Comparing Lenovo T series, HP Elitebooks and Dell Latitudes....

I was asked in another thread to go into a little more detail on this, and as I mentioned there my remarks are based largely on personal preference, but perhaps a separate thread may have others weighing in some likes and dislikes of comparing the 3 business machines in the thread title.

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Keyboards/Trackpads

To start off with I prefer the feel of the keyboards on Elitebooks (having used an 8440p and an 8710w) as opposed to Lenovo Thinkpads (having used an X60, T500, T61 and currently a T400).

[I have also used and tested Dell's E6500 and E6400 Latitude's fwiw ... the keyboards and trackpads on them are not my taste at all.]

Not that I have had a BAD experience with Lenovo Thinkpad keyboards, mind you (although feel wise I would give the keyboards from the "IBM era" (having used a T23, T40p, T42, T42p and a T43) a slightly better edge over the Lenovo ones. I had to replace the keyboards of the T400 and T500 - the former having broken key wise (it happens) and the latter shipping with a much flimsier "keyboard plate" underneath the keyboard and thus causing noticeable flex ... after the replacement (very like the standard plates shipping with the T60 series) things were a little better.

All that said I just prefer the "light touch" high responsiveness of the Elitebook keyboards I have used....

The trackpads of the Elitebook's I find to be the best I have used (and I am NOT a fan of trackpads). Lenovo's are okay. No great shakes - but okay.

Sturdiness

I also find the Elitebooks of late to be both a little sturdier AND lighter at the same time. While the few Lenovo's I have used were definitely solid they were heavier than the HP models. I personally don't mind the weight, but others do.

Anyway these are just a few initial thoughts and reasons why I prefer the Elitebooks ... again, much of it is simply personal preference.

 

Though I can't comment on Elitebooks as I don't personally own one, live with one or used it for extended periods, the Lenovo keyboards are like the older Dell Latitude keyboards. The new Latitudes have a new kinda "squishy" feel, though I prefer the older D series Latitude keyboards. The squishy feel you get used to, as I had used my Latitude 13 for a couple months and my E6410 had the same styled keyboard.

I've used plenty of IBM keyboards and they are great.

 

From my experience (Dell Precision vs Thinkpad T/w series)

Keyboard:
Thinkpad > Dell: no comparison, the though you can get them backlit, dell keyboards are just too squishy for my taste. Flex wise they though, I would put them around the same.

Touchpad/point:
Thinkpad > Dell: this was one of my biggest beefs with the Precision I owned. The Thinkpad pointing stuck is heads and shoulders ahead of the Precision, while the touchpad was slightly better.

Fit and Finish (new):
Dell > Thinkpad: The dell was better assembled when new. From my experience with the newer thinkpads has been a mixed bag (W500, W510, W700, T400) with lids not closing evenly, latch problems, etc.

Quality of Materials (wear):
Thinkpad > Dell: The mag casings are not nearly as nice as the fully alu bodies on macbooks and only serve as a veneer (and super flexible). On top of that the interior plastics are thin, cheap, and get glossy after not much use (so things like the palm rests look greasy). Things like the metal grills chip easily, while the rubber feet and not well adhered on the Dells. On the other hand, I prefer the more robust matte plastic bodies of thinkpads, and the exterior seem better designed to deal with daily wear and tear.

Build Quality:
Dell = Thinkpad: Though I like the exterior materials and finish, I got the sense that the Dell was a little better put together on the inside, though I would consider it a toss up. Both have metal hinges, and the bodies are similarly built, but I would give a edge to the thinkpad's display housing. Over a few years use, I am certain the Thinkpad is going wear it's dings and scrapes better than any Dell, though I wouldn't say it was also more durable (functionally speaking).

Displays:
I haven't seen a 95% gamut w510 screen, but from my own HD+ (okay), a WUXGA W700 (decent) and WUXGA W500 (poor), I can say that Dell's offerings were pretty much superior in quality + brightness. That said, I am comparing those to a RGBLED 100% gamut screen (gorgeous, but glossy).

 

My biggest complaint with the HP machines is the keyboard layout. I don't much like the numeric keys on the right side and how they offset the rest of the keyboard and mousepad to the left.

 

Sadly I have never messed with the elitebooks and I miust admit I am seriously interested in trying one. As for dell business I absolutely love dell keyboards, especially dell business class. As for lenovo I love my t400 keyboard and I can say I loved the old school setups as well. If I had to choose it would be very tough, but Id go for the dell.

 

For keyboards: I gotta give it up to you. I preferred the older Dell keyboards vs the new ones but they are easy to get used to. The IBM keyboards are better than the Lenovo ones.

Touchpads/track stick: For track sticks it is Lenovo hands down, though I dislike them. Touchpads I have to give it to Dell, I can't stand Alps, but the Synaptics ones like in my Vostro 1500 are great. Thinkpads touchpads are good but sometimes I get this grainy feel, feels weird.

