Midrange laptop for business

[Jokersson]

My boss has tasked me with sourcing out laptops for our employees. I figured we'll be needing one type for our sales people to go out and do presentations for clients, and one desktop replacement for programmers so that they could continue working at home/during weekends.

At my current budget, I'm thinking of these models:
For sales - Dell Latitude D400 or Inspiron 600M
For programmers - Dell Latitude D600 or Inspiron 8600

I appreciate any comments on the above setup, or any other models, based on the prices of the Dells. Thanks.

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

Have you considered IBM Thinkpads for your mobile agents? Especially the T42 with the hard drive active protection. That can prove to be invaluable when you're lugging company data around. Same thing with hard drive password lock and embedded security chip, to safeguard company info.

Just curious if you have actually considered IBM? Many people recommend going with the Latitude line if you're going with Dell as they are of better quality??

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: PeeluckyDuckee
Have you considered IBM Thinkpads for your mobile agents? Especially the T42 with the hard drive active protection. That can prove to be invaluable when you're lugging company data around. Same thing with hard drive password lock and embedded security chip, to safeguard company info.

Just curious if you have actually considered IBM? Many people recommend going with the Latitude line if you're going with Dell as they are of better quality??

I would readily say the IBM's far exceed the quality and design of the Dells.- And their support is still out of Raleigh, NC or Toronto Canada during sunlit hours.

 

[xcrunner51]

what is your budget, that'll give us a better idea of what you could get

 

[eLiu]

I've tried a IBM t40p, t41p, and t42 (i'm about to own a t42). I love them all, lol. Only irritating thing is the lack of a windows key (but you can remap another key for this purpose). The IBMs also have superior battery life and superior battery management options.

I've also tried the 600m and the D600. 600m was all right...no real gripes about it. The D600 seemed to be a much more solid laptop than the 600m. BUT, I have these 2 complaints: 1) the LCD blows...it ghosts when I scroll text...wtf? none of the IBMs did that; 2) The two mouse buttons above the touchpad are so close to the spacebar that sometimes I accidentally hit both...very annoying.

-Eric

 

[Roadraider]

IBMs are far better laptops and have much better warranty & support. They also come with 3 years warranty as a standard (which is an expensive upgrade for Dell) and you can extend the IBM warranty at ANY time while the original warranty is still in effect for up to 5 extra years. Not to mention that over time, IBM laptops hold their value so much better than Dells.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Roadraider
IBMs are far better laptops and have much better warranty & support. They also come with 3 years warranty as a standard (which is an expensive upgrade for Dell) and you can extend the IBM warranty at ANY time while the original warranty is still in effect for up to 5 extra years. Not to mention that over time, IBM laptops hold their value so much better than Dells.

Ah be careful there.... IBM warranties have changed with the introduction of the T42. I've been seeing models in the T family with 1 year now vs 3.

Other models in the THinkPad line also only have 1 year warranty.

As for the Windows key that another poster pointed out the lack of.... IBM is supposed to be potentially adding one in future models. The reason they don't have one now is the simple fact that a windows key is not part of the ISO standard for Notebooks.

 

[Roadraider]

IBM laptops with 1-year warranties are not -and never were- meant to be sold to the public. These laptops are/were intended for business use and providing 1-year warranty allowed IBM to keep the cost down.

The T42 situation is a bit similar. Some model configuration designated for business/educational use get 1-year warranties to keep the cost down. But you can still extend the warranty for up to 5 more years and the rates are very reasonable. For most laptops, IBM charges $99 for a 2 year extension!!!!

 

[Jokersson]

I do know that IBM's built quality is superior to the Dells, but here in Malaysia they (Dell) provide 3 years support as standard, as opposed to IBM's 1 year warranty. Plus the price margin for laptops of comparable configurations is too great for us to consider.

I need some recommendations for other laptops in the same price range of the Dells mentioned earlier. I got a colleague who recommended Dell as he used them in his own office (with 500+ employees).

Any also what do you think of the perfect laptop for the sales people? I think mobility is very important, thus it must be light (less than 2kg), durable and has integrated wireless functionality. On that point the Latitude D400 fits my needs perfectly.