D630 or 1420 for roughly same price/specs?

Latitude D630:
Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.00GHz) 4M L2 Cache, 800MHz Dual Core
Windows Vista™ Home Basic, with media
14.1 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD Panel
512MB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 1 DIMM
120GB Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM
8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio and Cyberlink Power DVD™
128MB NVIDIA® Quadro NVS 135M
Intel® 4965 802.11a/g/n Dual-Band Mini Card
Dell Wireless® 360 Bluetooth Module for Vista
6 Cell Primary Battery
90W A/C Adapter
3 Year Limited Warranty plus 3 Year Mail-in Service

$1,176
I already have 2gb RAM
The Student site did not have any great deals for the 630 (cheapest started at $1,100 with only the x3100!), are there any other ways to save money such as a coupon?

OR

Inspiron 1420:
Jet Black
Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 14.1 inch display (1440x900)
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8400M GS
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
3 Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor - Next Business Day

$1,127 after student discounts and $200 off coupon


I'm leaning towards the D630 because of the better build quality but I have a few questions:
1) How is the battery life with the 6 cell for either laptop?
2) How does the NVS 135M compare to the 8400M GS?
3) Is the D630 shipping now or is there a wait like for the 1420?
4) How is the touchpad for the 630?

Thanks for your help!

 

Battery life will be about 3-3.5 hours.

135M = 8400GS, it's effectively the same card.

D630 should be shipping almost immediately, but the dedicated video will delay it a bit.

Touchpad/keyboard on D630 = same old Dell stuff, but still very good



I'd take the D630 over the 1420 any day. The Latitudes feel much more sturdy, look nice, and come with better warranties right out of the box. They use the old-style keyboard, which I fell in love with 4 years ago.

 

I believe that the d630 will have a little bit better battery life and it weighs a little bit less too. That is the one I would choose.
Also, isn't the latitude line supposed to have better customer support than the inspirons?

 

Go for the 1420 for gaming over the 135M of the D630... It's programed more for CAD stuff, though you can get drivers to make it perform as a more gaming GPU

 

Actually that might be better for me because I may be doing some CAD work down the road. Also, where are the drivers that you are talking about? I want to be able to play CS:S on at least medium graphics at default resolution. Is the NVS 135M capable of that?

 

Also, do the Dell stands in malls have Latitudes also?

 

I've never seen them at the kiosks, but I wish they stocked them. I would much prefer to see the D630/D830 in person before deciding on one of them over an Inspiron.

And what's the advantage of the 90W A/C Adapter over the 65W? Faster charge times? But with that I assume the power brick is also larger/heavier?

 

Dont Get 1440 x 900 if you can. The 64-Bit Interface Kills Higher *As in abve a Small Res* Preformance. Its why even older cards still can outdo newer ones(7900 > 8600GT) Ect.

Even a 9*** Series will sometimes outdo a 64 bit card

 

I am getting the higher resolution because I need the multitasking space

 

I asked a kiosk worker once if they were able to help with Latitudes at all and he said no.

 

So then who would get the WXGA+ resolution on the 1420 - those going the integrated GPU route (X3100)?? That makes no sense. Granted, a beefer card can push higher resolutions faster and better than lower end cards, but I can't imagine WXGA+ being as demanding as WSXGA+ or WUXGA.