Latitude D505

[sticksave31]

Bought a D505 and have had it for little more than a week now. Overall pretty pleased w/ the system. Didn't need any gaming capabilities but still wanted decent performance for pretty much everything else. The biggest praise I can give this machine is how quiet it is. I thought my old Thinkpad was quiet but it roars compared to this one. Also - heat is a non-factor, it just doesn't get hot. The only drawback would be the screen. I settled for 15" XGA because it will mainly be used w/ an external LCD on my desk. It's by no means terrible, but if I were going to use the screen on more of a regular basis I would pay the extra for SXGA. Everyone is so high on the i9100 and i8600 that I just wanted to get something on here to let people know who don't need the capabilities that those machines offer. It is a bit bigger and clunkier than the D600 or the 600m, but still only 1.25" thick and pretty light for a 15" notebook. I would compare it more to the lower end Inspirons but you get all the expandability of the Latitude series (modular drive, port replicator, etc).

Config:

Pentium M 1.4 Ghz
512 MB
40 GB
CD-RW/DVD Combo
15" XGA

$1100 after taxes in PA and rebate

[Naptown Steve]

I don't think a hi-res screen is all that important if you're not playing games or watching DVDs. I run my desktop at 1024x768 and am more than happy with it. And really, like you said, if you're not looking for a notebook than does everything under the sun, than why not go with something a little cheaper? What would be the point of buying features that you're not likely to ever need? It sounds like you're happy with what it can do, and to me that's all that matters. Anyway, no one is going to say what a great guy you are just because you have the fastest machine on the block.

And expandability is a big, big plus. I think you made a pretty good call from where I sit. I'm afraid a lot of people look to get the fastest thing because they're a little bit ignorant--which is a shame. That's pretty good thinking for a goalie.