Choice of laptops : which one of these two?

[radhak]

Looks like my work notebook (laptop) is 'out of warranty' and I have been told that it will be replaced - but I do have a choice : I can pick either

( A ) Dell Latitude D630, Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, 1.80GHz, 800MHz, 2GB Cache

comes with a bonus : USB Drive - 1GB DataTraveler USB Drive DTSP with 256bit Encryption and 100 Percent Privacy

or

( B ) Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Notebook-Intel Core 2 Duo T7100

The total memory will be the same for both : 1 GB.

My current one is an older Thinkpad. I mostly use this it at home or at work, and have very little travel. Being a work machine, this won't be used for games or anything too much fun.

So anybody have an opinion on these?

[LarryG]

I've had good luck with ThinkPads (although no recent experience) and MUCH prefer the eraserhead thingie to a touchpad. I wouldn't willingly use a Dell product if you literally gave it to me. Guess how I voted.

[sacherjj]

I preferred Thinkpads when someone else is paying.

However, my current work laptop is the Dell Latitude D630 and it is a nice machine. My home machine that I use more often is an Eee PC from Asus. Now that is a fun little laptop.

[radhak]

As a quick pick, I'd go for the thinkpad too. The 'cannot go wrong' choice. I just wish they'd do something about it's clunky, boxy look. It's gotten old.

Of course, Dell in their infinite wisdom only manage to regress with their design : the battery is at the front, while 2 USB ports at the back... ?

After I posted, I found these nice reviews on the net. Click on the image to see the reviews :

Thinkpad :



and Dell :

[radhak]

This is looking like the democratic primary : both running neck-and-neck .

I had thought the TP would be a hands-down favorite, but the Dell seems to have it's supporters too.

[stocktr8er]

Although I am a Dell user for the last few years (Inspiron E1505) and been very happy. I would lean to the Intel products today. The Lenovo is getting good reviews in Consumer Reports and other locations and is suppose to have a far friendlier and useful consumer service department.

[JoeyGee]

Oh man, you are killing me. I am a dyed-in-the-wool old school ThinkPad guy (as I proudly type on my TEN year-old ThinkPad 600e ). I have always loved ThinkPads, but I have no experience with the Lenovo TP's. I assume they are pretty much IBM's, but you never know...

BUT...I also use a Dell D610 at work, and the thing has been everything I have wanted.

If I HAD to choose between the 2, I would go with the ThinkPad. I for one, do love the classic look of the ThinkPad.

[balzac.thegreat]

I've had nothing but Dell laptops for the last 4 years. And I keep sticking with them because they are the ONLY company that I know of that offers laptops with the option of WUXGA and other high resolution screens. I've got a widescreen 17" Inspiron 9400 and it's running at 1920 x 1200px right now. You can't top it for doing graphic work or just for having loads of screen real estate. YMMV if you've got older eyes.

Dell's prices are ALWAYS right too. They're like HF...stuff is ALWAYS rotating in and out of being on sale.

[gjat]

We use the lenovo's at work, I've bought Dells at home for my two kids and my MIL. I've had a couple of generations of Dells as well as IBM/lenovo's. Over the years, I haven't had problems with either. They're both roughly equivalent. Neither is significantly better/worse/different than the other to cause much of a preference to me. The lenovo fingerprint device was interesting at first, but it's annoying because I usually don't password my laptops.

[Tequila]

I've used work issued IBM thinkpads for the last 6 years at work. On somebody else's dime, I'd go with the Lenovo.

[footprintsinconc]

thinkpad. i am currently typing this post on a dell. but my friends, at one our latest get togathers, were talking laptops, and they all are in the electronic field and said the thinkpads were better. hopefully customer service is still here in the US!

[lkazista]

Go with an APPLE MACBOOK!!!!!

Buy a base model and then uprade to 4GB of RAM for $100 on crucialmemory.com, you will have the best of everything! (around $1200)

You can boot it into WIndows or Leopard. The machine is fast, intuitive, and the battery will last at least twice as long as any PC.

Trust me, you will NEVER go back.

Lee

[HarmsWay]

I'd go Dell based on what we have at work. We use a lot of computers. Laptops for the past five years or so have been primarily Dell (Latitude or better), Apples & ThinkPads. In terms of reliability there is no comparison. Our Dells rarely fail. The ThinkPads fail more often. The Apples fail regularly (drives and displays). When the Dells fail, they fix it or get us parts in one day. The ThinkPads require a bit of arm twisting to get action. For several Apple failures, we've waited up to 60 days for parts on laptops less than 6 months old.

I had a choice of a Dell or ThinkPad at work. At that time (~2 years ago), the Lenovas were 50% more $ for equivalent performance. As a result, I use a Dell Latitude D810 at work. I also bought a Dell Optiplex GX620 for at home (my wife has an Dell Inspiron 9400). Incidentally, the WD 250 GB SATA disk in my Optiplex failed recently. I let them know on a Tuesday night at 7pm. They had a free 320 GB drive at my door Thursday morning.

Bob

[plarval]

I have a Dell (vostro 1500). A lot of pc for the money. I really like it and have had zero problems.

Family has thinkpads and love them. I don't think you can really go wrong either way. For every fanboy of one, you'll find one for the other.