Compare Latitude and Inspiron

Which do you think is better for the price, and better for web design/graphics and other basic uses?

 

I prefer the latitude series magnesium alloy case and I think it is worth the extra money. However, if you do not plan to travel with your laptop frequently, it is not worth it. It has other differences, but this is the most important to me.

 

I just recently started looking at the Latitude D520, but I still like the e1505 way better.

 

If you plan heavy use and a lot of travel, consider the Latitude. It has a longer warranty, better support, less junkware, options for modular batteries / interchangeable drives with the optical drive and more durability. The cons is the lack of multimedia options that the Inspirons have.

If you just do word processing, simple spreadsheets and surfing the web, the Inspirons are more economical.

 

My laptop needs to take as much abuse as Popeye eats spinich. The Inspiron is nice, but I do not think it can take that much mistreatment.

 

Not to say anything bad about Dell's or the Latitude line, but I don't think any other laptop can take the abuse that I've seen Thinkpads take in the years of my IT experience. I've seen Thinkpads out in the field, covered entirely with dust/dirt, keyboards filthy, screens scratched up/chipped on the corners from abuse, laptops dropped, and still working fine. They truly are 'business-end' laptops built to last. I however have not had that experience with the Latitudes so I can't comment.

Check out this link from Lenovo:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/thinkpad/community/legends/index_flat.html

 

You have just said it. Thinkpads are just another business laptop range, nothing special from a Latitude really. I'd say Latitudes (and equivalents from HP Compaq) can take the same amount of beating just as well. There's just less of them out there compared to Thinkpads.

 

I may be dumb, but I never understood this need for 'heavy duty' laptops. The majority of users will only ever use their machine on their desks or laps, the only wear and tear is when moving it around - Notebook Review did a review of an armored laptop bag a couple of weeks ago for about USD150 - give me that, an Inspiron and 300 bucks anyday!

 

My laptop will be carried a long distance to school and back with 15-20 lbs of books on top of the weight of the laptop. I purchased an eBags backpack to carry everything and protect the laptop at the same time. I do not think an Inspiron laptop could withstand this treatment for 3 years.