<p>I have $1300 and am debating between Dell and IBM for a laptop, due to the support that CMU has on campus (only has tech support for Dell, IBM, HP, and Apple). If I go with Dell, is it worth paying for a Latitude instead of an Inspiron? My friends seem to have mixed feelings as to whether better performance from "business" laptops comes from the computer being better built or from the user being more computer savy. Any opinions?</p>
<p>Lots of people buy from their business line for personal use; I think they are better computers. But I would go for the IBM, they are more reliable, lighter, etc.</p>
<p>Go With The Dell Latitude. You Can Get Alot More Plus A 3 Year Full Coverage Warranty For Less Than An IBM</p>
<p>its hard to get a well set up IBM for that price...but they are better computers.</p>
<p>Well, my parents will pay $1300. I think I'm willing to spend up to $200 of my own money.</p>
<p>Generally latitudes should be better built than inspirons. Performance difference are only in terms of specs though. In some cases Inspiron line may be better simply because you can't get some specs on the Latitude one (e.g. XPS Gen2/loaded 9300).</p>
<p>I have a Latitude D610</p>
<p>I Got 1.86 PM 1 gig Ram 14.1 Radeon X300 64mb 5.5 Pounds, And A 3 Year Full Warranty Witl Spills And Drops Protection For 1500</p>
<p>DDS: replace that "x300" with one of dem geforce 6800 go ULTRAs (yeah baby) and there is my laptop</p>
<p>Go HP! more for your money..</p>
<p>I won't touch hp due to a bad experience with a desktop a few years ago... Hmmm, I didn't see a graphics card upgrade option. I'd like a nice graphics card.</p>
<p>You must go with dell- not only because of the prices and the quality.. but because of the reliability of the company. My computer crashed 2 times and each time I shipped my laptop out, I always got it back within 4 days. And It crashed because of my lack of pertection for it :)</p>
<p>krazykow: for some reason, they disable the geforce 6800 go ult somethings. i guess it's an inventory thing...btw, when i said that is "my" computer, i meant it would be mine if i could get myself to actually buy a dell. looks like a pretty good DTR the way i got mine configured...now to take the pluuungee.....:O</p>
<p>Go with dell. I have a Latitude D600 at home from the business line and it is fast as anything! I love this computer, i wish I could get the same one for college but its kinda pricey.</p>
<p>I'm considering the latitude D610, but one review said something about it making a high pitched noise when using headphones or a USB device, and strange high pitched noises drive me insane, so I'm not sure what I want again.</p>
<p>if dell would just put a decent gpu in it and let you put in a 12 or 9 cell battery it would be perfect</p>
<p>And make the high pitched noises go away. None of their non-widescreen laptops have good video cards. <em>mumbles loudly</em></p>
<p>the best thing i ever got for a computer was a program which creates a copy of ur hard drive. a backup. either DriveImageSE or Norton Ghost. it has saved me in every crash, and so the brand hasnt mattered (though ive never owned a laptop).</p>