A Dell for my daughter

I'm posting this here instead of over in the "which Laptop should I buy" forum because I'm only interested in what Dell has to offer for the moment and figured this would be a better place to ask.

My daughter starts college this fall and I've been looking into getting her a laptop. What I think is important are things like a good full size keyboard, a screen big enough to work on term papers, ability to run Windows 7 with ease, and quality about equivalent to my new Latitude E6410. It should also support 'N' wifi and bluetooth would be nice. What she thinks is important is for the laptop to be as small as possible and preferably have some nice colour on the outside... Games and movies aren't important but she'd certainly appreciate watching the occasional youtube video.

I've been going over the smaller models Dell produces and it isn't easy to decide without being able to hold one in my hands. There seem to be two main paths, the cheap route with low-end stuff across the board or the expensive route with higher quality components packed into a small package. Dell doesn't make things easy when it makes some arbitrary choices like offering an attractive configuration but only with Linux, or another interesting one that is way overpriced because it uses a single 8 gb memory card. Some of the cheaper models only support "g" wifi.

So I'd be interested in hearing what some of you think would be a good laptop from Dell, say with a 10" to 13" screen, 1000$ or less, solid enough to last at least a couple of years in a school environment and just powerful enough to do schoolwork, browse the Internet and youtube, on Windows 7. RAM say 2 GB expandable to 4 GB. I don't like cheap equipment but I don't want to spend too much either.

The current small models are :

Inspiron Mini 1012 (10") same as the Mini 10 ?
Latitude 2100 (10")
Latitude 2110 (10")
Vostro 1220 (12")
​

A bit bigger :

Vostro 3300 (13")
Vostro V13 (13")
Latitude 13 (13")
​

The Latitude 4200 (12") or 4300 (13") would be really nice but they're too expensive, overkill, and the 4300 is probably too big as well.

Anyone have experience with the 10-12" models ? Any info or advice would be much appreciated.

 

Hi, yeah it isnt easy to config your own on the Dell site anymore, at least for the consumer systems with them bundling desirable options for school like 9 cell batteries with stuff your daughter might not need (like a blu-ray drive)

First of all, have you signed up for Dell's Academic Purchase Program? By registering, you'll get access to discounted configurations, along with select school selected configurations if your daughters university participates in that portion of the program.

To get started, go here: Dell University

That said, you'll want to compare pricing both through delluniversity and through the standard site, as in some cases (mainly those school specific configs) the price for a machine may be higher than the standard site. Also, it might be impossible for you to configure a business machine (vostro, latitude) from this site.

Also, have you looked at the Dell Outlet? It's one way to buy a system that would otherwise be out of the question. I bought my Latitude D630 from the Outlet in 2007 and it's been great. Why Dell Outlet? | Dell

As for the systems themselves, I would only consider a netbook (the Inspiron Mini and Latitude 2100) if your daughter would only be doing the bare basics (websurfing, watching youtube, photo organizing/light editing, chatting with friends, word processing and music) as the screen size/resolution limits how much one can see on screen at one time. Note that you can opt to get a "high resolution" screen on both that may change this. In the end though, the Atom processor will be the main bottleneck. While it'll do the above tasks great, push it much further (video editing, 3D games) and you'll see it hit it's performance limits. Also, keep in mind that a netbook has no optical drive. While one could argue that you don't need one today, a lot of textbooks come with companion discs, and as a college kid myself, many of my roomates and myself watch movies on our machines. You can get an external drive though that solves this issue quite nicely.

As a rule, a 12-14 inch notebook is the ideal sweet spot. She'll have room to manage open apps, and have enough power to last through school, along with portability (some desks are small-smaller than traditional public school desks in some cases) and great battery life with extended batteries.

I'm a big fan of business notebooks (the latitudes in dell's lineup) for college kids for several reasons:

Clean OS- there's no need to remove junk software you'll/she'll never use

3 year warranty standard - 3 years of warranty is a very good thing, even if it's the mail in kind. Latitude E6XXX systems come with 3 years warranty as standard.

Higher end materials/build quality - Business machines have stronger plastics, and metal/magnesium alloy bases that withstand the rigors of school life. Most have matte screens which are ideal for the highly variable lighting that comes with being on a college campus. While the E series is perhaps a step downward in terms of overall quality from it's D series predecessors, it's still a very solid line of machines.

In the end, I'd recommend the following out of Dell's lineup:

Latitude E6410- Dell's 14 inch model, I configured a decent system with the Core i3 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 250 GB 7200 RPM hard disk, Windows 7 Home Premium (check with your daughter's IT department to see if she needs Professional) and 9-cell battery for 958 bucks. Add some niceties like either a webcam, or a different colored back for 30 more bucks each if you want, but even the config I did above minus those is pretty nice, esp. if you decide not to buy from dell outlet.

look at it here: Latitude E6410 Product Details | Dell

I'd also look at the Inspiron 14R. While the configuration options are a bit less wide open than the Studio 14, I think it's a bit more handsome looking, with its faux brushed metal accents instead of just silver painted plastic.

