Inspiron 1420 vs. Latitude D630

ive seen the 1420 vs m1330 as well as the D630 vs m1330, but im wondering, and it seems like a more reasonable comparison, how about the 1420 vs D630?

i was just about to order a D630 till i heard about the new m1330 and inspirons. here is how the D630 was set up and id be considering a similar 1420

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.00GHz) 4M L2 Cache, 800MHz Dual Core
Windows XP is preferred over Vista
WXGA+
1.0GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 1 DIMM
7200rpm hd
dvd-rw
dedicated graphics
bluetooth
Intel® 4965 802.11a/g/n Dual-Band Mini Card
6-cell battery

i assume both are able to use the same docking station as well?

so what are your thoughts?

 

I don't believe the 1420 has a docking port? Although I haven't looked too carefully

 

Well the latitude has a standard 3 year limited warranty and i dont think E140 has a finger print reader or hard driver protection or TPM(more security that you probably dont need/use)

 

Latitudes are built for durability and business tasks, not necessarily for gaming and home use.

Get the Inspiron unless you absolutely hate the design or feel that you need something more rugged.

 

....And when configured similarly, the D630 appears cheaper. Of course you have to give or take some options offered or not offered on one or the other, which about balances out the pricing differences on those parts. Nevertheless, everything else constant, the D630 offers a better price, and 3 year standard warranty. How is this even possible? No thanks to the new Inspiron line I think.

 

Give it some time, I’m sure DELL will come up with coupons pretty soon making Inspirons considerably cheaper than a similarly configured latitude.

Pros of Inspiron : Built in camera, Media Direct future with buttons, better graphics , Design and color options, hopefully cheaper with coupons

Cons : Build quality, docking port

 

oh man... if the 1420 doesnt have a port replicator then the choice will be easy.

thing im not fond of is that the D630 only has a mono speaker. other than that its all fine to me. id like to have good speakers but when im at home the laptop is connected to some good stuff, as well as an external hd with all my music. i dont keep much music on the computer itself which is why im thinking the mono speaker may not be a problem

however, i also dont need all the security and wouldnt get the finger print reader.

if i must get vista, should i go with home or premium?

besides setting up, are there any ways one model is better than the other?

 

There are USB docking stations you can use with Inspirons (or any other notebook) if you must have one.

My first choice is Vista business (Windows domain/terminal server); but for basic home use Home premium is sufficient. Home basic doesn’t have Aero GUI nor Media center features, if you don’t care about those then Basic will save you some bucks, but since you are getting Vista why not have Aero (the only thing which makes it different from Vista )

 

Right now I think the D630 is the much better deal, but that's because the 1420 is brand new. So there will be some more discounts on the 1420 in the future. But I'd look at it this way:

D630:
- matte screen
- thinner and lighter
- better battery life and options such as media bay battery
- docking station available
- 3 year warranty standard

1420:
- matte or glossy screen options
- built-in webcam option
- color options
- almost certainly better built-in speakers
- multimedia ports (s-video, media card slots), multimedia buttons, and Media Direct feature