Which Dell Series Is Best Spec & Build ?

Hi,

Of the current and recent models over the past 2 years which would be the best that Dell produced in terms of build quality and specification?

My trusty old Latitude has possibly seen better days and I am hoping to get a good quality 2nd user Dell laptop as a replacement that will do for business and home use. I have used the Dell Latitude E6400 and am not impressed so any contenders need to be better built or with a bit more flair than that.

I have no budget in mind but seing as its a 2nd user machine I am looking at I thought around the equivalent of £600 or approx $875

One last thing, I do not need any mega video card stuff stuck in the machine, that was the probable demise of my D630 with that poxy nvidia quadro toaster. Business use is databases and spreadsheets, home use is internet and email, no games or videos etc.


Rgds
Snaffos

 

I would say the D630 with Intel graphics will be an excellent machine that will last. You should be able to find D630's on Ebay for around $400.

 

Robin,

I was thinking I might look at the next level up from the Latitude range, is it the Precision M series? I may have to increase my budget a little but I am a bit put off the D630 from my toasted nvidia card in my current D630.

Never having seen or had my hands on a Precision model I would like to know how the build quality and connectivity ports compare to the D630. My main requirements are the facility to be docked to a port replicator giving at least the same connectivity as a PR01 replicator and built from components with no serious flaws such as the nvidia quadro toaster.

Rgds
Snaffos

 

The Precision is essentially the same except with a fancy LCD back cover. If you get a D630 with the Intel graphics, it should last you a long time. The Precision M2300 is affected by the Nvidia issue as well. The Precision M2400 is based on E6400.

I'm not much of an E-series fan either, but the LED-backlit screen, SD card reader, and better CPU/GPU were enough for me to make the D630 my secondary system. Overall, while the E-series does have its fair share of drawbacks (the sharp corners, lack of inside LCD-to-palmrest rubber bumpers, poor biometric interface with the Broadcom USH, and blue LEDs are among the worst in my opinion), it is still a fairly nice system overall.

 

On average, I've found that HP Elitebooks are slightly better than Dell Latitude/Precision and those are slightly better than the Lenovo X/T/W series (the more recent lines). But mileage varies between users...

 

I've never seen a good quality HP, including their business line...it's almost as if they refuse to make quality products. ThinkPad quality has never been great (I used to have a mix of Dell Latitude and IBM ThinkPad back in the day), and it's only gotten worse recently. The D-series (specifically the D620/D630) have, by far, been the best I've seen.

 

A new 2nd user machine might be on hold for a while as Dell have finally emailed me confirming that they have agreed to the transfer of the service tag and warranty on my toasted D630.

It has the extended next day on site business warranty valid until mid 2013 so I will be hoping to use this to get the toaster fixed. I will ask if there is an option in the board replacement for an Intel GPU on the motherboard subject to it being able to display the 1440x900 resolution that my D630 screen can display.

My faith is restored......

Rgds
Snaffos