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Ordered E4300 - Right choice?

Discussion in 'Dell Latitude, Vostro, and Precision' started by iqwertyi, Jan 13, 2009.

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  1. iqwertyi

    iqwertyi Notebook Enthusiast

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    So, last night I took advantage of the outlet coupon and picked up an E4300

    Specs:
    Latitude E4300 Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 (2.26GHz) BLACK w/Latitude ON ready
    6 Cell Primary Battery
    2 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz (2 DIMMs)
    160 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
    Back-lit Keyboard
    Bluetooth Wireless Card 365
    Dell 1397 802.11B/G Wireless Mini Card
    Genuine Windows XP Pro with Vista Business License
    8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability

    All for $775 plus tax and shipping (that's a whopping $1,000 of retail) :).
    I was happy with the purchase until I read up on the owners thread. Seems people are not too happy with this unit. One common issue seems to be the speakers. I really don't use the speakers that much in my current laptop, so no biggie. But HDD and display issues worry me more.

    I was really debating between this and the E6400. For the same price, I could have gotten it with the NVIDIA card. BUT, also the 14" screen (I preffer the 13").

    I guess what I'm asking is, should I cancel this order for the E6400?
    Not because of the feature differences, but reliability.
    Also, why does it take them a month to ship out this refurb unit? I would think since it's refurb it's already sitting in a box waiting to be shipped out.

    Thanks all. I guess I'm just trying to justify if I bought the right one for me.
     
    iqwertyi, Jan 13, 2009
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  2. Cape Consultant

    Cape Consultant SSD User

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    I just got my E4300 from refurb and I love it. Nice and light. Works good so far. It is my first smaller laptop, have always had 14 inch. I like the difference in weight so much I hardly notice the smaller screen.

    Dave
     
    Cape Consultant, Jan 13, 2009
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  3. Cape Consultant

    Cape Consultant SSD User

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    Also, mine shipped the next day even tho at first it said a month.
     
    Cape Consultant, Jan 13, 2009
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  4. iqwertyi

    iqwertyi Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for your input.
    I'm also glad you got it shipped quicker than the one month estimate.

    I'll be definitely running all sorts of programs in it (i.e. photoshop) even though I don't use it that often just to stress test it.
     
    iqwertyi, Jan 13, 2009
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  5. theZoid

    theZoid Notebook Savant

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    That's a LOT of laptop for the money. Good buy.
     
    theZoid, Jan 13, 2009
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  6. pitviper45

    pitviper45 Notebook Consultant

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    I also got an E4300 from the Dell Outlet last week and I like it a lot so far. I came from a D630 and love the lighter weight. Mine came with the 160GB 5400RPM HDD and I haven't noticed any noise or problems with the drive at all. Mine is a single platter fujitsu drive so it is pretty fast for a 5400RPM drive. The notebook runs quiet and cool. Screen is bright, with only downsides being some backlight bleed near the bottom edge (which is not noticeable in daily use, only on a full black screen) and weak vertical viewing angle.

    As for the E6400, it seems to have a more active fan, especially if you get the Nvidia card. Some units (my guess is many, but people just don't notice it) also suffer from audio crackle (which I had on my D630) which in many cases is unfixable and annoying (I went through several motherboards and ultimately a brand new notebook trying in vain to fix it on my D630). There is a thread about this problem in the forum.

    Mine also shipped the next day despite an initial one month estimate.
     
    pitviper45, Jan 13, 2009
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  7. iqwertyi

    iqwertyi Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well, you guys were right.
    Just checked my order and it shipped!!!
    I may get it by this Friday! :)
    I cannot wait.
     
    iqwertyi, Jan 13, 2009
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  8. Cape Consultant

    Cape Consultant SSD User

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    Quick shipping alone is enough to make me a refurb fan :)
     
    Cape Consultant, Jan 13, 2009
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  9. kyokurider

    kyokurider Newbie

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    Hi, whats the guarantee that they give you when you buy a refursbished laptop?
     
    kyokurider, Jan 19, 2009
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  10. Cape Consultant

    Cape Consultant SSD User

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    That would be on your order. I bought the 3 year ONSITE warranty for an extra 99.
     
    Cape Consultant, Jan 19, 2009
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