Mine conked out in the fall, and they’ve finally gotten around to approving my budget request for a new one.
Anyone who knows more than I do about computers (this includes your kittens)here’s what they tell me they’re going to order unless they hear different from me:
a Dell Latitude D620 Intel Core Duo T2400 (1.83 GHz) 667Mhz Dual Core with DVD burner
none of which means much to me (I did request the DVD burner, though). My questions are these:
Does anyone know if Dell is due to come out with a newer model anytime soon in the same price range?
and
Do I need any of these specs to be augmented?If so, please tell me what I should scream to the IT people (“What? Do you expect I can get by on a measly 1.83 GHz? What do you think this is–the Stone Age? Don’t try to fob this obsolete gizmo off on me–I want the real thing, goddamnit! Do you realize who you’re dealing with here? Jesus Christ!!” etc. )
Also, any bells and whistles that you consider essential on a laptop? This is my last IT purchase for the foreseeable future.
That system has a dual-core which means it essentially has two processors on one chip. That is good but keep that in mind when you compare clock-speeds across systems. 1.83 ghz would be slow for a traditional single-core chip but it should be fine one a dual-core.
The main things you need to keep in mind aren’t listed:
Screen size - very important on a laptop with portability a concern for some at one end and using a laptop as a full-time desktop replacement at the other.
Do you want a docking station that lets you plug it in and use a regular monitor, mouse, and keyboard easily.
Do you want MS Vista as your OS or XP. Vista is very close to mainstream release so that is a big question on the waiting factor.
RAM - 1 GB is supposed to run Vista OK but 2 GB would be more ideal but that comes at the expense of battery life and affordability in a laptop.
Hard drive size - your needs depend on what kinds of files you store. Traditional office type documents don’t take up much space while graphics, photos, sound, and other multimedia files take up lots of space.
Computer manufacturers are always coming out with new and better things. You can’t worry much about that. The main consideration for that type of thinking right now is Vista or XP.
If you can wait, hold out for Vista. Although I don’t expect that to be worth the upgrade cost, it shouldn’t add much to the cost of a new machine once it is available. I also don’t expect it to be any more functional but the problem is that in a year or so, coworkers will be giving you files in the latest version of Word which are incompatible with older versions and the latest version will run only in Vista. My wife, a freelance translator, is facing this problem and will probably use it as an excuse to finally retire.
I wouldn’t hold out for Vista, myself. I’m not hearing good things about it. However if you’re intent on having it, Dell is now selling Vista-ready machines so you can ask your buyer to be sure you get one of those. I think the upgrade to Vista then costs you something like 25 bucks.
IME maxing out the RAM in a portable increases the battery endurance. With more RAM, there is less energy wasting disk activity (virtual memory) going on, and the faster performance means you can get a little more work done even if the actual run time didn’t increase.
In any event, unlike most things on a laptop, a RAM upgrade can be fairly easily (but probably not cheaply) done down the road, so this doesn’t have to be decided pre-purchase.
I have one of these laptops - company supplied. I like it fine. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. They do have newer models with the newer Core 2 Duo CPU which is supposed to be much faster, but likely more expensive. One recommendation I would make is to get the extra battery for the media bay. With both batteries in you can go most of the day without plugging in. I never worry about carrying a bulky charger around anymore.
The D620 is nice, but the widescreen and onboard DVD drive makes it kind of large. If you want something a little smaller and lighter, take a look at the D420 model.
Given that you’ve chosen a Dell machine, I’m going to assume that you’re looking for a functional machine at a good price, rather than, say, a high-spec gaming machine with fancy graphics card, or a machine where brand plays a significant factor in the choice.
So with that in mind, might I suggest that you also take a look at similarly-specified Acer machines? I’ve been consistently pleased with Acer; their TFT screens always seem crisp, bright and well-saturated, the build quality seems good and they pack in a lot of useful features such as bluetooth, WiFi, etc.
On the machine I just bought for my mum, the quality of the integrated webcam was outstanding; battery life is good and (perhaps a minor point here) the PSU ‘brick’ was nice and compact.