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600m or D610 for Engineering

post #1 of 7
5/30/05 at 2:50am
Thread Starter 
Hey sorry for the long post but I would appreciate any advice. I will be going to Cal Poly in Engineering this fall so I need a laptop. I will get an educational discount on a Dell. I have been looking at the d610 and the 600m. For the d610 is it worth it to pay 250 more for a 2.0 Ghz processor with 64 MB graphics and a 80 GB hard drive. Or should i just get the 600m which is cheaper. It has a 1.8Ghz processor with 32 MB graphics and a 60 GB hard drive. How long should i wait to order? Is the wave of 64 bit computers going to make mine obsolete? Thanks for the help guys!
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post #2 of 7
5/30/05 at 4:49am
I'd tell you to go with 64 if no more because 32 is like old school and you would probably be out for something new within 6 months... so if youre gonna spend so much just spend a little more and get what is going to last you atleast a couple years.
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post #3 of 7
5/31/05 at 2:22am
I am going to try not to exggerate, but the 600m is one of the worst notebooks build-quality wise. For instance, keyboard flex, left palm rest heat. Do not worry though the left palm because that is a minor complaint when your nuts are on fire from the heat that come from the memory slot underneth the laptop.

Dont put that fire out and that laptop will overheat in gaming sessions/coding heavy processing use. My best friend has a 700m and girlfriend has a 8600. I would suggest stepping up to a Latitude or fork the extra pounds for the 8600 or buy a gaming rig and get the 700m. The 600m does what I want as a 2nd computer, but if it was my main computer I would have got a Sony S360 or IBM T43 ages ago.
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post #4 of 7
5/31/05 at 2:34am
wow you came in here with the same mindset i did. im doing engineering at virginia tech next year and was looking at their dell discounts as well. those discounts (i'm guessing yours is 12% as well) are absolute garbage w/ the $750 coupon out to home users now... Do yourself a favor a buy an inspiron 6000. even if it is a bit bigger it will be good for when your programing C++ etc... i got mine fully loaded buying ram separate for around $2100. thats better than anything you will find anywhere (the vid card is just OK, but you can overclock and make it a tiny bit better, assuming you game a bit). you should prob go with WSXGA+ as well.
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post #5 of 7
6/7/05 at 12:38am
I'm a senior electrical engineering major at UC San Diego, and the laptop I used upon entering college in 2001 (an IBM T21) died Feb of this year. I needed a quick replacement & decided to go with the D610; so far I am very satisfied. My younger brother recently received a 600m; it's a very capable machine but I'm glad I went with the Latitude line. The D610 has a studier feel, plus since I'm coming from a Thinkpad, a trackpoint was a must.

The most demanding engineering application that you're likely to run (on your local machine) as an EE major is a circuit simulator. We use OrCAD PSPICE, and it flies on the Pentium-M. Other areas of engineering may run CAD software that's taxing, but I'd be willing to bet you'd be fine with the D610. Until native 64 bit apps become more common, the main advantage to 64 bit computing is being able to map past 4GB, this is less important on a laptop.

I went with the D610 largely because of its size. The I6000 is nice, but carrying a laptop over 6lbs. around campus gets old fast. I'd recommend you consider the IBM T43; it's a bit pricey, the IBM T series is excellent (the T43 wasn't out when I bought my D610 or else I would have went that direction).
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post #6 of 7
6/7/05 at 12:47am
How much are you willing to spend? Is there a price limit? No limit ?
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post #7 of 7
6/12/05 at 3:14pm
Thread Starter 
I was going to buy the D610 at about $1750 with discounts. I just don't know if it would be best to wait for the 64 bit computers. It probably would but I do need a computer now. Will a 32 bit laptop last me through college? Are there a lot of back to school specials that come around in the fall or is it safe to buy it now? It would be really nice to have it in the summer!
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