Laptop for work

[sheemone00]

I need to buy a laptop for work.

It will be used for programming.

I'm torn between the Dell Latitude D830 and Thinkpad T61.

I've used a Latitude before and it was pretty nice.

I've never used a Thinkpad before, but I've only heard good things about them.

Dell is a little cheaper, but I hear the build quality on the Thinkpads are a little better.

Help me decide!

 

[TheStu]

I can only recommend you get yourself to a store(s) that sells them and try them out. If you will be programming, then you will conceivably be typing rather a lot. And as such, you want to make sure that you like the keyboard on whatever system you choose.

Personally, I have never fully understood the people that get their laptops and then immediately get an external keyboard and mouse for them. Now, the mouse thing I can understand under Windows actually since I used a mouse with my MacBook when I was booted into Windows since although the trackpad drivers weren't bad in Windows, I have never liked how Windows handles trackpad cursor acceleration. I am sure it is actually the same as with a mouse, but for whatever reason, I could handle it with the mouse. That, and I couldn't tap click with the Apple drivers, Windows didn't 2 finger scroll very well, and it took them a while to enable 2 finger right clicking (before they did you had to press control as you clicked)

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: TheStu
I can only recommend you get yourself to a store(s) that sells them and try them out. If you will be programming, then you will conceivably be typing rather a lot. And as such, you want to make sure that you like the keyboard on whatever system you choose.

Personally, I have never fully understood the people that get their laptops and then immediately get an external keyboard and mouse for them.

i have a t40, and while the trackpoint is *great*, i only use it when i dont want to move the mouse around. 80% of the time my lappy is at my desk, so the mouse stays. i dont use an external keyboard.

however, i might if i had an externoal monitor....and ima get one soon

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: TheStu
I can only recommend you get yourself to a store(s) that sells them and try them out. If you will be programming, then you will conceivably be typing rather a lot. And as such, you want to make sure that you like the keyboard on whatever system you choose.

Personally, I have never fully understood the people that get their laptops and then immediately get an external keyboard and mouse for them.

i have a t40, and while the trackpoint is *great*, i only use it when i dont want to move the mouse around. 80% of the time my lappy is at my desk, so the mouse stays. i dont use an external keyboard.

however, i might if i had an externoal monitor....and ima get one soon

Oh, if you get an external monitor, then it makes sense to then get an external keyboard, or at least, more sense. I was talking about Joe SixPack, when he goes to BestBuy to get a laptop, he then has the associate lead him over to the mouse area to buy a wireless mouse.

 

[slugg]

IBM/Lenovo > Dell, by far.

My experience with Dell is that it's very cheap. "You get what you pay for." I've owned both and seriously, my Thinkpad T61 beats my Dell by a long shot. The build quality isn't even comparable.

edit: oh and if you want a T61, I'm selling/trading mine here: click here

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: slugg
IBM/Lenovo > Dell, by far.

My experience with Dell is that it's very cheap. "You get what you pay for." I've owned both and seriously, my Thinkpad T61 beats my Dell by a long shot. The build quality isn't even comparable.

edit: oh and if you want a T61, I'm selling/trading mine here: click here

what kind of dell have you got? i want a laptop this summer, and im leaning towards finding a deal on a 14" vostro or something, or getting a latitude (which i understand is slightly better build quality) from the outlet

Originally posted by: TheStu

Oh, if you get an external monitor, then it makes sense to then get an external keyboard, or at least, more sense. I was talking about Joe SixPack, when he goes to BestBuy to get a laptop, he then has the associate lead him over to the mouse area to buy a wireless mouse.

seems pretty common for people to want a mouse with a laptop. as far as im concerned, trackpads are horrible. i love the trackpoint for mobile use, but when im at *my* desk, i use the mouse, as its better still. *shrug*

 

[slugg]

well i HAD a latitude... i also had an inspiron at one point. The latitude, honestly, isnt even MUCH better than the inspiron. I've had no experience with Vostros, but I hear they're between the inspiron and latitude build quality, like you said. Simply put, Dell is cheap for a reason. I'm not saying they're bad computers - there's just a limited level of quality with a lower price tag.

I tell everyone that if you have the money, a Thinkpad is totally worth it. However, I do recognize that they ARE expensive, so if money is truly an issue, then Dell is okay.

 

[bharatwaja]

Actually I came here to ask this exact same question, but the thing is I am very new to laptops, I do all nonsense on my desktop, but now i find myself in need of a laptop, for my programming needs of the final semester project of the engineering course i am about to complete (whoooossh)

I want to it to be portable, (not too heavy) and a little fast, not blazing fast, as I have an OCed qx9650 monster at home for any job that requires sheer speed, but fast enough that I dont have to wait 2 minutes everytime I open netbeans or VS2008 or photoshop n stuff u kno.......

so do help me out too by the way...

sorry sheemone00, didnt mean to steal ur discussion, but I just felt it wud be a waste to start another topic of the exact same nature....

 

[DaveSimmons]

Dell Small Business Latitude D-series has good build quality and support. We've been buying them at work (mostly D6xx series) for ~6 years now.

I haven't worked with a Lenovo Thinkpad but the IBM ones were nice.

I want to it to be portable, (not too heavy) and a little fast, not blazing fast, as I have an OCed qx9650 monster at home for any job that requires sheer speed, but fast enough that I dont have to wait 2 minutes everytime I open netbeans or VS2008 or photoshop n stuff u kno.......

For about $1,400 from Dell Small Business you can get a Latitude D6xx, a 5.x pound laptop with 14" screen, core 2 at 2.5 GHz, 2 GB RAM, and a low-end nvidia CAD (not gaming) GPU.

We just got another 4 of these at work and they're nice.