looking for a specific laptop feature!

[Caleb]

I'm looking for a laptop that has a "track stick" (as refered to by Dell), otherwise known as an eraser mouse I'm looking for one for a friend's sister who has Cerbral Palsey. I know the IBM Thinkpads and the Business Class Dell Latitudes have them but I am trying to find something a little cheaper (if it exists). Any help or suggestions is appreciated.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Is it the little eraser between the G, H & B keys? My Dell Inspiron 8600 and IBM 390X both have it... Are you looking for models that have it or used computers for sale?

The IBM thinkpad I have is way old... I'd bet you could pick one up on Ebay for $100 or less...

 

[waynehartwig]

To my knowledge, all of the Dell laptop's have them, regardless of it being Inspiron or Latitude. Reason I say that is because they use the same keyboards. A Latitude D600 is the same as an Inspiron 600m, for example.

 

[Spork]

My HP/compaq has one.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

My wife's Inspiron 4100 has one too...

 

[Caleb]

they're looking for a new laptop, she has an old Compaq right now that has it but wants something a little more current.

Dell's support is the ones that told us that only their Business Class mid model and up Latitude are all that they have that have it. In their pictures on their models thats all that have it as well maybe they have changed it recently???

So Wayne, if my friend were to get one of the Dell laptops and it doesn't have it, how much is it for a new keyboard? (I would assume it would wokr???)

 

[Brad]

Not all Inspirons have them, my wife's does not.

 

[78mitsu]

the toshiba tecra m3 and a1 can be ordered with them, they are a little higher end ~1400 on up.

 

[waynehartwig]

they're looking for a new laptop, she has an old Compaq right now that has it but wants something a little more current.

Dell's support is the ones that told us that only their Business Class mid model and up Latitude are all that they have that have it. In their pictures on their models thats all that have it as well maybe they have changed it recently???

So Wayne, if my friend were to get one of the Dell laptops and it doesn't have it, how much is it for a new keyboard? (I would assume it would wokr???)

I see about 30 Dell laptop's a week, and I can't recall not seeing one without the stick. Granted, I'm not 'looking' for the stick either so I could be completely wrong...I'm sure Dell know's their product line better than I do. Typically, the lower end stuff doesn't have a onsite warranty, so I'll never see it, so this could be a factor as well...

If it doesn't come with it, then it can't be added later.

Currently I own a Latitude D600 for my personal PC. It's light, compact, and fast. Battery life is about 2.5 hours with no power saving features enabled - ie HDD turned off, screen going black every few seconds, etc and my only complaint with this box is there is no firewire port for my digital video camera. If I was to upgrade or recomend a box to someone, I would go with the Latitude D620... The X1 is also pretty cool if you like really compact laptops.

 

[mbryson]

.......the lower end stuff doesn't have a onsite warranty, so I'll never see it, so this could be a factor as well...............

Don't buy the lower end stuff. Totally not worth it in headache factor.

 

[78mitsu]

In the Dell lines, The only difference between the low end stuff and the high end stuff is the quality of the HDD and monitor and the warranty, that's it. To reduce costs, they only build one set of plastics one motherboard one keyboard... It's pretty interesting, put the Latitude side by side against the inspiron that is the same size, other then color there is no difference, they interchange parts.

 

[Tacoma]

That's a pretty damn big difference!

 

[mbryson]

In the Dell lines, The only difference between the low end stuff and the high end stuff is the quality of the HDD and monitor and the warranty, that's it. To reduce costs, they only build one set of plastics one motherboard one keyboard... It's pretty interesting, put the Latitude side by side against the inspiron that is the same size, other then color there is no difference, they interchange parts.

We've had almost no issues with our Dell machines UNLESS we've bought the $500 PC or $700 or less laptop. IMHO, I think you get what you pay for.

 

[78mitsu]

not really, all HDD's will eventually fail, it's more about how they are treated and how they handle the heat then who makes them. When you replace a MB on a dell it comes with a flash disk, when you fire the flash you tell it what line and model it is.

 

[Milner]

My wife's

You used to saying that yet

 

[waynehartwig]

In the Dell lines, The only difference between the low end stuff and the high end stuff is the quality of the HDD and monitor and the warranty, that's it. To reduce costs, they only build one set of plastics one motherboard one keyboard... It's pretty interesting, put the Latitude side by side against the inspiron that is the same size, other then color there is no difference, they interchange parts.

The HDD's are the same in all and same with the screens. You might be able to get a larger HDD or a higher resolution screen, but they use the same manufacturer for all of their parts, regardless of machine it's going into.
The plastics aren't interchangeable, unless you replace ALL of the plastics. Their like a jigsaw puzzle and fit together accordingly. You can't mix a latitude base with an inspiron palm rest, for example, it won't work.

 

[78mitsu]

Maybe the disk is more of a perception thing, I think a samsung drive is higher quality then a WD. Lower end machines generally include the lower priced monitor in the base package, where in the higher machines, you generally have to delete it from the config. and 10-4 on the plastics, in the C line all the plastics interchanged. Just for perspective, I manage about 140 Dell desktops and ~50 laptops (mostly toshiba but about 15 dells mixed in there), had tons of C's but almost no D's and around 20 2850s.

 

[waynehartwig]

Don't buy the lower end stuff. Totally not worth it in headache factor.

I agree completely!!! The warranty WILL pay for itself, trust me! It's a laptop, and it will get abused. All laptop's do, unless they are stuck in a docking station on your desk for 4 years. But if you are taking them out, tossing them in the back seat of your car, taking them on planes and etc, they do have a hard life. Paying an extra few hundred bucks now will give you return the first time someone accidentaly steps on your laptop and cracks the screen. Or bumps your arm, causing you to drop your coffee inside the computer. Or bump something plugged into the USB slot, damaging it. It's all covered, next business day, at your home or office. How much better can you get? If you don't have on site service, then you are shipping it back to them for service and it can take 2-6 weeks before you get your computer fixed, and even then, I've seen some come back with a different problem. Electronics are finicky and will go bad when turned on. So it's not that Dell didn't test it, it just fails when it wants to.

 

[waynehartwig]

Maybe the disk is more of a perception thing, I think a samsung drive is higher quality then a WD. Lower end machines generally include the lower priced monitor in the base package, where in the higher machines, you generally have to delete it from the config. and 10-4 on the plastics, in the C line all the plastics interchanged. Just for perspective, I manage about 140 Dell desktops and ~50 laptops (mostly toshiba but about 15 dells mixed in there), had tons of C's but almost no D's and around 20 2850s.

For the laptops, Dell really likes to use IBM and Toshiba drives. I've yet to see a WD in a laptop, I think. In desktops, they like WD and Seagate. now they are starting to get back into serial Maxtor drives, which they quit using for a couple of years because they were ALL failing.

I've been doing on site service for Dell for about 7 years now and am full line certified on all of thier items, included plasma TV's, POS equipment, printers, etc. But that just means I know how to take them apart and fix them, it doesn't mean I know their specs. We aren't required to know how they work, just why they don't. That's where Dell wants the end user to call them, that way they don't get some cowboy out there telling a customer their laptop will support 2 gig of RAM when it won't.