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General discussion

Decisions, Decisions

Aug 17, 2004 9:41PM PDT

I have narrowed my laptop down to two possibilities, thank God - this is wearing me down - Dell or Toshiba.

First let me say this, I travel, a lot, and that is all this computer will be used for. I do not want to have to lug a lot of extras around either. I have a home network and so once there will access the computer via my desk. I have a heavy old Compaq and it wears you down lugging that, along with files and everything else you have to take on the road.

If I go Toshiba I have selected the Satellite M35-S456. Is this too big? It looks sweet in the store.

If I go with Dell I have narrowed it down to either the Inspiron 600m or the Latitude D600 (or is the 700m really the way to go). What is different about the Inspiron verus Latitude?

Whatever system I choose they will be built to almost identical specs.

The Toshiba is at Circuit City and comes loaded. My only concern is the speed (4200 rpm) of the hard drive. I can go much higher (and pay for it too) by building a system at Dell.

Also, Is there any difference if I build the system at Dell on the home & home office side versus the small business side?

Customer service is not a huge issue, but is Dell good or bad, from reading the reviews, I can't tell.

Your help is grealt appreciated. Thank you.

Discussion is locked

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I have heard good things about Toshiba, and
Aug 18, 2004 12:26AM PDT

not so good things about Dell. I just got an A75-S226 and am, so far, quite pleased with it. It does not appear to have any issues with disk speed. It starts a LOT faster than my desktop.

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Re: Decisions, Decisions
Aug 18, 2004 1:07AM PDT

I can't give you much more than a coin flip on those, but this input.

1. Toshiba is revamping its service so repairs happen in days rather than weeks. This will help them on many fronts.

2. For us, Dell has been just fine at the office. You will read more complaints just because there are more Dells out there.

Bob

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Re: Decisions, Decisions
Aug 18, 2004 8:13AM PDT

If you get the Toshiba M35S456 retail that is a great machine -- it has the Trubrite LCD screen (similar to Sony) --- so make sure that you will not use it where harsh flourescent lights overhead or in front of the LCD would cause too much of a reflection.

It is $1999 list (has multiformat DVD burner) but it has been on sale at Best buy and Circuit City and Even Fry's electronics in the past month for $1850. You just missed 2 years free financing at Best buy for this price -- ended Saturday (back to school).

If you go to the Toshiba website they are offering 10% off any custom order notebook. You can customize it there for a 5400rpm hard drive if you want -- someone else was unsure if you could get the Trubrite LCD custom or not so check that.

This 15.4" widescreen is 6.2 pounds -- get at least the 715 Pentium M Dothan or above (double the L2 cache) -- not the 705 Pentium M.

Also, the Compaq X1000 series /HPZT3000 series is an excellent alternative ( I have one of these but almost bought Toshiba M35). It weighs 6.5 pounds. See X1000forums.com

Note, make sure you get 64mb video dedicated memory as it is not upgradeable (standard on M35S456)

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Re: Decisions, Decisions
Aug 18, 2004 10:23AM PDT

The Toshiba M35S456 is listed at the $1850 sale price at the Circuit City website this week (1999-150 rebate) but it listed as out of stock for the online site. Check the store to see if they are honoring that pricing.

If you don't need the DVD burner (multiformat DVD + and DVD -) which costs $200 more than a CD-RW/DVD ROM unit that you can order on the custom order site then try pricing it out there -- but I am not sure if you can get the Trubrite LCD that way or not (but 10% off custom order notebooks online).