Dell Latitude C610 vs Inspiron 4150

[RS1999ent]

hello,

My hunt for a laptop is finally at a close : the two laptops you see in the title ( Latitude C610 and Inspiron 4150 ) are the final two contenders...

So my question now is which would be better? Here are the system specs :

Inspiron 4150 :
P4-M 1.6Ghz Processor
14.1" SXGA+ screen
Ati Radeon 7500 16MB Graphics Card
256MB Ram
30GB HD
8x Max DVD Drive
Weight : 5.6-6.2lbs
Battery Life : Just Under Three hours ( according to Cnet )
Integrated Wireless ( mini-ci card )
Price : $1836

Latitude C610
1.2 Ghz PIII - M
14.1" SXGA+ Screen
ATI Radeon 7500 16MB Graphics Card
8x DVD Drive
512MB Ram
30GB Hd
Integrated Wireless (mini-pci) card
Weight : "Starting" at 4.9lbs
Battery life : Just under four hours with 8-Cell battery ( from Cnet )
Price $2142

First of all I'd like to point out that the extra ram in the latitude does not affect the price any (dell small business is offering to double system ram for free ).

Further I guess I should say that I value portability quite a bit. I intend to leave the laptop in my bookbag and lug it around wherever I go...

This is my run down of the main selling points of the two systems

Inspiron
**Faster than Latitude ( faster front side bus, faster proc. )
**Can get more features for same or less price
**Availability of UXGA+ screen ( not available on latitude )

Latitude
**Longer battery Life ( almost four hours! )
**Lighter than inspiron
???

Question 1)
Why is the latitude soooo much more expensive than the inspiron? I spoke to Dell Small Business a few days ago, the representative was absolutely adamant that latitude notebooks are built using better quality parts, etc. He almost made it sound like an inspiron system would fall apart in about a year if I purchased it. I realize this is mostly just marketing hype, but is there any truth to what he says -- I'm starting to suspect that the latitude notebooks have almost exactly the same parts as the inspiron.

2)Do you suppose the fact that the latitude is thinner and lighter ( albeit by about .5-1 pound(s) or so justifies the extra cost in itself? I realize that you might say that it's only a pound -- but I've been making this justification ( getting a laptop with a larger screen will only mean a pound or so more weight ) for a while now, and if I don't stop using this justification I'm going to end up with a 13lb laptop pretty soon...

3)What do you guys think of the SXGA+ screen? With the inspiron I can get a UXGA+ screen -- my initial thoughts with regards to a uxga screen were that 1600x1200 resolution would be way too cramped on a 14.1" screen...

That's basically it. I really need to decide soon...as I really would like to get the laptop before heading back to school in mid-august. Even worse, The price I quoted above is for the latitude C610 with a 10% discount -- using a coupon that expired last week ( the sales rep I spoke to promised to honour the coupon when I called friday, and further promised to honour the price if I ordered passed the coupon expiration date ). The actual price of the latitude is something like 2400 dollars.

So basically my gripe comes down to big question -- there has to be a difference in the latitude and inspiron lines to warrant such a price difference...what do you suppose it is?


bleh. building a desktop is sooo much easier than trying to find a laptop to buy -- there are *too* many for the same price with the same features...

Thank you very much,
Raja

 

[RaPTuRe]

Id go for the Latitude if they were the same price or only slightly different. the P3-M 1.2GHz is about on par performance wise with the P41.6 and u have more RAM. and MOre battery life, and the Lattitude is higher quality than the Inspiron... but the Inspiron does have a few nifty features


"The answer to life's problems aren't at the bottom of a beer bottle, they're on TV."

 

[lakedude]

For my taste I would lean more twards the 8200. You could have a lot more features and a much better vid card for about the same mula. There is a weight penality that may be not right for your use.

If weight is a big deal and vid cards are not a big deal my friend Ron just got an HP for around $1400 that is nice and light, fast and cheep but has terrible video preformance (500-600 3dmarks).

Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.

 

[RS1999ent]

<<For my taste I would lean more twards the 8200. You could have a lot more features and a much better vid card for about the same mula. There is a weight penality that may be not right for your use.>>

hmm. I appreciate the advice, but the 8200 is definitely out of the question -- it's too heavy, and worse too big. I'd rather not go over 6lbs with regards to the weight of the laptop I end up purchasing. Plus, I figure laptops are for portability and desktops for power...no reason to mix together the purposes of both types of systems

Anyone know in what way the latitudes are higher quality than the inspirons? I spoke to a dell rep and he told me that the information is readily available on dell's website...however...the written technical specs for the latitude C610 are lacking in many ways. For example, where the inspiron 4150 is listed as using a Intel 845MP chipset, the tech specs for the latitude fail to mention the chipset at all...

 

[RaPTuRe]

OK, the difference between Inspiron and Latitude is not great at all. The chassis (i.e. underneath, not the body panels) of the c600 series latitude and the 4100series Inspiron is identical. The only difference is the outer covers which may do it for you or may not, the latitude is more bland, but the covers are thicker/stronger and more durable.

Other than that the general build is better. I think that the latitude uses higher quality parts. I would prefer an Inspiron 8200 to Latitude c810 for example.

I think i personally would go for the Inspiron if I were in your situation. THE BATTERIES (i.e. the 59WHr 8cell long life) are the same for the Insp/Lat. and the inspiron has more other features, and better discounts... wait until thursday, better discounts should apply.

Rapture

"The answer to life's problems aren't at the bottom of a beer bottle, they're on TV."