Inspiron 14R Laptop Details | Dell

If you have any questions, just post them here!

Good luck!

 

The options are pretty limited at 10-12" screen size. The Inspiron 11z is a little underpowered, but it's another option to consider. With such a small screen size, it's going to be hard to see much at once.

If she can go to 14", there are plenty of options in the Inspiron 14 family that have better specifications and will offer better productivity. Studio 14 might be just within the price you're looking at, with the right coupons.

Regarding the n wireless, I'd check and see if the school's wireless is n or g. Lots of schools put up giant g networks that aren't necessarily going to have been upgraded or going to be any time soon.

Just curious - were you looking at the business laptops when you were browsing? Latitudes and Vostros (the bulk of the laptops you listed) are typically considered business-y, and the Mini is a netbook and not a true productivity-oriented computer.

*edit*
hmph, should've previewed before submitting. oh, well.

 

I would look in Dell Outlet for any remaining E4200s and E4300s. The former is relatively lightweight but has a weak CPU. The latter, is, in my view, a excellent very portable (1.75kg / 4lbs with 6 cell battery) fully-functioning notebook. I managed to get a red one last year and, in most respects (except the WXGA+ display) it is a match for my E6400.

While the Latitudes do have a price premium relative to the other Dell products, this is offset by the better build quality and the 3 year warranty.

John

 

I guess the real question is how much does your daughter like the size and general configuration of your E6410? I'm not talking about hardware specs, but the size and weight. Obviously, these things cost more in Canada, but at least it's a point of departure.

I'm not a fan of netbooks, and I really don't see the advantage of a Vostro 3300, which looks nice but has a plastic bottom. I really don't see the Vostro 3xxx series as all that much superior to similar Inspiron models.

On the other hand, I personally considered the Latitude 13/Vostro V13 due to the rugged aluminum case. The only downside is that they have a single stick of RAM and limited battery life. They do look nice and the Ubuntu models are a real deal. Once you go for Windows 7, and in turn go for an almost obligatory dual core processor, it really doesn't make much sense to go for Latitude 13/Vostro V13 over the E6410 - not when you take into account the 3 year warranty on the E6410. However, if you daughter like the idea of a Dell with dimensions of a MacBook Air and sells for 1/3 the price, the Latitude 13/Vostro V13 is worth a look.

If you're really looking for build quality equivalent to the E6410, the cheapest choice I can think of is the E6410, at least in the United States. However, your budget isn't too limited, so you might even consider the cheapest plastic MacBook. Apples aren't my thing, but they apparently have the same prices in Canada as the USA, unlike the E6410.

 

Thanks guys for the help, it's much appreciated. I'm in Canada so unfortunately I don't have access to the outlet and its great prices (though I just looked at the Dell US outlet and there are no Latitudes or Vostros listed at all ?). I looked at Dell Canada's Financial Services website. They have what they call "off lease" and "open box" laptops. The off lease models are fairly old, mostly D series (how long does a lease usually last ?). There are quite a few open box E4300's but they're too expensive at 1600$. There are also several Vostro 1320's (13.3") which look to be pretty well equipped (P8600 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4Mb, 3 year warranty) and the price is pretty good (880 $cdn) but they're listed as weighing 6 lbs which is more than my E6410.

My E6410 is great but I think it's too big and heavy for my daughter, who's on the small side. She has quite a ways to walk to get to her bus stop and she'll have books to lug along as well. A big problem with buying used is that the older smaller laptops are heavier than new bigger ones.

It looks like it would be best to wait for an E4300 to show up somewhere at a good price.

 

Ah, your in Canada, that changes things then. BTW, you had to choose "Business and Education" to see the Vostro and Latitude systems in the Outlet.

In any case, your best bet if you want to stick with Dell would be to look at Vostro, or Inspiron with 3 years warranty/accidental damage

 

Well that wasn't much of a deal as it turns out I can get a new Vostro 1330
with i3 and 3 year warranty with accidental damage for the same price. The
weight is listed at just over 4 lbs with 4 cell battery so this might be one way
to go.

 

I picked up an E6400/2gb/Win7 Business/128gb SSD for $750 Canadian, shipped, a few months back, refurbished w/3 year warranty, off of eBay from "warehouse-point" (they also have a website).

I bet your daughter would be happy with something like that. Watch for Dell sales on their 23" S-IPS LCD (U2311 I think) for ~$230, and get an E-port docking station (~$80-$100 on eBay), and she'd have an awesome solution for college.