Dell Outlet -20% off any refurb laptop or desktop, free shipping

[TwiceOver]

None of them are showing as in stock in the outlet center for me?

Just saying that in comparison it is worth the wait. Longer battery life. Thinner device. More options. At a better afar coupon price too.

 

[Zap]

I assume you are trying a small business Latitude. If so use this coupon:

Save 25% on any Dell Outlet Latitude Laptop
3KPRKX6KBRM$10
Expires 9/15 or 2000 uses.

Just priced a C2D 13" laptop with 6-cell and external dvd writer for $426+tax That's a pretty nice deal.

Yup. That's the one I just placed an order for. Thanks!

Guess I need to sell off my barely used Hanspree 12.1" now.

 

[Firsttime]

I'm looking at those Latitude 13's. Is it worth the extra $40ish for a Core2Duo over the Solo on a machine that would be strictly for office apps and hulu streaming?

 

[VinylxScratches]

Does anyone know if the Dell Precisions ever get a nice coupon????

 

[TwiceOver]

I'm looking at those Latitude 13's. Is it worth the extra $40ish for a Core2Duo over the Solo on a machine that would be strictly for office apps and hulu streaming?

It would be worth it.

I almost bought one of the Latitude 13's until I read the battery life is less than 3hrs and is not easily replaced.

 

[Firsttime]

Yeah. I'm after something to get me through 2ish hours of class a day and maybe a half hour while I'm eating here and there. Can't seem to beat the width, it's smaller then most of my textbooks so I don't think it would be a pain to carry around. The Inspirion 1501 I got freshman year just isn't very portable anymore.

 

[bamacre]

Does anyone know if the Dell Precisions ever get a nice coupon????

Yes. I wouldn't say it's rare, but it's not as often as others. Usually 15% off.

 

[Firsttime]

Pulled the trigger on the Latitude 13 with the C2D for $421+tax. Looking forward to getting it. Thanks OP.

 

[Zap]

I almost bought one of the Latitude 13's until I read the battery life is less than 3hrs and is not easily replaced.

Crap! A quick search (which I didn't do before buying)...

http://www.productwiki.com/dell-latitude-13/

sub-average battery life for an ultra-portable

http://reviews.dell.com/2341/latitude-13/reviews.htm

I like everything about it except the battery life. With wireless on, screen turned up it only lasts 3 hours.

http://www.articlesbase.com/laptops-articles/dell-latitude-13-a-good-laptop-with-a-weak-battery-2922981.html

One of the weak spots of the computer is its battery, which holds two hours as you work on the optimal settings, or two and a half, when lowering its performance.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/reviews/ultraportables/2010/07/05/dell-latitude-13-40089431/

In use, it's hard work to keep the 6-cell Li-ion battery going for more than about 2.5 hours: don't do very much, do it dimly and keep off the wireless, and you'll get a bit more

I wonder if it has a smaller capacity battery than the Vostro V13? The quoted "starting at" weight is 3.5 pounds for the Vostro, but 3.36 pounds or so for the Latitude.

Well, I usually don't run screen at maximum brightness unless I have to, and I'll probably swap out the HDD for an SSD, so I hope to get over 3 hours.

Seriously though... that sucks!

Do utilities like CrystalCPU work with this?

 

[TwiceOver]

Yeah I have an Acer with a ULV and a 6-cell and get over 8 hours. I don't know what Dell's problem is.

 

[VinylxScratches]

IMHO, the only laptop worth having is a Apple one... I've looked high and low.

 

[MadScientist]

My mini 1012 was on the Fedex truck out for delivery yesterday. Didn't show up. Checked the tracking, it shows Delivery Exception: Recipient location security delay. Delivery will be reattempted.

WTF does that mean. I don't, I think, have any terrorists living on my street. Obama wasn't scheduled to make an appearance here. I don't live in a gated sub-division, just a single family home on an ordinary street. The town wasn't quaranteed because of some alien virus. I don't own a pitbull, not even a goldfish. My wife was home all day, may be she scared them away.

I googled it and it appears that even Fedex reps are clueless to what it means. Sounds like some lazy ass driver made up some lame excuse.

No big deal, just a small rant, I can wait a couple more days, but they could at least come up with a better excuse.

