Dell Latitude D800 - Your opinions Plz.

[Xenocrates]

So I was quoted on a brand new laptop with these specs:

Dell Latitude D800
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.70GHz, 15.4"
WSXGA+, English (D817SL)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional, English [XPPRO1]
256MB DDR SDRAM (2 DIMMS)
40GB Hard Drive 9.5MM 5400RPM for Dell Latitude
D800,FactoryInstall (Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 WLAN (802.11b,11Mbps) miniPCI Card - Centrino™ Mobile Technology
nVidia®GeForce4 4200 Go™ 4XAGP graphics with 64MB DDR Video Memory
9-CELL PRIMARY BATTERY
24X CD-RW/DVD combo
Floppy Drive
Internal 56K Modem
Deluxe Leather Carrying Case
90W AC Adapter

For roughly US $2800 and small change. Now just ignore affordability for a moment. I just want to know what you folks thought of the price to power ratio. I've seen some machines on Amazon for US $400 less with more than twice the processing power. But I'm thinking I might actually incur another US $400 (if not more) if I were to import it myself, bringing it up to this price.

My question to you folks is simple: What do you think of it? Is it too expensive for those specs or do you think it's worth it? This is from a highly reputable local distributor which there's no need to name here. Thanks for your input.

[ramesh]

Xeno, I just priced the same system at Dell:
http://lastore.dell.com/store/frameset.asp?c=jm&entity_key=LATD800_LAPRCLCOMX&en tity_type=CFGSET&l=en&s=bsd&shopper_country=jm&sho pper_language=en&shopper_segment=bsd&store_key=LAT RANS
and got a total of US$2236.00. Figuring the frieight at about US$75.00, storage charge at US$30, the only other thing you have to worry about is GCT. If you are importing it as a Company, you may be able to claim some or all of the GCT (I'm not sure how it is now) back.

[Xenocrates]

Compare this Alienware (http://www.alienware.com/system_pages/area-51m.aspx) and this Toshiba (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DAL8I/103-2001690-4664609).

It almost seems as if the price on this Dell is ridiculous! I dunno... :-\

-=[Edit]=-

I digress. The Dell has local support and warranty. So the price is justified to some extent. The other laptops don't have that. Furthermore, the Toshiba is a heavy bastard (9.9 lbs). When that comes in through MailPac, customs is going to want me to buy a car to clear it.

[ramesh]

I see major differences between them but the prices are roughly the same before shipping to Jamaica.

There are software differences as well as hardware differences.

Advantage Dell:
* 1.7 Pentium M processor: Equivalent to Pentium 4 2.4 Chip, but cooler and promotes long battery life.
* Windows XP Pro
* Wireless Networking
* Leather case
* Toll free Tech Support from Jamaica

Advantage Alienware:
* Faster Pentium 4 3.0 GHz chip, but lower battery life
* Better Graphics card
* Larger Hard Drive

Advantage Toshiba:
* Faster Pentium 4 3.0 GHz chip, but lower battery life
* More memory
* larger Hard Drive

[Xenocrates]

Excellent points Ramesh. I think that's the best way to look at it. Looks like this one's still a backburner. :-\

[GodKid]

hmmm....

15" PowerBook G4

1GHz PowerPC G4
• 256MB DDR333 SDRAM - 1 SO-DIMM
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive @ 4200 rpm
• SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
• Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Professional 15 Backpack Case by Brenthaven
• 15.2-inch TFT Display


2546 - and the case is say 180 of it so.... 2546 -180 = 2366

if you can beat that lemme know...

oh.. please remember... the PPC G4 is comparable to a pentium 4 class chip that is roughly 180% times its reported clock speed

so this 1GHz will compare to a 1.8 P4

Think different.. Think Mac (http://www.apple.com/powerbook)!!

[OE]

http://home.cogeco.ca/~o.e/wishlist/aa.jpg

http://home.cogeco.ca/~o.e/wishlist/bb.jpg

http://home.cogeco.ca/~o.e/wishlist/cc.jpg

http://home.cogeco.ca/~o.e/wishlist/dd.jpg

17-inch WUXGA widescreen
2.8GHz Intel PIV Northwood or 2.8GHz PIV Prescott (up to 3.60 GHz Intel Pentium 4 Prescott or up to 3.2 GHz Pentium 4 EXTREME)
512MB Dual Channel DDR400 (up to 2GB)
256 MB DDR ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 Video Card
40 GB 4200rpm (RAID Capable)
(up to 160 GB of HDD space with two physical hard drives (5,400 or 7,200 rpm)
24x Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Gigabit LAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g Wireless LAN (optional)
Bluetooth (optional)
1.3 mega pixel pixel Video Camera for video conferencing
Internal 6-in-1 Card Reader
DVI-I Port for external digital monitors
Video Input & Video Output support (VIVO)
High performance Sound-Blaster Pro compatible audio system with virtual 6-channel audio output; S/PDIF Digital output(5.1 CH)
4 internal speakers and sub-woofer
TV tuner with one S-Video input jack and one line-in jack for audio input (optional)

$2,800.00 US


17-inch WUXGA widescreen
2.66GHz Intel PIV w/512KB cache - FSB533 (up to 3.06 GHz)
256MB DDR333 (up to 2GB)
64MB DDR ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 Video Card
40 GB 4200rpm (up to 80GB 4,200rpm, or 60GB 7,200 rpm hard drive)
24x Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
standard internal 10/100 LAN, 56K V90/92 Modem
Ports: 1x PCMCIA slot; 6-in-1 card reader; 3x USB 2.0; 1x FireWire IEEE1394; S/PDIF; 1x S-Video and TV Out; 1x serial port; 1x parallel port; 1x IrDA; 1x CRT; 1x PS/2 for mouse and keyboard (via Y cable); 1x headphone; 1x microphone; 1x RJ-11 modem; 1x RJ-45 for LAN; 1x DC-in jack
1.3 mega pixel pixel Video Camera for video conferencing
High performance Sound-Blaster Pro compatible audio system

$2,200.00

17-inch WUXGA widescreen
2.6GHz Intel PIV w/512KB cache - FSB800 (up to 3.2 GHz)
256MB DDR333 (up to 2GB)
128MB DDR ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Video Card
30 GB 4200rpm (up to 80GB 4,200rpm, or 60GB 7,200 rpm hard drive)
8xDVD Drive
standard internal 10/100 LAN, 56K V90/92 Modem
Ports: 1x PCMCIA slot; 6-in-1 card reader; 3x USB 2.0; 1x FireWire IEEE1394; S/PDIF; 1x S-Video and TV Out; 1x serial port; 1x parallel port; 1x IrDA; 1x CRT; 1x PS/2 for mouse and keyboard (via Y cable); 1x headphone; 1x microphone; 1x RJ-11 modem; 1x RJ-45 for LAN; 1x DC-in jack
1.3 mega pixel pixel Video Camera for video conferencing
High performance Sound-Blaster Pro compatible audio system

$2,400.00