Dell Latitude E6400 vs Lenovo ThinkPad T400

I have come across these two laptops and used them quite heavily and thought I would share my quick thoughts and comparison of the two. I am not going write an in depth review of either as you can already find many of those on the internet, but just a quick summarized comparison based on my experience with them.

Configurations:

Dell Latitude E6400 around $1848 with the following specs:
Windows 7 Pro
Core 2 Duo P8600 CPU (2.4Ghz 3MB Cache)
4GB DDR2 RAM
160GB HD 7200 RPM
8X DVDRW
6Cell battery
3 year NBD on site service
Backlit keyboard
5300 wireless card
dell 370 bluetooth

Lenovo ThinkPad T400 around $1097 with the following specs:
Windows 7 Pro
Core 2 Duo T9600 CPU (2.8Ghz 6MB Cache)
4GB DDR3 RAM
160GB HD 7200 RPM
8X DVDRW
6Cell battery
1 year NBD on site service
Thinklight for keyboard
5300 wireless card
dell 370 bluetooth

Noteable differences are:
Lenovo has DDR3 RAM vs Dell's DDR2
Dell has 3 year NBD warranty vs Lenovo's 1 year
Lenovo has T9600 CPu vs Dell's P8600
Dell has an ESATA/USB combo port which could be used for a usb powered external SATA hard drive.

From a value standpoint, the Lenovo wins since it is approximately $800 less than the Dell even though the Lenovo has higher specs. From using both however, if money is not a main concern, I would go with the Dell, see why below.

Other comparisons:
- I do prefer the backlit keyboard over Lenovo's thinklight which is a white LED at the top of the screen which shines down on to the keyboard.
- The Lenovo has really good durability features such as a drain which will channel any spilled fluids on the keyboard right through the bottom, and they are just plain known for their durability.
- I prefer the look of the Dell, the ThinkPads haven't changed much at all and are really starting to look dated.
- The screen on the Dell is much sharper, brighter, and more vivid then the Lenovo
- Although the Lenovo should be much faster due to it's specs, the Dell just seems faster. The first Lenovo I worked with had Vista, and I blamed that, but I worked on another Lenovo with the same spec and Windows 7, and the Dell still feels faster. I didn't actually do any benchmarks, but just using them I noticed the difference.
- I really like the bios on the Dell much more than the Lenovo as it is very well laid out, has lots of configurable options and is very user friendly. One example is, in the BIOS of the Dell (which is more GUI like and uses the mouse BTW), you can set the physical wireless switch to control bluetooth WWAN, and Wifi in any combination by using check boxes. The Lenovo's wireless switch just controls wifi and there was no way in the BIOS or OS to configure this.

Bottom line, in my opinion:
If you want the best specs for the best value, get the Lenovo T400 (14" screen) or T500 (15" screen). I would upgrade the screen to one with LED backlight and higher resolution though. Also if you go with discrete video (separate video card as opposed to integrated) one really cool thing about the Lenovo is it uses both onboard and discrete to balance battery/performance. It will default to discrete when plugged in and onboard when battery operated.

If money is not an object, then I would go with the Dell and even upgrade it to match the specs of the Lenovo (bringing it over $2000). With Dell I feel you get better performance, better looks, better screen, and better warranty. Also, a solid State drive would complement either system very well.