Quality of Materials: I think it can go either way, it really varies on what you are talking about. Overall I have to get it to Lenovo, the Thinkpad hard plastics feel more durable than the stuff you find on the Latitudes. The Vostro line shared the same chassis with the Inspirons but went the better route.

I can't really comment on the screens. Dell has had their issues with grainy, poor quality screens. My Vostro 1500 had TrueLife but it isn't the highest quality screen (AUO) but I will be either going to WUXGA or WSXGA+

Now Precisions have great screens but they dropped IPS long ago, though their gamut is better than the IPS DC2, but the viewing angles aren't great (which is to be expected with a TN screen). Though there is rumor the newest Precisions will offer once again IPS screens.

 

I've seen a HP 6930p, used a latitude E6400, and I have a T400.

Keyboard:
I haven't felt the 6930p, but I don't like how the keyboard only has 6 rows. I'm sure the typing experience is fine however. The dell keyboard frustrates me because it doesn't have a menu key. The function keys on the latitude are also spaced closer together because the esc button is on the 2nd row. E6400 keyboard feels pretty flexy as well. Trackpoint on T400 is better than the pointing stick of the E6400. Overall, I don't like typing on the E6400, and I prefer the layout of the T400.

one useful thing for the E6400 is that you can hold function and type using the numpad, but it's minor.

Design:
I'd say the 6930p and t400 are about equal, but the dell e6400 is no good. The T400 is slim (although its total thickness is average, much of that thickness is the screen, and the bottom chassis is rather thin actually.) The dell e6400 on the other hand has a very thick bottom half and a very thin screen casing. The e6400 I used felt slow and had its fan spinning almost all the time. The paint used for the speaker grilles chips, and the outside casing is easily scratched. The T400 has the advantage of good cooling, with dual vents. Ultrabay slim is also nice and thin.

Webcam
The T400 webcam is not great; at least lenovo has fixed that now.

Ports:
This is really only specific to the T400, but it doesn't have a digital out port whereas I believe the other two laptops do.

Screen:
The E6400 I saw had a very washed out LED screen. The ccfl wxga+ screen on my T400 is of good contrast.

Power manager:
Only thinkpads have power manager! battery thresholds, switchable graphics.

Overall, I found the E6400 to be an inferior laptop. I know I'm biased, but my only choice is thinkpad.

 

I'd like to add my 2 cents (ThinkPad W vs HP Elitebook).

Keyboard: Both are top notch in terms of quality, but I prefer the HP's KB (non-backlit one). Even though I'm a long term TPadder, typing is somewhat faster and smoother on the Elitebooks (8540w/8740w).

TrackPoint is better on ThinkPads, especially the buttons.

TrackPad: Both are great, 1:1

Screen: Elitebooks win hands down (IPS 30-bit very high gamut panels)

Graphics: Elitebooks have more options (and more powerful GPU's)

Overall Build Quality also goes to Elitebooks due to the brushed aluminum surfaces. Plastic on TP's feels a bit cheaper.

 

Yea, but what are you paying for that tricked out 8540w with the DreamColor screen? That's the problem. The price makes it just a dream for most people and it certainly prohibits it from ever making it into my company standards. It just isn't fiscally responsible.

 

Well that and I've always considered Thinkpads as the business professional's ultimate mobile work laptop that is dedicated to thinness (relatively) and durability. They haven't always been the most powerful, but that classic look and Thinkpad reliability, you know you have a serious machine there.

 

Should we expect new sandy bridge elitebooks announcement soon now that Lenovo has showed their lineup?

 

My experience has been that it's not fine. Mine is pretty bad, actually.

 

Yes indeed ... my feelings on these points exactly ... esp about your description of the "faster and smoother" feel of typing on the Elitebooks.

 

Damn those new Elitebooks look pretty good. Like a more industrial mbp. Anyone have any potential specs for a 8460w?

 

Would this also apply to the 12in and 14in category(well maybe not GPU for the 12in as both are Intel IGP)?

 

How about noise/heat, where do Elitebooks stand in that department?

 

It is no easy task comparing them even with them sitting right in front of you.
Here are the T410, E6410, 8440p, x200t, Mid 2010 MBP
They all have + & -
Trying to get my bride of 25+ years to decide on what laptop she wants to use for the next few months so i can again thin out my collection as the new models are near.
I seem to do this 2-3x a year, i like to have hands on comparison.
http://img140.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img140/3761/1298730553vpu.smil

 

I can't comment on the Elitebook, because I haven't owned one. Every time I've made the comparison, Dell and Lenovo come out less expensive for similarly spec-ed business-class machines. But, I can compare Dell and Lenovo pretty well, as we're a Dell house at work, and I've had two ThinkPads myself.

Initial build quality: I'd give Dell a slight edge in the Latitude line over Lenovo, but it's close. This isn't a criticism of the ThinkPad design (the engineering is sound from both vendors), as much as the fact that I've had much more consistency with Dell laptops coming off the production line. A ThinkPad can be equal to Dell coming off the line, or it can have issues with creaky/flexy plastics and even gaps on some occasions, and when one does, it doesn't measure up.

