Anyone here like Dell's????

[dr_st]

I do not think that in general Toughbooks are more reliable or live longer than Thinkpads. There are two main appeals of the Toughbooks:

1) Ultra-rugged, indestructible ones - great for field work, but not reasonable as an every day laptop (thick, heavy, clumsy).
2) Ultra-light models (1.5kg for a 14" screen - far less than any other laptop). These are also pretty tough, probably on par with a Thinkpad, but not more than that. Their weight/size ratio is awesome, but other than that - I still prefer Thinkpads.

[ajkula66]

dr_st wrote:

I do not think that in general Toughbooks are more reliable or live longer than Thinkpads.

Comparing these two is a very tough (no pun intended) task since each has its strong and weak aspects...having been exposed to both sides of the coin on a daily basis for the past 7-8 years here's how I see it:

a) Older (P4M and previous) ThinkPads beat ToughBooks of the same generation in any aspect hands down. No comparison.

b) ThinkPads of today have nicer keyboards, more advanced graphic cards but not much else.

c) ToughBooks of today have LCDs superior to any non-IPS ThinkPad by a huge margin, better battery life and weight (business class ones).

d) If I had to choose whether to jump on a T61 or on a Y7, and have to use the machine afterward, I'd jump on Y7.

e) ToughBooks are an absolute PITA to work on, superseded in that respect probably only by Macs.

f) ToughBooks are still available in 4:3 format, although in limited number of screen resolutions.

My take on this is that five years ago I wouldn't have bought a ToughBook, not even three years ago. However, with Lenovo dropping IPS screens from all non-tablet models along with 4:3 format, the only new laptop I'd buy today would have to be a Panasonic...

My $0.02 only...

[KristianJ]

I'll have to check that out. My sister's rather keen on an artsy version of the Mini 1000 (which I think looks awful aesthetically), so if I can find when the 1366x768 version of the 2140 gets here, I'll try and persuade her onto that. I think she should do fine with the higher res, since she used my old UXGA equipped T42p for several months without hassles.

Kwoon, to briefly touch back on this, my sister found a 2133 (with the probably less desirable VIA-based system board) on Fleabay...I told her she'd be better off waiting for the higher res 2140, but remains to be seen what she'll do.

Now, back to Dells. The Latitude X1 that I bought from forum member Sine arrived today. It's very, very light - only a shade over 2lb with no battery and just under 3lb with the extended 6 cell battery. Apparently it's based on a Samsung design, and the only part of it that's really a Dell trademark is the keyboard (which is probably the lease responsive one of any laptop I've ever owned). Screen's viewing angles aren't as good as my nw8240, but are what I expected of a laptop of this vintage. Drive's only a 4200rpm 1.8", but performance seems snappy enough at this stage.

Because Sine had almost every serviceable part replaced under warranty before the warranty expired, I'm playing with an almost completely new piece of machinery. Lid has minor flex and the hinges a small amount of movement, but the build quality overall is quite good, and very much like the Inspiron 700m but in a more business-oriented frame of mind. IMO it's a very good alternative to a netbook and something I might show my sister in case she feels like buying it off me.

[pianowizard]

my sister found a 2133 (with the probably less desirable VIA-based system board) on Fleabay..

That's too bad. I've been checking the prices of the 2140 almost weekly on hp.com and noticed this afternoon that the starting price for the pre-configured models had just dropped $100US. After this drop, HP's prices are actually better than those on eBay. The cheapest 1366x768 configuration is only $449 (plus $50 for tax and shipping), which is so tempting! But I want to use my 240Z a bit longer, and I want to get Windows 7 on the 2140, so I will wait until early next year.

Your sister doesn't mind the 2133's thick display bezel?

[KristianJ]

That's too bad. I've been checking the prices of the 2140 almost weekly on hp.com and noticed this afternoon that the starting price for the pre-configured models had just dropped $100US. After this drop, HP's prices are actually better than those on eBay. The cheapest 1366x768 configuration is only $449 (plus $50 for tax and shipping), which is so tempting! But I want to use my 240Z a bit longer, and I want to get Windows 7 on the 2140, so I will wait until early next year.

Your sister doesn't mind the 2133's thick display bezel?

Apparently she was looking at Mini 10s today, so it's pretty clear she doesn't quite know what she wants. No sign of the 1366 x 768 2140s here in Australia yet though, so if she does choose a netbook, whatever she does end up getting probably won't have the ideal resolution she should be seeking (because from what I'm aware, the higher res 10 isn't out yet). And I don't think she's really all that fussed about bezel sizes - she seems to be more concerned about having something to take to her uni classes and having it ASAP.

[pianowizard]

Apparently she was looking at Mini 10s today, so it's pretty clear she doesn't quite know what she wants. No sign of the 1366 x 768 2140s here in Australia yet though...

On Dell's U.S. site, the 1366x768 is already available for the Mini 10, for $35 extra. What bothers me the most about the Mini 10 is that the RAM is onboard and fixed at 1GB, whereas the HP 2140's RAM is upgradeable to 2GB. And based on reviews I've read, the HP 2140 is much better built than virtually all other netbooks, including its predecessor, the 2133. Too bad you guys don't have the 1366x768 option yet.

[pianowizard]

Well, I've recently had a Dell GX280 to use for about a year as a desktop machine. It was surprisingly quiet and a pretty fast computer...That machine went to my sister who needed it more than I did and it's doing a sterling job. The other friends I know who use them (as I got a bunch together) found them excellent too

I just bought a Dell OptiPlex GX280 off eBay last week for $52 shipped, so I looked up "GX280" on this forum to see if anyone had commented on it and found this post. Mine is a 2.8GHz P4 model with a 40GB SATA HDD, CD burner, 2x256MB DDR2 RAM. So far I have added a 200GB PATA HDD for data storage (with the original 40GB HDD dedicated to OS and programs), replaced the optical drive with a CDRW/DVD-ROM, increased the RAM to 2x1GB, and added a dual VGA graphics card so that 4 monitors can be hooked up (the computer already came with one VGA and one DVI). I agree it's an amazingly quiet computer, and it's still plenty fast despite its age (~5 yrs). The way the case opens is kind of awkward, but once its opened, it's really easy to take out or put in disk drives and cables. I like this GX280 so much that I just ordered one more!

[Toine]

I'll be having a E6400 and Adamo shipped to me as we speak.
Hope I like the Dell's. I need good docking options, hence the E6400. And style for on the road, hence the Adamo.
Will keep this thread updated on both.

[i-SnipeZ]

Dell's laptops are okay, definately not ThinkPad quality however, and their business line is very much a cheap ripoff of ThinkPad's.

On the desktop end they seem to fair well enough. My gaming machine is a Dell XPS 410 from 2005/6 or so. Has worked well for me. I've upgraded the graphics card, ram, and processor but the 375w PSU seems to be ticking along fine beyond what is recommended. No heat or strain issues as far as I can tell. In case you are curious:

2.4ghz Core 2 Duo
4gb ddr2 667
nVidia 9600gt factory overclocked (either 512mb or 1gb, not at home, I will check later)

[mineonenj156]

I think dell laptops have alot of issues with thier DC Jacks. I know that my job had alot of problems with Dell D600 with overheating,lcd programs, DC Jacks! After talking and talking and talking to my boss he finally he listened to me about staying away from "DELL" and he ordered the IBM Thinkpad T60 with the finger print reader since then he is a happy boss! (I should get a raise for that lol....lol...)

IBM Thinkpad