 

[The0ne]

My mini 1012 was on the Fedex truck out for delivery yesterday. Didn't show up. Checked the tracking, it shows Delivery Exception: Recipient location security delay. Delivery will be reattempted.

WTF does that mean. I don't, I think, have any terrorists living on my street. Obama wasn't scheduled to make an appearance here. I don't live in a gated sub-division, just a single family home on an ordinary street. The town wasn't quaranteed because of some alien virus. I don't own a pitbull, not even a goldfish. My wife was home all day, may be she scared them away.

I googled it and it appears that even Fedex reps are clueless to what it means. Sounds like some lazy ass driver made up some lame excuse.

No big deal, just a small rant, I can wait a couple more days, but they could at least come up with a better excuse.

Yep some delivery guys do this. I don't use fedex much but UPS guys are a pain as well hahaha The stuff they make up is just laughable stupid.

 

[wasamicron]

My mini 1012 was on the Fedex truck out for delivery yesterday. Didn't show up. Checked the tracking, it shows Delivery Exception: Recipient location security delay. Delivery will be reattempted.

WTF does that mean. I don't, I think, have any terrorists living on my street. Obama wasn't scheduled to make an appearance here. I don't live in a gated sub-division, just a single family home on an ordinary street. The town wasn't quaranteed because of some alien virus. I don't own a pitbull, not even a goldfish. My wife was home all day, may be she scared them away.

I googled it and it appears that even Fedex reps are clueless to what it means. Sounds like some lazy ass driver made up some lame excuse.

No big deal, just a small rant, I can wait a couple more days, but they could at least come up with a better excuse.

Dude, sorry to tell ya, but that means zombie hoards have been spotted in your neighborhood.

 

[bamacre]

Here's a tip: Try checking their inventory late at night. Say around 2am CST.

 

[Firsttime]

I got my L13 today, it is a styling laptop. I'm looking forward to getting to give it a thorough test run.

 

[TwiceOver]

I got my L13 today, it is a styling laptop. I'm looking forward to getting to give it a thorough test run.

Let us know how the battery does (or pm me). I really like the size of this laptop, but I can't live with less than 5hrs battery. Even 5 hours is too little IMO.

 

[Firsttime]

It's about a 4 hour machine under light web browsing use with the screen at about 75%. Probably somewhere in the 5 hour region without the wifi on and doing Word stuff.

Not a super awesome battery life by any estimate, but as far as I can tell very competitive in the ultralight market. It's neck and neck with the Macbook Air which is pretty much about it, as far as similarly sized ultraportables go at least. This machine has the same dimensions as the air, just not as tapered in it's design. I'm pleased for sure so far. Absolutely loving the size of this thing. But it isn't what you're looking for if you need something that runs all day. I was after something I could carry all day. Don't really need it running the whole time haha.

 

[Zap]

Yeah I have an Acer with a ULV and a 6-cell and get over 8 hours. I don't know what Dell's problem is.

Maybe Dell uses lower mAh batteries? Number of cells is only part of the story. Anyways, no way they could fit ginormous batteries into that slim profile.

IMHO, the only laptop worth having is a Apple one... I've looked high and low.

Uh, no.

The one thing I have to say about Apple notebooks is that I like the AC adapter connection. Seriously it isn't rocket science. My hot drinking water heater and my deep fryer both have the magnetic plugs on them. Why don't more notebook makers use them? Then again, wonder how many people have re-purchased HP notebooks due to the AC adapter socket breaking out of warranty...

I got my L13 today, it is a styling laptop. I'm looking forward to getting to give it a thorough test run.

You got it one day before I got mine. Just got it a bit ago and it is charging as I type.

It's about a 4 hour machine under light web browsing use with the screen at about 75%. Probably somewhere in the 5 hour region without the wifi on and doing Word stuff.

Is that actual battery life on yours? If so, I could totally live with that.

Here's my impressions of unboxing and handling it (haven't powered it up yet). The packaging was "meh." Basically the notebook sat on the bottom of the box and was held in place, so there was only a couple layers of cardboard for padding.

Looks new. Minuscule blemish on bottom and a honking huge green "refurbished" sticker on bottom. Seems to be same weight as my Hannspree (3.4 pounds). Hinges pick up fingerprints. Why, Dell, why? Matte screen, matte plastic and matte aluminum abounds (or is that magnesium?). Hooray! The glossy EVERYTHING of the Hannspree was getting old. Bit of flex, but actually feels less flexy than the smaller Hannspree. VERY thin!

