Dell D400 replacement...maybe something 13.3"

[alkemyst]

We were robbed on the 3rd.

Items lost included an older Armada M700 1GHz, a Dell D400 1.8Ghz centrino, and my wifes 15" Sony Vaio.

I didn't like the fact my D400 needed a spare drive case to do DVD's once I saw 13.3" laptops that were just as thin and had DVD drives built in.

I loved my D400 especially traveling.

My wife is looking at the 13.3" Macbook Pro to replace her's as she liked the portability the D400 had plus it seems the only US company selling japanese keyboarded laptops with Japanese manuals. If there are other options let me know.

I need to run windows and don't want to spend $1200 on a laptop that is not my main rig. I don't want to spend a fortune on mine either. I basically use it for email, dvd playback and datalogging vehicles with OBDII software. The Centrino 1.8GHz ran really well for my needs.

I'd like to keep my price point on the laptop for myself at around $300-500 and I don't mind buying used (actually would prefer it...my D400 was brand new off ebay for less than $300 and then even less with the 30% cashback deal at the time)

I'd like to have a 'nub' along with the trackpad like my D400 had. If I did stay in the same class I'd go to a D430.

I really can load most of my DVD/CD needs onto a thumbdrive if traveling. I haven't tested this yet though. I have 16GB thumbdrives here now.

 

[firewolfsm]

Dell Outlet the E4300, I have mine for college, got it for $700 shipped and it's amazing. After undervolting the processor I consistently get at least 5 hours of battery life on the standard 6 cell. It's also light and durable and doesn't draw too much attention. Quite safe from theft thanks to its basic design.

 

[ecom]

I have a Latitude E4300 also and I bought it for mobility without compromising speed too much.

firewolfsm - I don't think thieves are too picky when it comes to laptops. It costs them nothing and if it turns out to be worth nothing, they can just toss it. I've seen P3 laptops stolen (even as late as 2009).

 

[alkemyst]

Yeah they stole my wifes P3 1.2Ghz sony Vaio...it's worthless really to anyone else as it's entirely in Japanese. They also took the Armada M700 from my workshop...1GHz P4. Very plain looking.

 

[ecom]

^ My point exactly. Even though my E4300 is fairly nondescript, I dare not leave it alone. I take it to school and if am on recess during a 3 hour lecture, you better believe my laptop is coming with me. I do not believe in making myself a victim to opportunistic crime.

I should mention, the Dell E4300 doesn't really have much competition. The Thinkpad X301 costs considerably more and has a less capable lower voltage processor. It weighs 4 lbs with a 6 cell battery and runs for 5 to 6 hours. The regular battery is 1/2 the size and doesn't protrude from the rear. Many of the other laptops I could find about the same size couldn't match the weight or performance I wanted.

One thing I forgot to ask: Do you need serial or parallel port for your OBD II scanner? The Dell E4300 has neither but it does have two USB ports. The capability of the Latitude E4300 about about equal to a Core2Duo E6700 desktop processor. The processor in the E4300 is a "medium voltage" processor soldered on to the motherboard. If you are coming from a P4 1.0GHz, it will be a huge jump in performance.

If you can wait to get the laptop and you don't mind buying a refurb, my suggestion would be to sign up for Dell's monthly mailing list and keep an eye on Dell Small Business outlet for E4300. You can get a great deal if you have a 15% off coupon on refurb machine. At the time I bought my E4300, a new one with equivalent specs was selling for $2400-2500. I picked it off the outlet for something like $950 and this was back in Feb of this year so prices will have definitely fallen since then. You will also qualify yourself to get an upgrade to Win7 when it's released in a month.

Dell Latitude refurbs carry the exact same 3 year warranty as the new ones .

 

[alkemyst]

My obdscan tool used a com port, but the keyspan serial to usb would have worked.

However that was stolen with the laptop and the latest version of the tool is USB.

I don't know if I will need a $700 laptop for my needs. This is not going to be anything close to a desktop replacement.

The workshop machine should be small, able to get email and web browse for mostly 'how-to' stuff....could be any size really.

my travel machine should be the same but around 12-13". I'd like the DVD built in as carrying the drive separately is a PITA when traveling...but I think I can switch to USB for any movies I want to watch (I haven't tested this though)

 

[ecom]

Perhaps a Dell Vostro 13" then? They run maybe 600-700 before any further discounts. These only come with 1 year warranty though. These are a bit heavier but still fairly well made.

Have you considered getting a netbook? I know they're smaller than 13", but their performance is about equal to a late model P4. I've played around with a desktop Atom with 945 chipset and some HD 720 videos did work fine, but HD 1080 videos were out of the question.

 

[alkemyst]

Netbooks seem slower than my wife's P3 1.2GHz with 512MB running XP home. My D400 ran snappy.

 

[alkemyst]

anyone have experience with the vostro 1220?