What's the tradeoff on T400/X61 vs. X301 vs. new Dell offerings

At work, we use Dell Precisions.

Between home and work, I'm leaning on a semi-ultraportable as my main rig (both work and home). I currently use a T43 at home and also have a Sony TX series that travels with me when I go traveling .


What are the tradeoffs with going with a ultra portable. Storage capacity is not really a issue as most stuff is stored at work on the SAN box.

Battery life, decent screen, great HD response and good keyboards are ++
I was just looking at the honking specs on the W700 and the new Dell precision notebooks...

Build quality. Always like the TP. Sony I have was just because it was uber ultra portable.

Was just playing around with a T61 and it was pretty sweet how when docked, it would default to the higher res of the screen connected (1900x200)


I'm leaning toward the 13.3 range - X301 or Dell E4300.
Thoughts. Suggestions.

While the displayport seems interesting on the other models, I can't think of any unit that I know that carries them - lcd, plasma or even my Epson Powerlite projector

 

I only know the prices for X301 and E4300 are totally different,
I assume you need to pay at least 2000 with EPP for X301

but E4300 is much cheaper. (from 12XX)

 

Price has never been an issue -- to a degree. And we get HUGE discounts with Dell. I think we get 10 or 15% off on my EPP.

Features & QUALITY comes 1st.
Never had a dell laptop, but I was looking over their *too big for me* Precision as well, and it looked pretty decent for a Dell notebook.

 

You can get a displayport->HDMI or displayport->DVI adapter and still get your digital signal, as opposed to being stuck with an analog VGA

 

Not sure how UNIVERSAL it is. On a very older LCD -with DVI, I had trouble using a HDMI cable -- DVI adapter .

 

I'm not quite sure what your dell epp discount is.
But most dell epp discount is not including the new E-series.

I am able to tell you the quality of dell D-series are very good expect the noise issue ( acceptable )

 

The E4300 looks very nice. But I can't see a lid-latch on it. While maybe not a show stopper, this is a characteristic of Thinkpads I clearly appreciate.

 

I've used both the E4300 (an early pre-production model) and the X300 (not the X301). Here are the chief differences as I see them:

The keyboard on the X300 is better; it has a better feel, is more solid, and has less flex. (FWIW, the E4300 keyboard has far less flex than the one in the XPS M1330 or the ones in MacBooks.) Although Dell has adopted the ThinkPad Ins/Del/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn layout, they still have blank panels where the page navigation keys should be above the left and right arrow keys and they don't have the finger-rest indents that ThinkPads have below the arrow keys. The E4300 keyboard can be back lit, the X301 uses the standard ThinkLight technique (with does work, but isn't sexy like the back lighting can be).

The screen on the X300 is better; it is 1440x900 whereas the E4300 is only 1280x800. I need more pixels and I'm willing to squint a bit to get them. This difference is the one that cements next month's X301 order for me.

Expansion is FAR better on the E4300. It has an ExpressCard slot, a multi-format memory card reader, and a docking station connector; the X301 has none of these. The E4300 can handle a standard 2.5" drive; the X301 can only take 1.8" devices that are no more than 5mm tall.

I prefer the track pad and mouse button placement of the X301 because they are nearer the front sloping edge of the palm rest and make it easy to reach the pad and hit the buttons when I'm just casually browsing around with my hand resting on a table or chair. The E4300 placement all but requires that my palm be up on the notebook. This is incredibly nitpicky, but casual browsing (i.e., while slumped in a chair at home semi-watching the Olympic) was easier with my old ThinkPad than it is with my current Dell.

 

yun says the E4300 is much cheaper ($1200) but try buying one at that price. I'll bet the E4300 will cost more than a D430. A D430 with a 120GB HD is almost $1600 with the base 3-yr warranty. Add $454 for the 64GB SSD.

I'll bet an E4300 will be at least $2000 (as was the D430 until recently) with the 3-year on-site and accident-protect warranty, 120 GB HD, etc. Add at least $500-600 for a 64GB SSD. Imagine what a 128GB SSD upgrade will cost from Dell! They don't need a mask and a gun.

The E4200 will be even more. Dell will sell it for less than the upcoming X301 but I bet it will be $2200-$2500.

 

2.4 Ghz 6 MB L2 vs. 1.4 Ghz 3 MB L2 -> big performance difference?

 

Is Dell's 128GB MLC or SLC? I will take a 64GB SLC over a 128GB MLC anyday.