Replacement for Latitude C600 : M60 or D600/800

I have the above and want to repalce it as battery life is poor, Ram is SODIMM PC 100, CPU is P3 1000, and generally it needs to go. The thing I really do like is the 1400 * 1050 resolution.

I need a new laptop to act as a pseudo desktop replacement, and it will be used to recompile DV footage of the kids, create VMware server test configs, some web dev etc etc.

I like the build qual of the old Latitude and am wary of the new Inspirons as they look/feel like they will break. I was pretty much sold either on a D600 or a D800 when I saw an offer on an M60.

For £1250 + Vat I get a 1.6 Centrino 512 Ram, 60 Gb 7200 disk, WUXGA screen, 128MB Graphics, extra battery etc. An equivalent D600 is £1100, but does not have the WUXGA screen, slower disk and slower graphics.

I am thinking of going for the M60 due to build quality, good price etc etc. My only issue is with the extra 0.5 K in weight. Has anyone out there got an M60 an is it ok using it on your lap for a couple of hours (as I would like to use this away from a desk), and how good is it for video editing.......

Or should I be looking at an IBM for ex, although I don't really want to spend the extra £500 required.




James

 

Hi 2mbinWales,
I can relate completely to where your coming from.
I use to be one of Dell's biggest advocates, they use to have great build quality at a great price but that day has passed. In the last couple of years the quality has gone way down. Like you said, all you need to do is pick up an older Dell notebook (2001 or earlier) and just feel it side by side with todays models, the Dells of today feel very cheap...like they will easily break and they can.
I would suggest to get great battery life, go with a notebook using the Pentium M CPU. The IBM is a great choice and although they have a reputation for being expensive, they no longer are. At least they are not here in the US, here you can find and IBM with all the features you can find in Dell and at the same or lower price, but with the super build quality that IBM is famous for.

Jack

 

Thanks for the advice.

My problem is that in the UK a T42/T41 currently retails at £2100 + Vat. Older T40's can be had on ebay for £1000 but they all come with the 1024*768 display. I'll have to start looking in more detail, as I cannot afford to buy a laptop which is going to break..

 

Look at the IBM model R40,
Mine is version 2897GAU. It has the 1400x1050 15" display, 60GB drive and 256MB ram and has a battery life of 6+ hours. I got mine at www.newegg.com here is the link to the specs at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=34-146-021&depa=0
the cost was about $1600 US or 874 GBP
Newegg does not ship overseas, but you may be able to find a deal on the R40 somewhere in your country. If you can't and you are interested in a used one let me know as I've been thinking of upgrading to the T42 with a 14" display and would sell mine (2months old) for $1,700 US as I've upgraded the memory to 1GB from the 2546MB that it came with.

Jack