Is the Dell E4300 that bad of a machine?

"Sony pretty much dominates the powerful/ultraportable market with their excellent laptops, so there's not really many alternates (which is why they get away with their prices. The Dell E4300 for example is generally inferior (IMO) to the Vaio Z (heavier, slower, uglier, lower quality screen, lower quality build materials, etc.) yet it costs just about the same."

Sony Z here in Canada: $2614 before tax ($45 shipping)

If you make the warranty the same (3 years), $2943 before tax + $45 shipping

Same specs, I paid $2100 before tax (and free shipping) for the Dell E4300. Is it worth the difference when the keyboard (I don't like the Z's keyboard)?

I have to wait the same week (Oct 14/15) to receive either.

 

Nope. That's just a really biased Sony fan boy/girl.

 

well in terms of specs vs price, the sony Z def wins (atleast in the US)

it has hdmi, its lighter, thinner, better video card and then is cheaper when both customized with the same specs (processor and memory/hdd) so i wouldnt call the opinion too biased just comparing the 2

now saying that sony is the best in ultraportables, business, or whatever he said - that may be a bit biased but compared between the 2, the sony Z is def a better buy but thats with US prices, the prices you gave above seem a bit high for the sony Z even in canada, or perhaps the e4300 specs you got are def less....who knows

 

Sony Z speced at $2614

Customization Details

* Windows® Live OneCare 90-Day Trial
* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P9500 (2.53GHz)
* Trusted Platform Module / Biometric Fingerprint Sensor
* No Engraving
* Wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
* Extended Battery (BPL12)
* LCD 13.1" (XBRITE-DuraView&#8482
* DVD +/- R DL / DVD +/- RW / DVD-RAM Drive
* Video Plus
* Microsoft® Works
* 4 GB DDR3-SDRAM (DDR3-1066, 2GBx2)
* No Fresh Start™
* Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business with Service Pack 1
* 200 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [7200 rpm]

Dell E4300 speced at $2100

Components
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo SP9400(2.40GHz,6M L2 Cache,1066MHz)w/Lat On
Genuine Windows Vista® Business Downgrade, XP Pro SP3 Installed, English
Wide Screen WXGA WLED Panel for Latitude On
3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD Onsite Service
4.0GB, DDR3-1067 SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
160GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor
8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio and Cyberlink PowerDVD™
6 Cell Battery
Internal English Keyboard
No Webcam or WWAN Capable
Intel® WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card

 

Actually the E4300 is better build, and has better business support than sony...sony's world wide support is...meh. The Z is a nice notebook none the less, but for durability, the Latitude is the machine to pick.

 

Oh, and do not forget...

Dell just released this machine. There is no way someone could have compared it already, since they don't even think any will ship for a few weeks.

So that person is full of poo...

 

Dito all the way. How can you judge build quality without ever having touched the product...

 

Exactly. I call foul.

 

Not a very good example. That CPU is faster and has more cache than the Dell E4300. You can take a Z for less than $2000 that is clearly superior to that E4300.

Example:
Dell E4300 2.40GHz 4.0GB, 160GB Hard Drive, 5400RPM
$2200

Sony Z 2.40 GHz 3 GB 250 GB Hard 5400rpm
$1915


The 6 cell with Sony fits, while the Dell sticks out. Dell will be quite a bit heavier. Sony comes with hybrid graphics.

Some people claim that Dell's buildquality is better. I'd like to see what happens what happens if you drop the E4300 from 90 cm, like they show here with the Z.

My opinion: at US prices Sony Z is a way better deal. At European prices it's a close call.

The only real argument in favour of the Dell is the better warranty.

 

It seems like Dell has priced the E4300 a bit too high, but you might be able to haggle some off if you call in for a quote.

Dell thinks the new Latitude E's are the next best thing since sliced bread, but they continually seem to fail to account for other vendors coming out with some competitive notebooks at competitive prices.