what's the catch on the D620

the new D620 seems too good to be true.

-mostly magnesium casing
-light weight
-1.3 thickness (much better than before)
-no more mic buzz
-core duo
-CHEAP.

my quesiton is....why the hell is it so cheap? compared to HP, Sony, IBM...and even Lenovo's new ****py C series.

D620 seems to have everything i want and then some, and seems to have just what the others DON't have...and still at such price?

there must be a catch?

p.s.: i believe the D620's screen isn't stellar, but even so, it's a great deal...can an average screen drop the price this low?


wtf is going onnnnnn

 

I don't know...maybe to get an even bigger customer base. They are trying to get more business by making "stronger" laptops.

 

The Catch is as follows:

Mono speaker, and apparntly very poor at that.

No Firewire, which yes, you may not need it, but if you are a small business owner (like me) I use my laptop at home and at the office

No SD card reader. Yes the argument is just buy a $20 reader and plug it in, but when I travel the last thing I want is anther gadget to worry about losing or forgetting.

Then to top it off The battery life seems poor.

When I compare this as a total unit, not just horsepower or graphics ability, it looks like it was made for the Ubertechies to get excited about the details (mag. case, lightweight, fast duo, fairly cheap, pointing stick & mousepad) but for real world , I would say the DV1000t or the Toshiba M5-S433 or even the Sony SZ series (yes no SD card reader but it includes the pc card convertor) seems to be far better UNLESS you travel and only use the laptop for business, word, excel, etc. but lets be honest, how many times do you go to the hotel, prop up the laptop and watch a DVD, play a game, etc....this seems too business focused and wonder what Dell is thinking, not only putting this out, but for fun I configured one and got a ship date over a MONTH away!

 

Klonny

But you WON'T find the following on the DV1000t, Toshiba M5-S433 or the Sony SZ

WSXGA+ resolution (1440 X 900) - this may be the first laptop that offers this business class resolution on a 14.1" widescreen. You won't find it on Lenovo, HP, Toshiba, Sony, or any of the other laptops out there. This alone makes this a very appealing laptop to those who use spreadsheets alot or, like me, will be using it for application development.

EVDO card - full-time wireless, anytime, anywhere (you can get cell phone calls). Yes, it's not cheap, but if you positively have to stay connected, then EVDO is the only option.

Security - world class security options built in, including fingerprint reader, data encription, and multilevel password protections.

Lost Laptop Tracking - Dell will be able to pinpoint your laptop if it's stolen and someone uses it to access the web. Whose else has that???

Battery options - 3 different battery sizes to accomodate your unplugged needs, plus you can also get a battery for the ultrabay if you really need to work with no power plug.

Firewire is great if your doing video editing, but if you were, get a MAC. Card readers are practically dirt cheap and do you really want all of the various memory card slots built into a laptop so they can suck in all the dirt and clog things up. Get real! That's what a USB port is for. Mono speaker - so what, I don't know anyone that uses their laptop as a jukebox unless they have external speakers anyway.

I think the specs speak for themselves. Hopefully, they put them together right.

 

Klonny
Thanks for your input! I'm struggling right now with this decsion. I have the dv1000t on order (for two weeks, already) but started to check out Dell. I do like the faster graphics card, more durable case, but you bring up some valid points for the HP.

The dv1000t seems like a pretty complete unit, sans graphics card, but I don't really play games on my laptop, I'm purchasing it for work, and my two or three x a month business trips.

Thanks! If you have other thoughts comparing these two laptops, I'd love to hear them! (Can't actually call Dell and ask them what's MISSING from their d620, now can I?)

 

JJFCPA,

You just demonstrated ,my point. The D620 is for UberTechies. EVDO? what percentage us users really use that? Laptop tracking, what? just watch the thing, it's a laptop not a porsche.

Clearly you are a CPA and yes spreadsheets with the wxga would be nice, but like I said, unless you use this STRICLY as a business machine (and who does that?) i think this is the wrong machine. the HPDV100t seems great, the Toshiba M5-S433 seems much better than the Dv620 even the SZ series from Sony seems to be a more appropriate model for the real business traveller.

I think Dell really dropped the ball on this one.

 

klonny, if the above things you mentioned are the ONLY catch, then I'm genuinely excited! I don't really care much about the stuff you've mentioned...man, who thought a dell would be my perfect laptop!

p.s: what's mono speaker btw

 

Couple of other nice features the HP has... two headphone jacks(!), remote control which hides in the Express Card slot... not deal makers/breakers, but nice touches.

Also, while EVDO would be nice to have, realistically, I am NOT interested in adding another monthly fee to my expenses, esp. when it's like $60 or $80. Plenty of FREE wifi sites in my area (I'm actually amazed how many... one local mall, Westside Pavillian, then entire friggin mall is covered by free wifi)

 

Klonny

You're right, I am a CPA, but in addition to having a small accounting practice, I used my accounting expertise to write software FOR other accountants. I've been doing this for over 21 years and I'm well-entrenched in the technology sector.

