why is Latitude > Vostro?

It looks as if dollar-for-dollar you get less computer in a Latitude than
in a Vostro - e.g., less RAM, HD etc.

Or looking at it the other way, to get the same specs in a Latitude will
cost you a lot more money. So what makes a Latitude a better computer? It's
not as if a Vostrio is made of plastic and a Latitude is made from more
expensive materials... I hope

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 23:41:52 -0400, Mtr <Mtr@no.spam> wrote:

>It looks as if dollar-for-dollar you get less computer in a Latitude than
>in a Vostro - e.g., less RAM, HD etc.
>
>Or looking at it the other way, to get the same specs in a Latitude will
>cost you a lot more money. So what makes a Latitude a better computer? It's
>not as if a Vostrio is made of plastic and a Latitude is made from more
>expensive materials... I hope

I think Vostro's are made by Klingons and imported. It sounds like
one of their lines.

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 23:14:10 -0500, Journey <journey@merr.com> wrote:

>On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 23:41:52 -0400, Mtr <Mtr@no.spam> wrote:
>
>>It looks as if dollar-for-dollar you get less computer in a Latitude than
>>in a Vostro - e.g., less RAM, HD etc.
>>
>>Or looking at it the other way, to get the same specs in a Latitude will
>>cost you a lot more money. So what makes a Latitude a better computer? It's
>>not as if a Vostrio is made of plastic and a Latitude is made from more
>>expensive materials... I hope
>
>I think Vostro's are made by Klingons and imported. It sounds like
>one of their lines.

Or maybe the product manager who came up with "Vostro" used to work
for a pharmaceutical company.

"Mtr" <Mtr@no.spam> wrote in message
news:t4o5h3dl8fd4m5sijopo0dgl3ms6ut8nq2@4ax.com...
> It looks as if dollar-for-dollar you get less computer in a Latitude than
> in a Vostro - e.g., less RAM, HD etc.
>
> Or looking at it the other way, to get the same specs in a Latitude will
> cost you a lot more money. So what makes a Latitude a better computer?
> It's
> not as if a Vostrio is made of plastic and a Latitude is made from more
> expensive materials... I hope


Vostro = Inspiron, w/o the colors and some of the other toys and features.

Latitude has typically been pointed towards corporate and assembled out of
more durable components with a better default warranty. Latitude also
generally has some remaining legacy HW support that Vostro and Inspiron
don't have. Inspiron is meant as a consumer box with more multi-media type
features and consumer-friendly toys.

The only Vostro (1400) I've bought, tested and placed (for someone else)
seemed surprisingly well-built and solid.


Stew

what stew said plus i think you will not find a light vostros laptop (the
vostros name also being used for desktops, but the latitude name not makes
me assume you are talking about laptops). light laptops costs more. also
latitude laptops have a very long product cycle which makes them easier to
deploy by big companies in large quantities over a longer period of time.
the vostro product life cycle is unknown (that is to say new models may
replace the current models sooner than with the latitude line).

"S.Lewis" <stew1960@mail.com> wrote in message
news:svHQi.3642$K7.2848@bignews2.bellsouth.net...
>
> "Mtr" <Mtr@no.spam> wrote in message
> news:t4o5h3dl8fd4m5sijopo0dgl3ms6ut8nq2@4ax.com...
>> It looks as if dollar-for-dollar you get less computer in a Latitude than
>> in a Vostro - e.g., less RAM, HD etc.
>>
>> Or looking at it the other way, to get the same specs in a Latitude will
>> cost you a lot more money. So what makes a Latitude a better computer?
>> It's
>> not as if a Vostrio is made of plastic and a Latitude is made from more
>> expensive materials... I hope
>
>
> Vostro = Inspiron, w/o the colors and some of the other toys and features.
>
> Latitude has typically been pointed towards corporate and assembled out of
> more durable components with a better default warranty. Latitude also
> generally has some remaining legacy HW support that Vostro and Inspiron
> don't have. Inspiron is meant as a consumer box with more multi-media type
> features and consumer-friendly toys.
>
> The only Vostro (1400) I've bought, tested and placed (for someone else)
> seemed surprisingly well-built and solid.
>
>
> Stew
>

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:07:57 -0400, "Christopher Muto"
<muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

>what stew said plus i think you will not find a light vostros laptop (the
>vostros name also being used for desktops, but the latitude name not makes
>me assume you are talking about laptops). light laptops costs more. also
>latitude laptops have a very long product cycle which makes them easier to
>deploy by big companies in large quantities over a longer period of time.
>the vostro product life cycle is unknown (that is to say new models may
>replace the current models sooner than with the latitude line).

