Latitude D630 vs. E6400

How MUCH heavier is the D630? If you get a chance, can you put both on a scale and compare them? Dell's website says that the D630 starts at 4.37 lb.

 

Well my Dell D630 is about 5.5 lbs, that's with the 9cell, and 5.3 with the 6cell, so its decent size i like the weight.

 

Hmm, not a big difference in weight.

The E6400 is 5.1lbs with the 6 cell, but is quite a bit thinner.

Greg

 

The D630 and the D830, like the E6400/E6500 series laptops, accomodate 8gb.

So you won't be limited to 4gb if you go with a D630/D830 unit right now.

As another person pointed out, the main difference is the screens, and the availability of the backlit keyboard.

If you can pick up a good D630 configuration for $400-$650 (not too hard on eBay, with the warranty intact), I'd say, go for it. The E6400 isn't that much better, and you'll be half on your way to buying your next laptop with the money you save.

 

Wait--Dell's website says it can only hold 8 GB. How did you figure this out?

Here are my configs:
Latitude D630:
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.00GHz, 2M L2 Cache, 800MHz) Dual Core edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Business Service Pack 1, With media edit
WARRANTY & SERVICE 3 Year ProSupport for End Users and 3 Year NBD On-site Service edit
LCD PANEL 14.1 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD Panel edit
MEMORY 2.0GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 1 DIMM edit
HARD DRIVE 160GB Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 7200RPM (Free Fall Sensor) edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio and Cyberlink Power DVD™ edit
VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® Quadro NVS 135M™ edit
WI-FI WIRELESS CARD Intel® 4965 802.11a/g/n Dual-Band Mini Card edit
BLUETOOTH WIRELESS Dell Wireless® 360 Bluetooth Module for Vista edit
FINGERPRINT READER OPTION Standard Touchpad edit
BACKUP OS DRIVERS AND SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION No System Documentation edit
BATTERY 6 Cell Primary Battery edit
EXTENDED BATTERY SERVICE 2 Years Extended Battery Service for Years 2 and 3 of System Life edit
NETWORKING Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router edit
DOCKING SOLUTION D/Port Advanced Port Replicator edit
FLOPPY DRIVE No Floppy Drive edit

Total Price = $1632 + $25 for neoprene sleeve + $40 for 2 GB RAM + $85 for Office 2007 Home/Student = $1782 (plus tax)

Latitude E6400:
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Business SP1, With media edit
WARRANTY & SERVICE 3 Year ProSupport for End Users and 3 Year NBD On-site Service edit
LCD PANEL 14.1" UltraSharp™ WXGA+ (1440x900) LED Display - Brush Metal Black edit
GRAPHICS AND EXPANSION SLOT NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M With Express Card edit
MEMORY 1.0GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM, 1 DIMM edit
INTERNAL KEYBOARD Internal English Keyboard edit
SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT No Intel® vPro™ Secure Advanced Hardware Enabled Systems Management edit
CAMERA/MICROPHONE Integrated Webcam with digital microphone edit
PRIMARY STORAGE 160GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio and Cyberlink PowerDVD™ edit
WI-FI WIRELESS CARD Intel® WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card edit
BLUETOOTH WIRELESS Dell Wireless® 370 Bluetooth Module edit
FINGERPRINT READER OPTION No Fingerprint Reader edit
BACKUP OS DRIVERS AND SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION Resource DVD - Contains Diagnostics and Drivers edit
BATTERY 6 Cell Battery edit
EXTENDED BATTERY SERVICE 2 Years Extended Battery Service for Years 2 and 3 of System Life edit
CARRYING CASE 14.1" Neoprene Sleeve edit
NETWORKING Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router edit
DOCKING SOLUTION E-Port, dock for charging, digital video, and USB / eSATA port support edit

Total Price (special deal from sales rep) = $1795 + $75 for 4 GB of RAM + $85 for Office 2007 = $1955 (plus tax)

What do you guys think? The price difference is $200 or less, I get more features with the E6400.

 

For that price, E6400 all the way.

Greg

 

Search the threads in this forum -- the underlying chipset of the D630/D830 supports 8gb, and Dell modified the BIOS to add support. A few people have tested and reported that 8gb is no problem in the D630/D830.

I think you'd be stupid to pay full price for a D630. As I said earlier, go onto eBay, and pick up a D630 from a third party reseller or even slightly used, for $450-$700.

Plenty of units available from sellers with lots of feedback. All the Dell laptops I've bought in the past few years have all been through non-Dell sources, I'd go broke if I paid Dell list prices for Dell stuff.

If you won't/can't buy from anyone other than Dell at their inflated online prices, then, yes, I think you should go for the E6400. But there are many cheap D630's out there, and getting one for $1000 less than an E6400 setup would be well worth your while. (not many E6400's in the reseller/resale market right now because they've only been out for a couple months).

 

I know the Dell prices are a bit high, but honestly the only reason I prefer to buy from Dell is the guarantee and customer service. I'd be lost without tech support. To me, that's worth the money.

I do buy things frequently from ebay, but I have never tried a computer. My worry would be the lack of warranty and tech support.

BTW, are warranties / support transferrable if I buy a machine from someone else?

 

Two words for ya: Dell Outlet-Seriously, I got the system in my sig. for around $875. Take a look there.

Yes, If you do decide to buy from someone else, you'll have to fill out a form on Dell's support site once you recieve the notebook. From there you should be all set.

 

Yes. The warranty/support is tied to the machine, not the owner. If you have any doubts about the warranty/support offered, just get the service code from the laptop, and punch it into the form on the support.dell.com website and you will receive a listing of the support/warranty products that are associated with the product.

I've called upon Dell tech support on a few occaisons for Dell laptops I've procured from eBay sellers. No issues, really.