring them for us. I'd order one this second if I could get the 30% off.

 

I work for a small business, and once in a great while we will receive a coupon from Dell that has a number on the coupon that is good for a one time use. I tried sharing one last month as I thought it was a multiple use coupon, and I was wrong. I called the sales department and the salesman at Dell admitted that Dell management does not let them know about special coupons that are sent out to customers. They never know about them until the customer gives them the coupon number, and then the program pops up on the screen.

Also, we have a E1505 at work that is OK, but I personally just bought a D820 a couple of weeks ago. I purchased it with Vista Business, but I just reformatted it and went back to XP Pro for now. It is a personal preference, but I am happier now with somehing I am familiar with, plus too many incompatible programs.

 

lol, no im not bluffing. Yes, i received it in the mail, and it was good for about 3 days. I ordered a D630 yesterday with it, and it worked.

 

I too received a 30% off coupon and purchased a D630... It definately helped me pull the trigger.

I want to say I received the email monday morning from Dell Small Business. Dropped an additional $200 off a D630 that I had been considering (total of $600 savings). Probably the best deal I have received considering that it was on a Latitude and not a Dimension. Now the wait begins...

I just hope this old inspiron lasts... Screen dimming, touchpad not working...

My wife uses a d620 for her job and after she got it I decided my next notebook would be a latitude. My inspiron is nice, but no where near the build quality of the latitude.

 

Ok so everyone is in the know but me. How do I get on this email/mailing list? What did those who received the 30% off have to do to get one? Register for an official list?

 

WOW! I would have been all over that deal! I just ordered another E1505 2 days ago because the price was right. The D830 was about $400 more but with 30% off.... Bummer I didn't get the email offer, looks like I got every other Dell email offer over the last month though :-( would have rather had the D830.

 

Please let me know what I need to do to get those coupons ?

BIG THANKS!

 

Any word on new Latitude coupons?

 

$405 is currently the largest discount you can get online (through small business) however, if you call up you may get additional discounts, i got another $150 off. you just have to haggle with them a little bit.

also, note that the shipment of a d830 with discrete (nvidia) graphics is delayed by 15ish days, as they have not yet started production with the discrete graphics. production is supposed to start on the 25th, with the first models shipping on the 29th.

 

In what way did you haggle with them? "Say, could you take another $150 off", or "take another $150 off or I'll tell Michael Dell you're the one spilling all the advanced info on the new XPS and Inspiron line!"

 

They have some (limited) ability to change pricing in order to lock in a sale. My discount was added as seperate item on the list saying "special offer $150 off".

Its the same with any relatively high-dollar, commission based sales business, if you work with them, they will get you a deal, because they benefit from it as well.

i like the idea about michael dell...it would be a good joke to pass to a salesperson.