Light laptops (not Vostro) are good to get from the Dell outlet. I
have gotten some for hundreds off retail.

As far as Vostro, they seem to have an affordable upgrade to 3G RAM
for $90.

The one I looked at also allows the choice of a regular or TrueLife
screen (for business purposes I prefer regular).

Also, the Vostro's don't seem to have a modular bay. One of the big
strengths of laptops like the D520 is that you can put an extra
battery in the modular bay.

Because battery life is important to me, that's a great feature. A
D520 with a modular bay battery can last up to 8 hours, and if more
time is needed, just hot-pop another bay battery in.

>It looks as if dollar-for-dollar you get less computer in a Latitude than
>in a Vostro - e.g., less RAM, HD etc.
>
>Or looking at it the other way, to get the same specs in a Latitude will
>cost you a lot more money. So what makes a Latitude a better computer? It's
>not as if a Vostrio is made of plastic and a Latitude is made from more
>expensive materials... I hope

I've noticed this as well..... just thought it was my
imagination!

fwiw: the vostros 1500 with a 9 cell battery (that stickout out the back of
the machine whereas the 6 cell standard battery does not) lasts over 6 hours
acording to some reviews i have read.

"Journey" <journey@merr.com> wrote in message
news:4rd7h359vq5pv52lfo93gdvd0p4dcsgmqe@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:07:57 -0400, "Christopher Muto"
> <muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>>what stew said plus i think you will not find a light vostros laptop (the
>>vostros name also being used for desktops, but the latitude name not makes
>>me assume you are talking about laptops). light laptops costs more. also
>>latitude laptops have a very long product cycle which makes them easier to
>>deploy by big companies in large quantities over a longer period of time.
>>the vostro product life cycle is unknown (that is to say new models may
>>replace the current models sooner than with the latitude line).
>
> Light laptops (not Vostro) are good to get from the Dell outlet. I
> have gotten some for hundreds off retail.
>
> As far as Vostro, they seem to have an affordable upgrade to 3G RAM
> for $90.
>
> The one I looked at also allows the choice of a regular or TrueLife
> screen (for business purposes I prefer regular).
>
> Also, the Vostro's don't seem to have a modular bay. One of the big
> strengths of laptops like the D520 is that you can put an extra
> battery in the modular bay.
>
> Because battery life is important to me, that's a great feature. A
> D520 with a modular bay battery can last up to 8 hours, and if more
> time is needed, just hot-pop another bay battery in.

i just sold a latitude d630 with the 9-cell battery and it sticks out
the front!
it acts ike a palm rest. much better than sticking out the back.
i thought the vostro might stick out the front too, since the battery is
in the front. or am i confusing it with something else.

in either case, there is no way these 9 cells are getting anywhere near
6 hours.
i have a 9-cell in one of mine and i can barely get 3 hrs.
perhaps if you turn the lcd backlight down to a dim dim glow, but if
you're a power user, you will not get that kind of mileage.