Why couldn't they have put an HDMI-out and a few more USB ports on it? I know "business" notebooks need VGA for output to projectors, but c'mon! Touchpad is nice and large with nice buttons. The whole notebook has a look/feel of quality to it. Keyboard has a reasonable feel - I predict it will type nice. eSATA is a nice option and looks to be combo'd with USB, so I guess there's a second USB after all.

Wow, even comes with an OS reinstall disc and USB mouse. The included optical drive was a surprise. I knew it came with one, but two things stood out. First is that you have to install the bare slim ODD into the external enclosure yourself. Second is that the external enclosure is eSATA. Wow again!

How the heck does one take it apart? I'm seriously wanting to bump the RAM to 4GB and swap out the 160GB 5400RPM HDD to an SSD. Love that it has Bluetooth and Wireless N meaning fewer stuff to upgrade/dongle whether or not I use them.

The big disappointment is the AC adapter. Seriously, it looks like the same 65W brick I had with my first notebook ever (a Dell Latitude D800? had original Pentium M 1.3GHz). A nice slim notebook like this and... and antiquated brick? Does this even need 65W? Also, the brick for my Hannspree is of similar wattage and is barely bigger than the 40W that came with my MSI netbook.

If I can regularly get at least 3 hours of battery life for web browsing, then I'll be content with it. If I can software tweak it for 4+ hours, then I may even stop window shopping other notebooks. Been looking at that Asus UL30Vt on Amazon for $630. Much more than the $450 I paid for this Latitude, but the Asus has claimed 11 hour battery (8-cell plus can keep CPU at low speed) and has overclocking and a switchable Nvidia 210 GPU in a 3.75 pound package with aluminum lid. I have yet to see comparable Core i3/i5/i7-um notebooks with that battery life/weight/graphics/price.

 

[Firsttime]

Yeah, I'm getting 4 hours. Haven't tried it without the wifi on, but 4 hours is what it seems to be giving me so far. I was pissed about the adapter, I expected a slim one, I may end up picking one up on Amazon or something, mine also didn't come with a webcam which ticks me off a bit, not a deal breaker but I assumed one would be there. I noticed the hinges too haha, not a huge thing, but I had a mini "WTF were they thinking?" moment too. Right now this is feeling like a perfect compliment for my desktop. Don't think I could use it as my only system but as my backpack laptop it's doing well on it's first full day.

I've been trying to find a decent sleeve for it, wasn't really sure what to get. I ordered something made for the Air, it's at the PO I'm going to go grab it in a bit, I'm interested to see if this fits.

Oh and there is a video on Youtube that shows a teardown of the system, look for L13 or V13 teardown you should be able to find it. I'm for sure planning on grabbing a SSD sometime, just going to wait for a hot deal on something in the 60gb range hopefully for $80ish. no problems with the 2 gigs of RAM yet.

 

[rsolomon]

How the heck does one take it apart? I'm seriously wanting to bump the RAM to 4GB and swap out the 160GB 5400RPM HDD to an SSD. Love that it has Bluetooth and Wireless N meaning fewer stuff to upgrade/dongle whether or not I use them.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/lat13/en/sm/index.htm

Dell rocks in providing service manuals for darn near every machine they've ever made...

Richard

 

[Firsttime]

I've been trying to find a decent sleeve for it, wasn't really sure what to get. I ordered something made for the Air, it's at the PO I'm going to go grab it in a bit, I'm interested to see if this fits.

As an update it is just slightly too tight.

 

[The0ne]

?NCBDXK0WQBF0W

Good til 19th

 

[Zap]

Yeah, I'm getting 4 hours.

That's good to hear.

mine also didn't come with a webcam which ticks me off a bit, not a deal breaker but I assumed one would be there.

Guess mine doesn't either. There's a hole for one, but it isn't listed in my build. Not sure if I'm upset about that, as I don't think I've ever used a webcam beyond playing with one once years ago while in a LDR.

Dell rocks in providing service manuals for darn near every machine they've ever made...

Thanks. I found these earlier and perused them. Pretty straightforward.

 

[bamacre]

FYI...

Motherload of manuals and documentation...
http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx