D630 / D830 Questions

Hey guys --

As I have been debating between a D830 and a Thinkpad T61 (or T61p), I have begun leaning toward the latitude. However, there were a couple of issues I wanted to check on before purchasing.

1) I own a docking station (or port replicator?) for my Inspiron 8500. Will this same station be compatible with a D830? The cost savings is one of the reasons I am leaning toward Dell.

2) As far as the 6-cell vs. 9-cell battery goes, I am still in debate. I usually have my computer plugged in, though there are times when I bring it to class (final semester of grad school coming up) and need battery life. That being said, how much battery life does the 6-cell and 9-cell usually get, assuming Wi-Fi is on but screen brightness is turned down?

3) When running Vista, are there any settings that help make text on the WUXGA screen more readable. I currently have the WUXGA on my inspiron8500 and love everything except for the small text. I have changed some settings in firefox and changed my default dpi for text, but some things still show up skewed or off. However, it really helps to have this resolution when I'm running excel models, as I often do for class. I'm a bit hesitant to "downgrade" to the WSXGA+ screen.

4) If I would be watching movies and using the vista aero functionality, but not heavy gaming, would it still be worth waiting for a dedicated graphics card? I know that integrated would save some battery life, but I really would like to have a dedicated card just in case. However, some folks say that as long as I'm not gaming, it really won't make a visible difference.

Thanks for your input!!

 

Sorry! One last question I had regarding sound issues:

5) I am a big audio guy and would be listening to music all the time when on the computer. I have a really nice external speaker system that has still sounded great on my integrated sound on the 8500. However, I was wondering if there is any sound upgrade from the inspiron8500 (4 years old) to the new latitude? Is the sound still the same old integrated chip? This could be a factor leaning toward the t61p, if it comes with a separate sound card.

 

I got my D830 two days ago and love it.

I don't think the docking station will work. I think it has to be a D family docking station.

I got the 6 cell battery instead of the 9 for weight. My 6 cell is over 4 hours with wifi on and basic computing, office apps, etc.

I can't help you with the screen question. I get WXGA screens, I don't like the small text.

I chose to get the 830 vs 820 because I wanted the integrated card. Again, for battery life, and also the heat a dedicated card gives off makes the fan run more and I can't stand it.

It runs Vista Business flawlessly - aero and the works. I think it will be more than enough doing light gaming. For me, the battery life and less heat outweigh the performance of dedicated card.

If you have any other questions feel free...

The build quality is great, very professional, nice metal hinge on front, trackpoint and touchpad, great keyboard.


MG

 

I just ordered my D830 today. I have only used Thinkpads and Latitudes so I was leaning towards the T61; however, the horrible wait time from Lenovo stopped that idea.

In regards to the docking station: If you have the PR01X (which I assume you do for the 8500) it will work with all D series except for D500 I believe.

 

How does the docking station connect to the machine? If it's by USB, then it should work fine.

Vista text settings. You'll want to adjust the DPI. On XP, this is in the Display control panel, under the Settings tab... click the Advanced button. I don't have Vista yet so I'm not really sure, but it's probably in a similar place. Here's some more info about the effect:
http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061211/vista-dpi-scaling/

You could also check the settings for ClearType and turn that on if you like it. Although it may be on by default in Vista; I'm not really sure. In XP this is in Display Control Panel > Appearance tab > Effects button.

If you even want light gaming, you should get the graphics card. If just movies and Aero, I don't think you'd need it. See if anyone is running the Aero/WUXGA/x3100 combination, but I certainly don't expect it to be a problem.

I think every laptop has "integrated" sound. Some are better than others. If you want better sound, look into a USB (or PCMCIA) sound device, also called a USB DAC. Try the computer audio forum at head-fi.org; there's a lot of info about this stuff. Don't get sucked in too much though; audio equipment can drain your wallet.

 

The docking station isn't USB, it's the little slot on the underside of the notebook.

I'm still trying to make the decision on this integrated vs. dedicated graphics -- any ideas on how much the price will go up for dedicated?

 

On the D820, if I remember right, they were charging $50 for the weaker graphics card and $100 for the somewhat more powerful one. So I imagine it'll be in the same ballpark.

 

On my D630, I got about 4 hours of battery life (6 cell battery) with Wi-Fi switched on and screen brightness turned down. During these 4 hours windows updates and other softwares were installed. And yes I am using XP Prof. I am not sure but with Vista results might be different.

 

Thanks for that. Any info on how much benefit the 9-cell provides?

 

You should get close to 6 hours of battery life with 9 cell battery on D630. Though, according to Dell you can get upto 9 hours.

 

I can see getting 8 hours with wifi, blue tooth off, screen at the lowest setting, battery saver mode.