Christopher Muto wrote:
> fwiw: the vostros 1500 with a 9 cell battery (that stickout out the back of
> the machine whereas the 6 cell standard battery does not) lasts over 6 hours
> acording to some reviews i have read.
>
> "Journey" <journey@merr.com> wrote in message
> news:4rd7h359vq5pv52lfo93gdvd0p4dcsgmqe@4ax.com...
>> On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:07:57 -0400, "Christopher Muto"
>> <muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>>
>>> what stew said plus i think you will not find a light vostros laptop (the
>>> vostros name also being used for desktops, but the latitude name not makes
>>> me assume you are talking about laptops). light laptops costs more. also
>>> latitude laptops have a very long product cycle which makes them easier to
>>> deploy by big companies in large quantities over a longer period of time.
>>> the vostro product life cycle is unknown (that is to say new models may
>>> replace the current models sooner than with the latitude line).
>> Light laptops (not Vostro) are good to get from the Dell outlet. I
>> have gotten some for hundreds off retail.
>>
>> As far as Vostro, they seem to have an affordable upgrade to 3G RAM
>> for $90.
>>
>> The one I looked at also allows the choice of a regular or TrueLife
>> screen (for business purposes I prefer regular).
>>
>> Also, the Vostro's don't seem to have a modular bay. One of the big
>> strengths of laptops like the D520 is that you can put an extra
>> battery in the modular bay.
>>
>> Because battery life is important to me, that's a great feature. A
>> D520 with a modular bay battery can last up to 8 hours, and if more
>> time is needed, just hot-pop another bay battery in.
>
>

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:35:36 -0400, Jay B <jayB@audiman.net> wrote:
> Jay Wrote:
>i just sold a latitude d630 with the 9-cell battery and it sticks out
>the front!
>it acts ike a palm rest. much better than sticking out the back.
>i thought the vostro might stick out the front too, since the battery is
>in the front. or am i confusing it with something else.
>
>in either case, there is no way these 9 cells are getting anywhere near
>6 hours.
>i have a 9-cell in one of mine and i can barely get 3 hrs.
>perhaps if you turn the lcd backlight down to a dim dim glow, but if
>you're a power user, you will not get that kind of mileage.
>
>
>Christopher Muto wrote:
>> fwiw: the vostros 1500 with a 9 cell battery (that stickout out the back of
>> the machine whereas the 6 cell standard battery does not) lasts over 6 hours
>> acording to some reviews i have read.

How long the battery life is depends on a lot of things. Usually
reviews do a good job of putting a computer through its paces when
examining battery life.

Christoper -- if you have links to the reviews it would be helpful.
It's good news if the Vostro 1500 can achieve the 6 hours.

When I use my laptop(s) I do a lot of things to conserve power. I
posted about them about a month or so ago in response to someone. Off
the top of my head:

- In Vista, you can configure many power options if you go to the
hardly noticeable advanced link.

- I always turn off indexing. I think I had to do that in more than
one place.

- Of course, if I don't need it, bluetooth and wi-fi are turned off.

- I disable anything I don't need in the bios, such as a built-in
webcam, modem, LAN port, etc.

- Turn the display down of course, but not so it makes things that
much harder to read.

- Make the desktop solid black (not really sure if that helps).

- Set the display to go off after 1 minute.

- Put a link to a solid black screen saver in quick launch so I can
turn the display off immediately whenever I want to.

- Close the laptop lid to turn off the display when there will be
longer times when I don't need the laptop (have to set close lid to do
nothing)

There are probably several more things I do, and I can definitely get
6 hours from a laptop like the M1210 with the extended battery, but
that's only because I use it for office type apps and nothing more
battery-intensive.

It's important to consider that a battery will last less the longer
it's used. So a Vostro that has a 6 hour battery life with the 9 cell
might only have a 4 hour battery life a year later.

The nice thing about the Latitude D520 is that you can add another
modular battery without having to turn off the laptop. If you have a
laptop that doesn't have a modular battery and you are in a 3 hour
meeting but your battery only has 1 hour and 30 minutes left on it,
then you would have to turn off your laptop, turn it upside down, and
replace the battery. In many meetings that would be very distracting.
So, really, the effective battery life is shortened because one might
just use 1 1/2 hours of it.

Also, I have heard that deep discharging of the battery shortens its
life. With a D520 that can be avoided with modular batteries.

Many Lenovo ThinkPad laptops have a modular bay that can use a modular
battery.

I now have exclusive use of a Latitude D520. For all practical
purposes it's mine even though its technically owned by one of the
agencies I volunteer for. I am not biased due to ownership because I
liked the D520 before (when a friend got one from the same agency). I
could have picked a different computer but that's the one I chose.

Anyway, Christopher it would be nice to see the links. It is good
news that a Vostro would have a 6 hour battery life.