Latitude E4300 first impressions

E4300 is expensive due to it's fancy feature:
- Latitude ON (own CPU on a chip that runs Linux, and instant boot)
- Ambient light sensor
- Metal Hinges
- LED back-light screen and keyboard
- DDR3 RAM
- Reverse motherboard to reduce heat on your keyboard and mouse pad
- Power efficiency can last 15hours with the 6cell + the slice battery (you have to pay the engineering and developed firmware/sofwtare)
- It comes with 3 year warranty
- Solid construct with a Magnesium alloy LCD back and base
- eSATA (although cost nothing, because few laptops has this feature its consider "special" therefore expensive)
- Vista 64-bit (again, special because few laptops have this possibility)

 

That does not really explain why it's more expensive than Sony Z.

It's been mentioned before that to get a competitive price on E4300 in US you need a discount. In Europe prices are ok.

 

My E4300 is arriving tomorrow. I'll post a full review tomorrow night.

 

Yeah, I agree, none of the things in GoodBytes' post are a justification for the premium pricing. I expect, the price will come down soon enough. And besides, there is NO LatON feature at the moment so what the hell are they charging for? Forward compatibility? Bah.

If you look at the LatXT pricing, it's absolutely ridiculous. I used it quite a bit recently. It was heavier than my D430 and got a mere 90min battery life (I think it was the 4-cell). It also felt slower than my D430 despite its faster HDD (not SSD). So why on earth is Dell charging over 3 grand for a well-spec'd tablet? Perhaps they want to go upscale. Since the old days of business, it's a standard tactic to hike up the pricing to 'present' the image that the product is a premium one, thereby justifying the higher price. The reality is far from what is being presented. I think the Sony brand is an excellent example of this.

Anyway, we are Dell folk, and we expect, at the very least, competitive pricing. I am sure we will get it, one way or another. I shouldn't really talk with my deep EPP/Premier discounts.

 

I guess it is like Nvidia. As long someone is willing at purchasing the product at high price, there is no reason to drop it.
Once it doesn't sell anymore... THEN the price will drop.

 

I think I might pick up a Sony Z tomorrow as well for the sake of the comparison, and return one of the two. Would that be helpful?

 

To us, hell yeah! Why not! Get the 590 though! And please post pics!

 

Yes. I would especially be interested in a comparison of the screen quality.

 

I am particularly interested in: Battery life (web browser), build quality, sound level produce. Thanks!

 

I have no problems with my battery, it's well fixed.

But I need a better case than this plastic bag it was packed in
The Crumpler Gimp case (14") didn't feel really well. I don't like the material. Any suggestions?