inspiron 6000 vs latitude d610 (help/advice please?)

Hi, I'm looking into buying a Dell notebook and some advice would be very much appreciated

My main question - is there much difference between inspiron and latitude (6000 and d610 in particular, apart from the physical differences) if they have similar specs?

Also, what are the thoughts on these, I'm considering:
Pentium M 760
1024MB memory
60GB 7200RPM
8xDVD+/-RW
Intel PRO Wireless 2915
Bluetooth

inspiron 6000 has 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300
whereas latitude d610 has 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300

I'm in Australia, so the coupon stuff is irrelevent and options may be different to what's in the states. The price is about the same for the i6000 and d610 with similar options - about $2900 AUD. My budget is $3000ish AUD.

I'm an uni engineering student and it's to replace my desktop, so web browsing, word processing, some photoshop, programming, watching movies, occasional CAD, other engineering stuff - no games. I also like having lots of things open at once, and could potentially want to have outlook express, a dozen firefox tabs, itunes, a few large Word and acrobat files, Excel, Matlab and something else open simultaneously. Also it needs to last me at least the rest of my course - 3 years.

Thoughts/advice? Should I just decide between the i6000 and d610 physically? I'm going to go check out a dell kiosk to see what it feels like in my hands, because it is going to be lugged around on trains/buses and around campus from time to time (probably a few times a week during the hectic last few weeks of semester), but is spending most of its time on my desk at home and I'm used to a 17" monitor.

Oh - and is it worth considering the precision m20 (which has 64MB ATI Mobility FireGL OpenGL graphics)?

Thanks!

 

Get the inspiron 6000 mate trust me that is an excellent laptop especially for the price

 

i would go with the d610. The latitude series have a better built quality, so it will last you 3 years. If you are like me and take your laptop to school everyday, you'll will appreciate this greatly.

I've had my inspiron for less than a year, and the paint is starting to chip, couple of cracks on the display bezel....all minor stuff, but the latitude is designed better to be taken everyday

 

All other things being equal get a Latitude over an Inspiron. They are seriously well-built machines, and the technical support is superior. As for D610 or i6000: they are very different in size, due mainly to screen size (the i6000 has a 15.4" widescreen). The Latitude equivalent of the i6000 is the D810. The D610 is a significantly smaller sister of the D810 with a standard ratio 14.1" screen, and slower gpu, but very similar features otherwise (except size). The Precision M20 is a fraternal twin of the D610: the only real difference is a gpu optimized for CAD. I have the M70, a D810 with an enhanced gpu (like the M20, optimized for CAD). If you want an outstanding full-featured notebook the D810 is brilliant, but the i6000 is probably cheaper, as is the D610. The D610 has the quality of the D810 plus being much easier to carry around.

 

Thanks, I think I'll go with the latitudes then - the reason I didn't mention the d810 was the size/weight, but I'm reconsidering it now. I'm not in a rush to buy, (though I wanted something new to play with during the break) semester begins in March, so should I wait for the new latitudes which are out in February I believe?

 

The D810 is abou the same size as the Inspiron 6000, but much better built and professional looking. With a Latitude, you have much more rigid and thicker plastic. Also, the chassis are metal alloy (I think Magnesium).

I would look for new Dells around early January. I can't say more than that.

 

I agree with ChazMan421. If no need to buy this year (two weeks), wait for the new models next month. Then get the new year's Latitude...

 

do you know when will the new models be available?

 

Of course I don't know! Would I keep it to myself? And if I did know I wouldn't say. Dell like Apple would lose a stack of money by releasing exact release dates. I would think early Feb the dual-core Latitudes/Precisions might be out - with upgraded gpu's rather like in the new Macbook Pro. But that is not knowledge. If I were not desperate to buy, but wanted a notebook for next 3 years, I would wait a month. However, there is an even better line of intel mobile chips: (64 bit) coming out September. And so on...I have a M70 and love it and have no plans to replace it until several generations down the track.

 

Some of the newer models are available. The Inspiron E1705 or 9400 (depending on where you get it) has been released. Dell will probably release the new latitudes in the next month or two. Possibly even sooner.

SG

 

The Inspiron E1705 or 9400 are 17" models, and not the Latitude line that have a very different style. I think the intial q. was between the i6000 and the D610: much smaller form factor notebooks.

 

Yeah, i know. I was just saying that to show that dell is releasing some of the newer models. The 6000 isn't scheduled to be updated, but from what I've heard most of the latitudes will be updated with the new technology.

 

To the original poster's question -

I would go for the Latitude by a long shot. The quality is much superior - the D610 uses metal in the chassis, making it much sturdier. Also, the overall build is superb. Not as good as a ThinkPad, but still well above average when compared to a comsumer notebook.

Another nice thing about the Latitudes - they have their own US-based support, it is superior to that of the Inspiron support, which is based in India currently.

Latitude if anything

SG -

Yes, the Latitudes are going to be updated. The new models should be posted on their website in Febuary, featuring the new Core Duo processors. The D410, D610, and D810 will be the models updated.

 

"The 6000 isn't scheduled to be updated". It is of course absolutely certain that the i6000 will also be updated/replaced by new line not before too long.

 

well i meant in the next couple of months or at least i haven't heard anything about it being updated in the next couple of months.

Most of the update talk is about the 9400 and latitude series.

 

I haven't heard anything either, but it does not add up that, as a new generation of chips come out, the Inspiron 15.4" does not take advantage of it, yet the Latitudes will. And the X300 is just outdated. Dell won't allow the situation for long. We'll see. Maybe they want to sell more Latitudes...

 

Very true. It is weird that they only updated the 9300 with the new technology in the Inspiron line. Maybe they are going to wait it out and see how well the new stuff sells. There is also the fact that dell trys to targets the Inspiron line towards home users, and the lower/middle range Inspirons with dual core might not be very beneficial to home users. Their lower/middle range Inspirons are not as expensive as the the XPS/9300 systems, and if they updated the lower lines with the new stuff, then it would increase the cost.

Just a few guesses as to why.

 

Go with the latitude. I have a 6 year old P-III Latitude at home and works with everything I have tried it with (except games which require a dedicate GPU).

 

Thanks to everyone who's replied! At the moment I'm trying to be patient while waiting for the new latitudes to be released... (not proving to be easy)

 

I have had the Latitude (the d610 I think) at work for 4 months and it is great, never had a problem. We have an IT department at work but I never had to call them even once for problems with the laptop and it never crashed.
I use it the whole day for fairly intensive jobs (but I don't use multimedia capabilities at work, so I don't know much about those)