T61 vs dell Vostro 1400, comparison

both have 14.1" monitors with a black case except for 4:3 for t61.

Appearance :
t61 looks sharp and thin. the plastic used in t61 inside
has better feeling.
1400 is bulky and thick. the design is not pretty. plastic is
cheap. not a pretty one.

build :
1400 is tank. very sturdy.
i did not see any flex. it uses magnesium case and that
magnesium makes build quality much better. in t61, i can
see some flex in left palm rest and around volume buttons. first of
all, i sometimes hear a plastic sound from monitor. it bothers me.
i guess assemble quality is not so good on t61.


keyboard :
I checked my t61 comes with an alps keyboard. people say nmb is
the best then alps. it is not bad on t61 but better on 1400. a keyboard
of t61 is bit heavy to push. 1400 makes me type more smooth.
if i had a chance to use nmb keyboard, t61 could be better over
1400.

heat, noise :
fan noise from both is quiet. not noticeable. i can hear
a low noise of hard drive from t61 although not bothered
but nothing from 1400. also, i heard same sound from x61.

t61 is little bit warmer than 1400. it's not bad. in x61, i was
pretty bothered by the heat. t61 is much better than x61.


i am considering what i have to choose one of both. t61 is
cool but i am so impressed by build quality of 1400.

 

hmmm, just follow your feelings.

That time im also considering vostro 1400, but finally i take t61

yes i do notice theres a bit flex arround left palm rest.
But i dont regret it at all.

because i follow my feelings.

and one more thing "there's no such thing as perfect"

theres always pro's and con's

 

The Vostro 1400 is a good computer. I looked into it and the T61. At the time though, it did not have Windows XP as an option, so I went with my ThinkPad. I think I also like the Geforce over the Quadro too.

Still, I have no regrets as I feel that this ThinkPad will last me for a very long time.

Thanks for the comparison, denim.

 

Vostro 1400 is not on the same level as T61, T61 is much better engineered. And 1400 aimed at budget level, 1400 doesn't even have a docking station socket.

 

Yeah. Dell's answer to the T61 is the Latitude D630. It's thinner than the Vostro and has an available docking station, secondary battery, etc. (Although oddly enough I prefer the Vostro's keyboard over the D630's.)

The Vostro 1400 is more of a budget laptop. It's pretty decent for its price though, I think. It also has more multimedia features than the D630.

 

The ones (Vostro) we got was made in Ireland, and all of them the memory cover didn't even screwed on properly. It's terrible.

 

Did dell fix the battery wobble on the 1400 yet? That can get annoying!