New DELL Intel Core Duos to Give MacBook Pro a Run for the Money?

DELL just announced new notebooks with Intel Core Duo CPUs ranging in speed from 1.66GHz to 2.16GHz with prices starting at $899. The Latitude D620 has a 14.1" wide angle screen at up to 1440x900 resolution, up to Nvidia Quadro NVS 256MB graphics and a weight starting at 4.4lbs. The Latitude D820 is most similar to the 15" MacBook Pro--it has a 15.4" screen at up to 1920x1200 resolution, up to Nvidia Quadro NVS 512MB graphics and a weight starting at 6.1lbs. Configured as close as possible to the $2799 2.16GHz MacBook Pro, the price of the 2.16GHz Latitude D820 is $2,300 (about) but with only the Intel 950 graphics since the Nvidia graphics are not yet available on DELL's Web site.

So the comparable 15" MacBook Pro is thinner and lighter, has a much better looking design, has much better graphics, runs Mac OS X and has a much better software suite but for an additional $499. We hope Apple will soon come out with a smaller MacBook Pro that will rival the 2GHz DELL Latitude D620 Core Duo for us heavy-duty travelers [Bill Fox]