J.D. Hodges

I recently dropped my Dell Latitude E6430. This was a pretty serious drop onto some pavement and while the laptop still works, it has a rather large dent in it. 🙁

I have had a few previous issues with the laptop, mainly software related (Intel wifi driver issues, occasional lockups) so with the new dent being the final straw, it is now time for a new laptop 😉

Here are a few I considered:

(dimensions/weight courtesy of notebookcheck.net)

E6530
35 x 384 x 258
2.84 kg

E6430 (my current laptop, here for comparison purposes)
32 x 352 x 241
2.1 kg

E5530
35 x 387.5 x 271.8
2.87 kg Power Supply: 0.428 kg

T530
42 x 373 x 268
2.7 kg Power Supply: 0.3 kg

Lenovo W530
36 x 373 x 245
2.81 kg Power Supply: 0.79 kg

6430u
Width: 13.3″ / 338mm. – Height: 0.82″ / 20.9mm. ~ Depth: 9.0″ / 230mm
1.8kg

M4700
37 x 376 x 256
3.442 kg Power Supply: 0.664 kg

T431s
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/thinkpad/t-series/t431s/
3.6lbs

I ended up going with an E5530 with a 15.6″ 1920×1080 (1080p) display which should be a nice upgrade from my current E6430’s 14.1″ 1600×900 display. It also came with 8GB of RAM, Windows 7 Pro x64, and a backlit keyboard. Finally, the price was right with the E5530 having a price of roughly $600!

NOTE: with some of the (minor) issues I’ve had with my old Dell E6430, you might be surprised that I chose to go with Dell again… however the price could not be beat plus I have a feeling my old E6430 was just a bit lemony and I have high hopes for the E5530. 🙂