I agree with you that many users want one laptop to satisfy all their computer and gaming needs. I think they call these "multimedia systems". Clearly, the D620 is not advertised as a multimedia system, nor would I recommend it to anyone who is considering it for those purposes. I think you would be much better off with an XPS140 or an E1505 from Dell.

Having said that, the beauty of the D620 is that you can probably satisfy some basic multimedia needs by purchasing some inexpensive add-ons.

I've been using Thinkpads for a long time and they are very much limited in their gaming and entertainment features. I also do quite a bit of photo editing (not video editing) and it works quite well for this, as well as DVD playback, with some necessary add-ons. Would I recommend a T43p as a multimedia system? Absolutely NOT. No more so than a D620.

I really think that anyone evaluating the D620 ( or D820 ) needs to do so by considering it strictly from a business use point of view and the outstanding features that it offers in that regard.

Although you may not feel that laptop tracking is significant - and I would agree with you if you only consider the replacement cost - but the data that resides on my laptop dwarfs the replacement cost by a very SIGNIFICANT amount! As religiously as we try to keep backups current in the event of a crash or catastrophe, the ability to potentially recover a stolen latop with priceless information on it may be very desirable to some users. I happen to be one of them.

 

The catch? It only has a single monomial speaker. Otherwise, it's pretty much perfect for the road warrior.

 

i'm glad to hear that lol...i wouldn't call myself a road warrior (just a university student going to live on residence soon)

and jeeze wiz, who honestly care about that single speaker? In public places such as the library you need to use headphones anyway, at at home (the dorm) just plug in some speakers.

 

I am deciding between a Dell d620 and the HP dv1000t that are both dual core with 14" screens. I have used dell latitudes for work and I must say that they are durable. I have dropped them, flights attendants have split all sorts of beverages on them and they keep going. What's the point of having a laptop with all sorts of extras if with one spilt drink, it will all break down. What is the quality build of the hp dv1000? Is it anywhere similar to the d620. IF you spill a drink, is it going to automatically break down? I don't intend to sumerge the laptop, but I shouldn't be afraid to bring my laptop within 10 feet of a drink.

 

Get the Dell - the dv1000 is a consumer notebook, whereas the D260 is a business notebook made for the road-warrior and made to last. The dv1000, while not having bad build quality, doesn't have what the Dell brings to the table.

 

I have to tell you that I'm very pleased with the sound quality of the speaker. Actually sounds like stereo to me (maybe my hearing is going). I've been listening to my iTunes collection for the last two hours on it, I think the quality is as good as my D610. It actually gets louder. I understand internal speakers aren't that great, but beats having to haul around external speakers.

I use a speaker bar on my LCD @home.

 

If a drink spills on a DV1000, you are hosed! I have had several laptops and this has never happened but there's always a first time for everything.

http://www.dell.com/html/us/products/latitude/test.html

Dell's D620 has the option for a higher resolutio screen WXGA+ which is higher than any other 14.1" laptop than I have seen.

The HPs outer cover scratches EASILY! I had it for two days and I had the most aweful scratch across the top. The video resolution was only WXgA and movies had some pixelation running on Quickplay, mainly because WinDVD is such a poor DVD player. I did not like the directional buttons (it felt delicate and very likely to break. Advantages of the HP: very little bloatware, excellent performance out of the box, excellent WIFI, excellent customer service, PCMCIA sized remote control, awesome sound from the Harmon Kardon speakers! This is more for a mainstream user trying to get entertainment first and business second. The Compaq V2000 has a better outer finish and is less scratch proof. With the 6 cell gets you only 2-3 hours. You get about 4.5 hours with the 12 cell but it comes at a big premium, weight (this pushes over 6 lbs with the 12 cell battery). The biggest advantage over a Dell D620 is a $400 price point (when I factored in my Academic Discount).

 

The big brother will be able to track the legitimate owner as well!!!

 

titaniummd who are you getting your academic discount through? I'm at WPI and their flier at my school only advertises their e1505....I'm in a simliar dillema but this is between a Sony FE/FS series, Dell's own e1505, and a d620 (I considered the 420, but it's only Core Solo...but I love the size)...I've used Thinkpads the last 4 years for graphics stuff (nothing too fancy, no video editing)...and I don't game...and they are built like tanks, so I'm trying to find something just as durable...since like ecuagringo I am also in college but use the laptop for work stuff as well...who cares about dual stereos on a laptop? Use headphones!
Thanks,
tachyonico

 

Wow... I didn't Dell has this on their latitude(?) laptops. I'm wondering how come other company doesn't have this option or do they?

Edit: I know there are programs out there that could do that but you have to pay a monthly fee/annual fee or it.

 

IBM has something similar, I believe.

 

i thought that thing is called monoaural or monaural speaker... that is, sound reproduced by a single speaker (single channel).