At Yedda (my day job) we recently ordered 3 new laptops.
Our spec was very specific (that’s how we are ;-) ):
- Core Duo 2 running on at least 2Ghz
- 2Gb of RAM
- 100Gb or more hard drive
- WXGA+ screen (1440×960 resolution)
- 14.1″ screen
- Non shared memory video card
- DVD burner
The reason we want 14.1″ screens is due to size and weight (some of us, not me, rides on bikes and/or motorcycles to get to the YeddaHQ). We also wanted as high resolution as possible and the WXGA+ seems very good.
Up until now we mostly used Thinkpads so we obviously checked out the new T61.
Aside from the fact that it was a bit costly (which we were willing to accept) there were no T61 machines in Israel with WXGA+ or with a Core Duo 2 running on at least 2Ghz or the machines had an integrated shared memory video card (which is a big no no!).
We checked out the Dell D630 which also had the same configuration, got good reviews and was surprisingly ~$500 cheaper. The only problem was that it had to be specially ordered for us since Dell Israel doesn’t work the same way it works in the USA. Dell Israel brings a certain set of models to Israel and Israelis don’t get the pleasure of having a specific Dell machine built just for them.
Luckily we ordered 3 machines and our supplier was willing to place a special order at Dell UK for us.
The original estimated delivery time was 3 weeks (work weeks, not calendar weeks) which ended up today.
As you can figure out from the title, the machines will not arrive today. It seems that there is a shortage in Israel not just in Dell high end laptops but in other brands as well and I’ve heard people getting a delivery date for December.
The official explanation for the delay in shipment of our Dell machines was that there is a delay in LCD screens in the UK and that’s why the machines are sitting there screen-less waiting for us.
The current expected delivery date out of the UK is the 25th of September. I guess we will just have to wait.