Latitude D630 or D680?

I meant D830 for the second option in the subject.

I currently have a 15.4-in. screen IBM Thinkpad T43 and am considering getting the Latitude D630 which is a 14.1-in. screen. Have any of you went down in monitor size? Did you regret it? I was mobile enough with the T43 but am attracted to the smaller size. I'm just concerned about resolution and clarity at that lower resolution? I do also watch movies on my laptop. Suggestions?

 

I was about to ask what in earth the D680 was... Also, you don't have a 15.4" T43, as it doesn't exist but just 15"...

 

Wow, numbers are just not my strong suit today.

But that makes my lean towards the 14.1 since the 15.4 might just be too big for carting around campus all day.

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

While I can not help you with the watching movies part of your question or the regretting of downsizing I can say that my moving from a T20 to a recently purchased Latitude D830 is a significant change in size. I am fortunate in that I do not have to move my laptop around much because the D830 is not small or overly light. I did not expect it to be small... if I needed it to be more easily mobile I would have perhaps, like you, considered a smaller system.

Many seem to complain about the display on a Dell... mine appears to be fine... so far.

 

Go with the D630. I'm going to suggest that 15.4 inches is too much to be portable in a college environment.

I moved from a 14.1 inch 500m to a 15.4 inch D830, intending to retire the 500m for good. My main concern was weight, but that turned out to be a non-issue; my back cannot differentiate between 5 pounds and 6 pounds of laptop. The extra inch and a half of laptop really makes it too big though. Most of my lectures are held in auditoriums with these puny little fold-out things and the D830 is less than stable resting on these excuses for desks.

As a laptop, I have no qualms with the D830, but I just don't think it's the right choice if you want portability. My D830 has essentially become a desktop replacement and I'm now using an old 12.1 inch tablet on the go. Personally I think 13.3 inches is the upper limit if you want true portability. Even 14.1 inch is pushing it.

 

My first laptop was 14.1" Inspiron 4000 which was then replaced by 15.4" Inspiron 8600, replaced by 14.1" 600m, replaced by a Latitude D820 15.4" and now finally a 13.3" XPS m1330. Honestly, the 13.3" is perfectly fine for me and I have certainly not regretted going down in size or weight for that matter. Perhaps my next move will be down to a 12.1" Latitude XT or equivalent.