Vostro vs. Latitude

The Vostro laptops aren't really business-quality laptops. Dell likes to market them that way, but they really don't make the grade.

If you shop on eBay from reputable merchants, you can easily find limited quantities of the Latitude D630/D830 laptops at prices that are very competitive with the Vostro line given similar features, ready to ship the next day, either auctions or "Buy It Now" offers.

And yes, good point Samuel613, getting hardware support from a good old-fashioned American (oh, what a novel concept) has numerous advantages. When I discovered my Bluetooth radio to be DOA 2 months after I bought my laptop, not only did Dell overnight me replacement parts, but the tech called me back to make sure I had no difficulty following the replacement instructions, and that everything was resolved!

 

Oh...with the Latitudes too, you can pull the CD/DVD drive and install a battery. Can't do that with the Vostros, AFAIK. And no WUXGA on the 15.4" Vostros either.

 

How does the ebay purchase deal work out with Dell's warranty? Do you still get it?

 

Latitudes and precisions are quite a bit more sturdy than the vostro,I had a precision M65 before my vostro and there is a notable quality difference.....the vostro is still pretty good though and IMO fairs very favourably to other makes in the same price range.

I did a picture comparison on NBF between the 2 with a few comments,admittedly,not very good pictures *shrug*

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread203468.html

BTW,the latitude D820,830,precision M65,M4300,are pretty much identical apart from the updated platform on the 30 series,different lid trim on the precisions,and the bios enabled openGL optimisation on the precisions.

 

Another point I didn't see mentioned here...if you want be able to dock your computer, get a latitude. The docking stations that you can get for the latitudes work great! I'd recommend buying one off of e-bay though, instead of paying Dell's inflated prices for one.

dordale

 

Very true...I really miss my port replicator,makes plugging,screen,keyboard,mouse etc soo much easier and quicker.

Also with latitudes,you can have a second [non sata] hard drive or a 6 cell battery that slots into the optical drive bay,plus a built in fingerprint reader,although I found the software suite overly bloated and complicated for my use.

 

Yup the warranty is transferrable. Just get the details from the seller, and fill out the form on the Dell website.