Which Dell?

Hello all. Noob here.

I am a member of a group practice of psychologists and social workers. We are going to purchase laptops for the six of us.

A few years back, we all purchased laptops/notebooks. I bought a Dell Inspiron E1505 when I had a coupon as a return Dell customer from my home Desktop. My colleagues bought Latitude 520s (I think, I'm writing on the Inspiron now). A colleague had heard that the Dell Business line (Latitude) was better made. Again, I am a noobie here, but our experience was VERY different from that. My Inspiron has been far more reliable and functional in every way.

So now that we are looking to purchase new laptops, we were looking at the Studio 15, but wanted to make sure that it was a good choice for us. We connect to an on-site server running Microsoft Exchange 2003. We all need to access an Access database for record keeping. We use webcams to record our sessions for supervision, ongoing review, and quality assurance. Will a Studio 15 cover these tasks as well as basic internet and Word? Quickbooks? Small business tasks?

I heard that the Studio was a better quality laptop than the Inspiron line. From the price that would appear true. Is it true that the Studio is superior quality to the Inspiron, and if so how? Is the Studio line superior to the Dell Business line of notebooks?

Thanks in advance.

 

It will do everything you need it to do.
For the server conectivity it is more of a Vista thing not the laptop its self

 

If you are involved in a group practice and are buying a small volume of machines, I would consider looking into the government / school / public service discounts that they offer. Sometimes, they offer worthwhile savings. I personally would stick to their business models / vostro / latitude. They are typically forgoing many 'multimedia' options in favor of slightly more favorable 'business' options. For example, you can get a docking option on the latitude line, which is really nice if you want to set up the laptop in the office, but be able to take it out in a snap. The Matte screens are usually going to be more appropriate to the working conditions, and customer service tends to differ with business customers (its better).
I bet if you got in contact with a sales team at Dell you would find better solutions than just waiting for coupons and buying from the home line.