Looking at a Dell Inspiron E1405 and a Sony Vaio C290.


Some of the basics -
13-14" screen
2gb ram
~2ghz Intel Duo 2
120 GB HD

They're coming in at around $1500-$1750.

Dell or Sony?
Go.

 

i have the 1405 and LOVE it. 14.1 high end screen (pay the extra, its worth it), 1 g of ram, 1.8xghz core2 duo, 80 gb hd, bigger battery, dvd writer.

its an awesome laptop!!!

things you need to get:

better screen
better battery

i can squeeze 9 hours out of my battery. now thats fricken amazing!!!!

i feel you are paying more for the sony name than the components in the computer

 

sean,

the bad reviews of the 1405 mention too much glare on that upgraded screen, a feeling of cheapness in the build quality and materials, and light leak on the bottom of the screen.

what say you?

 

i have NO light leak!!!! i think that was a problem with the earlier ones, and they fixed them in the later revisions.

as for build quality, im not a fan of shiny white plastic (mac) but, i find it great, tho the top is getting kinda scratched, but i dont exactly baby my notebook.

as for glare, let me grab a picture! as long as the light source is not directly behind you, its not bad. all laptop screens are hard to see in sunlight, this one might be worse, but im not sure. i think its worth it for the extra brightness and increased resolution.

pictures: id post them here but they are too big.

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ltoncomputers/

 

thanks dude.

yeah, i'm pretty much learning toward dell.

 

i dont think you can go wrong with it.

as for the build quality, its fine. i think the complaints refer to the competetors use of aluminum and titanium cases, while dell sticks with plastic. nothing wrong with it tho.

i highly doubt you will be disappointed with your purchase.

 

I haven't had a lot of experience with laptops, but I do know for sure Dell's customer service blows. Got my step son a dell for HS graduation almost 2 years ago, then a few months later my dad gave me a refurb dell as a gift. The one we gave our son has been so bad I ended up giving him mine.

Neither of them has been acceptable. He has spent hours trying to converse with their folks in India. He has had no end of trouble with them both, and none of the issues can be contributed to any misuse. So far one had the motherboard, and keyboard replaced. The battery is good for about 30 minutes, and isn't one of the recall ones. The other needed a new hard drive, and interior bluetooth stopped working, but he's not about to struggle with getting them to fix it till something else breaks.

I just wish I knew of someone better, the macbook we got for his sister last year has been as bad. An Apple firmware update to fix random shutdowns bricked it, and Apple repair has had it for a month. Sorry, getting long winded here, I could actually go on and on about how bad Dell has become. All of this is why I like desktops.

 

No info on the Sony or particual Dell, but I bought an Inspirion 1100, no longer offered, over 3 years ago. Mine has a celeron processor and it has worked flawlessly the whole time, no issues at all. I have recomended Dell to several co workers who bought higher end models and all have been trouble free. My home desktop is also a 3 year old Dell, once again completely trouble free. I say go for the Dell, they make a nice product.

 

Yeah, to be fair I should add that I have an 8+ year old dell laptop, and desktop. Both have been used hard and still work perfectly. I used to always recommend Dell too. I you get a good one you'll love it, but if anything goes wrong be prepared for a long and painful process trying to get them to even understand the problem. I recommend using the online chat service they have. If nothing else you can save the chats and post them up here for our amusement.

 

I have 1405 as well. Paid a hair under 800 for it. If you look on www.fatwallet.com, they often have huge coupons do help you with payment.


Its got 2 GB of memory,
Intel Core 2 Duo T7200
14.1 ultrasharp display
80GB 10000RPM HDD, and I bought an external HDD
DVD burner- Dual layer

I love this laptop, it does everything I need to and more. Did I mention Dells Customer Service is Awesome??

 

Ooh sweet, thanks. it's a shame dell doesn't offer student discounts. in fact, it's rather lame.

i've got my system built up on the site, it's coming to about $1500. i'll try to knock that down.

 

I have a 1405, and a 6000. The only thing that I don't like about the new ones is that only the XPS line has the UXGA screens now. I feel you get the most use out of a laptop with the most desktop space to use 1920x1200 is the only way to go.

The 1405 is good for on the go stuff, lugging around a 15'' is tiresome. I haven't had a problem yet, and the 9cell battery lasts a long time. You might find that buying ram aftermarket may save you some cash, dell usually charges 40-50 more than it should be.

 

Have you looked into the Dell Latitude Series (sm business). I've found them to be MUCH more durable, and professional.

.DELL OUTLET.

 

i dont know if this is just desktops, but dell switched to vista and will no longer sell you xp, no matter what you say.

just an fyi

 

that's just an excuse to reformat with the latest linux distro of choice

 

i don't mind that it comes with vista. i look forward to it. i know XP real well, but i can't stay with that forever.

i sure do like the inspirons are far as looks more than the latitudes, but i'm not ruling out one.

 

i have a sony....im not happy with it

 

Get a MacBook. I just got mine delivered yesterday for my home confuser and I love it! It's the first time I've ever used a Mac, so it's taking some getting used to, but I'd take it over my IBM ThinkPad from work any day!

 

I own a toshiba, never had any problems with it.

 

id have to recommend the toshiba also.