Just ordered a D820 yesterday. The appearance of this laptop serves it's purpose. It is, as others have stated, a business laptop. We use both Lenovo and Dell here and I can't say I really like the Lenovos that much. The only thing I can think of that this laptop is lacking is a media card reader. The 40GB drive reduces the cost of the laptop, and in a business environment, important data is (or should be) stored on a network drive so that it is backed up on a regular basis and more secure. When the laptop user is away he/she would check-out the files they need to work on, or access them via a VPN connection. This is why a 40GB drive should be offered. 100GB drives increase the cost of the notebook by $249 at last check. I ordered a 40GB in mine, because I can get a 100GB 7200rpm Hitachi drive from newegg for about $100 less than Dell charges for the 100GB upgrade. I also ordered only 512MB RAM, because again, I can get 2GB DDR2 667 notebook memory from newegg for $160. There are many reasons you don't make business laptops "look flashy". Here are a couple I can think of off the top of my head:
1) The IT director/manager has to keep equipment in service for a specific period of time (usually 2 or 3 years). If you get a newer flashy laptop in, then older models start breaking mysteriously so that employees can get upgraded to a newer model.
2) Flashy laptops send the wrong signal to the customer. A flashy laptop may give the customer the impression that the company is not making good financial decisions....or wasting money.
3) The less attention to draw to the laptop, the less likely it is to be stolen. Flashy laptops are going to get everyone's attention...including people with "sticky fingers".
On the MAC issue, I think compatibility and cost are the two main reasons companies don't use them an awful lot. MACs are nice, but they are quite a bit more expensive. At most companies, there is an IT budget and you can only spend so much and you need X number of units. This is usually the first place where the mac option is filtered out. Unless there is a specific need for a MAC, you usually don't see them in the corporate environment.
You guys should stop attacking each other. It is okay to like a MAC and it is okay to like a PC. You have to use what works best for YOU and not try to force your opinions on others. :-()
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Just ordered a D820 yesterday. The appearance of this laptop serves it's purpose. It is, as others have stated, a business laptop. We use both Lenovo and Dell here and I can't say I really like the Lenovos that much. The only thing I can think of that this laptop is lacking is a media card reader. The 40GB drive reduces the cost of the laptop, and in a business environment, important data is (or should be) stored on a network drive so that it is backed up on a regular basis and more secure. When the laptop user is away he/she would check-out the files they need to work on, or access them via a VPN connection. This is why a 40GB drive should be offered. 100GB drives increase the cost of the notebook by $249 at last check. I ordered a 40GB in mine, because I can get a 100GB 7200rpm Hitachi drive from newegg for about $100 less than Dell charges for the 100GB upgrade. I also ordered only 512MB RAM, because again, I can get 2GB DDR2 667 notebook memory from newegg for $160. There are many reasons you don't make business laptops "look flashy". Here are a couple I can think of off the top of my head:
1) The IT director/manager has to keep equipment in service for a specific period of time (usually 2 or 3 years). If you get a newer flashy laptop in, then older models start breaking mysteriously so that employees can get upgraded to a newer model.
2) Flashy laptops send the wrong signal to the customer. A flashy laptop may give the customer the impression that the company is not making good financial decisions....or wasting money.
3) The less attention to draw to the laptop, the less likely it is to be stolen. Flashy laptops are going to get everyone's attention...including people with "sticky fingers".
On the MAC issue, I think compatibility and cost are the two main reasons companies don't use them an awful lot. MACs are nice, but they are quite a bit more expensive. At most companies, there is an IT budget and you can only spend so much and you need X number of units. This is usually the first place where the mac option is filtered out. Unless there is a specific need for a MAC, you usually don't see them in the corporate environment.
You guys should stop attacking each other. It is okay to like a MAC and it is okay to like a PC. You have to use what works best for YOU and not try to force your opinions on others. :-()