Which Dell could beat this?

I'm thinking of getting a new laptop. I got it narrowed down to HP, Dell, and Lenovo. I've had Thinkpads for many years. I think HP is a long shot.

The important points are: Must have pointing stick. Must be 14.1" widescreen or smaller. Other than that, really fast (I would get quad core if it was around now), decent battery. I have not been impressed enough with SSDs so far so I will stick with magnetic drives for the moment.

Here is a Thinkpad configuration which might be the closest I can find to what I want at the moment.

I am a little put off by the E6400 teething pains that I've read, but could still be persuaded. I don't see how an M4200 configuration could make the cut.

 

There are less and less problems on these boards with the E6400 every day.

It has gone from being repeating problems to what seems to be specific to a particular user.

The touchpad works fine with updated drivers, the DVD burner works fine now, I don't remember the last post about something assembled incorrectly, and with Vista, there are no widespread audio issues.

Greg

 

Maybe look at the precision m2400? Or the m4400 when you go to the 15,4" screen iso 14,1"
It has all the same or equivalent components availbale + a 3 year NBD service as standard. And as with the e6400 issues are indeed not as widespread anymore, most are fixed and most users don't have issues at all.

 

I agree. I think that the E6400 pains are over. Mine has been close to flawless, and I love it more everyday.

 

I am one of the users without major issues with the E6400. Only one i have is the fingerprint reader at times is stuck in an open command. No idea why and it get resolved on a reboot. It seems to be only a problem when coming out of standby.

I have just purchased another for an IT staff member in my company.
Nice screen (LED) fast and i have to say much better for the price than the Lenovo (my company switched from Lenovo to Dell recently).

I decked mine out and other than no camera and a integrated vid card (longer battery life) it is fantastic.

I would recommend a E6400. But i would not get one unless it had the LED screen.
I pull about 4 -4 1/2 hours of battery on my current config with the 6 cell battery and WIFI on.


In the configs i did below i added the backlit keyboard. Yes some people might find it gimmicky, but it is alot nicer then the Lenovo light. That thing is a joke (i have used them for years). Once you have a backlit keyboard you will never want anything else in a dark room, on an airplane, etc.


I just priced out a E6400 with everything you have with the following exceptions
Nvidia NVS160 (128mb card)
250 gig 7200 RPM hard drive
Backlit Keyboard (comes with the pointing stick and touch pad)
3 year NBD on site service
3 Year accidental damage

for $1732.64

Configuring a M4400 came out to $2305.00
Again differences.
3 year NBD, 3 year accidental damage
Backlit keyboard
NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M, 512MB
500 gig 5400 RPM

Change to a 7200 RPM 250 gig hard drive will drop it to $2,236.08


M2400 came out to $2,216.06
differences
Backlit keyboard
3 year NBD, 3 year accidental damage
NVIDIA Quadro FX 370M 256MB

Drop to a 250 gig 7200 RPM hard drive price drops to $1,992.76

 

I'd definetly go for the m2400, as mentioned above, if i were you
And very true that the backlit keyboard is extremely usefull. When i ordered i actually already wanted it for the gadget factor but after using it and getting my old laptop next to it i find i'm looking for keys and really missing the backlight!! VERY handy feature!

 

Yes I have seen that Dell has been working on the drivers. However the bottom plate issue wouldn't be a driver issue. That's more like Dell getting the manufacturing process refined - which I am also willing to believe that as they have gone further into the production run could have improved.

I don't care about the touchpad beyond what I need to know to disable it so I don't get accidental taps or moves when I use the pointing stick. I am a 100% pointing stick user.

As far as audio, I know the E6400 speakers are bad but I don't care.

Plus the T400 isn't going to be completely without some sort of risk of annoyance, I went through the original Turbo Memory hell and Vista 64 bit hell with my early T61. Lenovo eventually smoothed things out, so I know how this works with new model notebooks.

I think that the big T400 advantages might be switchable graphics, faster memory, a battery in the media bay, slightly better keyboard, maybe a little better screen. I'm not so hung up on keyboard feel or fabulous screen. A good enough keyboard and good enough screen are good enough.

The E6400 advantages I am not so clear on, but there are some attractions. The backlit keyboard would be a big deal for me (ThinkPads no longer have good ThinkLights) ESATA, the battery slice might be really great. In principle I could get an E6400 ATG which would be ruggedized. I think even with the stock E6400 I would probably do some sort of shock mounting the hard drive. Plus. I can get a bigger 7200 rpm drive for the E6400. Yes, I know I can upgrade the hard drive later but for once I would like to just be able to use the factory install of the OS, especially since I can get 64 bit Vista factory installed now.

 

I did look at the M2400 and the price was a lot higher for similar components.

I absolutely do not want a 15.4" screen. I only put up with 14.1" because I can't get the features I want in a 13.3" screen - which would be the perfect size for me. I would accept a 12.1" screen if I could get the features, but cooling the machines I want is hard in that form factor. I constantly use the machine for hours on trains and planes a lot and 15.4" even in widescreen doesn't really comfortably fit on the seat tray or between me and the seat back in front of me. I do need all the CPU I can get, all the cores I can get, in 14.1" or less. If I could get a quad core 14.1" machine I would be looking at that. I will also upgrade the memory to 8GB as soon as feasible. This sort of rules out the small machines, although I would really prefer the smaller size.

I suppose if they get to really wide screens (I've heard about some new aspects) then I could get a bigger notebook and the screen height wouldn't be such a problem. But until then? 14.1" is the limit.

 

What's up with Dell? I just went back to reconsider the M2400 and now I can't configure Vista Business 64. Or any Vista 64?

I really really don't want to have to jerk around installing and upgrading the OS myself. It's too soon after my self-administered T61 Vista 64 trauma.

EDIT: I just checked the Lattitude E6400 - same problem - no 64 bit options.

Maybe Dell is having too much trouble with 64 bit systems?

This is NOT encouraging me to look into Dell.

???

EDIT2: OK I can make the 64 bit selection re-appear by trying to configure 8GB of memory, then the compatibility alert comes, then I can go and select Vista Business 64.

OK I'm not worried about weird web site design if I can get what I want..

 

You know that would be great - but when I configured a similar machine I ended up with a price well over $2400.

Now today, I went back to check, on account of your suggestion, but now I can't configure 64 bit Vista!

But as to price - do you get a discount? Are you using a coupon? Did Lenovo or HP stick an invisible negative Dell coupon on me when I wasn't looking? Help!

EDIT: I'm going to go back and make sure I'm getting United States Dell. Maybe the high prices are in some other currency?

EDIT2: I did figure out how to trick the web site into letting me configure 64 bit Vista...