Long-term build quality: I think I'd probably give this to Lenovo, at least if initial build quality on your unit was where it's supposed to be. Display hinges don't develop play in them nearly as quickly (if at all) compared to Dell. As someone said, some Dell models can lose the outer finish of their plastics (especially on the palmrest) and become dull.

Keyboard - Lenovo wins hands down. While I currently have a T60 keyboard on my T400 (and it's easily the winner vs the T61 and T400 keyboards I've had), the T61 was quite good, and the T400 was decent once they put the reinforcements in on the Rev-B. models (of which mine was one). Dell's closest comparison would be, IMO, their best-of-breed Latitude D620-D630 line, which are still counted up there as some of the best-built notebooks ever.

As for Touchpad/Trackpoint: The ThinkPad trackpoint beats the decent Latitude D620-630/820-830 trackpoint, but that Latitude line beats the E-series trackpoint. Touchpad, the Lenovo is fine, but I'd give an edge to the Dell.

Two things I didn't see mentioned, but are useful to note.

Support - Dell wins. Kudos to Mark@Lenovo, JameZ, and others (they deserve it), but looking at the overall experiences I've seen, Dell has their business-support ducks in a row better than anyone.

Ease-of-work - I couldn't think of a better name here, but if you're the type of person who has no problem stripping down their notebook to change a wireless card, processor, etc. this is your category. Dell wins this in most cases. Both companies provide comprehensive service manuals (kudos to them, and to HP too for doing the same), but my experiences have been a bit easier with Dell. Points taken away from HP and Lenovo both for their crippling of the BIOS to prevent upgrades of wireless cards without hacking.

 

Heh funny enough all the Latitudes and ThinkPads that come into our tech shop come in for virus removal.

I gotta agree that D620/D630 was probably Dell's best notebook. If it weren't for those defective Nvidia chips, they wouldn't have gotten such a bad rep. I think the same could be said about the T61, and all the other models affected by the faulty chips.

I 100% agree with you on Dell's support, they issue refunds, RMA, returns very easily. If you go to their chat or call them up. I called up Dell for a return of my E6410, the rep was very nice and understanding. The RMA was setup in ~3 minutes and I had the shipping label in an hour after that. Sure you get the once in awhile horror story, but what manufacturer doesn't?

Dell BIOS have some of the most unrestricted BIOS. You can readily change between SATA operation, lots of settings in their BIOS, they don't whitelist CPU or have RAM limitations to the extent Lenovo did.

I can't speak for HP's business class support, but we RMA alot of their consumer notebooks and HP repairs are generally done very very quickly and very well. Normally they repair and ship the notebook so quickly, we can't even get an ETA, or by the time we get an ETA, the package is already on route back to our tech shop.

 

HP's business class support is bar-none the best i have used.
It surpasses apple, even after apple has treated us very well with out of warranty repairs at no cost on several occasions.
HP has always cross shipped either parts or complete replacement units over-night without security of an account or credit card on their end.
This alone speeds up the time on the phone with a tech, i doubt if i have ever spent more than 15-minutes on the phone from start to finish with them to get something resolved.
They have also always picked up the return shipping tab via shipping label pre-packed

 

Agreed 100%! I have had the exact same experience with HP's business support.

Lenovo's wasn't that bad support wise - but it took longer to get replacement parts (i.e. talking and explaining over the phone, etc.) and a little longer to have them shipped. Not bad at all, but HP support was MUCH quicker and faster.

Haven't had a need to roll out the support for the Dell machines yet - they only get occasional use and very limited things are done with them when they do.

 

Do you get that kind of support if you buy a elitebook as a private and not a company?

 

We have - since we are a very small company we have just made purchases as individuals and do not have a "company account" or such. HP has provided more than excellent service to us.

 

Last generation build quality I'd rank Elitebook > Precision/Latitude > Thinkpad, in general. This upcoming generation, we'll have to see. Dell seems to have upped their build quality if previews are to be believed. In my experience Dell business support has been top notch, far better than Apple.

 

Since we are comparing warranties;

Are we talking about turnaround time for repair? Ease of repair? Calling up the manufacturer?

Apple support is honestly top notch. I have seen them straight up replace units, no questions asked. That and they mail you the box very quickly, overall repair time is less than 4 days, pending on what the issue is. In fact we had a MacBook go out for a bad TP, it left Wednesday morning, it actually came back Thursday evening, but nobody could sign for it so we got it back Friday morning.

Now the way Apple sells their warranty is another story, they don't seem to understand that accidents happen, so no accidental warranties. They expect you to buy a new unit. Unfortunately that is a no-no in the business world, we can't just left and right be buying a new unit every time it gets dropped or we spill liquid on it.

Most manufacturers actually do overnight parts for warranty parts, the trick is how fast they process SR and dispatch the parts.

 

For CRU parts, most of them arrive by the next day.