D620 v D820

If you had a choice which would you go for and why???

 

It depending on what i was going to use it for. For the ultimate portability, the D620 since it is smaller.

Personally, i like the larger screen, so i've been thinking about getting the D820. I can't get enough nerve to push the purchase button.

 

Well based on the following what you advise me to do?

General Usage

What will you be using the notebook mainly for? Will you be using it to play games? Will you be using it for word processing / general productivity? etc. - General Productivity/Web Devlopment/Business Environment/DB Development

Are you looking more at a very small notebook, a standard notebook, or a large desktop replacement? - standard notebook

Will you be carrying the notebook around a lot or be keeping it stationary most of the time? - I will be carrying it around a bit but not alot

How important is battery life to you? - Not extremely important

How long do you intend on using this laptop? - 2+ years

Features

Do you need lots of hard drive space? - No about 40GB

Will you be burning DVD's or just CD's? - Burning both DVD's and CD's

Do you tend to work with a lot of applications at once? - Dont intend to but would like to be able to

Graphics & Display

How big would you like your screen to be? Do you care if it's widescreen or not? - widescreen, unsure about screen size! Depends really on what people think!

Are you willing to pay more for premium screens enhanced by XBRITE, Crystal View, or Bright View? (Go to the bottom of this post for an explanation) - Maybe, depend if the rest of the laptops specs suit

(If applicable) Will you be playing casual games or the latest games?

(If applicable) Will you be doing work in a 3D modeling program like 3D Studio Max or Maya?

Miscellaneous

Do you care if your notebook looks good or not? - not too bothered

Are there particular brands you prefer or won't buy from? - Prefer to buy from Dell

How much are you willing to pay for this notebook? - Max €1800

Are there particular models you have already looked at? - Dell D620 or D820

Help would be great, cant decide!

 

I would go for the D280. Like SG said, it has a larger screen (which is also why I bought my E1705) and also can be configured a better GPU than its 14" counterpart.

 

Thanks for your help xAMDvsIntelx. My main concern about the D820 is that it being too big. What do people think? Is it smaller than the D810?

 

I think the new D820 should be about the same weight if not less with the 4 or 6 cell batteries. However, the D280 will be slightly bulkier because it's a widescreen notebook

 

I ordered a D620 on Thursday. I too am wondering if I should cancel and get the D820. My use is primarily business and I'm planes fairly often. The slightly bigger screen of the D820 is nice. I also think there's 2nd hard drive (soft raid) available on the D820.

I'm really disapointed that the D620 has a single mono speaker, a definite downgrade from my current D610 stereo speakers which I find to be pretty good and I use them often to listen to music when I'm alone. So, maybe for that alone the D820 might make more sense.

But the D820 is quite a bit bulkier than my current D610 and as I type this I have the D610 on my lap as I often use it this way. Might be more awkward

I don't know. Given the ship date of 1st week in May, I guess I have a week or two to figure things out.....

 

If you are travelling on aircraft often go for the D620 over the D820 every time. And you won't like a D820 on your lap. Even better, consider something even smaller. like the X1.

 

The D260 will have increased battery life when compared to the D280 and will also be less bulky. In addition, I don't think the 2nd HD on the D280 is actually built into the laptop itself - I think its an ejectable type that takes the place of the CD/DVD drive.

 

man am i glad i found this forum and this thread....

my wife and I both use Dell C640's ... and we're are updating our computers now...

i ordered a D820 max'd out with ALL the options yesterday....and today i went out and bought a HP DV4330ca with a 15.4" brightview screen for my wife.

when i set up her 15" HP I couldn't stop thinking 'wow this screen is big... on a webpage it seems like a waste of space ... unless you turn the resolution down and then it fills the screen but its blurry.... now that could be because its a $1200 HP and not a $3000 D820...

I'm sitting here all stressed out that maybe the D820 will be to big for me and starting to wish i ordered a 14" D620...

I don't get the hype about big screens 15 to 17" unless you do a LOT of gaming and TV watching... I'm a business guy who hasn't watched a DVD on a laptop yet... but its nice to have the option i guess, maybe it not possible to fill the screen on a $1200 HP and make it less blury, and the 15" D820 will be much better.

I don't know what the heck to do... stay with the D820 or change my order first thing Monday to the D620....

Please give me some opinions... I don't travel much but i do carry it all around my house, office, have it on my lap / coffee table etc....

For net surfing, word doc's, etc i don't see why a 15" screen is beneficial, the web pages look funny with so much open space on the sceen... if you fill the screen its blurry unless i'm making a mistake in the settings.

Its going to suck if I have to call Dell and change my order... I bought the D820 when they had the 15% off special, that's over and the the D620 prices out to more than the D820 and I'm going to have the hassle of asking Dell to honour the 15% off....

What would you buy? The D820 or D620 and why ?

Thanks!

(On the HP... I'm going to return the 15" to bestbuy tomorrow, and go to Costco and get the same model in 14" and for some reason I have to pay $200 more for the 14" - that's odd, but can't find a better deal in town, the 15" DV4330 was on sale at Bestbuy for $200 off the 15" model.

