Come on Dell ... impress me!

The Dell Latitude D610 has replaced their D600 model ... and while it's got a few improvements, it's nothing to write home about.  I've been buying D600's for about 3 years now and between my current job and last that adds up to over 200 units.  Most of those units were purchased in my prior job for a laptop academy at the high school.  I can verify that the D600 is tough after observing high school students "interacting" with them.  I choose the D600 for it's performance/cost point and image stability.  Here at GCC I've continued with the D600 and now D610 for the same reasons. 

While I'm a long time D600 user, buyer, and advocate ... I'm finding myself being interested in other companies laptops like the new T series from IBM.  I've very recently been loaned a new T42 to evaluate...thanks Tom!  Although I'm not impressed with the look of the thinkpads...they just don't look that kewl to me...the features are a mobile power users dream.  The built-in light is sweet...so many times I work on my laptop in the dark (like right now) and have to fold down the screen to find some of the symbol keys.  The fingerprint reader is slick...but not of use as a domain login unless some Active Director tool comes along.  The profile manager is my favorite feature.  Based on the wireless network you're on you can setup different domains, default printers, homepage, desktop, drive mappings, etc.  So the laptop would recognize the difference between say your work and home wifi network...and switch between your customizations ... that's SLICK!   

PROS:

Feels very rugged...very solid...great screen hinges, driver and software updates via web tool, profile manager rocks, reset to factory build or reset factory apps from the "bios" utility partition, 7200rpm HD, seemed to run cooler than my D600, better wifi reception than D600, pointing device scroll buttons

CONS:

Function key in bad place, no windows key, case shows fingerprints too easily, more vibrations from fan and HD...I hardly ever notice when the fan or drive is spinning on the dells, profile manager is for power user types only...it's too complicated for normal end users IMHO, not that kewl to look at, more $$ than comparable D610.

CONCLUSION?
So if I were buying a laptop for myself I'd stronly lean towards the IBM over my Dell.  I could really take advantage of that profile manager and the 7200rpm drive "seems" to make it a little zippier ... the biggest hang-up I have is the lack of a simple Windows key.
What about at work?  Well, the learning curve on the profile manager is too steep for the average laptop user IMO so we'll stick with the D610's for now at Granger.  No real compelling reason to switch...especially once you factor in our knowledge of Dell support and simple part swapping between all Dell D series laptops and SX280 desktops.  Standardization...is a beautiful thing.

Of course now IBM has a new T series tablet PC ... 8.5 hrs batt life!!!  Nuts, I'm starting to drool again.

Come on Dell ... IMPRESS ME!

(here are some pics I took of a new D810, D610, and T42 side by side for comparison)

Comments

Jason,

You forgot to mention that Dell Sales, Leasing, and Customer Service need to impress us as well. We may be a small fish in a large pond, but that's no excuse for them to charge our not-for-profit, sales tax exempt sales tax on every lease and then take months to take it off. Their lease service is horrible. I've had similar experience with my personal computer at home. I'll never lease another Dell personally, and I'd really like to do away with it corporately. Come on Dell, get your act together.

Dave