good deals on business laptops?

[marvlex]

hi,

i am looking for any good business deal on dell latitude or precision business laptops. It wud be great if any one can post me the available offers or upcoming offers. Any equivalent good performance business laptop would also be great.

 

Thanks

[VTmommy]

I second this. I would love to get mine ordered before Wednesday eve/Thursday morning so that I can submit it to my grant and get reimbursed immediately. Will Dell invoice a non-profit so I can submit it directly for payment?

 

I am looking for a laptop that will:

* allow for multitasking

* wireless/bluetooth capable

* allow for showing presentations (powerpoint/DVDs) -- although I do have a projector to plug in it as well.

* dual core processor

* not going to be used for gaming, etc

* not super heavy or delicate

* extended capacity battery

* I can get the programs (office, etc) at a reduced rate thru non-profit center so I am not worried about applications being added on right away.

* budget: up to $1200 or so, but would like to stay under $1000 if possible

 

Any ideas or advice? I am forgetting something major? I don't anticipate our grant having this opportunity to spend down extra funds again for quite a while, so it's gotta be something to last a while. Thanks!!!

[mrn8]

Dell is currently offering $250 off their Latitude D620 notebooks. A mid-range can be had for $900-$1200, depending on what features you want.

[VTmommy]

Not to totally hijack this thread, but wondered if you could give me some advice about a few different configurations I have been considering at Dell:

 

OPTION #1 FOR $1,065 after $250 coupon --

Latitude D620

Intel® Core™ Duo T2300E (1.66GHz) 667Mhz Dual Core

Operating Systems:

Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2, with media

LCDs:

14.1 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCD Panel

Graphics:

Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Memory:

512MB, DDR2-533 SDRAM, 1 DIMM

Hard Drives:

60GB Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM

Optical Drive - Modular:

24X CD-RW/DVD w/ Cyberlink PowerDVD™

Wireless LAN (802.11):

Dell Wireless™ 1490 802.11a/g Dual-band Mini Card

Bluetooth:

Dell Wireless® 350 Bluetooth Module

Batteries:

6 Cell Primary Battery

Hardware Support Services:

3 Year Mail-In Economy Plan

 

OPTION #2 --

Now for $1,233 after $350 coupon I can make the following upgrades:

* operating system to XP Professional

* graphics to 256MB NVIDIA Quadro 100M Turbocache

* memory to 1.0GB

 

and OPTION #3 for $895.30 after 30% off (-$383.70) coupon --

Inspiron E1705

Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2300E (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)

Operating System (Office software not included)

Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005

LCD Panel 17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display

Memory FREE!1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz

Video Card Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Hard Drive 60GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem

Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0

Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive

Sound Options Integrated Audio

Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO 3945 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards

Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only

Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription

Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support

Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included

Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support

Mobile Broadband No Broadband Expresscard technology is available in the market now

Future Operating Systems Windows Vista™ Capable

Operating System Re-Installation CD Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition re-installation CD

Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience

 

===> My gut tells me to go with option #3, but I wasn't sure what the main differences between the Inspiron and Latitude lines were. Are any/all of these upgrades really important, enough to add on right now? From other threads, it sounded like upgrading memory can be done fairly easily at home. Other than the operating system and graphics, #3 is nearly identical to #1 but at a lower cost. At least to this untrained eye!

 

Also, are Dell est. ship dates pretty accurate? It is showing July 11th for the Latitudes I was looking at and I will be going out of town the following day and really wanted it for the trip! Am I better to purchase at Costco or something? The Inspiron was est. ship date of 7/7.

 

Thanks in advance!

[VTmommy]

BTT as I would really like to hear from all of you techies out there before I bite the bullet and make the purchase. Thanks!

[RossMAN]

* not going to be used for gaming, etc

* not super heavy or delicate

 

Then I wouldn't consider the E1705, which is fast and powerful but it's also HUGE and HEAVY. If you need a gaming laptop the E1705 is your best bet.

 

Have you also considered the Inspiron E1505 Dual Core? It offers the best bang for your buck in a reasonable 15.4" size.