 

Well, I personally was hesitant to buy my E1705 - I was jumping from a 15" screen to a 17" screen, however, I've found that if you can take the extra weight/bulk, the extra screen space is worth it. I can now surf the web with mulitple windows open and do research while typing papers at the same time, and you also get added benefit while watching DVDs and playing games and doing 3D modeling/rendering. I would go for the 15.4" D280 because of the bigger screen/better hardware than its smaller 14" counterpart. In addition, you can "shrink" the excess space on your wife's notebook by making the internet window smaller.

 

Although I like the D820 specs and form factor, I think the D620 is more practical for the business user - especially since you can order the WSXGA+ (1440 X 900) resolution. Keep in mind that this is the default resolution on an Apple Macbook Pro. The optimal resolution on my T43p is 1400 X 1050, so I'll have the same amount of horrizontal real estate with the advantage of a smaller vertical height - optimal for use in a variety of environments including on an airplane.

I see no huge disadvantages to the D620 versus the D820, and certainly none that would make it more convenient to put up with an extra pound or more and the increase form factor - especially if you're a mobile laptop use like I am.

 

Hey Unique
This is a very personal decision, but it should be one that's rather easy to make.

if your laptop is going to sit on your desk most of the time, go with the larger screen... doesn't really matter if there's extra screen space surrounding your windows.

However, if (like me) you travel fairly often, you might want to consider weight of the laptop, and battery life.

I travel once or twice a month for work. I'd MUCH prefer the smaller size of a 14", and lighter weight. I'm going with the dv1000t, which weights about 5.3lb.

I considered the Dell (nice laptops, by the way) and would have chosen the d620... perfect screen size (again, for MY needs) and not too heavy to drag through airports.

My mother purchased a laptop a few months ago. Her needs were a laptop which would sit on her desk in her home. She will NEVER take it on trips, and it will never leave her home. She simply wanted a laptop so she could store it away, and not have her bedroom look like an office. For HER needs, she went with the larger screen size, weight was not an issue at all.

Go to Best Buy, and try lifting the 14" laptop and then lift the larger, 15" laptops, and see about the weight. If you dont' travel much, this isn't an issue.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies!

First of all to better describe how I'll use my new notebook...I own my own business, work from home, spend a lot of time with my notebook on my desk and on my lap in my Den, probably 70% of the time its on my little slide in laptop table that sits by my couch in the den (yes, I love working from home ... I don't have to travel/fly much anymore and I'm upgrading from a Dell C640.

(as a side note I bought a HP 4330 15.4" briteview for my wife yesterday and was 'surprised' by the size of the display and sort of panicked thinking I should of ordered the D620 instead of the D820...the display on this HP is amazing and nice - so clear....)

So first thing this morning I went to Best Buy/Costco/Future Shop/Staples, lol, and looked at all they had....

To my surprise the 14" in the stores look like a 12" almost, maybe its because I typed on my wife's 15" HP all night and morning... but I sure didn't like any of the notebooks with the 14" wide screen - they look a LOT smaller imo - now that I'm paying attention to screen sizes....

Also, a 15" sits better on my lap than a 14" - they're a bit narrow and tipy - an extra 1lb heavy doesn't matter to me.

So, the conclusion is my panick about ordering a D820 over the D620 was all for nothing -I really like the 15" size and I'd guess a good rule of thumb is to buy a notebook with the biggest screen you can but still have it suit your needs....and downsize it based on how much you lug it with you...

but if you're surfiing the web alot, working in word, publisher and power point files i think a 15" is more pleasing and easier on the eye and that's the way to go - unless you travel a lot, then i'd get a 12 or 14" notebook and a 19" monitor for my office.

Can't wait to receive the D820... I ordered it with everything maxed out...2.14ghz, 2 gig ram, 100 gig 7200 rpm HD, 512 dedicated Vid, blue tooth module, DVD burner, WSXGA screen...

Thanks again!

 

I think you made the right choice based on your desription of how you will utilize it.

I also have my own business and use my laptop at the office with a docking station, at home on my lap, and I take it everywhere with me. Currently, I'm at a local bagel shop that provides free wi-fi, so you can see how mobility is important to me.

I probably use it 75% of the time while docked and the other 25% of the time I use it out of the office. Of that, probably 20% is out of the home. So, I really want something light and easy to maneuver because I'm always packing and unpacking it. The screen size isn't quite as important to me as the resolution. I would never have considered a 14" widescreen because the only resolution that I could find was the WSXGA (1280 X 768). I wouldn't be able to tolerate that based on my use of the laptop. However, when Dell announced the WSXGA+ resolution, I couldn't wait to order a D620.

I've got 3 15.4" widescreen laptops and they just a tad too heavy and hard to handle. I've even had a D810 and it was unwieldly for me.

I hope your happy with your D820 - it does have some interesting options that the D620 doesn't offer... 120 gig hard drive, 2.16 processor, and 2nd internal hard drive.