Used Latitude vs New Vostro/Inspiron for spare laptop?

I'm looking for a cheap laptop to serve as a spare laptop. For my work, I cannot afford any downtime, and I'm sure Dell services with even NBD warranty will not be able to guarantee that, so I'm looking for a spare laptop.

My biggest decision is whether to get a 3-year old used latitude and buy a Square Trade warranty or get a cheap new Vostro or Inspiron for this purpose.

Here's what I've find so far:

Used Dell Latitude D620
Goes from around $150-250 on eBay, these are usually 4 years old. Can get a good specification unit for ~$200. 2-Year Squaretrade warranty costs $50 after 20% coupon, so total purchase price is $250.
Typical specs: Core 2 Duo (Merom) 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, 80GB HDD, 2yr squaretrade warranty

Used Dell Latitude E5400
Goes from around $250-300 on eBay, usually about 3 years old. Can get a good specification unit for ~$250. 2-Year Squaretrade warranty costs $50 after 20% coupon, so total purchase price is $300.
Typical specs: Core 2 Duo (Penryn) 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, 80GB HDD or larger, 2yr squaretrade warranty


Dell Vostro/Inspiron from Dell Outlet
We're talking about the cheapest low-end configuration for Vostro (e.g. 3400, 3450) and Inspiron (1410) from the outlet. I've seen low end prices from $400-450. With a 15% coupon plus sales tax, total purchase price is $380.
Typical specs: Core i3 (Sandy Bridge or Nehalem), 2GB RAM or more, 250GB HDD, 1yr dell warranty + 1yr credit card warranty

Cheapo Dell Vostro/Inspiron from Dell Outlet
There's some models even cheaper than the ones I've listed on Dell outlet, e.g. Vostro 1014. These don't even use the core i series of laptop, but I will not go below to the Celeron level. Also saw a recent Studio 14z running Core 2 Duo CPU with discrete graphics. Price on outlet is $380, so total purchase price is $340 after 15% coupon and tax.
Typical specs: Core 2 Duo (Penryn?), 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 1yr dell warranty + 1yr credit card warranty

So any advice from Dell users here? Which option would you chose?

Frankly speaking a Core 2 Duo running at 2.0GHz is enough for me (like those on Latitude D620), but a 80GB HDD on an old Dell latitude is really pushing it, since my work requires lots of HDD space. If I get the D620, I may upgrade the HDD anyway and that pushes it closer to a total price of $300+. So in any case costs for all options are quite similar.

Also, how reliable are Inspiron vs Vostro vs Latitude series of laptop? I've read that Latitude as business model laptops are built to last, but are they really reliable past 3 years? How about Inspiron? Do they self-destruct after 1yr? 2yr? 3yr? How about Vostro? Are they as good as Latitude?

 

You can get D830's for $150 on eBay these days. 2nd laptop in my signature was exactly that, bought a few days ago. Just make sure you stay the heck away from the Nvidia graphics chips.

My main Latitude D830 has over 15,000 hours and close to 6,000 power cycles since I took delivery 4 years ago, with over 300 flights (ie: molestations by the TSA), and dropped numerous times on carpet and even concrete tarmac once . The backlight in the LCD failed yesterday, but otherwise, it has been rock solid. I am taking the opportunity to upgrade the backlight to LED technology, which will cut power consumption in half and double brightness compared to the previous fluorescent-tube backlight.

HDD, yeah, you'll need to upgrade that. Going to a SSD is highly recommended.

 

I think the general gist of this decision is if you value processing power above all else, the Inspiron with i3 is the way to go. Since you've said that you don't, I think a used Latitude is the way to go. As long as you don't get like a D620 or D630 with Nvidia graphics, reliability really shouldn't be an issue.

E5400 is probably a decent choice if you can get it down at or below $250, but it's relatively thick and heavy compared to the D620 or D630. At $300 I think it's better just to shell out another $50 and hunt around for a low-spec E6400.

 

How bout reliability of Vostro and Inspirons? Do they last for at least 3 years with moderate usage?

 

If you take good care of them they should last. That said I do take care of my equipment and they do fail sometimes. I have a 10 years old samsung laptop still in full working order. I had an Acer Travel Mate laptop (a business laptop) that failed on me after 6 years of use. I had to replace the motherboard. Now I'm having a few issues with a 2-3 years Acer laptop. Although it uses an integrated Intel graphics, the IGP is dying.

So basically it is down to how well you treat your equipment plus a little bit of luck.

The Vostro 1400 has a very good build quality. I owned one for a few months. If all the Vostro are the same I would say buy one. That said please do not buy the Vostro 1400 though, as it is uses the nvidia 8600 GPU. The Vostro 1400 and the D630 were sold around 2008.

I'm of the same opinion as Commander Wolf. The Latitude E6400 is a very good choice. It has an magnesium casing. It is relatively light, and the build quality is superb. It uses the latest generation of Core 2 Duo CPUs all the way to the T9900. I had one but sold it a few months ago (I needed cash ). I bought it from ebay with the following configuration T9900, 4GB RAM, 250GB - 7200 RPM HDD, Intel IGP HD4500M for £310.

The E6400 was sold between 2009 and 2010, and it comes with 3 years warranty. If you buying one or any other Latitude laptop just make sure you get the name of the original owner so you can do an ownership transfer and benefit from the remaining warranty. The one I had had 2 years of warranty left but I couldn't use it because I couldn't track the original owner.

Vostro and Inspiron laptops are sold with a 12 months warranty only (unless one buys an extended warranty with them).

 

If you are that price range then bobjohnson.com will be good site buy
I saw Toughbook CF-29 for $299
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