dell latitude vs inspiron ...differences?

[Soopaced]

anyone know the differences between these two line..was looking at the 8600 and d800 and was wondering what the difference was....also anyone who have any of these notebooks..can you comment on how clear the ultrasharp screen is or is that just a gimmick..bought a t41 but i have real bad eyes..think i need something clearer even though i love everything else about the t41..but im willing to sacrifice quality for the sake of my vision..thanks in advance

 

[Abhi]

The ultra sharp screen is not a gimmick... but its high resolution screen. Everything is clear and sharp, but small. Will u be able to manage reading on that?

Since you have bad eyes, stick to a WXGA...

 

[bigshooter]

You can increase the dpi of your fonts to make them bigger on the Ultrasharp screen. I did that with my D800 to make it a little bigger so I didn't have to wear my glasses to see the screen.

To answer your main question, the internals in the Latitude are mostly the same as the inspiron. Every now and then there may be a small difference, mainly in networking cards/equipment. The Latitude is also tested to work with a wide range of networking equipment and be compatible in a business environment. The inspiron is geared towards consumer/personal use.
I prefer my Latitude D800 for build quality over my Inspiron 600m. Although the D800 is bigger it is sturdier than the 600m was. It does cost more, but I didn't pay for it. Just configure both of them and if they are similar in price, get the Latitude. You may be able to get a better video card on the Inspiron, and with certain Dell deals that come up from time to time you can probably get a really good deal.

Unless you need a big screen or you want more of a gaming machine, I would recommend the D600/600m. It is a little thinner and lighter than the 800/8600 if that's what you're looking for. You can get GREAT deals on the Inspiron 600m if you check xpbargains or fatwallet or even the Anandtech hot deals forum.

 

[bigshooter]

BTW... The Ultrasharp screen is GREAT. I didn't even post that above. If it is available on the model that you select, GET IT. It is well worth it, although you will have to play with font sizes to make it easily readable. The default res is 1920x1200 (I think, I'll ahve to look) so the text starts small, but the screen is very bright and clear. I don't even have a monitor at work anymore. I use the Dell port replicator and notebook stand to just tilt it at me.

 

[Soopaced]

thanks for all the great replies...hmm..i was told that the uxga is the only ultrasharp screen..but then why is it on the configuration they have ultrasharp xga, ultrasharp sxga+, and ultrasharp uxga....i prefer the lower resolution...i jsut want something that has a good contrast ratio..i have a t41 also but my four year old dell notebook has a better screen that it does..resolution is the same...anyone have any idea...thanks a mil in advance

 

[bigshooter]

Even if you want the lower resolution, I'd get the Ultrasharp screen. It should be the UXGA+. You can play around with settings in order to make fonts and icons bigger. If it doens't work for you, you have 30 days to send it back to dell and order something else.

 

[aakerman]

Bigshooter is right, but he is forgetting one crucial thing: A lot of webpages don't use text for layout, they use images... so while you can crank up the text size, the images will remain incredibly small, and (for you, most likely) impossible to "read".

And yes - ultrasharp is just a gimmick.. it's not like Dell uses a completely different LCD technology than other manufacturers, they just call their screens "UltraSharp (tm)" for some reason. That said - Dell is known for their good lcd screens though.