The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
well, the models themselves have different warranties.
The Latitide models come with a 3 year onsite warranty.
A $250,- value initself.
I initially ordered an Inspiron 9400 and financed it.
But the problem is that the 9400 doesn't have a PCMCIA slot.
I need a PCMCIA slot for a very specific audio card I have.
I could have bought an express card upgrade for the card, but that would have been an extrA $300,-
So, I called and changed my order to a Latitude D820. And allthough the business side only says they do leasing, I was still able to finance it with the 48 month financing plan.
So, a similar outfitted Inspiron 9400 with the same 3 year onsite warranty is the same as buying a Latitude D820. Except the D820 has the fingerptint security and the better wireless card.
Personnally, I'm happy. I didn't want to be hauling a 17" screen around.
And the Latitude's are built better form what i understand.
The latitude models are indeed built better, usually come with Windows XP pro (and vista soon) as well as additional security options (fingerprint reader, etc)
Latitudes also feature workstation videocards in some cases (optimized for CAD) while the inspirons have consumer level cards (optimized for gaming) Latitudes have matte screens.
If you have more specific questions, please post back with them.
I ordered my laptop (see signature) through Small Business, it was considerably cheaper than what Dell Home was offering. Dell Small Business also offers a new service plan, I think it was called Tech Support Gold (It was like an additional fee along with the service plan you buy), and they said that they answer most calls within 5 minutes or less, they're all certified technicians, and they are North American based (I'm serious).
Would you happen to know if the M1710 business model, has a touch stick, or if they have a M1710 model with a touch stick?
A while back, when I was looking at the business section, I thought I seen one, and then next time I checked, well, they seemed to have updated the M1710 with the blueray drive, and I never saw, or even thought I saw it again. Maybe I was just tired when looking, and dreaming of a M1710 with a touch stick.
- LaptopX02
P.S. Just thinking maybe you might know, since you seem to know some about the business side, thanks for any help.
When I placed my order last week, all I got was a freee upgrade to the 9-cell battery, and half off of shipping, after saying the price was comparable to a Macbook pro.
But, I'm more than happy with my final price and computer, and can't wait for it to get here.
Alos, the Latitiudes still use the media bay system.
Meaning you can slip in another HD and boot from that.
So, checking out other OS options is easy.
You can find the bays on ebay.
I'm going to be setting up a bay with a dualboot for Vista and OSX.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
