laptops

[desh]

Researching 12-inch laptops. Which do you think looks best?

Note: I'm not looking for a Mac/PC holy war. I'm looking at value for the money, both in terms of features listed here and in terms of other things you may know about these computers. I'm also looking for key features you think I might have forgotten to include. Stuff like that.

	Apple 12.1" iBook G4	Dell Inspiron 710m	Dell Latitude D410	Dell Latitude X1
Default weight	4.9 lbs.	4.1 lbs	3.8 lbs.	2.9 lbs!
Screen	12.1" conventional	12.1" widescreen	12.1" conventional	12.1" widescreen
Processor	1.33 GHz G4	1.70 GHz PM 735	1.73 GHz PM 740	1.10 GHz ULV PM 733
HD	40 GB	40 GB	40 GB	30 GB
RAM	1 GB	1 GB	1 GB	768 MB
CD	DVD / CDRW	DVD / CDRW	CD-ROM (external!)	CD-ROM (external!)
Keyboard	full size	not quite full size	no idea	looks full size, I think
Bluetooth	yes	no	yes	yes
base cost	$1099	$999	$1179	$1284
cost w/ 3 yr warranty	$1349	$1239	$1179	$1284
cost w/ warranty I'd want	$1349	$1159	$1179	$1284

Comments

[lord-emo.livejournal.com]

First, I don't believe there is such a thing as a 12" with a full-size keyboard. We had 12" macs in middle school (high school too actually) and the keys are definitely smaller than desktop keyboards. You get used to it, but it still makes you more prone to mistakes.
I agree with the "not-the-mac-for-linux" idea. Laptops are usually a pain (I'd look up pages of people who use linux on the Dells and see what the caveats are before buying), and having a non-x86 processor will make things more difficult on many levels of software.
I personally would cut out the two Latitudes. I think it's ridiculous to have a CD-Rom (not DVD or RW) drive at all, much less an external drive, and the most you're saving is 1.2lbs. I wouldn't take you as being the kind of person that 4lbs really bothers.
In favor of the Mac, I grudgingly admit that OS X is pretty cool and stable (and certainly better than XP). It's also notable that Dell was quite close to the worst in the Consumer Reports reliability survey for laptops and Apple was near if not the best. I have a Dell and I've had a few problems and I treat my computer quite nicely, hardly ever taking it places.

[desh]

Well, this would be my secondary computer, and I'm getting the small one specifically so I can take it places. But I might splurge on the extra $80 or so, to upgrade the warranty from "if it breaks we fix it" to "seriously, we mean it, even if you throw it in a swimming pool we'll help you out". So the robustness issues aren't really a problem for me unless it's seriously bad.

But yes, any research you do, I'd love to hear.

[lord-emo.livejournal.com]

As for robustness issues, on my computer: The hard drive died pretty horribly. On any other OS salvage would have been pretty hopeless. I'm pretty sure the fan is dead and the built-in speakers don't work unless you press on the headphone/speaker jack, although that was probably my fault (it still shouldn't break that easy just because I forgot to unplug the speakers before picking it up once). In Dell's defense, they did replace the hard drive quite promptly (with a bigger one, and they sent two shipments of the same thing).